Picnic Basket to Planter!

So, yesterday I was putting together the final details for my garden house.  I had asked my husband to build the planter shelves on each side of the door  and then headed off to Walmart for the planters and plants.  Not real sure what I was thinking, its the end of August in Utah ... there were no planters, there were no plants, other than fall mums that were not quite in full bloom .... oops, came home with a couple of red mums and sat them on the shelves ... "pathetic".

So when I went into work the next day I started looking around at the antique mall for "rectangular things that could become planters" on my cool plant shelves ... I found this, I am sorry to say, ugly metal picnic basket in my own stock, and then another similar one in another dealer's booth.

I knew I wanted them the same color as the door, but worried about latex paint on metal outdoors.  I also new I wouldn't be able to find the right color of green spray paint ...  In the end I sprayed them with a flat white, knowing it would stick to the finish and that latex paint would stick to the 'flat' spray paint.  Next I brushed on the same paint I had used on the door and spandral.  Then I sprayed them with clear spray paint to protect the finish and planted them with the mums and the plants from a shaggy end of season hanging basket I got on closeout at my favorite local nursery, Olson's Garden Shoppe.

 

They ended up giving me just the pop of color that I wanted along with an added bit of whimsy!!  What a fun and funky makeover!

 

And here they are as they appear on the garden house.  Thanks for coming along, if you are interested in seeing more pics of the interior of the garden house take a look at my Garden House Reveal post.