My hubby decided to build me these two really cute, but really big window boxes. We had cheap, little, plastic window boxes for years and it bothered him that they weren't the same size as the windows. We've been married for 26 years so he knows that I have a black thumb and can't grow real flowers. (He's still traumatized about the fact that I killed his childhood cactus months after we were married.) Anyway, the boxes are not built to hold a lot of weight. So even if I wasn't a plant murderer, they wouldn't hold the weight of the dirt for real plants.
I went to the big box craft stores (M & HL) to look for fake flowers. Oh my! They charge over $20 for a stem of greenery. I have two 4 foot long window boxes to fill! At that rate, each window box will be well over $100 and probably need to be changed out each season. No, I needed to find a more economical solution.
First, I went to Dollar Tree. I found ivy stems for $1. They weren't as big and full as the $23 stems from the other store but, hey they were $22 cheaper! I bought 8 stems of ivy. Then, I bought 4 of Dollar Store's pool noodles. That's a total of $12! The rest of the supplies, I already had so I''d have to guess on the cost for the rest of the supplies. But for me, it cost $12 to totally decorate my window boxes.
Dollar Tree's pool noodles are a little shorter than other stores but they ended up being the perfect length for my window boxes with no cutting. I also could place 2 side by side. I haven't even pricesd floral craft foam in years. But, I know I saved a ton. You can just stick your flowers into the pool noodle the same way.
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| Pool Noodles instead of floral foam in the bottom of the window box. |
Next, I added the greenery. I put about 4 stems in each box. I would like a little more but I bought all the ivy my Dollar Tree had in stock that day.
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| Here is the window box with the ivy. |
At this point, you could add Dollar Tree fake flowers. But, I decided I wanted something different, something cuter and more personal. I made my own flowers! The flowers are bottle caps (free from friends). I used E6000 glue to hold them together. I also glued them on my silicone mat that kept them from sticking to my table as they dried. I used pliers to bend some of the bottle caps for leaves. I used wooden skewers for the stems. I took the flower tops, stems and leaves outside and spray painted. Once they were dry, I assembled the flower to the stem and added the leaves. In this picture you can see a wooden stamp holding a leaf in place while it dried. I painted the centers of my flowers yellow and then added polka dots by dipping the handle of a small paint brush in paint and dotting it on.
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| Flowers made from bottle caps and skewers. |
And voila! My window boxes have been transformed! I love the way they turned out and I can leave these flowers out all year with no worry about changing the flowers with the seasons.
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| My totally cute window box! |
Hubby recently got a welder and he practiced his welding skills by making me some horseshoe flowers! They totally go with my bottle cap flowers! I added 3 flower pin wheels (again $1/each from Dollar Tree). I love the look of my front flower garden!
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| Horseshoe flowers and pinwheels complete the look. |
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| Last year, we drove through Roswell the day after their UFO Convention. I think the sign just adds to the total kitchy look. |
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| I just finished painting a new house number sign. I can't wait to hang it! |
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