How to make succulent planters from ceramic moneyboxes

[teaandcraft]

My experiments in growing succulents from cuttings and leaves have reached the stage where I have a *lot* of new plants, and no where near enough pots. To remedy this, I headed off to the discount store (because I am nothing if not cheap) but they only had plain plastic pots in their gardening section, which didn't rouse much excitement. However, as I was heading back out via the homewares section, I spotted an amazing unicorn money box. You know what they say, "when life gives you moneyboxes, make planters!" ~___^



I started off with the unicorn moneybox by using a permanent marker to measure out a rectangle shape. I made mine 5.5cm x 3 cm, but the size is really dependent on the shape of your object and the size you want the plant hole to be.  I attached the ceramic cutting wheel to my Dremel (#EZ545, with the EZ Lock Mandrel, for those playing along at home) and started cutting along the marked lines. It cut through the ceramic like butter! Only with, like, a hecka ton of dust. I was wearing safety glasses, ear muffs, and a dust mask during this project which kinda seemed like overkill when I began but, hey, at least I didn't get any ceramic dust in my lungs.



To tidy it up a bit, I went around the edges with a long rounded pink grinding stone attachment (no idea what number is this, sorry!) which really helped make everything look neater and also feel less sharp. Since the moneybox came with a hole in the bottom, I decided just to take out the rubber plug and use that for drainage.



I placed a large flat rock over the hole in the base of the unicorn, and then added a layer of small pebbles. Then all that was left to do was add some cacti and succulent soil, and the plants!

[LovelyMiss]

Totally excellent!

[Onyxnox]

Fantastic reuse - and thanks for the tips of the Dremel tips you used - I have been wanting to cut into some china for another project but have been nervous to.

[Yaqulek]

This is so awesome! 

[teaandcraft]

Thanks everyone!

@Onyxnox, cutting ceramics definitely feels a bit daunting the first time, but it is actually quite easy and fun! In case you are looking for advice regarding drilling into ceramics as well, I use a 6mm P&N diamond core drill bit and it is great. The one I have is for wet drilling, but I just regularly squirt the surface with a spray bottle while I'm drilling ^___^ Good luck with your project!

[lindyv321]

This is fantastic!

[lady4feet]

Great idea! Your unicorn is so much more interesting than a boring plastic planter. Did you have to wet down the ceramic while cutting?

[teaandcraft]

Thanks lady4feet! I didn't wet the unicorn when I was cutting it with the Dremel but you probably could if you wanted to; it might even cut down on the amount of dust produced!

[TheMistressT]

Way cool! I have been tempted to bring succulents back into my life, but haven't been very excited about affordable pots for them. Suddenly, the world is my oyster-shaped money box!

[justpretend]

Love! I'm so doing this with my ceramic Elvis bank!!

[meleriffic]

This is so fun! Thanks for showing how you made this.

[clarabelle4568]

merci beaucoup pour votre partage