DIY Repurposed Rain Boot Garden Planters

happy days farm, garden boot planter, DIY

Wait! Don’t throw out those boots!

Repurpose them into adorable little planters for your garden!

We have had these children’s rain boots for about two years wanting to do this little project. You can pick them up at yard sales, thrift stores, or hand-me-downs from anyone who has children! They are so cute, colorful, and the smaller size makes them perfect for planters.

The supplies are very basic! Depending on the number of boots you have, get a piece of wood that you can screw them to. We decided to paint it white, but you wouldn’t have to do that. Bring a drill with a drill bit and the screwdriver option. We used two different screw sizes for this project, a 2 inch stainless steel and a small 1 inch screw with a washer.

Also pick up a few rocks to place in the bottom of the boots, some potting soil, and some plants! Purchase your plants based on where you will be placing your new planter! We are going to have this mounted fairly high in the full sun, so we picked Portulaca, which doesn’t require much water, and loves the heat! You could do the same project with shade loving plants if you wanted too.

Drill a pilot hole on each end of the piece of wood you will be mounting your boots too. These holes will help you get the board up easily.

Depending upon the boot size, and the number of boots you are using, make sure you use strong enough screws so your new planter doesn’t fall off the wall!

We drilled about 5 holes into the bottom of each boot to make sure there was plenty of drainage.
If you don’t add the holes, the boots will slowly fill up with water, and your plants will drown!

Add a few rocks to the bottom of the boots to help with draining, and then fill up with potting soil! Make sure to leave room to add your plants.

Learn from my mistake! Don’t put the flowers in until after you have all the boots attached! Use a screw with a washer, and slowly try to drill into the top rim of the boot, which you should be able to see is thicker. If you don’t use a washer, or you drill too fast, you will go straight through the rubber with the screw. We actually used two screws in the back of each boot to make sure the screw didn’t pull through the rubber with the weight of the boot, dirt, flowers, and eventually water.