Surprise Your Mom With a DIY Planter Box

With Mother's Day right around the corner, your mom is probably expecting flowers. So how about doing a little something extra for mom this year? Something handmade, like when you were a kid? A DIY decorative planter box is the perfect item to give her windowsill that extra pop!

And if you're worried that building something like this may be beyond your skillset, have no fear. Read on for an easy step-by-step guide to making mom a custom planter box for housing her fabulous flowers.

Here are the materials you'll need:

• Wood boards (You can ask the associate at the home improvement store to cut your pieces for you.)

– 1 piece @ 1” x 8” cut at 24” long – this is the base.

– 2 pieces @ 1” x 8” cut at 18” long – these are the upright sides

• 2 baseboard pieces (These need to be the same length as the base. I cut mine at 24” long, and they were just over 5” tall.)
• Wood glue
• Brad nailer
• Clamp
• Drill with a 3/8” bit
• Sisal rope
• Caulk
• Paint

Begin assembling your planter box by attaching the sides to the base.

Squeeze a thin line of wood glue onto the side edge of the base. You'll do this for every side you nail to another board.

Line up the bottom edges of the sides with the base and use a brad nailer to secure them to each other. I have a cordless brad nail gun and it's a lifesaver for small woodworking projects like this one that don't call for wood screws.

Tip: If you decide to use wood screws, just be sure to drill pilot holes first to avoid splitting the wood.

For this planter box, I nailed the sides to the base in 5 different places: Once on each corner and three more, equally spaced out along the bottom.

While the base and sides are setting up, cut out the rope holes in the upright sides.

I used my miter saw to angle the tops of my boards but you can leave yours with the straight sides if you don't have access to a saw. If you do, you can cut 30 degree angles into each of the upper corners.

Mark the center of your board at least 2” from all sides and clamp down the board to drill a hole using the 3/8” drill bit.

 Add wood glue to the bottom of the upright board and to both sides – only glue the bottom 4” or so because the rest will be exposed over the sides – then slide the boards in between the base and nail them into place with the brad nailer.

At this point, I filled each of the nail holes with a tiny bit of caulking, applied a thin coat of glossy acrylic craft paint to the bare boards, and threaded the rope through each of the side holes and secured them with knots on either end.

Although this box was not designed to withstand soil and water, your mom can plant real flowers in a plastic bin (that she can remove to water) and use the planter box as a decorative housing unit for her removable garden.

Otherwise, it's the perfect size for 6” planted pots or even large Mason jars with flowers planted in them.

Finally, you can add personal touches by painting the planter box in your mom's favorite colors or stenciling designs on the sides. This portable planter is perfect for any space and makes a lovely, unique gift for Mother's Day.

What do you want to put in your customized planter box?

Rheney Williams writes about her DIY craft projects for Home Depot. Rheney recently remodeled the kitchen and other rooms in her Charleston, S.C., home, which has provided her with fabulous opportunities to fashion fantastic craft objects using her new brad nailer. Check out Home Depot's complete line of power tools, including the air-pressured cordless brad nailer used for Rheney's project.