From Rusty Bike to Flower Planter – Netties Expressions

Hey there…

Today I’m going to share a very simple DIY project. You can copy this if you like or use this to get your own ideas going. It’s always amazing to me what a little paint and some flowers can do.

I had an old rusty bike sitting in my yard waiting for a little TLC. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do with it so I just left it. Yes, that’s water. My backyard floods sometimes in spring much to my dismay.

I bought some spray paint from our local Home Hardware. They only had one can and I definitely needed more than one can of paint.

The only prep work that I did was to clean the bike. I didn’t do a thorough cleaning because I wanted to see how it would turn out. I was in a rush and feeling lazy.

I painted it pink and then quickly realized that there was no way this would be enough paint.

I ended up finding some paint at Home Depot but not the same colour. It was a lilac colour.

I’m still on the fence about this colour and think I might end up repainting the bike. I just think a pink bike would be so incredibly charming.

This was the lilac paint when it was still wet.

This is what the paint looked like when it was finally dry.

If I do end up finding more pink paint, I’ll give the bike a thorough cleaning and sand it prior to painting. You can see the rust underneath the paint because I did this in such a rush. I should’ve taken the time to sand it down to create a clean surface.

My next task was to search for a basket for the bike. I ended up finding a dark coloured basket that I already had on hand. I took some cream coloured spray painted to brighten up this old basket.

I placed the bike to try to get a picture of how it would fit and if it would work to attach a basket to the handle bars.

I had some thick heavy duty plastic on hand which I used to line the basket. I used an upholstery stapler to attach the plastic to the basket. I filled the basket with dirt and used some black zip ties to attach the basket to the bike.

Finally, it’s time to plant the annuals. You can see the black zip ties from this angle, but they aren’t noticable from the street.

A couple more close ups of the basket…

What do you think? Should I try to find more pink spray paint and repaint it pink?

It’s truly amazing what a little paint and some annuals can do. What projects are you inspired to try next? Sometimes it just takes seeing someone else do something to become inspired to try an idea you’ve had on the back burner.

Wishing you a lovely day filled with moments of sunshine and splashes of joy.

~Jennette