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Friday, April 27, 2012

Pallet Planter Revealed!!



I cannot express to you how flipping excited I have been about this project!  I finished it this Tuesday and it's been killing me not to show you! Seriously, I may have given myself an ulcer!

When Jane first asked me to do a piece on sprucing up a fleamarket find, I immediately thought of junk.  Not that you can't find some amazing finds at flea markets, but I thought of all the "junk" pieces people find and turn into cool pieces of art.

So here is my interpretation of fleamarket finds for the Spring Into Spring party!

I got a pair of pallets from my Mom when she had some work done on her house.  As usual, they sat in my garage for a few months before I finally decided what to make with them.

This little flower bed on the front of our house has been an eyesore to me:


It's not really terrible, but the flowers in the back didn't get as tall and wide as we had hoped, so we had to stare at this HUGE, blank, cement wall.  Blech!

So I decided to use this pallet to spruce the area up!

This is the pallet I used to make my planter.  This is the view from the back.  Keep in mind all pallets are a little different, so you might have to make adjustments if you make your own.


I attacked the pallet kinda spur of the moment, so I didn't get any action shots.  Instead I've used my fancy paint thing to show you what to do.

Before you begin, PUT ON GLOVES! I'm finding new blue splinters every day!


When placed horizontally the pallet is too tall for my space.  So I cut off part of the top to shorten it.  I used my jigsaw and cut where the arrows are.


The piece I cut off looked like this.  There was a single, larger board on the back and two smaller boards on the front.  Again, I used my jigsaw and cut where you see the red lines.  This reduced the large back piece into three small boards.  I then used a hammer and knocked the remaining pieces of wood off the two front boards. 

When finished I had the two front pieces, and three smaller back pieces.


I just used a hammer and some nails to attach the three smaller pieces under the top board on the back as seen in the picture above.  This makes the three upper areas like boxes so I can actually plant something.

I then took one of the front pieces and nailed it to the bottom of the pallet.  Again, this creates three lower boxes so I can plant.

I used a custom mix of paint and did a sort of dry brush.  I didn't sand or seal the paint because I want it to naturally chip off.


Now you're ready to put in plastic.


I cut up a large trash bag and put a piece in each compartment.  I then added a little bit of potting soil and trimmed the front of the garbage bag to be flush with the front edge.  I folded the back of the garbage bag over itself so it would be flush with the soil.

Now you plant your beauties!


The green plants are sweet potato vines.  I've been dying to plant some of these!  They cost $4 for a container of two. I love how the green looks with the blue!


I have no idea what the other flowers are, but they're a trailing annual.  I bought two six packs for $2 a pack.  Eventually they'll be spilling over the sides!


I am so stinking in love with this thing!  It really brightens up this flower bed and breaks up the wall!



I love the blue 'cause it matches our blue porch chair!

So far the trailing annuals are doing great - some of them have even bloomed already!  The potato vines are having a harder time adjusting - so I'll keep you updated on how they all hold up!

Hopefully in a few weeks all the plants will be cascading down the pallet!

I hope you've had a chance to check out all the spring inspired projects this week!


Now it's your turn to show off all your awesome spring junk!  I can't wait to see what you've been working on!

Cheers!

Domestically SpeakingPhotobucket Transformation ThursdayUndertheTableandDreamingSew ChattyPhotobucketPhotobucket


30 comments:

  1. it looks awesome, katie! i love the punch of color, and love the style!

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  2. It is so beautiful and so creative! Just a tip, something I ran into when doing a planting project using trash bags: you may want to drill a few holes in the bottom of the boards and trash bags that comprise the planter part. My planter didn't drain properly and many of my plants got root rot! The holes (about 10 quarter-inch ones) helped so much! You may lose a little soil over time, but your plants won't drown when it rains.
    Thanks for sharing such a cool project!!!

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  3. That is just cool! Great job! I love it!
    Stacey :o)

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  4. For those interested, the annuals are called moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora). They bloom from early spring into early fall and I've seen them in a wide variety of colors (pink, white, yellow, and orange).

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    1. Thanks!! I'm glad someone knows their plants!

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  5. This is AH-MAY-ZING!!! I love love love it!! I need to convince my husband to find me a pallet so I can do something like this. I'm thinking a pallet herb garden?? Oh my I'm excited now!

    http://notacreativename.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Sara!! He shouldn't object, it's free! :) Please send me pictures if you do one!! Good luck!

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  6. The wonderful color just drew me in. What a great reuse for a pallet section, Love this!

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  7. I just discovered you today! I am impressed that you could do something so wonderful with a plain old pallet! Fabulous job and love the color you chose. We are building a garden/potting shed and this would be perfect in front. Looking forward to see what else you have up your sleeve. :)

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  8. So clever!! I have two pallets in my backyard waiting to be transformed. I was planning on making the bookcases but I have too many of those in my house as it is so I was putting it off. This idea is perfect! Lord knows my backyard needs a little sprucing up. I hope my pallets are like yours. Please post pics when all your plants are in full bloom! Can't wait to see it all full! Love it!

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  9. Katie, I love the pop of blue from the planter and the chair! Your front porch and yard look awesome! I used that same blue for some accessories on my front porch too, love it!
    I linked up a few of my posts from this week, but one of them isn't showing up (#5 burlap)..no biggie, I'm happy to be a part of this party, thanks so much for hosting! Have a great weekend!
    Barbara @ Chase the Star

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  10. Totally Perfect!!! I'd love to have you share at my party...it JUST opened!!!

    http://www.itsoverflowing.com/2012/04/overflowing-with-creativity-19.html

    XO, Aimee

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  11. Cuteness girl. Pinned it. LOVE the pop of color. So creative, wow!

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  12. Its a very interesting piece! Love the pair of blues.

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  13. I just might have to do this, my backyard has only rocks and I need somewhere to grow something! I will be pinning it right about... now!

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  14. Great idea for a punch of color. The trailing annual is called Moss Rose

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  15. Another cool project - love it! And the pops of blue do look great with your house!

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  16. This is such a great use for a pallet, it looks wonderful. If I was sure my kids wouldn't try climbing it, I would be making one of these!

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  17. fantastic idea! See pallets all over blogland, but rarely painted - LOVE it.

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  18. So cute! What a good idea. I love love love that color!!

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  19. Thanks Beth! It's one of my favorite colors!

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  20. I just found you when Gina of Shabby Creek Cottage featured you on FB, and had to come take a look. I love your planter. What a neat idea. It'll look great when the plants start to cascade down the front.
    Im now following you and hope you'll come visit me at PICKINandPAININ.blogspot.com. THANKS. 8-)

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  21. Love how cheery your planter is and brightrns up the space, Katie! Featured ya ;)
    xoxo

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  22. Such a fun idea! I love how it turned out! So bright and cheerful! :)
    You will be featured @ this week's {nifty thrifty sunday}!
    xoxo,
    Vanessa @ {nifty thrifty things}

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  23. I love how this turned out Katie! and I love that it matches your chair too! : ) You were featured today! Have a great Sunday!

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  24. I love this, Katie!! The color is so fun and I love how it looks!!

    I featured this on my blog today:
    http://christinasadventures.com/2012/05/sunday-features-71-72.html

    And I pinned it too:
    http://pinterest.com/christinasadven/20-below-features/

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  25. Katie, this is great. I'm a NYC gal, considering a pallet planting project for my fire escape farm. I love your post because you used the wood scraps to make bottoms for your planting sections. I'm curious about how the design worked out for you and the plants in the long run. If you did it again would you line the sections in plastic as before?

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    1. Thanks Dynishal! Sorry I've taken so long to respond to you! The wood scraps that I used for the underside of the planter have held up well. I believe I used nails when I assembled it, screws may be best for longevity. I would probably use the material used in hanging planters to line my planter rather than the plastic lining. I feel like it would give the plants something to root into and allow for better drainage and temperature control. As for the plants, the moss roses did wonderful! They grew beautifully! The sweet potato vines did not do as well due to the small space, and I ended up transplanting them to another large planter. Good luck!!

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  26. nice planter pallets, I have other project idea for the pallet, I will build an indoor koi pond used the pallets as frame of my koi pond
    liquidation pallets

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