Thrifty Hanging Baskets

$29.99 for one decorative hanging basket at the big box stores? I think not- not for this gal on a budget at least. I know the ones with the white buckets are less dough, but ugh, they are all just the same and so common.

So, I made my own. It is really simple and if you shop at the right places you can do it very cheaply and personalize it to your own taste/color themes. IT IS EASY, DON'T BE AFRAID! I know they look so fancy at the stores, but it's just like planting in the ground!

I was able to snag the 14inch hanging planters from Big Lots. They were on sale for 2/$7.00. $3.50 each, that's a screaming deal considering the ones I saw at the specialty garden store were $24.00 alone. Granted, they aren't made out of the most high quality metal, but unless everybody that walks by your house touches them, they'll never know. I am a little worried about the weight inside compared to the strength of the chain, so I'll update if there is a giant crash in the near future.

I purchased the plants from English Gardens. Their flats are only $9.99. I only ended up using 4-5 four packs of flowers for each basket. I was able to use the extra around the yard.

I had garden soil left over from the garden, so I just used that. However, now that I think about it, buying potting soil would have made the planter lighter, so you may want to choose that.

I decided to use purple and yellow flowers. Think color wheel. Opposite colors (contrasting) colors give you the most bang for the buck because they enhance and make each other pop. Choose a color on the wheel, the colors opposite of it are the contrasting ones incase you forgot from Grade School art.

Here's how I made 2 baskets:

1. Fill basket about half way with soil.
2. Start with your center flower if you have one, or just start IN the center if using all of the same flowers.
3. Dig out a little hole, plant center flower and fill around with extra soil.
4. Continue around the outside with your flowers. Make it as dense as you like, but remember- the more you add, the heavier your basket will be.
5. Water and hang!

They are so inexpensive to make, and next year your can just buy a new lining and do it again! Maybe think about other combinations that compliment its location.

Total Cost: $8.00 a basket!! Pretty good deal if I say so myself! Plus, it doesn't look like every hanging basket you see, it's original to my taste. Enjoy!