DIY Planter with Funky Chicken Coffee Cups

It’s wonderful Wednesday y’all & time for some DIY fun!  I’m still working through my office makeover & those projects will trickle in over time as I figure things out.  Right now I needed a DIY planter for my stranded succulents!  The ones that were supposed to go in my office planter have been hanging out in an old glass dish on my dining room table.  Not as glamorous as it sounds!  It was time to make something pretty for them to rest in.  Maybe this will help me remember to water them….

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission if you buy something through my link or ad.  This does not change your cost it just helps keep this blog running.  Thanks for your support!  See Privacy Policy & Affiliate Deals page for more information.

Funky Chicken Coffee Cups

I found these coffee cups at a Cracker Barrel sidewalk sale.  They were calling my name, so in my bag they went.  I realized once I got them home they weren’t so great for drinking out of.  The lip at the top & chicken head are not very “mouth friendly”!

Until now they’ve been hanging out above my stove watching me cook.  They were just the right size & color for my succulents.  After fiddling around with different things, I settled on using the chickens plus these two items to make a DIY planter.

The wooden bowl is one I picked up while thrifting for $0.50.  I gave it paint job & didn’t wait long enough for the top edge to dry, which is why newspaper is stuck to it!  It’s been hanging around for a redo.  The board is a partition from a wooden shelf I dismantled.  It’s oak or something similar & I’ve slowly been using the parts for different projects.

My plants will soon have a stylish new home instead of living in this glorious glass dish!

Painting the Board

The first thing I did was clean things up a bit.  Those chicken cups don’t get washed very often & that’s where the “funky” part comes in!  I also needed to fix a missing eye with a Sharpie.

After sawing off the little knobs on the wood panel, I gave it a once over with chalk paint in “vintage“.  I’m layering paints & sanding to give this a more worn look.

The next layer was acrylic in teal {link is similar} using a stiffer brush & less coverage.

Once this layer dried, I went over it with fine grit sandpaper.

I dusted the panel off, the dry brushed on acrylic in “camel” {link is similar}.  That’s not what I think of when I think “camel”, but okay paint people!

One more time with the fine grit sandpaper, a light waxing in deep brown, & voila –  old painted wood!  So many steps to make something look old.  Makes me rethink the price of those new “distressed” jeans….well…almost!

DIY Planter

Time to put it all together with my friend, e6000 glue!  I’ve thrown some old wooden thread spools in the mix to help give it some lift.

Everything assembled and ready for plants.  I was just going to sit them in the cups in their black plastic containers, but my son said that didn’t look right.  So, I added a little pea gravel in the bottoms of the chickens….

Then I added the succulents and a little more potting soil.  Needless to say that made quite the mess!

I had to clean it off the planter with a dry paint brush.  Once everything was clean again, I started deciding how to display my new planter.

Not so sure about those sunflowers…

They are competing too much with the succulents.  I repotted my lily & tried that….

Looking better….

A few more tweaks and….

Perfect!  It has a summer to fall transition feel to it.  It also makes me want to keep my dining room table clean so it looks great like the picture!  Well….almost!  Haha!

Hope ya’ll are having a great week!

Pin it for later!