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October 2, 2012

Cloche or Planter?

I bought this hanging candle holder at the local Thrift for $4.95. I was going to take it out of its hanging metal ring and use it as a cloche but then decided I think I'd like it better as a hanging planter.

I am getting really bad about not taking before pics! But just picture it without the acorns in the bottom and that's what it started out as, m'kay?

Anytime you are making a planter, you need to use something in the bottom for drainage so the roots don't stagnate in water. I normally use packing peanuts because they are very light and don't make moving plants a workout, but that would really look terrible. I needed something lightweight but natural and so I decided to use the abundance of acorns that are littering my backyard. I collected the ones the squirrels had not taken a bit of, and filled it up about 3 inches.

Perfect.
Make sure some of the tops are facing out for color when you add the soil.

Don't dump the soil in like I did here. I had to dump it all out, find all of the acorns, clean them off, and fill 'er up again 

At this point I thought it would be easier if this was not hung up. Find another pot or something to place this in since it does not have a flat bottom. So  much easier and I am all about makin' things easier for you!

So now that you have a proper work area,  use a SMALL cup and GENTLY add the soil over the acorns. Again make sure some of the tan tops show through on the side of the glass. Now fill it up about less than 1/2 way with soil.

Add your small plants. I used 2 small ferns and a succulent.

I added some small rocks and a few more whole acorns to make it look a little like a miniature woodland clearing

Hang your hanger first then add the cloche.

See how nice the acorns look in the water?






I probably should have put less soil in so that the plant tops hit the top of the metal ring. That way more of the plants could be visualized. So now you know what not to do.

See how all the layers are natural but provide a visual buffet of texture.



What do you think? 

Now try finding something that would not be considered a planter and go plant something!
What can it hurt? Stretch those creative muscles!


 And make sure if you have and you are NOT a blogger, that you send me an email with photos so I can feature you and you can be apart of the SACP²!


Always being renewed,




9 comments:

  1. Oh, I would use it as a cloche, simply because i can never afford the ones i see in magazines and this would be perfect and unique. But that's just me.

    You, of course, made this beautiful too. I am not surprised. ;-) Hugs!!

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  2. That is so beautiful! I love how you transformed this for your space. Megan

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  3. I have 4 of these candle holders that I was bored with...but now I can repurpose them and enjoy them in a great new way!! Thanks.

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  4. Lovely! I find such joy in looking at something not as what it was intended to be, but what I can turn it into!

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  5. Turned out beautiful, Kim! You can try adding a layer of landscape fabric or something similar between the soil & acorns to stop the soil from going into them. (and be careful watering...succulents and ferns are at opposite ends of the watering regime!)
    Looks great though! I love the look of terrariums.
    Debbie :)

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  6. Planter for sure! This is lovely, I have something similar in my garage, thank you for the inspiration :)

    Hugs, Tanya

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  7. Gorgeous planter and arrangement! I love how you used acorns for the drainage. I have an oak tree with plenty of acorns laying around. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  8. Thanks for the great idea!!! I have a hanging candle holder that I think would be great as a planter. I'll keep this in my computer to do next week. Did you get the paper about the old shutter/planter? Love, Mom

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    1. Yes Mom and it made me smile! I have wanted to do something like this but never thought of using shutters!

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