Guys! Remember the chandelier that Michael and I found on The Hunt?

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It’s hard to tell from this pic, but those milk glass covers are actually really nice.  Obviously, they don’t look awesome on the chandy, but I knew they could be repurposed.  They are a really good size and in great condition.  I thought those chandelier light covers would make fabulous vases or planters.

I might be a little excited about this one 😉

The challenge

The problem is the open bottoms. I couldn’t figure out for a long time how to make a bottom for them that met four criteria:

1- It had to be strong

2- It had to be mostly watertight, except for the drainage hole that would be in the middle for the planters (not applicable obviously for the vase)

3- It had to be cheap (because why else do it)

4-It has to look good (because why else do it)

For a long time I wasn’t sure where to start with this project.

So I got to thinking that real planters are often made of clay, and I found this on Amazon:

The reviews were a little mixed, but it seemed to be what I was looking for.  But, I needed something waterproof.  I found this:

This stuff has amazing reviews and is rated for marine use.  Plus, anything that has “superfine” in the description…. I mean, how could I not?  😉

Here’s what I was starting with.  It was hard to photograph the milk glass in the afternoon light (the camera had a hard time distinguishing it from the background) so I stuck some faux flowers in it so it would be easier to photograph:

First thing I did was shape the clay.  It took about half the package for one (I actually did two of these for this project, one planter and one vase).

I used a coffee cup to roll it out a little bit smoother because I am nothing if not professional 🙂

I made it probably 1/4 of an inch thick, and wide enough to cover the bottom of the milk glass cover, and then put it on the paper plate and sat the milk glass cover on it and pressed down.  It made a perfectly sized bottom for the milk glass!

After pulling away the excess, I flipped the milk glass over and started firmly smooshing the clay into the sides of the vase so it would adhere.  You can see in this pic that the clay sank into it a bit, but that was okay because of the Milliput step (coming up!):

So if you want to use this as a planter (I made one planter one and one vase), you may want to add a drainage hole at this point. Because I wasn’t sure how strong the clay would be at the end, and if it would be able to handle holding extra weight like rocks used for drainage if I didn’t put in a drainage hole, I went ahead and added one.  I simply got a drill bit and poked hole straight through the middle.

Now for the Milliput.  I had never used this stuff before (or even heard of it) so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it worked perfectly!  It’s a hardening putty.  You have to activate it by taking an equal amount of the stuff in the blue wrap and the stuff in the white wrap and mixing it together for five minutes.  It’s easy to work with, but it dries super hard, and water proof.

A little Milliput goes a long way.  I ended up figuring out that the best way to work it was to get small pieces of it, roll it between my hands, then work it where I needed it.  For the planter, that ended up being under the lip on the bottom, along where the clay meets the walls of the planter:

 

That was also what I did with the vase initially, but when I came back the next day, there were a few spaces that I had missed and it wasn’t watertight.  So, I ended up covering the entire bottom of the vase with Milliput (but I worked from the inside of the vase), which worked perfectly!

I let both dry for a day, although the Milliput package says that it fully hardens in a few hours.

Here is the final result:

The planter turned out nice too!  Except that I forgot to water the hydrangeas that I put in there, which I had put outside, and they were looking kind of sad when I went to photograph them.  I’ll take some pics when they perk up and let you see- but it looks nice 🙂

Edit: 3 months later, and the clay bottom has fallen out of the planter.  It fell out in a sad heap of sadness.  I’m guessing that the constant moisture plus the wrong kind of clay was the culprit.  Whomp whomp.  The vase is still going strong and is still completely watertight! 

The cost:

Martha Stewart Crafter’s Clay: $6.78 (enough for two)

Milliput: $8.01 (made two with enough left for one more)

Total for two: $14.79

I could probably find the clay cheaper, but it dried really well and actually is very hard- I don’t have any concern about it not holding up- so if I do this project again, I’ll stick with Martha’s 🙂  (Edit, 3 months later- oh, Lawd- foreshadowing rears its ugly head again!)

What do you guys think?  I still have 4 of these milk glass covers left.  Should I make more vases/planters (I’m making another planter to match the one I have outside for sure) or do something different?