Sometimes I go to the thrift store and come away empty-handed, bummed out, and treasure-less. But then there are those magical times when I walk in and immediately have a “near-craft experience”. And by that, I mean I spot a thrifty treasure and know what I plan to do with it…immediately! That, my friends, is what happened when I walked up to this faded orange and black straw tote bag.
An orange & black tote bag in October? Get in my cart!
If it weren’t October, I probably would have walked on by- an orange beach bag isn’t really my thing! But when the air is crisp and I’m feeling all Halloween-y inside, then an orange and black straw tote is going in the cart! Why? Because the more I stared at it- with its curved handle and round buckles- the more I saw a jack-o-lantern face. And that’s when I decided to repurpose it into a jack-o-lantern porch planter for some autumn mums. This post contains affiliate links for your crafting convenience.
Let’s do this!
Before I could repurpose it into a planter, though, it needed an actual jack-o-lantern face. So I grabbed our utility knife and carefully sliced off the threads that held the handles and hardware on the straw.
My orange canvas…
Using wide painter’s tape, I create a jack-o-lantern face template that I arranged (and re-arranged) on the tote bag until I was satisfied.
That face will do…
I carefully marked the straw at the corners of each piece with a black marker, and then peeled off the tape. Then, I stuck the tape pieces on black peel-and-stick felt and cut them out.
I like where this is going…
Even though I was using the sticky felt, I still dabbed a bit of quick-dry craft glue under the corners to ensure they’d stay put. Then I lined up each piece with the tiny marker marks on the bag and glued them in place. Isn’t he adorable??
LOVE! Just the cutest.
Then I went to a nearby store and picked up the prettiest mums I could find! And these Pele mums were gorgeous and already blooming- perfection.
Ta-da!
I added a few handfuls of river rocks to the bottom of the tote bag, too, which will help anchor it on our porch. I don’t usually do a big “Fall Porch” vignette, but I’m just delighted with our jack-o-lantern straw tote planter!
Greeting everyone who comes by…
Now I think I’ll go get a few pumpkins to round out our porch décor! I’m thinking I’ll get some of those unusual green and white pumpkins that are oddly shaped- like something out of Alice in Wonderland. Happy Fall, y’all!
Craft on!
S
PIN ME!
The post Mums the Word: Straw Tote Pumpkin Planter appeared first on Sadie Seasongoods.