One day I came across a beautiful vintage look birdcage that was a bit worse for wear and so had been cast onto the corner for garbage pick up. I loved the style of it and thought it would be a terrible waste to send it to the dump so I grabbed it and took it home. I have always loved the idea of upcycling and I decided I was going to figure out a way to make this into a beautiful planter.

Here is what I was starting with. Meanwhile check out the little photobomber I just discovered haha.
I have no idea what this horrid, tacky, stubborn, pink, sticky crap was, but it was everywhere and a pain in the butt to remove!!! I resorted to an old toothbrush, boiling water and detergent, followed up with some alcohol wipes.
So once it was all clean and pretty it was time to decide what I was going to do with it. I had a vision of creating a succulent planter. The idea being that in time the succulents will grow and poke out through/overhang the bars. So I went shopping…
Then it was time to find out if what was in my head would translate well to real life [I should note that I know others have done this successfully, but I was doing it without any instructions from any of those people π ]. I lined the base with Coconut fibre to stop the soil from falling straight through the bottom of the cage.
Then I added in the succulent planting mix and my succulents. Here are some photos of the finished product π

I chose succulents that would spread, grow and hang out between the bars nicely as well as flower in different colours.
I am very proud of my first upcycle attempt. Especially considering there were no instructions… I am happy to report that there were no pieces leftover post construction π
October 27th, 2014 at 10:23 pm
Very nice! I bet that as the plants grow it will look even prettier. I am always looking at this or that thinking it could be made into something nice. π sometimes I do it and sometimes I don’t.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:42 pm
Thank you! That is the idea, I didn’t want to over plant it at the start because I know how much they would grow. I would love to do a herb version of this so you could have hanging herbs π
October 29th, 2014 at 4:22 am
Can you just make this for me and bring it to my house? It’s so pretty. I am not even a little bit crafty, but I’m siting next to a bag of tulle and ribbon so that I can make my daughter’s Halloween tutu. *sighs*
October 29th, 2014 at 1:55 pm
Hahaha you live pretty far away hun… that would be some quest lol.
This was my first attempt and I am stoked with it, I am going to wait to make sure the plants don’t die off and if all goes well I think I shall make more.
The tutu should be relatively fine once you get started. Check out this wikihow, it has the best knot suggestion I have found http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Non-Sew-Tutu hope this helps. I am with you helping in spirit π
October 29th, 2014 at 2:56 pm
I made it so quickly. I kind of want to make another one for me. I might. Is this how it starts?
October 29th, 2014 at 3:51 pm
That is exactly how it starts! I think you should do a blue one, if you pair it with a red tank shirt with a gold winged “W” on it you are WonderWoman π
If you really want to get accurate you could paste somr white stars on the tutu π I reckon you would rock that outfit so well π
November 2nd, 2014 at 2:05 pm
Very Cool!!
November 10th, 2014 at 2:47 pm
Thanks π It was nice to try something different.
December 1st, 2014 at 12:31 pm
It looks great! I love me some succulents. Are you going to hang it?
December 1st, 2014 at 2:11 pm
I actually made it for some friends of mine, but they haven’t come over yet so I haven’t had the chance to find out about it. It is currently hanging under my eaves next to a goldfish bush π