MAKE YOUR OWN WIRE BASKET - A TUTORIAL (KIND OF)

I love hydrangeas!  And the other day I came upon some beautiful blue ones at Lowes.  They are beautiful plants - about 2 feet tall and 1 1/2 feet across - for only $11.99 each!!!   This variety grows to 3-5 feet across and 3 - feet tall.  I've normally had to pay about $45 for one this size.  So I scooped up 3 of them and brought them home.

 One for the kitchen table . . .

And the other two for the dining room, since it's too early to plant them outside.  And this is where the wire basket comes in.  I had a roll of wire fencing kind of like this.

I cut off a length to use for my basket . . .

 Used some VERY sharp, heavy-duty wire cutters . . .

And after lots of cutting and bending and cutting and bending . . .

I ended up with a basket big enough to hold the other two plants.

So I took off the blue plastic pot covers and instead wrapped each plant with some burlap and tied it with twine.

I love the little curls at the top of the basket! 

One roll of fencing is not very expensive - I believe it was under $15.  One end of the fencing has large openings in the mesh (I used that end here), but the other end had small openings.  You could make MANY baskets from one roll.  The possibilities are endless for shapes and sizes and you could paint them, weave burlap strips in and out of the wire, or leave them plain.  You could use them for plants as I did, make a bin for potatoes or onions, or make them just the perfect size to hold bathroom towels, a round one to hold plates at a buffet table, a rectangular shape for firewood, magazines . . . the list goes on and on because you can bend the fencing into whatever shape suits you, square, round, whatever!   You could also add handles or even make a liner out of a canvas drop cloth or muslin.  Or, how about wiring a prism, pearl, or bead from each of the wire "curls" around the top of the basket?  Or wiring on a small wooden sign with a label or graphic from the Graphics Fairy?    And on, and on, and on!

I plan on working on some drawings tonight to show the process of making a wire basket like this.  The photos I took of the fencing as it was taking the shape of a "basket" just didn't turn out.  I couldn't capture a good perspective of what was going on so I think drawings will be much easier to follow.

Meanwhile, here's one more look at these gorgeous flowers!

So. Beautiful.

They don't even look like they could be real!

But, believe me.  They are!

Sharing on:

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Funky Junk Interiors

The Shabby Nest

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