{star spangled planter}

As promised, I’m back this week with the second planter that we created for our back yard.  We stuck with red, white, and blue theme, using good ole’ Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Spray paint once again in Banner Red and Navy Blue.  This planter, like the Mad Planter,  was also inspired by morning Pinterest perusing which led me to Amy @ Positively Splendid.  I love her version with the house number decal!  Since ours was headed to the back yard, we skipped that part.  I’d love to make another set for the front porch in the future though!  To make a three-tiered planter, you’ll need:

(Left over flowers from this project)

• 3 terracotta pots (small, medium, and large) ($28 total from Lowe’s)
• primer (already had on hand)
• spray paint (I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor with a Gloss finish in Banner Red and Navy Blue)
• Polyurethane (already had on hand)
• bricks or stones for largest pot (left over from stack stone walkway project)
• potting soil ($4 from Lowe’s)
• annuals of your choosing (left over from The Mad Planter)
• newspaper or tarp (already had on hand)
• star stencil (Martha Stewart Holiday Stencils $3.50 with Michael’s 40% off coupon)
• painters tape (already had on hand)

After all the pots were painted, I applied two thin coats of polyurethane to seal and protect them.  Hopefully this step prolongs the life of the planter for a few years before I have to repaint!

Once everything was dry, I was finally ready to assemble the planter and plant the rest of my petunias!

We chose to put the planter on our back patio (again so we could enjoy it more since we spend most of our outside time in the backyard).  Luckily we had some leftover stack stone from a walkway project and set some in the bottom of the largest pot.  This helped to fill most of the lower part of the pot so we weren’t wasting potting soil.

Next, pour some potting soil in the pot and put the medium sized pot on top.  You’ll secure this pot by packing soil tightly around the base.  Make sure to line the pot up to the back side of the largest pot.

Next, you guessed it, fill the medium sized pot with soil (you could put some stone in the bottom of this one as well if you want).  Repeat the same thing with the top (smallest) pot.  Once I had the medium sized pot where I wanted it, I started to assemble and plant at the same time.

Soon, I had this beauty…

I’m thrilled with this planter project as well and have fittingly decided to call this one the…

I’m really happy that we figured out a good method for applying the stars because it really makes the entire planter if you ask me!

While creating this planter, I realized that I had one more pot left over and decided to stencil on a firework pattern that was also on the Martha Stewart stencil pack that I bought at Michael’s.  I found a home for it on our outdoor table…

Since creating the Mad Planter and the Star Spangled Planter, my husband all of a sudden wants to put pots everywhere (and so do I)!  He’s suggested continuing to buy more to put in different spots around the yard and patio.  As I purchase, decorate, and create more planters, I’ll definitely share them with all of you!  I’m continuing to search Pinterest and some favorite blogs for new ideas.  If you have any you’d like to share, please do!

Please leave a comment, I love to hear from my readers! 🙂

I’ll be linking up again to several parties.  Come check them out!