Farmhouse Pulley and Bucket Planter

Summer annuals and outdoor herbs are pretty much finished for the winter months. So, I had these two galvanized buckets to put away. But, I was lucky to get this wonderful pulley from my husband and I just had to put it to use right away! 

Attaching the buckets could make an all season planter. 

All that is needed is the pulley, two buckets, and a rope to hang them. That's it! It's easy DIY and cute farmhouse style decor at the front entrance. 

The scrap rope I had was too light to look as aged as the rest of my materials. I dyed it in a black walnut bath that I reserved from my walnut shell project that you can see here. 

After staining the rope, I hung it to dry so I could handle it without staining my hands. 

Then, ran the rope through the pulley to attach the buckets to each side. 

Double knotting the rope to the bucket handles secured them onto the pulley. 

For the holiday season, I added some seasonal sprigs to add color to the front entrance.

What's great about this new fixture is how it can be decorated for every season. 

 I can already envision flowing buckets of flowers in the spring and summer. 

For now, I'll keep it decorated for Christmas. After that, maybe some twigs and pine cones for the rest of the winter months. 

This was so fast and easy to put together. 

I love how it's a warm welcome at our entry area.  Maybe another pulley gift is in the future. Adding one at the garden shed would be nice! 

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Adirondack Girl @ Heart -Vintage Charm #60
Funky Junk Interiors - DIY Salvaged Junk Projects 357

A Cloche Garden from a Repurposed Bottle

I've got another bottle upcycle to share!
The Dose of DIY group has put together a bunch of great ideas for you this month by using glass bottles/vases/mason jars.
I decided to make a Pottery Barn knock off using a gallon glass "jug" (bottle). 

Pottery Barn

Using my bottle cutting apparatus, I scored the jug with the diamond blade. You can see the score line made all around the bottle where the arrows are displayed.

Then for a good cut, I used the temperature shock method. By boiling water in a large stock pot  and preparing a separate stock pot filled with ice cold water, I rolled the bottle into the hot water for about 1 - 2 minutes to heat it. Then, quickly rolled it in the ice cold water until it fell apart at the score line.

NOTE: I've tried this method many times and it's the best one, for me, to get a good straight cut without destroying the glass. If you plan to do this yourself, PLEASE wear safety glasses and rubber gloves. Of course, keep children and pets completely away from the entire project. Using extreme caution will avoid any accidents. Cutting bottles and jars will have dramatic popping and cracking that is very unpredictable.

After cutting, sanding the edge with industrial diamond coated sandpaper and water smoothes the sharp edge. 

Then I used an old "Thermos Bottle" cork to use in the top of the bottle for a good fit. 

Now, I could also make a wood base and serve cheese with it, but we're doing a Spring theme and I prefered to use my DIY cloche with a garden. I gathered small plants, an old cake tin, stones, and moss.

Using the cake tin as the planting container, I layered and surrounded the soil and plants with stones.

After arranging the miniature garden, I topped it with moss and covered it with the glass.

See that! A terrarium that was inspired by Pottery Barn is born!

I'm sure once the plants grow too large, they will need to be repotted. But this will be a great plant starter.

Now that the project was finished, I snagged an old planter saucer from the garden shed to put the whole thing into. It got all fancy shmancy antique looking.

Not bad for a free...

...Pottery Barn knock off, ey? I used what I had around the house.

UPDATE April 15, 2016

I went to the thrift shop and hit up the 99-cent sale! I found 5 round wooden cheese boards and one of them fit perfectly! Now I need to cut another bottle for the cheese board.

Now that you've seen what I created with this month's theme, let's check out the other ideas from the rest of the group!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Painted Wood Tub Planter and Watering Can with Free Printables

Grampa Carm was cleaning out his basement and offered me this vintage wooden plant stand. He thought I could do something with it.

I knew right away it was getting painted, but with a distressed look for some country charm.

So I cleaned it up and lightly sanded it.

Then I chose pretty summer colors.
The base coat is painted with  "Rustic Charm"; a really cheery shade of green.

and then dry brushed over the green with some "Bliss"... 

my favorite summer blue color... all over the tub part. 

Just a little bit to let the green show through.

When the paint was dry I distressed the entire planter sporadically with rough 60 grit sandpaper.

Then I designed a transfer, "Flowers and Gardens", on PicMonkey to print and rub onto the bucket.

If you like the transfer, you are free to use it. Just save the download and print! The full size print in PDF download is here. In reverse for rub on transfer; click here to download.

The vintage lettering looks just right on the bucket.

After adding some bright geraniums, the planter really pops with some country charm.

Blue and green go so nicely together, don't they?

It didn't stop here.

I had an old metal watering can that needed a makeover.

So with the same technique... 

I made it match up with the planter.

I think those two colors are really pretty and it brings a bit of country to the gardens. 

Maybe the potting bench will be next. 

(Rustic Charm and Bliss paints are products of Country Chic Paint.) 

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