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DIY PROJECT: HANGING AIR PLANT CONTAINERS

I never can manage to come up with them myself, but I love super duper simple DIY projects. I have such admiration for people who see something and then, boom, a couple minutes later they have turned it into something totally different. Quick, easy, no muss or fuss: three-step projects are awesome. I’m going to make it my mission to hatch ideas for some this summer. This is a fantastic example, and it will serve as the inspiration for my goal.

Currently based in the UK, Tempest is a PhD student by day, artist and blogger by night. She came up with this ingenious little project for displaying air plants in her bathroom, where no other plants would survive. Admittedly, the key to this project is coming across the right vessel: Tempest used her shampoo bottle tops, which have an awesome bullet shape, but now that I’m on the lookout, I actually see several promising options in my pantry and bathroom. Keep your eye out, and with a little spray paint, a nail and some string, you too can have these little hanging planters. They are cheap, adorable, recycled and perfect for displaying this peculiar yet popular plant. Thanks for sharing, Tempest! — Kate

Have a DIY project you’d like to share? Shoot me an email with your images right here! (Low res, under 500k per image, please.)

Read the full how-to after the jump . . .

Perhaps because of the pervasive austerity trend, low-maintenance plants like tillandsia and other air plants (epiphytes) have made a comeback. Since they don’t require soil or a lot of maintenance, air plants are also perfect for city dwellers. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful ways to display air plants in glass vases and mini-terrariums, but taking the plants out to be watered and then rearranging them seems too fussy for me. My solution was to put them in my bathroom (where no other plants will grow) so they are adequately watered by shower steam. Enjoy! — 

Materials

  • clean plastic bottle lids (I used shampoo lids from the Umberto Gianniniproduct line)
  • string
  • spray paint of your color choice
  • air plants (can be bought online here, or found at most garden shops)
  • hammer and thin nail (or something to pierce a hole through plastic)

Instructions

1. Pierce a hole in the top of the plastic lid with a nail.

2. Apply several layers of spray paint to the lid (drying between each coat) to achieve the desired colour in a smooth finish.

3. Thread a piece of string through the hole in the lid and gently tie a knot around the air plant.

4. Hang near your bathroom window so they can get sunlight and will be watered by steam, or be prepared to water them now and then by either soaking or misting with a spray bottle.