Creative Christmas Hanging Planter

Make a Christmas hanging planter full of festive cheer.

What you Will Need

• Christmas tree template (see below)
• 12 mm plywood 480 mm x 400 mm (for the tree)
• 12 mm plywood 172 mm x 172 mm (for the pot stand)
• 12 mm plywood 120 mm x 30 mm (for the cross piece)
• Undercoat
• PVA (we used Brilliant White, but use any colour you want to)
• Plastic pot (we painted ours purple!)
• 4 x 20 mm panel pins
• An indigenous asparagus

Tools

Cordless drill, 10 mm drill bit for wood, hammer, electric sander, wood saw, jigsaw, holesaw, wood chisel, pencil, paintbrush

1. Draw a Christmas tree shape on a large piece of paper, matching the dimensions given in the template. Cut out the paper template, place it on the large piece of plywood, lining up the bottom with the edge of the wood, and trace the outline onto the wood. Drill holes into each corner, on the outside of the lines (this will help when cutting out the template with the jigsaw). Be careful – you don’t want holes in the tree itself.

2. Cut out the Christmas tree with a jigsaw and sand the edges. Drill a hole near the top point, from which to hang the tree.

3. Find the centre of the bottom of the tree and mark it. Then mark 6 mm on either side of this mark. Mark 15 mm down from the top (you are going to cut out a slot). Cut along the 6 mm lines down to the 15 mm mark. Using a chisel, remove the wood between these cuts.

4. On the 120 mm x 30 mm piece of wood, do the same – find the centre and mark 6 mm on either side of it. Cut down to 15 mm and remove the piece of wood with a chisel. Apply glue to the slots on both pieces of wood and glue them together.

5. Find the centre of the 172 mm x 172 mm piece of wood and drill out a hole with the holesaw. Fix the square to the top of the bottom strut of the tree using panel pins and glue.

6. When the glue is dry, paint the tree with a coat of undercoat. Leave it to dry and then paint two coats of PVA, allowing the paint to dry between coats.

7. Pot up your asparagus and pop the pot into the hole. Hang your new Christmas hanging planter in a prominent spot that will fill your home or patio with festive cheer.