DIY Pumpkin Planter

I wanted to add some cute Pumpkin Planters on my front porch this year but didn’t want to spend a fortune.  Mainly since  it’s only temporary plus I don’t  have much of a green thumb.  Cute planters with dead plants aren’t very  welcoming.   So, I went the thrifty way and turned those $1 pumpkin trick or treat buckets into my own DIY Pumpkin Planter.

 

DIY Pumpkin Planter

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The hardest part about this project was finding cute Jack-O-lantern faces.  Some of  the faces I found where just creepy or not cute enough display on my porch.   Can’t really complain though when the buckets are only a buck.

 

 

I finally found a “face” I liked and Walmart and the bucket only came in blue.   No biggie, I was going to paint over it anyways.    Since I was going for a faux terracotta look,  I painted the plastic pumpkin with Decoart Patio Paint in Salmon.   No particular reason why I chose to use Patio Paint but it is for outdoor use plus I liked the color and it only took two coats to cover up the blue.

 

 

After the paint was dry, I painted a thin layer of Americana Creme Wax over the bucket wiping the wax into  the crevices of the face to give the Pumpkin a distressed look.  The wax helps seal the paint on the plastic also.

 

 

I added a few small drainage holes to the bottom of the bucket and planted Fall Mums.  Fingers crossed they survive…Ack!

 

 

I made another Pumpkin Planter out of an old orange bucket I found in the garage from last year.   The bucket had seen better days so it was perfect to up-cycle into another planter.  * Moral of the blog post-don’t throw out those plastic trick or treat  buckets after Halloween, turn them into DIY  Pumpkin Planters.

 

 

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