Call Me Crafty: Mason Jar Planter

If you follow me on Instagram you saw this project a while back. I took tons of pictures during the process then completely forgot to blog about it. So finally here you are! 

My friend Catherine discovered this idea on Pinterest and we decided along with our other friend Jenn to have a craft day to make some of our own.

We met up and headed to Home Depot where we picked up the hardware and wood. We had Home Depot cut the boards to size (which is a fantastic service!) and headed back to Catherine's to get to work.

Supplies we purchased per planter:

1. Three Mason jars
2. Three adjustable plumbing rings
3. Wall hanger and nails
4. Three screws
5. Wood- we took the jars to the store and measured the sizing on the go
6. Three plants
7. Cactus/succulent dirt

Supplies Catherine had on hand:

1. Drill
2. Hammer
3. Stain
4. Paint brush
5. Rag
6. Sand paper

Process:

We started by sanding our board a little and applying a layer of stain. After letting it dry a little bit we wiped down our board with the rag and then allowed it to dry some more.

While our boards were drying we planted our succulents in the jars. The jars have no drainage. After planting I wondered if we should of put a layer of rock on the bottom like you would in a terrarium, but not enough to go back and replant. However I think using the special soil for cactus and succulents works well. My plants are thriving so far. I just water them fully when I water them, which is about every week and a half, and then let the soil dry completely  before watering again.

After our boards were dry we attached the hangers.

Then proceeded to screw the rings to the boards. It wasn't as easy as we hoped. The slots in the rings were a little bit smaller than our screws. On my first attempt I completely stripped the screw. After that we tried prying the slots open a little wider and got the screw going a little before using the power drill and it worked ok. We were using wood screws, maybe a stronger screw would of just plowed through the ring, but I'm not sure.

I started in the middle

measuring was hard

After they were attached to the board I tightened the rings a bit before slipping the jars inside and finished tightening the screws.

Finished project!

Once I got home I immediately hung it up on the wall because I wasn't sure where else to put it. I hung it by my bedroom window because while by living room is over run with plants I didn't have any in my bedroom!

As I mentioned earlier, all my plants are doing well. But learned the hard way that the orange flower on the cactus was glued on! I know! The way the cactus was growing was moving the flower to the front so I pulled it off. I managed to get all of the flower off, but the glue is a bit more challenging especially with all the pokies.  Oh and the plant on the right is doing much better and not leaning so much.