May 21, 2013

Simple DIY Hanging Planter Upgrade

In early Spring, I came across an amazingly simple Target hack from fellow blogger Paper & Stitch. She took an inexpensive planter (seriously, the planter cost $5) and transformed it into an expensive looking piece. Impressed by her DIY upgrade, I immediately knew that I wanted to do a similar planter upgrade for use on my sunporch. I drove straight to my nearest Target, where I scooped up 3 of my very own. While I LOVE, love, love what Brittni has put together, it wasn't quite right for my space. I've been drooling over a pair of matte black ceramic vases at a local shop for some time now, so I thought I could create something similar and set about modifying her plan. Ultimately I settled on a satin black base coat with copper accents paired with white and black braided cotton rope. It felt classic and sophisticated, yet still fun. Plus, the whole project was super inexpensive, including the plants! Here's what you'll need to create the same:

Supply List

$5 hanging planters from the Target dollar spot (these are similar if you're not near a Target)
Black satin spray paint
Copper spray paint
Rope
Scissors
Painters tape
Scrap paper
Super glue
Plants
Hooks for hanging

Instructions

With my supplies gathered, I began by removing the price stickers and the original twine from the planters. Then, I took them outside where I have them a good 2 coats of the black satin paint, taking care to paint the entire planter, inside and out. Hanging Planter DIY • AD Aesthetic

Once the paint was dry, I used painters tape to create a crisp-edged circle around the lower third of the planter. This is where the copper accent would go. I used scrap paper to block off the portion I wanted to keep black by taping the paper to my painters tape and folding the bottom of the paper into the planter. Then they got sprayed with 2 coats of copper paint. Hanging Planter DIY • AD Aesthetic

When that was dry, I carefully removed the tape and threaded my rope through the holes that were already in the planter. The rope I chose was quite a bit thicker than the original, so it took some work to fit it through. I was able to make this process easier by cutting the rope at a sharp angle. (You could also use a bit of the painter's tape to make a sort of aglet to help with the threading process.) I left all of the rope extra long (about 4 feet) because I wasn't quite sure how far down I wanted them to hang. Hanging Planter DIY • AD Aesthetic

To prep for hanging, I took everything out to the sunroom. To guesstimate the correct length, I held them up to the ceiling and adjusted the length until it felt right. I wanted to hang 2 from the same ceiling hook, so those two needed to be slightly staggered in length. I then gathered all the ropes from one planter together and tightly tied a simple double knot. To make hanging easier, I took one of the strands and created a small loop just past the knot using super glue to keep it in place. Then I slipped this loop onto my ceiling hook for hanging. Hanging Planter DIY • AD Aesthetic

Because I have a major black thumb, I actually picked up three small artificial plants from Target to "plant" inside. They fit perfectly, and, I think, look very realistic. If you have a black thumb like me, it's a great solution that will thrive in even the lowest of light situations! However, if you're confident in your abilities to keep something alive, I think a spider plant or a hanging pothos would look phenomenal in these babies. What do you think?! *Ashley's signature