Turn A Frying Pan Into An Easy-To-Build Hanging Planter With A DIY

A frying pan can get scratched up from overuse. The style could just look dated. A broken handle renders it impractical to use. At this juncture, most people vote to just toss it, but as YouTube DIYer FabTab India proves, throwing it out would be most unfortunate. When faced with her own dead pan dilemma, the YouTuber gave her skillet a new life as the base for a hanging planter. It's super easy to make, and best of all, if you do the same with your old frying pan, you've added one less thing to the landfill and one more pretty thing to your home.

The frying pan you use for this serves the plants growing in it in two ways. It's a foundation for the potted plants to sit on, and it's a liner that catches the water that drains out of the bottom of them. As such, it's most practical for you to choose a skillet whose dimensions can accommodate all of the smaller potted plants you'll put inside of it. A long, soft rope, some string, and something like Cra-Z-Art Air Dry Clay make up the physical components of the hanging planter.

You'll need some additional tools and supplies to make it look less like a frying pan and more like a planter. Paint and a paintbrush are the first. Most metal needs to be cleaned and sanded to get paint to stick to it, so you'll need items like sandpaper, soap, and sponges for that portion of the project. Finally, put scissors, a screwdriver, and a wall bracket on the list, too.

Start by removing the pan's handle with the screwdriver, then scrub it so that any greasy residue that still clings to it disappears. Next, rub it down with 120-grit sandpaper — just add enough texture to the surface of the skillet to encourage the paint to stay put. Then, use clay to fill in the holes where the handle used to be. 

Now, it's time to paint the frying pan. This step offers you an opportunity to align the planter's design to your home's decor style. For example, if you're into modern farmhouse, paint the piece with neutral colors. If your taste leans toward the checkered designs of Mackenzie-Childs, painting some black and white squares on the bottom of the skillet is a budget way to replicate the look. And adding a pattern with a stencil set, like the Yazhiji Botanical Stencils Set, gives a nod to the pan's new purpose and introduces a biophilic decor motif into the planter's design.

Next, make the planter's rope hanger by cutting two long pieces of the soft rope. Fold them in half, and then wrap some strings around the rope at the top and bottom. Adding some Aylifu Natural Wooden Beads onto the rope before you're done binding the rope up with the string would be a pretty touch here. Trim the excess rope at the bottom of the hanger. Then, comb the hairs of the rope to separate them. Hang up the bracket hook, attach the hanger to the bracket, and slide the pan into the rope hanger. Fill the pan with potted plants and knickknacks to finish the DIY off.