DIY Flower "Pot" Stand

I really like salads. A LOT! I don't typically make them at home because mine tend to be on the boring side. Chick-fil-A on the other hand makes salads that are to die for. After Mother's Day they offered a challenge to make something with the salad containers. I'm not known for any DIY projects on my site, but I figured I'd give it a go. See what happens.

The first thing that came to my mind was stacked flower pots. Now, since these salad trays are small and flat, I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Usually when you see them, they're nice and tall. This one would be short and a little wide.

Fred and I went shopping at the hardware store last weekend, and he was so funny. I had grabbed some muted spray paint colors, and he said I should get some bright ones. I may have groaned and made a face. With the cruddy weather we've had for three weeks, I needed some brightness, so I agreed to change my colors.

I started off in the backyard with my trays upside down and gave each bottom piece a coat of blue. I also got a bright green to paint the glass light cover which will be a bird feeder. While that was drying, I cut out the center piece of the lid with the logo on it. As soon as I finished that, I went back and gave the trays & light a second coat.

We found one of our old yard stakes, and I used that to make the stand the containers would sit on. Now, let me just say, this started off as a DIY fail at this point because I tried it initially with just a bamboo rod. First, there wasn't enough space between the containers. So I went and bought some spacers, painted them, and tried to use them to create height. Nope. The containers just fell over. Then I tried to rearrange the flowers so the containers could sit more on each other, and that was basically just like stacking plates. GAH! Dang DIY experience.

I had a lightbulb moment yesterday, and realized what I needed to do. Instead of them stacking, I made it so it was a stand instead. I ran BACK to the hardware store. Thank goodness it's like 45 seconds away from our house! I bought some 'L' brackets. I added some flat pieces of particle board that were leftover from a different project. Holy cow, thank goodness that worked or I might've been crying out in the rain!

From there, I added potted soil and two little Vincas, and put the container top on. I had to be careful because I added two flowers instead of the one I was initially going to add. Thankfully none of the flowers broke off.

Fred had gotten me a fender washer to glue to the bottom of my lamp shade. That way all I had to do was screw it onto the wooden stake. Because I didn't want the bird seed to be too deep in the glass, I ran once again BACK to the hardware store to find something that would sit at least halfway up it to stop the seed from falling too far down. My thought was to find a piece of flat steel, maybe something from the electrical dept. Didn't find anything to fit there, but it was a good start. Then as I strolled through the plumbing, I realized I'd need to get creative. I grabbed a sink stopper and turned it upside down! Totally worked. Score!

I went home, and dropped it into the lamp shade, and viola, I had a bird feeder. My project was finally done! I have a veeeery long way to go before I do any major projects, but this one was good experience. It certainly had me thinking. Now all I need is for some birds to come for a visit.

What is your favorite DIY project?