Dollar Store Shabby Chic Planters

One of my summer projects has been to create an outdoor room on my patio for entertaining, a place to create outside and just a space for taking breaks during the day when a little sunshine and fresh air are needed.  It's been a slow process, using mostly what I have on hand and a few finds from markets and thrift stores.  

Adding some green into my space was my top priority but I'm not a natural gardener.  For all my love of nature, I am way more of a black thumb than a green thumb.  My kids used to call me the 'plant killa' because well, that's what I was!  So I'm starting out slow with things I think I can manage.  A tiny herb garden, a few succulents, 4 very hardy hostas and two containers of coleus.  I've been assured by garden experts at the nursery that they are all easy to care for and keep alive. 

(Garden Marker project can be found here.)

As a new gardener one thing I'm in short supply of is cool pots for my plants.  And living in a small town and it's mid-July, budget friendly options were not in abundance.  Like seriously, plain terra cotta pots - no where to be found.  So I created some shabby chic inspired planters from dollar store finds.  These little pots were 2 for $1 and as you can see I used Rust-Oleum's 2X paint.  My other tool was an all purpose sanding sponge.

No priming or prep work was needed, just a few even coats to cover the entire pot.

After the paint is dry, use the sanding sponge to sand along the edges and ridges of the pot.  Wipe with a damp cloth when to remove the paint dust.

I have a few more projects to complete before the 'room' is done.  We are painting a bench. I have some cloth napkins to make for dinner parties to match a vintage table cloth that I found. I would like to make a decorative sign, spruce up an old bird bath and then add some fairy lights around the trees.  And then I will need to invite some folks over to enjoy it!