DIY leather and clay hanging planters

last week I decided to utilise my alcoves with some hanging planters, I'm running out of room to display my plants (and always looking for an excuse to squeeze in more!) clay is such a versatile material I seem to keep coming back to it, but for quick little projects like this it's a total hero of mine.

this week's heatwave was the perfect excuse to seek out a shady spot and get making.. keep reading for the full tutorial!

materials needed:

white air dry or polymer clay

rolling pin

faux or leather cord

craft knife

sandpaper

ruler

roll out the clay and cut a rough rectangle using your craft knife and ruler.

take the rectangle and fold it up into a cylinder, pinch the two edges firmly together where they meet.

roll out another piece of clay and cut out a circle the width of your cylinder- this will make the base.

place the cylinder over the base. next roll out some thin sausage shaped pieces of clay and place them around the joint inside -smooth them out with your fingers to seal the joint. 

(oh and flip it upside down and check it's secure on the underside too!) 

punch 2 holes into the clay so you can hang it, I just used an old pen lid to create mine..

you need to smooth all over the exterior of the planter so it has a even finish where the joints meet, use some water and a brush or sponge. 

I used air dry clay for mine as I had a stash left over so I left it for 3-4 days to dry out fully. I sanded it down till it was nice and even and looped my leather cord through the holes to finish.

air dry clay shouldn't really get soaking wet so I've left my plants in the plastic containers they came in (the containers don't have any drainage holes so my clay will stay nice and dry.) 

however you can use polymer clay that you can bake in the oven to make these planters which should hold up well.. 

I've just popped a couple of small nails into my wall to hang the planters... 

I think they look pretty sweet in my bedroom alcoves and these plants are my new favourites, they didn't come labelled but apparently they're a type of fern!

I'm really pleased with how they turned out, even james is a fan (....whoa!)

I'm off to dig out ALL the ice lollies, it's so hot here it's purely medicinal, wink. 

hope you're having a great weekend.. back soon!

caroline x