Toy Planters and Garden Decor Tutorials

Make toy planters and other fun garden decor using thrift store finds.  This is a sponsored post with Goodwill San Antonio, but all ideas and opinions are my own.

Why decorate with store bought planters and garden decor when you can make your own from thrifted items? Old toys are plentiful and inexpensive at Goodwill San Antonio. You get to recycle while creating something one of a kind and eye catching!  Use real or artificial plants for any of these fun, easy to make toy planters and decor projects.

Supplies used to make toy planters and decor:

• Various toys:  Truck, doll chair, toy car, Christmas elf
• Potting Soil
• Flowering plants
• Floral foam
• Artificial Flowers
• Mesh Burlap Ribbon
• Moss

If you’re planning to use soil and live plants, you’ll want to choose a toy that has a section that can act like a pot.  Toy trucks and toy construction vehicles are perfect for this!  If the toy doesn’t have drainage, you can fill the base with rocks to help keep the plants from sitting in too much water.

Step one:  Many toy trucks have a hole on the bottom for water to drain.  If the toy you chose does not, you many want to drill a hole in the bottom of the vehicle first.

Step two:  Fill the toy with potting soil. With this truck,  I filled the front seats and the bed of the vehicle with soil.

Step three:  Add the plants to the truck.  Fill in with more soil as needed.

Other toys, like this cute pink wood doll rocking chair, don’t have a basin for holding soil, but they can be perfect for holding artificial flowers.  This toy planter piece would make a cute centerpiece for a baby shower.  This is made of wood so it would do best on a covered porch or patio.

Step one:  Trim a piece of floral foam to fit the base of the chair.

Step two:  Wrap the floral foam with a mesh burlap ribbon.  I use sewing pins to hold the ribbon in place.

Step three:  Press the flower stems into the floral foam.

While you’re shopping at Goodwill San Antonio, don’t forget to check out the holiday section, even though it’s summer time!  I always find something I can use.  Check out this cheery Christmas elf.  It was HUGE, in great condition, and only cost a few dollars.  With just a little spray paint, it went from being an elf to just being a cheery garden gnome.  A piece this large would cost $25 or more at a different store, but with a little paint it has a new life in my garden.

You never know what you’ll find at Goodwill San Antonio!  For more fun garden decor made with thrifted items, click HERE.