Transform Your Paper Towel Holder Into A Gorgeous Hanging Plant With This TikTok Hack

Hanging plants are incredibly useful if you want to keep your greenery away from curious pets or give them better placement near a window, but spending additional money and time on buying new pots and hooks can get a bit annoying, especially when there are so many hanging plant hacks floating around the internet and social media. This hack, shared originally by DIY with Emma, can be particularly helpful if you want to transform your existing pots into something ready to hang only using a simple paper towel holder.

To do this yourself, all you need is a metal wire paper towel holder — one of the cheaper options, preferably — a drill, and your existing plant pot, ideally in a material that's easy to drill through like plastic. You'll also need something to hang from your ceiling or porch when it comes time to hang your plant, but anything from a Command strip to a more permanently installed hook will do the trick depending on your situation.

In her TikTok video, creator DIY with Emma shows the very simple process of achieving this hack. First, you're going to need to gather your materials. In the video, DIY with Emma is using a metal paper towel holder with a wooden bottom, a ceramic plant pot, a drill, and some painter's tape. Take a look at your pot to determine the material, then gently remove the houseplant that's inside it. Plastic pots are easiest to drill through without worries of cracking, though drilling through ceramic pots can be accomplished with a bit of water and an angled approach to drilling.

From there, place the vertical piece of the paper towel holder through your newly-drilled hole in the pot, and get to work replanting your houseplant. The metal piece in the center will act as both a trellis for climbing plants as well as a spot to place a hook or other method of suspension, and the hole at the bottom of the pot will provide the proper drainage to prevent water pooling and root rot.

In the original video, DIY with Emma is using a metal paper towel holder with a solid wooden base for the plant pot to sit on. When looking for your own paper towel holder, it's important to prioritize the shape and choose an option with a loop on top like this paper towel holder from Dollar Tree. Once you find something you can easily hang, you can add an additional piece of plastic, wood, or ceramic to the bottom of the paper towel holder to provide a solid surface to catch drips.

Another important consideration is the type of plant that you're intending to place in the pot. Because this hack requires you to insert a paper towel holder through the center of the pot, plants that already have a dense root system probably won't be the best bet. Instead, opt for plants with a shallower root system, like pothos or snake plants.