Tag: affordable diy

DIY Concrete Planters

 \Have you guys seen the concrete trend in home decor?  It is seriously SO pretty.  I love the modern twist on a classic look.  I’ve been looking and waiting for huge concrete planters to go on sale so I can put them on our front porch.  I need big planters to fill the space and balance the size.  But guys, have you seen the PRICES!? Holy moly.  WAY too expensive for me.  The ones I’ve found available to me, cost between $65-$250 EACH and I want/need two.  Ummm yeah, not spending on that if I KNOW I can make it myself!

My inspiration 🙂

So I did what every good DIYer (and how every story seems to start here) does and headed off to the hardware store to find materials so I can do it myself! I’m not afraid of a little hard work, burns calories and gets me the look I want without spending tons of cash!  Like every project I do over here, I look at other tutorials or websites and figure out if this project has been done before.  Luckily, for me, this project has been done before so I looked at materials used and the basic concept to plan what’s next for me.  Then comes the fun part, walking the aisles of the hardware store, looking for what I need! This particular day, was a beautiful spring day and somehow, I was there alone, no children with me, which obviously elevated the experience for me!

 

What did I find? Here’s the materials I found and purchased for use during this project.  I made two planters at one time, so here’s the shopping list for 2, large planters!

Materials

2- 5 gallon buckets 

2- 2 gallon buckets

80lb bag of concrete mix – not gonna lie, I didn’t realize there were options when it comes to concrete. So, I just got the one that looked the most “multi-purpose”.  I used the entire 80lb bag for these planters

Water

4 heavy bricks

Canola cooking spray-I’m 100% sure there is probably a lubricating product specifically made for concrete but, I didn’t have any, so this is what I used #housewifelife

How To Instructions

When I got home, I laid out my materials, setting out my large buckets and small buckets in the yard.  Using my cooking spray, I liberally sprayed the outside of the small buckets and inside of the larger buckets before I mixed my concrete.  Then using the instructions on the bag of concrete, I mixed the concrete mix with water.  Now, I fully admit, I was thinking there would be a recipe, kind of like when you make brownies or pancakes, but there was no such recipe.  It just said “add water”……so I did!  I added just enough water to mix in well and make it to a pourable consistency.  Make sure you are wearing eye protection and a mask.  The concrete mix is quite dusty and you do NOT want to breathe in that material or get it in your eyes.

Also, be sure to mix up the concrete in small batches.  This lengthens the project but keeps it at a manageable weight.  Concrete is HEAVY so it becomes harder to lift and pour as the weight increases!

The next step is to pour the concrete into the larger bucket. I poured until the bucket was 1/3 of the way full, estimating how tall the 2 gallon bucket is.  Once this step was complete, I slowly pressed in the 2 gallon bucket and put rocks in the bucket to weigh it down.  Finally, I poured concrete into the space between the large and smaller bucket until it was filled to the top.

The concrete took a full 5 days to harden.

Removing the concrete from the buckets, MIGHT be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done!  Three days of drying, I tried using a utility knife to cut away at the sides of the bucket but this scratched the concrete since it was not all the way dry.  I waited another 2 days and then tried cutting from the bottom.  This was the “money move”.  Once the bottom had a slit in it, I was able to slide the entire planter out of the large bucket.  To remove the smaller bucket, I cut around the top of the bucket until it was loosed up enough to slide out!

I carried these heavy things to my front porch and planted flowers in them.  The way I made these, they do not have a drain hole, so I placed rock at the bottom to allow some drainage.

I seriously LOVE the way they turned out and I hope you do too!  Please follow me on Instagram and let me know if you love it! Also, check out how I styled my front porch for this summer!

Here is some more front porch inspiration. Shop commissioned links here 

DIY Boho Inspired Yarn Christmas Tree

boho tree

Recently, as I was scrolling Pinterest, I was inspired by all the boho yarn crafts I was seeing for Christmas.  All I have to do if figure out how to make those cute little yarn tassels, easy right?!  Well, it turns out, it’s actually hard at all.  So easy, I really think anyone, even if you lack a crafty bone in your bone, can do it!

 

The first step is to gather your materials.  I happened to have all these things on hand, but if you don’t, I’ll link some options for you!

What you need:

18×24 frame without the glass. I just used one I had!

cardstock, vinyl or anything else you want to use a the backdrop to your tree.  I used peel and stick vinyl because I had it on hand

white/off white yarn

scissors

hot glue and hot glue gun

 

Once you get everything you need, you are ready to start.  I”ll show you step by step, how to make these tassels.

Making Tassels

First, you begin by wrapping yarn around your fingers, slipping the end through your finger to keep it in place.

boho tree

How many times you wrap the yard around your fingers, will determine how big/bulky your tassels will be.  I wrapped mine around 30 times and I think it was the perfect size for my frame!

boho tree

Next, once you have it the size you want, you’ll slip it off your fingers and cut a small piece of yarn to thread through the main loop.

boho tree

After that, you’ll need to tie that yarn to sinch together the tassel. Don’t worry about the length of the yarn, we will be cutting these evenly at the end.

boho tree

Once you’ve completed this step, you will cut another piece of yarn, about 4 -5 inches long to make the “head” of the tassel

boho tree

Tie that into a tight knot and let the yarn fall into the rest of the tassel

Finally, the last step, is cutting the bottom evenly.

And here you have it, the cutest little yarn tassel. Repeat this 9 more times to make a total of 10 tassels.

 

Putting it All Together

Once all your tassels are made, you are ready to move to the next part, which is putting it all together.

 

After I had all my tassels made, I used peeled and stick vinyl to cover the backing of the frame to give it a nice background.  I used a black and white patterned vinyl that I found in my vinyl stash. However,  I think you could use black vinyl or cardstock in order to make the white tree “pop”.

 

You can use any size frame you’d like, make it super easy by using one you already have!

 

In order to make the stump for the tree, I simply found a stick in my yard.  I peeled off a bit of the bark to make the back of it flat, as I preferred this look.

boho tree

 

Next, I used hot glue to glue the tassels in a tree like formation, scrunching them together at the top of each tassel.  I worked from the bottom to the top, making sure to space evenly between rows of tassels so it would have a nice even look.

boho tree

 

And that’s it! You have the CUTEST frame to add to your holiday decor.  You can easily hang this on a wall, let sit on an end table or add to mantle decor.  Mine found a cute spot between some fun Christmas trees, on a entry table in our living room.

boho tree