Spiffed up brass planter...

I found this great old brass planter at a thrift store the other day, and just had to have it.  My Mom had a similar one on the windowsill when I was a kid, with African Violets in it, if I remember correctly.

This one had a few issues, though.  The welding on one edge was split, making it sag a bit when upright.  A little bit of J.B. Weld took care of that problem.

The inside was rather icky with corrosion from it's intended use.  Water from plants will do that to brass.  It is possible that with more patience and elbow grease, I could have removed the worst of it, but instead, I just gave it a good scrub with hot soapy water and a toothbrush.

Next I got out some craft supplies:

poster board

(not too stiff as it needs to bend easily)

polyester quilt batting

pretty calico fabric

duct tape

spray adhesive

hot glue

I cut the poster board to fit the shape of the bottom of the planter, then two side panels.  Next, I traced the same shapes onto the batting and cut that out.  Spray adhesive tacked the batting to the the poster board nicely, so I could wrap the calico over the fronts of the panels, and duct tape it to the backs.  Hot glue secured the upholstered panels to the inside of the planter.

As luck would have it, I found an almost matching round planter shortly after the first one.  This one isn't damaged, but I may line the inside anyway, so they'll match better.  I think they will make a great desk organizer set, for mail or note books, or whatever, and the round one can hold pens and pencils.