Most people are preparing for Halloween….some are preparing for Christmas….Me?…I’m preparing for Spring!!!

I wanted a planter that was a little different for my deck…something bright…I had seen where someone had taken a dresser drawer and made a planter out of it….I really liked the idea….but didn’t feel I wanted to place a drawer on the floor….so I decided it would be fun to have a small dresser with a couple of drawers pulled out to plant flowers in.  As a result you will see a different way to use your art stencils other than for Art Journaling and Card Making.

Supplies:
Small Secondhand Dresser – I got mine from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Various Colors of Paint – I used latex paint because I had a bunch of colors from another project. But acrylics or Dylusions Paint would be good for the stenciling.
Various Joggles / Margaret Applin Designs 6″ x 9″ Stencils – I used: Global #4, This and That #2, Flora & Fronds #4, #5, #9, #11, #14 – or whichever ones you like for the project.  Click here to see all of the 6″ x 9″ options.
I also used large and small Bubble Wrap and a small foam flower stamp I made.
Sharpie Water Based Paint Pens: Extra Fine,  Fine and Medium  in Black and White.  Extra Fine in Green and Light Blue
I used makeup sponges to stencil with.

NOTE: If you do a project like this it’s best to take the handles off before you start. Unfortunately I was not able to do that because they had been painted over so many times they were fused to the drawer fronts. So I had to work around them. Which was not an easy task.

I painted the base of the dresser teal and the drawers fronts different shades of yellow. I also painted the sides of the drawers.

I removed the drawers and lined them up in order.  I started adding some background texture using large bubble wrap and green paint.

Add more texture using small bubble wrap and light blue paint.

Add more background texture using stencils.

Enough background texture.

Start adding Flora & Fronds stenciling.

A good start.

I also stenciled on the sides of the 2 drawers I plan on pulling out to plant in.

For the flower stencils I used green paint for the stems and various colors for the flower petals.

Stenciling is finished.

Stenciling on the drawer sides.

Add details using Sharpie Paint Pens. I outlined all the stenciling in black and added dots and stuff using white and light blue. I hand drew stems for the little flowers I stamped. with the green Sharpie Paint Pen. Paint the handles a contrast color.

These are the drawers I plan on pulling out to plant in and roughly how it will look. Use your imagination to picture cascading vines falling from the upper drawer and impatiens in the lower drawer.

The drawer sides with the details finished.

Finished front.

This is an unfinished project. I plan on painting a picket fence and doing more stenciling on the sides of the dresser. I will coat the inside of the 2 planting drawers with a rubber waterproof coating. And the 2 planting drawers will be screwed in place so they  don’t get pushed in or pulled out by accident. I will be placing bricks or something with a bit of weight to it in the other 2 drawers to stabilize the dresser and keep it from tipping over due to the planting drawers being open.

Looking forward to getting plants in it. I can’t wait for Spring!!!!