In The Garden – DIY + HANDMADE + VINTAGE

Tipsy Planter Fairy Garden

Published on October 16, 2020October 31, 2020 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

It’s been quite a while since I paired creativity with the use of my green thumb. Several years ago, I created a Primitive Tipsy Pot Planter and I felt like it was time to do something similar, but this time, I wanted to give it a little bit of a twist. Although we are now moving into the colder time of year here in Wisconsin, I thought it would be a good time to share a fun project that you can complete indoors or out, regardless of weather!

I have had a 2 tiered stand laying around for quite a while. Unsure what to do with it, I just let it lay in my workshop, knowing that one day I’d come up with some use for it. About a month ago, my daughter saw it while we were cleaning the garage and told me that we should turn it into a fairy garden. I absolutely loved her idea, so we ran with the thought, changing up a few things as we went, and created our very own mini Tipsy Planter Fairy Garden! This could be a great project for anyone, and especially for kiddos to help an adult with! You may not have exactly what we used, but look around your home, garage, sheds, thrift stores and see what you can find! Be creative! Most importantly, have fun!

Read below to see how we accomplished our latest little indoor garden of fun.

Starting with a disassembled tray, we discarded the top portion, but kept the larger bottom portion, as well as the center support and handle. I chose a drill bit that was slightly larger than the support piece, and drilled one hole into the center each of the three buckets. I also drilled several smaller hole into the bottom tray for drainage.

We added potting soil into the bottom tray + the three buckets, then put each bucket onto the ‘handle’ through the hole that we drilled. At this point, you can tip the pots whichever way you feel looks best. Next C. got to planting! All of the plants were purchased locally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We worked a while on getting plants put into the spots where we felt that they fit best, and then went around the garage, house and C’s bedroom and gathered found items to place into the fairy garden! This is the fun part! Use what you have and don’t be afraid to give something else a new purpose, like turning an old jar lid into a fairy pond! As time goes on, you can change things up, put in different plants as well as different accessories. Don’t be afraid to be a little weird and little whimsy with your design, it’s a fairy garden after all!

Below you can see more photos as well as steps that we took to complete our Tipsy Planter Fairy Garden!

The two tiered tray before we disassembled it.

The tray disassembled. + The Small buckets we purchase online at Wal Mart.

The small metal bucket before drilling. For this part, I used Dewalt Titanium Pilot Point Drill Bits.

Assembled, getting ready for adding potting soil and plants! (Plants shown on the left side were used in a different project!)

After:

Click images above to enlarge or view a slideshow.

This was such a fun project and I am so thankful that my daughter wanted to join me and use her creativity as well. I hope this gives you some inspiration to get out in your garage or your workshop and create something beautiful out of something ordinary!

View this project over on Hometalk!

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Milk-house curb appeal project.

Published on June 24, 2017January 14, 2021 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

Today I decided to add some much needed TLC to our little milk house.

Rummaging around our scrap wood pile, looking for pieces of wood to making ‘something’ with, I got the idea to whip up some shutters for the front window of the milk house! I have never made shutters before, and I honestly didn’t really know what I was doing, but using my handy DIY gene, I think I did a pretty great job!

I measured , of course, twice right? I cut four boards the same length, these would serve as the main shutter, then I measured four more boards, which would serve as the cross pieces that will hold the shutters together and add the final character.

After assembled, I went over the shutter twice with Minwax Polyurethane and stain in black, let dry and attached to the milk house using wood screws.

Here is the milk house before:

Also, kind of like the book, ‘If you give a mouse a cookie,’ my projects always spiral into other projects. After building and installing the shutters, I realized the window still needed a little something more. I then got the idea for a window box planter, and was planning to build one out of scrap wood or find something cool to re-purpose into a planter, when I came across an old white cornice that I had removed from above our living room window upon moving into our house.

Perfect! I flipped it upside down, and screwed it onto the milk-house, under the window! Lined it with plastic lining, drilled in some holes, filled with dirt, robbed flowers from other planters I had, and it was complete!

Cornice upon moving in.

Flipped upside down and turned into a planter box!

See for yourself below what a difference something as simple as scrap wood and flowers can make!

I hope this gives everyone a bit of inspiration to ‘see’ things differently!
Find this project over on Hometalk.

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Mini truck-garden tutorial.

Published on June 11, 2015March 30, 2019 by Kelly Whitman2 Comments

I remember it like it was yesterday. Dad would park the van in their driveway in Minnesota, us 3 kids would jump out as fast as we could, and run down the sidewalk on the hill that was graced with beautiful flower and rock gardens all the way to Grandma and Grandpas door.

Grandma and Grandpa always kept a neat and tidy yard. It always made me so happy as a child to run around their yard and to follow the gorgeous garden paths, which at a young age felt like secret paths winding around the back of their house. Whenever we would go to visit their house on the lake, we spent lots of time fishing in the boat, jumping off the end of the dock, and always always helping Grandma with some sort of chore. She made sure her gardens were always kept up, and on occasion she would have me and maybe a few others, take all of the small rocks that lined the border of one garden alongside of the deck, remove them from their place, and hand wash them one by one and put them back in place. I loved it.

Grandma and Grandpas gardens have inspired me in life in so many ways. I have taken my own kids to pick out flat rocks from Lake Superior, so they can paint on them, to put in our flower gardens- just like Grandma used to let me pick out a rock from her garden to paint on.

After owning our little hobby farm for 2 years now, I am finally putting in the time, and effort to create that sort of a space that I know Grandma would have loved. That space that you can walk through and feel peace, sit and watch the birds in, look at and feel inspired. I however, will not be taking my rocks out and washing them on occasion.

This time around, I decided to make several small gardens, inside of rusty trucks that I have had laying around for a long time. This was a fun project that was perfect for my 2 kids to help me with! Read below to see how I turned rusty old trucks into art in the garden!

Mini truck-garden tutorial

What you need;
-Rusty toy trucks (if you can’t find trucks- that’s okay! Other items will work too, like rusty buckets, wheelbarrows, etc)
-Potting soil
-Small gravel or rocks
-Window screening -if desired
– Plants of choice (Succulents make perfect contenders for truck gardens)
-Fairy garden supplies -available at most local garden centers & stores

What to do;
1.) Gather all of your supplies. If your truck has small holes, or rusted out areas in the part of the truck that you will be placing the plants, that is perfect! If they have too big of holes, you can choose to cut window screening and lay it across the hole, but if the truck has no holes in it, you will have to get out the drill and drill a few small drainage holes in the area you will be planting.

2.) Take the gravel you scooped from your driveway , like I did. Or small rocks and place them in the bottom area of the truck in a thin layer.

3.) Take a few handfuls of potting soil and place it in the truck and mix it together well with the gravel.

4.) Carefully place your plants where you would like them. You may have to shake off some of the dirt that came with the plant in order to get it to fit right. Feel free to mix some of that in with the potting soil already in the truck too. Succulents work great for mini truck gardens and are very low maintenance.

5.) If you found some net fairy garden items, place one or two in each truck for added charm. (P.S. No trucks were harmed in the making of these gardens. They all returned to their normal truck state after summer)

6.) Enjoy your new mini truck garden!

Primitive planters.

Published on November 7, 2013March 29, 2019 by Kelly WhitmanLeave a comment

Today I have the honor of having my blog post featured over at Pretty Handy Girl’s talent parade!

If you head on over to her site, you will find my post all about how with a little bit of creativity and some dirt on your hands-you can take antique and primitive pieces like these….;

…and turn them into beautiful, unique & one of a kind planters that are rich with history, like this one…;

Read my full blog post about primitive planters, HERE , complete with step by step instructions and great photos!

Now get out there and play in the dirt!

Thanks for reading,
~Kelly

Primitive tipsy pot planter.

Published on October 16, 2013March 29, 2019 by Kelly Whitman6 Comments

“In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ” ~Abram L. Urban

Oh, sweet Summer time. The sounds of bees buzzing around the yard and the laughter of children fill the air, the grass is warm on your toes and you are ready to plant some flowers, but aren’t sure what to plant to be different from every other garden on your block.

The tipsy pot planter is a great Do It Yourself project anyone can do, with just a few supplies and a bit of a green thumb.

Using these simple steps below, you can create your own primitive tipsy pot planter!

Primitive Tipsy Pot Planter

Project Cost: Under $60.00
Project Level: Medium
Project Supplies: Flowers, Potting soil, Primitive pots, 1/2″ steel conduit |Project Tools: Drill, 1″ hole saw.

1.) Pick the location where you want your tipsy pot planter. I chose to place mine in a place where the grass has never really grown well, right near my main entrance, which makes a great way to greet guests as they come for a visit.

2.) Drill holes into the bottom of each pot. If you are using the 1/2″ conduit, you will need to drill a 1″ hole in each pot. This is what allows the pots to tip from side to side.

I used a drill with a 1″ hole saw attached.

3.) Place your first, larger pot in the location you desire.

4.) Push your conduit into the ground, through the hole you drilled in the larger pot & fill your pot with potting soil.

5.) Continue stacking your pots, tipping them as you go, along the way. Fill them with dirt and whatever flowers your little heart desires. I mainly use flowers that will grow and eventually drape over the edge of the buckets (ivy, vinca vine, petunias, Calibrachoa etc).

Finished Project:

Your guests (and you) will LOVE walking up to your door and being greeted by such beauty and character, and don’t forget to add a sweet little sign to personalize your new tipsy pot planter :

Tips:

Your steel conduit should be even or below the top tipsy pot, if needed, give it a few good pounds to push it down into the ground farther.

Pack your soil nice and tight into the first pot, as the rest of your pots will be resting right in the larger of all the pots.

The more rust your bucket has, the easier it will be to drill through.

A primitive tipsy pot planter is a great way to up-cycle ,(be creative and design your own with whatever you have laying around or find for a good deal at an antique store) and will add beauty and character to your garden and yard, and leave your guests asking ‘How did you do that!?’

You can follow Anchored Way Trading Co. on Facebook as well to see more great ideas like this one!

Thanks for reading,

~Kelly

(Please note this was originally posted when I had ‘The Pink Hammer blog’ on June 1st of 2012, this is the new and only location of this DIY Tutorial by Kelly Whitman /Endless Acres Farmtiques – previously The Pink Hammer blog )