Turn Vintage Doilies Into The Most Unique Upcycled Planter

Creative crafters are constantly finding ways to reuse vintage doilies and give them new life. However, a lot of them involve altering the doily in some way. If you aren't certain that you want to commit your doilies to their new role as decor, there's an easy DIY project you can try. You can use doilies to upcycle a planter, turning it from dull and boring to sweet and elegant. While there are additions you can make if you want the upcycling to be more permanent, you can complete this hack without actually altering your doily. All you need are your doilies, a planter, and some sewing supplies. 

The basic idea is to wrap one or more doilies around the planter, sewing them together to hold them in place. This creates a sort of slip cover for your container, dressing it up in lace and frills for a cuter aesthetic and added texture. Hand sewing generally doesn't damage doilies, and the threads can be cut later if you decide you'd rather use your doily in a different way. Of course, you can make the project more permanent by gluing the doilies into place. This may make it easier to move your planter later, since you won't need to worry about the doilies sliding off. Personalizing your doilies further by painting them or adding embellishments such as ribbons or buttons will also make it more unique to your style. You can also use this similar technique to repurpose vintage doilies for hanging planters instead if you don't have any standing planters.

Start by grabbing your doilies and your planter to simply see how they look together. Small planters may only need one large doily to wrap around them, but larger planters may need more. If you need more doilies, you can check thrift stores for vintage doilies or even find newly made fabric or paper ones in some retail stores. Alternatively, you could use old lace curtains or a table runner to achieve the same result. Those may also be a better fit if you have containers that are comically oversized compared to your doilies. Plus, you can create lace curtain wall art with any leftover pieces to match your new planter.

If you're decorating your doilies, adding the decor before attaching them will help keep your planter clean. However, if the texture of the doily appeals to you more than the appearance, you can glue them down and paint the entire planter. Another variation is to cut your doilies in half to create a frilly border rather than a full cover. To sew your doilies, grab a needle and some thread that matches your doilies. Wrap the doily around the planter so that the edges overlap, and sew it in place. If you're using multiple doilies, overlap one edge of the doily with the next and stitch them together, then repeat the process until you have a line of doilies long enough to cover your planter. Finish by sewing the two ends together to form a ring, and your unique upcycled planted cover is ready to go!