How to Design an Inviting Front Yard Garden

How to Design an Inviting Front Yard Garden

The front yard is a passerby or visitor’s first impression of your home and you. It is also the first thing you see when you leave or return to your home.

A front yard garden should reflect the people who live in the house and make the space feel warm and inviting, offering a welcoming path to the front door. This will look different for each person: perhaps you envision a cottage garden, formal landscaping, or practical yet attractive vegetable beds.Read more ›

150+ Upcycling Ideas for Garden Projects

150+ Upcycling Ideas for Garden Projects

It’s that time of year again, when those of us in the Northern Hemisphere start to feel the excitement of Spring. The days get longer, the yard gets more colorful, and all of a sudden, EVERYTHING YOU OWN starts looking like a planter. So, the Thrift Store Decor Team decided to pool all of our garden projects into a single collection of upcycling ideas for your yard, garden, and patio.Read more ›

Tabletop Greenhouse from a Floppy Disk Holder

Tabletop Greenhouse from a Floppy Disk Holder

Several years ago, I repurposed a muffin tin as a seedling tray and it worked beautifully. And while I could have done that again this year, I wanted to try out an experiment. You see, my friends at T4T Thrift Shop had sent me a floppy disk holder (a while ago!) to upcycle. As I mulled over different project possibilities, I kept coming back to the idea of transforming it into a tabletop greenhouse.Read more ›

How to Designate Your Yard as Certified Wildlife Habitat

How to Designate Your Yard as Certified Wildlife Habitat

As an animal lover and biologist (on paper), it’s  no surprise that our yard is very wildlife-friendly. Not only do I love to watch the birds and other critters, but our indoor cats do, as well. Many of my upcycling projects were made specifically for backyard habitat, including feeders, baths, and houses. I learned about designating one’s yard as Certified Wildlife Habitat many years ago, but wasn’t sure how well-known that program was.Read more ›

Upcycling Crafts for Garden Markers or Plant Labels

Upcycling Crafts for Garden Markers or Plant Labels

Let’s face it- most gardeners don’t actually need to use some sort of garden markers or plant labels in their garden. They know what they planted and plant tags seem a little unnecessary. But, there are tons of upcycling crafts for various garden markers and they look AWFULLY cute in your garden! Read more ›

Portable Potting Bench from a Dresser Drawer

Portable Potting Bench from a Dresser Drawer

Every Spring and Summer, my Pinterest and Facebook news feeds are filled to the brim with big, beautiful potting benches! Whether constructed from pallets or old doors, or even a genuine vintage potting table, they are stunning and, well, LARGE. But, here’s the thing- I’m a gardener on a very small scale. I simply don’t have the space or need for a potting bench that is normal size. So, I set forth to create something on a smaller scale: a portable potting bench!Read more ›

DIY Plant Markers from Vintage Shoe Trees

DIY Plant Markers from Vintage Shoe Trees

After successfully sowing herb seeds in thrifted muffin tins and then transplanting the seedlings into larger pots displayed on a vertical shower caddy, I’m wrapping up my three-part Upcycled Herb Garden series today! And what, pray tell, could my third part be about? Well, I’m upcycling some vintage shoe trees into DIY plant markers!Read more ›

Herb Plant Stand from a Stand Up Shower Caddy

Herb Plant Stand from a Stand Up Shower Caddy

I do a lot of cooking at home but I’m not a prolific gardener. I’m limited my own lack of gardening interest, but also by space. That being said, though, I do like to grow my own kitchen herbs in pots as much as possible. You may recall how I upcycled a muffin tin as a propagation tray for growing some herb plants from seed? Well, it’s time to transplant them and I’ll be upcycling a stand up shower caddy to create an herb plant stand!

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Plant Starting Tray with a Muffin Pan

Plant Starting Tray with a Muffin Pan

Real Life Confession- I love the idea of gardening more than I love actual gardening. Can anyone else relate? BUT. But…I still enjoy having planted herbs around as the weather warms up! So, this year, I’ve decided to do a series of upcycling ideas for an herb garden. And today is Part 1: Repurposing a muffin pan as a seed starting tray or plant starting tray.Read more ›

Hanging Herb Baskets from Lampshade Frames

Hanging Herb Baskets from Lampshade Frames

Lampshades are a pretty common item at thrift stores, in every size and shape you can imagine. So, I felt a compelling need to come up with an upcycling idea for them, starting with these small lamp shades that I found at Goodwill. I had this niggling feeling that lampshade frames could be repurposed into herb hanging baskets for a vertical herb planter.
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