Unique Ways To DIY A Planter Using Dollar Tree Items

Dollar Tree is full of household products, decor, and arts and crafts supplies that can be repurposed with a little creativity and inspiration. During the spring and summer, this popular budget-friendly retailer is stocked with seasonal garden supplies and planters. Dress up their plant-ready containers or come up with entirely new designs using other household wares to make unique artificial and living foliage holders. Whether they're intended to carry common houseplants, flowers, or succulents, these mini projects are sure to befit any interior style.

Below are 14 DIY planters that work for live and synthetic plants alike. All of the following projects are doable using Dollar Tree products, though cheap supplies and alternative materials are also findable at Amazon, Walmart, and other low-priced retailers. It doesn't take any exceptional DIY skill or talent to craft these planters, and it won't cost more than $10 to $20 to make each design. Check out the 14 ideas below to get started on a customized planter that highlights your aesthetic.

Blend your love for plants with a cozy boho interior, and create a perfect hanging plant display with a low-budget DIY. It takes six Garden Collection Assorted Macramé Plant Hangers, an Over the Door 6-Hook Hanger, and one pack of Terra-Cotta Colored Plastic Plant Starter Pots. Even though the pots have drainage holes, use artificial plants rather than living ones for indoor display. With artificial plants, there's no danger of water or soil leaking out. Dollar Tree has plenty of plastic foliage decor to choose from, such as the Assorted Artificial Pastel Floral Garden Greenery Bushes, which can be trimmed to fit.

Transform a few Dollar Tree Traditional Lawn and Garden Planters into elegant decor for classy living areas. All you need is Mod Podge Gloss Craft Adhesive (which you can also get at Dollar Tree), and to print Chinoiserie-style artwork on standard printer paper. You can find free designs that are safe to download from Freepik or in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's public domain catalogue. Sand the plastic surface lightly with a fine-grain sandpaper beforehand to make it easier for the printer paper and Mod Podge to stick. If you plan to fill the Chinoiserie pots with real plants, paint a layer of DecoArt Americana DuraClear Ultra Matte Varnish over the finished product to keep the water-based Mod Podge from eventually peeling off.

DIY a solar lantern planter that accentuates a garden-scape by day and illuminates it by night. Gather some Plastic Glaze-Pattern Planters, Essentials Black Plastic Broom Handles, and Colorful Foam Pool Noodles from Dollar Tree to make a planter for living or synthetic plants. The centerpiece will be a tall stake light like the Uonlytech pathway stake lights from Amazon. The TikToker behind this idea used a tiny hacksaw to cut the foam pool noodles, but you can use anything with a serrated edge. Kitchen knives or gardening shears also do the job.

Farmhouse-style wall planters add a touch of nature and visual interest without taking up any floor space. Stain the wood, paint the glass using either an acrylic paint, or, for a more durable hold, something that contains both a paint and primer, like Rust-Oleum's Universal All Surface Spray Paint which can adhere to tricky surfaces, including glass. Add decorative accents like ribbons or lace to match these wall planters to the rest of your decor. You'll need one Tool Bench Hardware Heavy Duty Hook, one piece from the 6-Pack Crafter's Square Wood Planks, and one Clear Glass Canning Jar per wall planter. Enhance their rustic appeal by hanging the planters with a Floral Garden Wired Jute Cord, or wrap them in the Crafter's Square Colorful Baker's Twine for a more versatile look.

Repurpose the most unlikely items into unique, eye-catching planters, such as the Tumbling Tower Games 72-Piece Set. Multiple reviewers of this Dollar Tree set included photos of their own DIY planters that you can use as inspiration. Stagger or stack the Jenga-like blocks to make stunning succulent planters for synthetic plants. This planter has great potential for any interior design. Leave the wood untouched for a natural, modern look, stain it dark, or lighten it up with a coat of glossy white acrylic paint. The planter is a great tabletop piece for coffee tables, side tables, and countertops with other decorative knick-knacks.

Although the product used in this TikTok is out of stock, you can make a similar hanging planter using some twine and a vase or planter of your choice. Look for a container with a lip, such as the Dollar Tree Mini Plastic Planters. Embellish the container as you wish, covering with a paint that will adhere to plastic (the Rust-Oleum's Universal Spray Paint should work here too), or filling it with floral foam (if you choose a see-through container, use light-weight Floral Garden Diamond Shaped Plastic Vase Filler for a glamorous pop) before arranging synthetic greenery on top. Embellish vertical space in bare room corners by dangling the planter from a sturdy ceiling or wall hook.

Make your own movie or TV show merch, or craft a personalized gift for family and friends by glazing Dollar Tree's Round Plastic Planters with Spouted Saucers with photos. Draw your own artwork or obtain an artist's permission before using any copyrighted work to decorate your plastic pot (unfortunately most movie posters, like the ones in this TikTok, are not permitted for free use). Like the other Mod Podge planter, use a final coat of clear varnish if this pot is intended for live plants.

Traditional candlesticks have a classical vibe that is great for dressing up Dollar Tree's Flare Top Plastic Planters. Hot glue the Stoneware Pillar Candle Pedestals beneath these planters to make tall pots that emulate Ancient Greece and Rome. They probably aren't stable enough for real plants and won't have drainage holes, but make a great base for most artificial greenery. Synthetic flowers, houseplants, and topiaries make excellent toppers for this design and will add an elegant aesthetic to modern European-inspired homes. If you want to take this DIY concept one step further, use a pool noodle to make a look-a-like pottery barn topiary tree on a small scale.

Let your creativity run wild, and pick up an assortment of similar-sized Dollar Tree bowls. While you can also thrift some bowls, Dollar Tree's selection is similarly affordable, and will allow you to make matching planters. Stack however many bowls befit your vision atop one another using a strong adhesive to secure them. Decorate the stack of bowls using an all-surface paint, Mod Podge and paper for a découpage look, or by creating decorative elements with the Crafter's Square Harvest Assorted Mini Permanent Vinyl Paper Rolls to match the inside or outside of your home. If a live plant is going in the topmost bowl, use the aforementioned varnish to protect the decorative embellishments from water exposure. A drilled hole down the center is also a good idea for drainage purposes. For this you will need a carbide drill bit, such as this Bosch ⅛- inch Carbide Tipped Glass Bit. 

Repurpose a garbage can into a DIY planter with Dollar Tree's Plastic Waste Basket. Unlike the taller can used in this TikTok DIY video, these bins are medium-sized, lightweight, and simple in design, making it easy to transform them and use them even in smaller spaces. Follow TikToker @dollartree_craft's lead by adhering something like this Dll Rubber All-Weather Doormat for an ornate planter design, or use other materials that fit your aesthetic. You could arrange the Main Street Wall Creations Marble Silver Hexagon Tile Decals to add a glossy texture or some peel-and-stick QC Con-Tact Knotty Pine Self-Adhesive Shelf Liners to match a room with wood accents.

Make a Dollar Tree trash can unrecognizable, using pool noodles to create a wacky DIY outer pot. You'll need a foam noodle and a Round Woven Textured Plastic Wastebasket or a simple Dollar Tree Plastic Wastebasket. Give your planter a bulbous rim, a ballooned base, or make it funky top to bottom by wrapping pool noodles around the entire exterior. If you choose to add some peel-and-stick wallpaper like this DIYer, opt for the smooth plastic wastebasket, as the paper will adhere better to a non-textured surface. You may choose to leave the pool noodles as-is and position them in a corner to hide the tape, but you can also use spray paint that works on plastic, like Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Ultra Cover Spray Paint. The paint's toxicity shouldn't be a concern for live plants as long as you don't spray the inside of the planter.

Beautify your home with an easy picture frame DIY planter that allows for lots of personalization. Use four of any square-shaped picture frames as long as they're identical in size, and keep in mind that their design defines the planter's aesthetic. Give it a rustic look with the Special Moments Retro Wood Wide Picture Frames, make it modern with the Special Moments Black with Gold Trim Photo Frames, or portray a trendy chic vibe with the Special Moments Memories Collection Gold Glitter Square Photo Frames. Insert photos, printed designs, saved postcards, or even decorative vinyl sheets in the frames. Simply glue the sides together to create a square "cachepot" (aka hiding pot), into which you can place a live plant in a nursery pot, or an imitation one. 

A clothes hanger is surprisingly useful for DIYing a rustic two-tiered planter. When the arms are sawn off, they make perfectly-sized leg supports for two boxes of plants. Use an old plastic coat hanger (or one from the Dollar Tree, just make sure it has straight arms without hooked portions in the length) and two Dollar Tree Wood Slat Crates to model the base. Paint the crates and wrap rope, twine, or ribbon around the hanger arms, to create this adorable tabletop planter. Insert tiny plants like the Costa Farms 6 Pack Live Mini Succulent Plants from Amazon, or you can use artificial greenery if you don't want to keep up with a living garden.

Finally, give your outdoor decor a boost with a tall DIY planter. An even number of Garden Collection Plastic Rectangular Planters stacked one over the other and painted in a cohesive color make a modern geometric planter for the corners of porches and interior rooms. Like other painted projects, avoid coating the planter interior if you plan to house living greenery. This idea is better suited for artificial plants unless a drainage hole is drilled down the center of the plastic planters. If you do wish to fill the top with soil and plants, you might also wish to stabilize the base by adding a stone or brick inside the second layer.