Repurpose a jello mold or bundt cake pan into a creative plant or succulent outdoor centerpiece for your patio/deck/porch table with umbrella.
I have been looking for the perfect centerpiece planter for my patio table that would go around the umbrella. My patio table on our deck needed a glow up. I wanted a planter that would leave us plenty of room to eat and not clutter up the table with multiple pots. I am relatively new to gardening and don’t have much of a green thumb. Don’t ever ask me to plant-sit, I AM that person who will kill your plants. When I do try to grow plants, it’s more of a “I tried, but they died” result. Bless my heart. Alas, I still love the look of beautiful flowers and plants on my patio, and even if they only lasted a week, oh what a lovely week it would be!
Searching for the perfect centerpiece for umbrella tables
So I began my search on Amazon and went to many garden supply stores looking for a centerpiece umbrella planter, but I either couldn’t find one in stock or they were just too damn expensive. I didn’t want to waste money on something expensive and then have my plants die in them. I gave up and starting thinking of alternatives. I was going to have to get creative and look for ideas for planters hacks for and potentially just do a diy patio planter. Maybe get a plastic planter pot and drill a big hole for the umbrella to go into? Nope, water and dirt will just fall out. Maybe, I’ll find a ceramic or metal flower pot on Amazon, but nope, they were super expensive. I need to find some fresh, fun, creative and cheap patio planter ideas! What could use?
Planter Hack?
One day I was at my local Walmart looking for a new cookie sheet, when I spotted a cute mint green/blue bundt cake pan. It was made from aluminum and it already had a hole in the middle. Hum? I wonder if I took my Dremel tool, cut out the center hole a little more and drilled some drainage holes, then put some plants in it, would it work as a planter? It was about $12, so I said, what the heck. Bought it and took it home. I got straight to work!
A DIY Upcycle Planter
Got my Dremel tool out, some gloves, goggles and slowly started drilling out the center hole a bit more. I used a drill bit and a metal grinder tip to cut through the aluminum. Word to the wise, make sure you wear goggles and gloves and maybe an apron, metal flakes went everywhere.
It was rough, but the Dremel did really a great quick job. I used a metal file to smooth the sharp rough edges.
I then drilled water drainage holes in the bottom. I ended up going back and drilling a few more to make sure the water didn’t pool in the ridges too much.
Although I loved the mint green color, it didn’t go with my outside decor color palette, so I decided to paint it. I wanted a concrete look to it, so first, I primed it with Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 white primer and then I look some white, grey and light beige acrylic paint and mixed it till I got the color I wanted. I then mixed a little bit of baking soda in the paint to make a gritty textured paint. And just started painting it on the outside of the pan. I gave it two coats, letting it dry fully in between the coats.
Patio Flower Ideas
After it dried completely, I went shopping for plants. I found some very pretty yellow and red marigolds as well as some yellow portulaca. I put soil and the plants in, then put my umbrella down inside it and voilà! A planter for $12 and some elbow grease! IKR?!!!! Totes adorbs! It turned out so cute and is exactly what I wanted! Even if the plants die, I still have a damn cute-looking planter!
Now, you try it!
Trying scoping out the Goodwill or second-hand stores, I’ll bet they have some used bundt cake pans or old jello molds that you can repurpose. Also, you could totally go larger if you wanted to look up some commercial sized bundt cake pans. Let me know what you come up with or how you would do this differently?!