Another Project

I found this cutie little vanity bench at the thrift store and felt sure that I could turn it into something neat for the garden.

I had my husband use his angle grinder to cut all everything off the top except for the rectangular frame.

I bought a small roll of plastic coated hardware cloth that I am going to fashion into a rectangular basket that I will attach to the top frame of the bench with zip ties.

Here’s how I did it:

First, I unrolled the hardware cloth and then bent it slightly in the opposite direction to try to get it to lay flat (ish). Then I cut it to width–18″ plus a 7″ drop on either side, for a length of 32″.

Then I measured 7″ in from all sides and marked it with painters tape.

Then I cut out the four corner pieces so that I would be left with a “t” shape.

I used my husband’s square to make a sharp corner where I bent up the sides to create the rectangular basket.

Then I clipped the wire that secured the hardware cloth in the package into about 3″ lengths.

I secured each corner with 3 wire, using pliers to get the wires really tight, and then clipped off the excess.

I didn’t put wires too close to the top because I may need to room to maneuver the basket into place.

I dry fit it in the frame.

By this time, the frame was completely dry after being cleaned, so I spray painted it with navy blue paint meant for outdoor use.

Next, I cut the “moss” sheet to fit the basket–same process as I used to cut the wire.

Then I put the basket into the frame and secured it with more wires.

Then I fit the sheet moss into the basket and filled it with potting soil and flowers.

How do you think it turned out?