DIY a Fake Stone Planter from Styrofoam Box

          

This is a repost of a popular project which has been requested over on 

Facebook's Garden Art Junk group.

 

Here's what I do with those holiday ham styrofoam boxes 

I don't want to pitch into the landfill.

RECYCLE!

I make "stone" planters for my succulent pots!

Here's how....

and please note, this is best done OUTSIDE.

This part is messy!

Using a serrated steak knife, I cut the top edge down to make the box the size I wanted.

Then I scored all the sides with a wire brush.

I made stone shape grooves with a butter knife. You can cut as deep 

or as shallow as you wish to get the look you like.

Next, I brushed a some grey, white and black acrylic craft

 paint over the whole box.

Very sparingly, spray black spray paint at some of your stone joints. 

The paint will melt the foam and give it some very rocky texture. 

Don't over do it, you can always add more texture.

 Go slow and look at the results from all angles.

Now with a brush or a paint rag or a sponge of what have you,

 start layering on acrylic craft paint in rock and moss colors.

 I used black, charcoal grey, brown, several greens and even a bit of dark blue.

I do not plant my succulents directly in the styrofoam box. 

I keep them in their own pots so I can change them out as I wish.

 But I have to say, the sedum in this fake stone box look wonderful!

DIY Pebble Garden Balls

Okay, I admit it, I love to use garden balls and orbs for decoration in my landscape. I especially love blue glass balls of any kind (including the ones I make myself....here's a link to a DIY.

.http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2013/05/glass-garden-balls-diy-part-1.html) 

But these wonderfully textured pebbled balls are fast becoming my new go-to yard accessory.

The stones have great colors and texture and paired with my pebbled birdhouses (with cedar shake roofs) they really look beautiful mixed in with all my flowers and planters. 

I admit I move the balls and birdhouses around just about every week. They look good  anywhere I put them!

I get my pebbles at the Dollar Store and the balls are plastic oversize Christmas balls bought on clearance after the holidays for 25 cents a piece. LOVE the Dollar Store sales! This bag of pebbles covered this 4" ball with plenty to spare so the cost was less than $2 even with the adhesive, which is available at Michael's. Use a 40% off coupon and save!

On this ball I used E 6000 jewelry glue. Be sure you work in a very well ventilated place and let each side of the ball set up for awhile before doing the other side. You can also use GE Silicone II adhesive.

On this smaller ball I used outdoor formula Liquid Nails adhesive and really glopped it on so I'd get a  grouted mosaic effect with the stones. The lighter adhesive really contrasts well with the rocks. The adhesive does shrink a bit in drying but I didn't think it took away from the finished appearance of the ball. 

The stone birdhouse is one of my favorites, made with Liquid Nails and rocks on a craft store birdhouse many years ago. The roof is made of cedar shims cut in half and glued in layers. I LOVE how the stones and wood have weathered so nicely. Once a year I spray all my stone garden projects with clear acrylic sealer. It gives them some weather protection and also brings out the colors in the pebbles and wood.

Beautiful, inexpensive and pretty easy, these pebbled balls (and the glass marble balls I also make) are displayed in my yard and garden. Besides pleasing me no end they also guarantee no one has garden art exactly like mine. That's a win win!

I'll be linking up to the parties in my sidebar. Come visit and/or join in. I guarantee you'll meet some creative and clever people!

Revive Old Planter Pots with Primer and Paint

. I have dozens of planters and containers on and around my front porch and yard.
Whoa.
But this spring, some of them definitely needed sprucing up.

This is just one side of the deck. I've since added MORE planters from yard sales and thrift stores but they were looking tired and tacky.

So I spent ZERO dollars by using what I had on hand and figured out the best way to refresh my plant pots.

I learned, the hard way, that you can paint exterior plastic surfaces with any kind of paint. IF you use primer first.

Here's what the tired pinkish railing planters look like now.

Yes, ladies, use primer first. Once you've primered your plastic you can use latex house paint, craft paint, oil enamel paint and even the cheapest grades of spray paint. The primer is the key! If you decide to go forward without using the primer your plastic pieces will look okay for a while and downright icky in a few week's/month's time.

 

I had all my succulents in these pinkish Dollar store planters before.....

And here they are after. Tada!!

The succulents needed repotted so while the pots were empty I redid them all with oil based primer and black spray paint. Begone, pink plastic! Love how they look!

But the planters don't have to be empty. Just take a bit of care with your plants. Be sure your surfaces are clean and dry.

Here's a huge used planter unpainted and it's sister, painted.

 Much better! I didn't go for complete and perfect coverage so the pots would look a bit like weathered pottery. I love how these look, too!

And if you want a nice, smooth finish, you can do that. Here's how my beat up square planter looks now.

I used cheap brushes to apply the primer paint and chucked them when I was done. It is a good idea to line up all your pots and primer them one at a time. By the time you are done with all of them the primer will be dry on the first ones and ready for the final coat of color. If the weather is warmish you can easily do lots of pots in an afternoon!

Cheap, easy and high impact. Gotta love it.

And now, excuse me, but I need to go plant shopping!

I'll be joining the parties on my sidebar, come check them out and find some wonderful ideas!