When the weather starts to get warm here in Michigan, all thoughts turn to gardening! Plunging your hands in the rich soil, prepping the flower and vegetable beds, and waiting in anticipation for them to grow into lush and bountiful plants!
I turned Dollar Tree planters into high end planters for my summer garden. It was such a fun and creative process that anyone can do to spruce up their patio or front porch!
First of all, you will need to spray the planters with two coats of a primer paint either in white or clear. Doing this will make sure that the paints you use later will adhere to the pots. You will also need to paint the inside rim also as this area will still show even when you put dirt and plants in your pot.
For my first pot I used IOD Mould Birdsong that I purchased from Sweet and Sassy Treasures in Shelby Twp. MI. Make sure to brush corn starch inside the mould so that it will be easier to release the casting. This is my first time trying these moulds and I’m using air dry clay that I picked up from Michaels. You can also purchase IOD Air Clay if you would like. All you need to do is pinch some of the air clay off and kind of knead it a little bit then push it into the mould. The nice thing about these moulds is that there is a lip around the edges to help you get a clean casting.
I used E6000 glue to adhere the birds to the planter, making sure I hold for a bit to make sure the casting doesn’t slide down. I didn’t wait for the castings to dry to that they could form better around the planter. If I let them dry, they would be flat and crack when I tried to adhere them to the planter. You can use a baby wipe to clean up any excess glue that oozes out.
For the paint I used a mixture of paint and baking soda to give it a more textured, almost cement look. The acrylic paint color I used is called terracotta and you can pick it up at Michael’s or Joanns. I mixed about ½ paint to ½ baking soda together. I then used a chip brush to paint the mixture on the planter. A chip brush gave it a more textured look that I was going for.
I only used one coat of the paint mixture for this planter. After I’m done painting, I took a baby wipe and wipee off some of the paint on the birds to pull out a little of the detail on the birds. I also made sure to paint the inside rim so that it looks nice after you’ve planted your flowers as the inside rim will still show.
I then sprayed 2 coats of a clear matte spray by Rust-oleum to give the planter a nice finish and to protect the paint as these will be staying outside.
So here’s the finished pot and I have to say it turned out pretty good! I used pansy’s in all the planters I painted as the weather in Michigan still gets chilly and pansy’s are pretty hardy this time of year.
For the 2nd set of planters, I wanted ones that already had some texture on them. So I purchased two of these at the Dollar Tree. For the 1st one I’m using a furniture and cabinet paint that I had for another project. I didn’t prime these with a white or clear spray as I wanted to see if this type of paint would adhere without the primer. So I painted half of this one and set aside to dry so I could see what it would look like.
For the 2nd planter I’m using a chaulk paint in white. Again, I didn’t prime this planter and 2 coats of the chaulk paint seemed to adhere fine. I like that the texture is coming through. I used my heat gun to dry the paint between coats.
For the blue one, the paint did not adhere very well. Even after I tried to dry with the heat gun. So I ended up spraying with the Rust-Oleum matte clear spray and letting that dry before I painted with the blue paint again.
For the white planter, I took the blue paint and mixed it with water to thin it out a little bit. I painted over the white planter with the blue paint, then I took a baby wipe to pull some of it off. This will give a little more dimension to the planter and show off the texture that’s already there.
For the blue planter, I did the opposite color of what I did with the other planter. I used the white chaulk paint and watered it down a little bit. I painted this one and wiped some of the paint off with a baby wipe like I did the other planter. And again, I sprayed with the Rust-Oleum matte clear to give the planter a protective finish.
They turned out so cute! (Sorry, don't know what happened to the picture of the white pot)
Now this one turned out to be my favorite. I actually did some research on IOD YouTube page and came across a video they did using their trim mould. So again, I’m going to use the air dry clay, and IOD’s trim mould #2.
I sprayed the planter with the Rust-Oleum matte clear as I figured out by this time that I needed to make sure to do this step. I put the trim on the upper lip of the planter. So again, I kneaded the air clay, and I brush the corn starch in the mould. After kneading for a bit and rolling and stretching, I press the clay down into the mould and push it in and level out to take off the excess. I used a little tool from the Dollar Tree to help me scrape the clay. You can find it by the paints.
After I pulled the casting from the mould, I wanted to make sure it will fit properly on the planter. I then used Titebond Thick and Quick to adhere to the planter. Josie and Sally from IOD, which stands for Iron Orchard Designs, suggest using this glue as it adheres quicker and doesn’t slip as much as the E6000 does. So I squeezed some onto the back of the casting and use a paint brush to spread out the glue before placing on the planter. I continued the process of moulding the casting and gluing on until I’ve gone all the way around the planter. You can kind of pinch the ends together as you’re placing the castings around the planter. Make sure to let the air clay dry thoroughly before you start painting.
So again, I’m using the baking soda and paint mixture. I mixed together a tan color, some white and a little terracotta from the first planter I did. I mix this together with baking soda and use a chip brush to paint on. I ended up doing 2 coats of this paint mixture.
I used a ½ and ½ mixture of White wax by Home Décor and white paint. I learned this technique from Julie at Julie’s Designs and Signs. I paint this on in sections and at first I was worried because it went on very thick and I couldn’t see the color underneath. But I knew I was going to wipe a lot off. I first used a paper towel to start wiping off the wax paint mixture, but then some of the fibers from the paper towel were sticking to the planter. So I then used a rag to wipe off the excess and that worked a lot better.
I then used a baby wipe to pull more of the wax up and that’s when this planter really started to look good! I went around the planter in sections and I’m really happy how this one turned out. I think this one is my favorite! The brown underneath really starts to come out and how the planter looks nice and aged. Just think of all the color combinations you can experiment with and see what happens!
Again, I coated with the Rust-Oleum clear matte spray to protect the finish.
So I hope you are excited about this project and ready to try your hand at turning Dollar Tree planters into high end planters for your garden this year!
If you would like to see the video of how I created these DIY Planters, you can click here! And if you decide to make any of these, please share in Our Crafts section!
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