Did you know that first impressions are formed in less than 30 seconds? When you invite friends and family to your home, the front-door entry is often the first thing they see. Make a big impact with a charming planter at the front door to greet your guests.
Check out this easy tutorial on how to create a do-it-yourself stencil to turn an old galvanized bucket into a personalized planter that will create a warm welcome to your home for friends and family.
Photo credit: A Lo and Behold Life
Let’s start with your list of supplies:
- Computer
- Printer
- Paper
- Scissors
- Tape
- Chalk
- Pencil and permanent marker
- Drill with 3/8-inch drill bit
- Large bucket
- Weed block
- Gravel
- Potting soil
- Potting shovel
- Plant
Yep! That’s it. Chances are you probably have most of this stuff lying around the house. OK, here we go…
First step: Get creative
You may think you need some fancy-schmancy editing software to create a stencil, but guess what? You don’t! There are some great online photo editing tools at your fingertips for no cost at all. To create my planter stencil I used Ribbet.com. Follow these simple steps to get your stencil started.
- Go to Ribbet.com and upload an image.
- In the Editing tool, select the “Sticker” tab.
- In the left sidebar, select the square shape under the Geometric feature and drag it over the uploaded image.
- Change the color of the square to white in the “Sticker Properties” pop-up window and stretch the square over the entire image.
Photo credit: A Lo and Behold Life
Ribbet has all sorts of great image icons and fonts to choose from. It also allows you to upload your own fonts into the tool. For my stencil I chose one of my favorite fonts, Petunia Bounce. In the Editing tool, select the “Text” tab. Choose a font and add your text to the image.
Since my stencil was being used for a large bucket, I wanted to make the font as large as possible. Because of this I created two separate images — one image for the first few letters of “Welcome” and one image for the last four letters. Then I printed both images onto paper, trimmed it with some scissors and taped it together to create my “Welcome” stencil.
Photo credit: A Lo and Behold Life
Second step: Get chalky and Sharpie with it
- Take the stencil and rub chalk onto the back side of the paper.
- Tape the paper stencil chalk-side down onto the bucket and trace each letter with a pencil.
- When you remove the paper stencil you’ll see that the pressure from the pencil creates a faint template of the font.
Photo credit: A Lo and Behold Life
You can trace the chalk template with whatever you want to use to create your message. I used a black Sharpie marker, but you could use any color marker or even a cool paint.
Photo credit: A Lo and Behold Life
Third step: Get planted
Now it’s time to turn your bucket into a planter.
- Mark the bottom of the bucket with X’s where the drainage points should be.
- Drill holes into the X’s with a 3/8-inch drill bit.
- Flip the bucket over and lay a sheet of weed block inside. This will prevent any gravel or dirt from seeping out when the plant is watered.
- Add a layer of gravel to enable proper drainage.
- Add a layer of potting soil over the gravel.
- Place the plant into the bucket and fill the spaces with more potting soil.
Photo credit: A Lo and Behold Life
Fourth step: Get fed
Lastly, give your new plant a refreshing drink of water.
Photo credit: A Lo and Behold Life
Whether you’re a beginner or an expert DIYer, this planter is a great way to personalize your front entry. Get ready to greet your guests with a warm “Welcome” without even answering the door.
Photo credit: A Lo and Behold Life
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