DIY Inspiration for Curbside Freebies

Oh my gosh, I just love curbside freebies, don’t you? If you’re lucky, you may happen upon a freebie that is good as it is, but mostly it’s something that needs a little TLC and creativity. That creativity can need a kick in the pants with some sort of inspiration. Last week I finally finished a project I started a few months ago after this DIY inspiration struck me for these curbside freebies!

This summer I picked up a pair of tin jack-o-lantern pots in a free pile on the curb with the thought of repurposing them somehow.

Then I stumbled upon this beautiful piece of DIY inspiration:

When I saw these planters House Beautiful was advertising, I was smitten. Aren’t they so pretty?! I’m sure they’re much sturdier than my free jack-o-lantern tin pots, and the handles on the inspiration planters are lovely… but this pair of planters was about $135 US dollars, plus shipping!

My free orange jack-o-lanterns were,

well…

free!

I could see a vision… the jack-o-lantern pots did have a nice scalloped edge and I thought I could paint stripes…

First, I primed the shiny orange pots. To be sure the paint would stick to the slick surface, I used a good bonding primer. I love this bonding primer. It goes on super smooth, is water clean-up, and really bonds well to the surface.

Next I painted 2 coats of white paint over the primer. (inside and outside)

Then it was time for a little color…

I used the green paint I had custom mixed for our back kitchen entry door, (HERE is the post about that… Fixing a mistake paint color all by myself). Having the ridges of the pot made painting a fairly straight line much easier. I didn’t use painter’s tape, but just followed the valley between the ridges for my guide. This type of brush was a huge help too! I don’t know the names and sizes of artist’s brushes, I have a good selection and try a few to see what I want at the time. I think this may be called a round brush? and it is a very large sized one.

The green needed 2 coats of paint.

Did you notice I have the pots up on inverted bowls? That is so the wet paint on the bottom edge of the pot doesn’t stick to the plastic I have laid out on the counter.

Finally, the gold edge.

I have an OK steady hand, but this flat (chisel?) brush really made painting the thin gold edge simple.

If you look back at the $135 pots, the painting edges aren’t perfectly straight. If they were perfect, that’d be a factory finish… they are hand-painted, just like mine are.

A little imperfection is…

perfect!

The finished pots were lovely on the kitchen island for Christmas with some oversized pinecones and a red poinsettia tucked in.

This was an easy fun project.

No, the finish pots aren’t a dead ringer for the inspiration planters, they’re not meant to be. The inspiration planters were just that… inspiration for a project. There is just something so fun about re-purposing curbside freebies. These striped pots turned out kind of cute and will work great to keep houseplants in, or on the bathroom counter for towels…

How about you, what have you used for some DIY inspiration?

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For some more re-purposing tips I’ve written about, check these out: