Create a colourful planter for your houseplants using upcycled materials you might normally throw away.

All you need is an empty metal tin or can (mine was a coffee can) a load of metal bottle caps, hot glue and some spray paint.

I’m joining the Do It Over Designers challenge today and for the challenge our theme is METAL, the perfect chance to share this upcycle for a metal container and metal bottle caps.

How to make a bottle cap planter

What you’ll need:

An empty metal container; a coffee canister, tin etc
Bottle caps collected from glass bottles of beer, cider etc. How many you need will depend on the size of your container
A hot glue gun and glue
Spray paint

Make sure your metal container and bottle caps are clean and dry.

Starting at the bottom, simply fix the bottle caps to the container with hot glue. I used the join on the back on my container to line them up.

Once all the bottle caps are fixed on and the glue is dry you can spray the planter any colour you like.

I chose this vibrant blue but of course you can use any colour that suits your decor.

Apply a coat of paint with the planter one way up then turn the planter upside down and spray again to ensure all the nooks and crannies are covered. I found this took several coats and involved moving the planter around to get all those angles. Obviously make sure you leave each coat to dry as instructed on the can, spray paint doesn’t usually take too long.

Once the planter is painted and dry it’s a good idea to line it with tinfoil (or aluminum foil as I believe it’s known in the US) to help stop the metal tin from going rusty. It will go rusty at the bottom eventually but should last for several years and a foil layer helps. I learnt this the hard way several years ago when I used some really cute food tins as planters on my kitchen window sill. You can read all about it here - Kitchen Tin Planters, a cautionary tale.

Now you are ready to drop your houseplant into its lovely new planter. Keep the plant in its original plastic ‘inner’ pot, I really wouldn’t plant directly into a metal container like this. Not only will it rust MUCH faster, you’d also need to consider if you paint is plant safe, by keeping your plant in its plastic pot you don’t have to worry.

It’s got a tiny bit of a dalek vibe to it I think. Or is that just me as a big Doctor Who fan seeing something that’s not there?!

I’ve made this planter for houseplants only. I don’t think it would hold up very well outside, at least not over winter. You might get away with it on a porch or in a sheltered spot for the summer only.

I had these bottle caps left over after I made this resin tray last year. (We’re really not big drinkers I promise, it took me 4 years to collect this many bottle caps!) I’d kept them in case I found another use for them and now I’m glad I did.