3 garden upcycling crafts: Get your garden summer ready #31daysofactivities

Summer time means time for the great outdoors. Sometimes just being in the garden is more than good enough. Why not make the most of your outdoor space by taking a look at this #31daysofactivities post by Jo from Rose Tinted World. She teaches us 3 garden upcycling crafts to get your garden looking great and have some fun doing it too.

Painting your plant pots

Just recently I repotted my back yard plants, and I realised that most of my pots were very boring shades of terracotta or green. I decided that painting some of my terracotta pots would instantly add a pop of colour and fun back into my garden space. 

Furthermore, it’s a great activity for children to join in with. Acrylic paint and sealant works best for outdoor terracotta pots. Acrylic is water resistant but not waterproof, so it is best to use a sealant. But you can use masonry or emulsion paints. Just be aware that these are not quite as durable and will wear or fade quicker. 

I painted a small pot in an acrylic paint white colour, then let my little girl paint whatever she wanted over the top. She also used acrylic paint. Then I sealed this with an outdoor acrylic varnish spray, and the finished painted pots are now weather proof.

Make an upcycled milk bottle planter

We go through a load of milk every week, and so these are a lovely idea for crafting using the empty bottles we create. 

All you need is an empty washed out 4 pint milk bottle, some scissors, some string and some permanent marker pens. Cut the bottom of the milk bottle off, and pierce some holes in the lid of the bottle for drainage. Pierce 2 more holes into the sides of the milk bottle near the cut edge, but not too close. Thread the string through these holes and knot, this will be to hang your creation.

Finally, turn the bottle upside down and draw a face on the handle side of the bottle using the permanent markers. The nose is the handle, the indents are perfect for the eyes. You can add fabric to make a headband as I did. 

Hang the bottle, fill with soil and plant your flowers or seeds as normal. As your plant or flowers grow, your lady gets a lovely floral head of hair! We actually grew cress in ours last year, and they brighten up the patio space enormously.

Make rag bunting

Finally, we decided that we were going to decorate our back yard with some colourful bunting this year. But even if you can’t sew, here is a brilliant easy way to make a shabby chic bunting that everyone can join in and make.

All you need are long thin strips of colourful fabric and some string. Measure the wall or railings that you need to span with bunting, then cut a length of string around 30 cm longer than this. Cut pieces of fabric that are about 3cm by 20cm. These can be made from old clothes. Suspend the string securely between two objects such as a chair or door handle. Tie each piece of fabric to the string using a larks head knot. Make a loop with the fabric, then push both ends of the fabric over the string and through the loop. Once you have a few pieces of fabric attached to the string, push the finished knots together so that none of the string shows through. It will quickly build up into a colourful arrangement, which can be used for decorating your garden. 

As it is the Queens Platinum Jubilee coming up, we made some in Union Jack flag colours, and had great fun making this together.

I hope that you have found a great upcycling activity that you too can use to decorate your garden in time for summer. Happy Crafting!

Looking for even more fun gardening activities on our site? Take a look.

And find out even more from around the web, too.

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Helen

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