Dollar Tree Drinking Straws Are The Secret To A High-End Planter DIY

Injecting personality into a room through individual design items like (though far from limited to) quirky mirrors, lights, and rugs is a statement decor trend that will be booming for the foreseeable future. Of course, these designer products are often very pricey. Those of us with home renovation budgets that don't stretch further than the necessities need to get creative when it comes to adding unique features. Enter a Dollar Tree drinking straw planter-cum-light fixture that looks like it was imported from your favorite Italian atelier. Paint a mat made from glued-together straws metallic silver and attach it to a plastic planter. That's your base. Add some dowels for strength and mirrored details for effect.

This DIY couldn't be cheaper, with most supplies coming from Dollar Tree. The biggest outlay will probably be the metallic paint! Going metallic with your finish really elevates it from mundane to majestic. Learning how to use gold finish in your home decor can be challenging for amateur interior designers; silver is more modern and understated without fading into the background. Other trending metallics to consider if silver's not your thing include uber-contemporary stainless steel and aluminum finishes and copper and bronze for old-world elegance. What's more, this easy-to-construct, undeniably bougie drinking straw planter is multifunctional. It's not only a way to give pride of place to your favorite houseplant; affix some remote-controlled LEDs underneath the planter and it doubles as a table lamp.

Choose your planter first so you know how many straws to get. We like the Garden Collection 3-Section Stackable Planters for something quirky or the Plastic Rectangular Planter for a more contemporary aesthetic. The other core supplies for this project include an 80 pack of Neon-Colored Super Flexible Straws and a 4 pack of Crafter's Square Wood Dowels, also from Dollar Tree. Alternatively, this could be a smart way to repurpose drinking straws in your home if your family goes through a lot of them and you clean them really well before using them. A set of six Starxing LED Battery Operated Puck Lights with Remote cost just over $13. They come with adhesive tape to stick them to your planter.

If going with silver, get a tub of YongBo Metallic Silver Acrylic Paint for $10 or a bottle of AK Interactive 30ml Extreme Metal Paint in Stainless Steel (#670) for almost $14. (Note that for the latter, you'll need to paint your drinking straw base black first.) Add a roll of REDODECO Self Adhesive Reflective Chrome Silver Vinyl Wrap for almost $7 and Fashion Hollowed Out Flower Bronzing Placemats for just over $1. Prefer the warmth of copper? Get a bottle of Pouring Masters Copper Penny Metallic Acrylic Paint for almost $25, a big roll of VViViD Copper Satin Chrome Vinyl Wrap for $30, and a set of four Better Home Die Cut Vinyl Copper Placemats with Palm Leaves Pattern for about $16.

Give your planter some height by gluing two straws together at the halfway point using a hot glue gun. Continue gluing straws until you've created enough mats to cover each side of your planter. Cut your dowels to the same height as your straws, if needed. Paint these and the planter in your color of choice, then glue the mats and dowels under the planter rim to form a stand. Cut strips from your vinyl wrap and stick them vertically in the gaps between the straws, leaving some empty. Likewise, cut long, thick strips from your placemats and wrap them around the middle of the base horizontally.

Stick on the lights underneath the base of the planter using the adhesive tape provided by the manufacturer. If the mirror finish is too much glamor for you, go for a more industrial chic vibe by gluing the straws together evenly and painting them black. Glue the finished sheet of straws to the planter, then glue a bamboo skewer between every second or third straw to create stripes. If you go this route, you won't need the lights. The only catch with this planter is that it has no drainage holes. Water leaking inside risks damaging the glued exterior and the LED lights. If you want to fill it with live plants rather than artificial blooms, pop them in a second pot that hides neatly inside your DIY planter. When you need to water your greenery, take the entire pot out, water it, and put it back inside once all the water has drained away.