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Laundry Basket Planter
When I see something left on the curb to be picked up by the trash man, my mind starts racing to create a use for this item. I begin to think I could totally use this for… and then, it becomes a “need.” I have to have it or my life will not be complete!
This broken laundry basket I saw on the side of the road was no different, except I couldn’t think of a use for it. I grabbed it off the side of the road anyways, not even caring. So, it sat in my basement for about six month when it finally hit me “I can use it to as a planter.” Here is how I turned this trash into treasure.
First, I taped up the crack in the side with some plain old packing tape. Next, I hot glued burlap on the inside to cover the slats of the basket. This was to help make sure my dirt stayed in.
Then, I attached rope around the basket, making sure to cover the seam where the two fabric pieces came together.
Finally, I added the dirt and plant. You can’t even tell it was a broken laundry basket. Ye-haw!
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Starting Plants In Toilet Paper Rolls
Do you remember the adorable heart shaped stamps I shared around Valentines Day? Well, this time I am bringing you a completely different use for a toilet paper roll. These little cardboard tubes make a fantastic, decomposable home for starting plants.
First, I started saving our empty toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls and wrapping paper rolls months in advance, so I was prepared to begin the seedlings.
I thought about writing directly on each one, but my two little guys helping me with planting and their listening skills weren’t exactly the best. They would put seeds in whatever spot they wanted. My system of coloring coding toothpicks worked amazingly. After the kids sewed the seeds, they placed a toothpick in the corresponding paper roll.
This key will help me later with identifying each plant.
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Numbered Mailbox
Do you have projects around the house that you keep putting off? Me too and this was one of them. Our mailbox was in desperate need of replacing.
About 3 months ago the flag fell off. With the use of duct tape, I was able to make it work for about another week. Then, the tape became useless and so did I. Instead of replacing it, I would just drive to the post office to drop off our out going mail. A couple times, I even wedged the old flag in the front of the mailbox hoping the mailman would get the hint. Yes people, this is laziness at it’s best.
Finally, it was time. I had put it off long enough. I just had to get a new one. So I headed off to Lowes and bought the cheapest one I could find. To jazz it up a bit, I decided to painted our house number on it.
First, I printed out the letters and number out on plain white copy paper. Then, they were traced onto freezer paper.
Next, using an x-acto knife, I cut out each piece to create a stencil.
With the help of these floating hands, I taped the stencils to the mailbox.
After testing some different types of paints on the bottom of the mailbox, I realized none of them were going to stick unless I sanded first. So using a pencil wrapped with sandpaper I roughed up each letter and number.
Because I don’t have one of those fancy spouncers, I use a regular old sponge brush to apply white exterior latex paint. This type of paint seemed to adhere the best.
Finally, I removed the stencils and voila. I have a numbered mail box.
I am really happy with the results. I think our mail man will be please to no longer be notified we have outgoing mail like this:
What projects on your to-do list do you keep putting off? -
The Garage Files
At one point, I even tried my hand at stenciling in an attempt to spiffy it up and you can see how well that worked out. Oops.
I started out by giving it a good wipe down to remove the dust. And cobwebs, which don’t really go well with anything except Halloween decor. Next, I removed the drawers and sent them packin’.
Stripes are pretty cool and I knew I definitely wanted to put a stripe on my cabinet, but I also wanted to include some type of text. I figured “clean up” was pretty motivational for garage organization, so that’s what was printed on a large waterproof label. The problem was that I didn’t realize that the label I had just printed out on my inkjet printer was actually for a laser printer. Oops #2. The ink attached itself to everything my hands touched, as I struggled to cut it out. Smudgy Smudgerson.
However, I didn’t let a little ink stop me. On went the painter’s tape and the sullied words.
Using semi–gloss white paint, I carefully brushed over the words, being mindful of the tape edges. After a bit, everything was dry. When I removed the tape and letters though, I found that the paint had leaked through (under?) and messed up my cute wording. Oops #3.
So I used a handy dandy craft knife to carefully peel the excess off. It actually worked pretty well.
Then, my hubby helped attach four casters to the bottom, which would make it much easier to move our new garage storage around.
As simple as this project should have been, it ended up being a big pain in the rear because of all the little Oopsies. Luckily, they were able to be recovered, for the most part. (Sorry drawers. Enjoy your new life on the curb.)
The best thing about this project is that it was F-R-double-E. Free. In the future, we may add some sort of dividers along the top to help keep things more upright, but we are happy with how it turned out for now.
Linked up with East Coast Creative #cwts2014