I think she likes it. Last weekend I made this little planter for our 17 month-old daughter Julia, and I slipped it into her room while she was napping. When she woke up, she pointed at it, smiled, and I got an enthusiastic “Ooooooooh!”
It was a simple hardware store craft project, but I got results. I picked up this plastic-lined wooden box at Jamali Garden Supply in New York, but similar planters are available at most garden centers. (This one cost $8 and is available at the store at 148 West 28th Street in New York or online at www.jamaligarden.com.) My weekly trip to Herrick’s Hardware in Southampton yielded a can of bright red spray paint, and I was ready to go. (I love traditional hardware stores, and this is a good one.)
First, I cut a heart out of heavy paper the way we were taught to in grammar school, by folding it in half.
I shaped it up a little and made sure I liked its scale relative to the box. Then I traced around it onto another sheet of the same heavy paper and used a mat knife to cut a stencil. (I made sure the stencil was slightly larger than the box of to prevent overspray onto the adjacent sides.)
I positioned the stencil on each side of the box.
Then went at it with my lipstick red spray paint. Fun.
To prevent seepage and smudging, remove the stencil immediately after spraying and make sure the paint on it is at least tacky before spraying the next surface. (This will take just a minute or two unless the paper is really saturated.)
For its debut, I chose potted tulips, which are plentiful now in garden centers, flower shops and even some supermarkets. After tulip season, I think a little red rose bush might be a nice change.
