Thrift Store Gardening: DIY Planters

10 Materials
$10.00
2 Hours
Easy
No matter the season, the thrift store always has treasures just waiting to be found! I especially love shopping during gardening season though because the possibilities for planters and garden decor abound. All it takes is a little patience and a wide-open imagination.
I'd been looking for a colander just like this for a while (that's the patience part).


When I finally found it, I snatched it up and poked around for a couple more pieces that would work together to make a planter.


I found this lovely blue candle holder for $2, and a Pfaltzgraff plate for $1. Along with my $2 colander, I had a plant stand in the making for just $5!
I started with a good coat of glue along the top of the candle holder. Gorilla glue is my absolute favorite, and if you want to hear me go on and on about how wonderful it is, just hang around for a while. I love this stuff!
It's a pretty straight-forward process. Next, I centered the plate on the candle holder. It had a nice little handy section right in the middle that made it easy to get it glued right in place.
Finally, I glued the colander onto the plate and let it dry. You probably notice those globs of glue edging out from under the feet of the colander. That's nothing to worry about. After a good cure time (at least 24 hours - this project got about 36) those dried pieces of extra glue were a snap to trim right off with an Xacto knife.
I decided to give this one a coat of primer - mostly because of the paint finish I planned to use. I didn't want to use more paint than I had to because these specialty finishes are not inexpensive. Primer is.
Since the stand will be outdoors, I gave it a clear coat to protect it from the weather.


After the paint was dry, I lined the colander with coco fiber, added some potting soil, and 4 small plants. All done!


I love my little thrifted plant stand that cost just over $10, paint included.


Don't you just love a great thrift store find? All it takes is a little patience and a wide-open imagination. Have fun!
Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
To Work With My Hands
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 19 questions
  • Mara Vsn Mara Vsn on Aug 17, 2021

    I got a wok which I want to use as planter, any suggestion?

  • Mara Vsn Mara Vsn on Aug 17, 2021

    did you put the soil directly in the collander or is there a pot ?

  • Julia Julia 6 days ago

    Is there anything else to use besides coco fiber? It’s expensive???it is very pretty! Where did u get your coco liner it’s. High on Amazon!!???

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 201 comments
  • Jenny Jenny on Jan 31, 2022

    The pale blue version is simply Devine! We didn’t see a finish on thar! Where’d it go? 😵‍💫

  • Ida Moreno Ida Moreno on Jul 26, 2022

    I have this collander which was my mom’s and I still use it!

Next