Late last fall we built a deck on the back of our home, it has just been sitting there waiting to get used. I’ve been so excited for the weather to warm up so I could get at it. The first up was to add some pretty flowers, and after finding some cute dollar store plant pots, I knew I wanted to create a DIY planter for flowers.

The best way to get motivated to start working on projects for our back deck was to join some of my blogger friends in an Outdoor Extravaganza! You may remember back at Christmas when I participated in the One Item Challenge, this idea is similar where each week we will have a theme to kick off our outdoor ideas. Big thanks toSatori Design for Living for hosting!

This week the task at hand is Plants and Flowers- how suiting!

Satori Design for Living | The Happy House | Echoes of Laughter | The Blissful Bee | Craftberry Bush

Aren’t these little plant pots I found at Dollaramma the cutest? and only $2 each! I knew I had to find a way to incorporate them into a planter design.

How to build a DIY Planter

You will need:

3- 2x2x8 spruce

1- 1x6x8 spruce

jig saw, chop saw

Brad nailer or screws

Gorilla Glue, pencil

Paint

You’ll have to forgive me for the crazy angle, stick drawing above, I totally forgot to take process photos (silly me).

Cuts:

From the 2×2’s you will need 2- 36“, 2- 44“, 2-7“, 2- 21-1/2“. From the 1×6 you will need- 2- 24-1/2“, 5- 10-3/4“

Assembly:

Assemble each side of the DIY planter as shown in the first figure. The height of the bottom shelf, is 11″ from the ground. Using a generous amount of Gorilla Glue on each joint, and brad nailing (or screwing if desired) a few times in to each joint. Create a circle template in proportion to the size of your flower pots. *Tip- to find the appropriate size of circle, wrap a piece of string around the place on the planter where you would like them to fit into. Then use the string to measure around a circular object for tracing. Attach the two side pieces in figure 1 together with the 21-1/2″ 2×2’s (shown in orange), Then stabilize with the 1×6’s on the top. Now that the frame is built you can piece the shelf together using the remaining pieces of 1×6. Notch out the boards for the ends by tracing the 2×2 in the corners of two boards. Paint with desired color. I used Swan Lake 201-2 from Voice of Color in Exterior Manor Hall Flat finish.

You should be able to whip together this cute outdoor planter in no time at all!

Choosing the plants to fill the flower pots is the best part! I chose colourful hyacinth bulbs. I know they won’t last through the summer, but once the blossoms fade I’ll plant the bulbs in the backyard and choose something that can waterfall out of the pots.

I can’t get enough of these cute flower pots, they make me smile from ear to ear!

Could this color scheme be any more happy? I love how the Coral Silk crate compliments this little deck planter too!

You might remember that Blue Tang chair from the Patio Furniture Makeover I did last summer. The leftover piece of fabric from the kitchen makeover really ties all the colors together so well (or it might be telling me something else about my color choices?!).

Thanks for joining me today to check out this easy to build DIY planter, I hope the sweet flower pots left you smiling.

Disclosure: The paint for this project was provided by PPG Voice of Color. All ideas, projects and opinions are my own.

Stop by these other blogs for more outdoor inspiration

Texas Centerpiece by The Blissful Bee

Front Yard Garden Tour by The Happy Housie

Vintage Tool Box Flower & Herb Planters by Satori Design for Living

DIY Patio Planter by Fynes Designs (you’re here)

How to Make a Fairy Garden by Echoes of Laughter

Be inspired by my Deck Ideas Pinterest board

Follow Virginia | Fynes Designs’s board Deck Ideas on Pinterest.



