My upcycle project is a static piece of hanging furniture that serves as decor for my apartment. The piece will be a three-tiered combination of a wooden shelf storage display, a hanging plant-holder adorned in patchwork fabric, and a floral art piece. I have decided to call this project “Floating Bits of Life,” and it is coming along well! Modifying my initial idea, I have redesigned the overall piece to fit a more flattering, feminine shape:
Vertically, I want the edges of each tier to align. The space between each tier is meant to draw viewers’ eyes to the midpoints and create a graceful appearance. Twine will hold the top and middle tiers together in a triangular fashion, allowing each element to blend together in a delicate, pretty way, representative of the cottagecore aesthetic. The bottom tier will now have a pyramidal shape that matches this style. I have also decided to make the wooden shelf circular instead of rectangular to eliminate harsh edges in the piece.
Regarding fabrication progress, I am still in the beginning stage. With beads that I already own, sourced from a previous jewelry project of mine, I have added some to a piece of twine. This element (number 5 in the image to the left) will hang from the center of the floral art tier. Below is piece 5:
The following table outlines the rest of my fabrication timeline:
An important aspect of my timeline is to gather materials, a process I have started! From The Home Depot(1), I found wood in the discount bin and was lucky enough to take two pieces for no cost.
Regarding fabric for the patchwork pot holder, I have taken old clothing from my closet unworn for over a year. I am excited to arrange these prints together, pictured to the right. To make sure the pot is sturdier than only thin sewn fabrics, I will be purchasing quilt batting from Michaels (2), priced at $9.99, and using this as an inner layer for the pot with the upcycled fabric sewn on top. With this thicker, sturdier material, I will be able to shape a plant-holder that fits the dimensions of a two-gallon sized houseplant pot (9-inch diameter, 8.5-inch depth). This way, I can interchange house plants as I desire.
For the bottom tier of this piece, I will be dipping my old flowers in Paraffin Wax purchased for 6 dollars at Michaels. This will strengthen the crumbly dried flowers, ensuring longevity for my creation. I learned about this method for dried floral prep from Proflowers (3). Below are the flowers I will be using. Those still alive in the water cup have about a week left before dying, at which point I will treat them with the wax.
Post Sources:
- The Home Depot, 2000-2024, https://www.homedepot.com/
- Michaels Stores, 2024, https://www.michaels.com/?cm_mmc=SearchBrand-_-google-_-MICH_Search_US_N_Brand_TrademarkCore_Branded_Exact-_-Trademark+-+Branded+Core+Term&kenshoo_ida=tm_brand&kpid=go_cmp-324266651_adg-24658685771_ad-348913281960_kwd-92295400_dev-c_ext-_prd-&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8YyuBhBSEiwA5R3-E40l4QGjQLW3KmQzITpte6TIRlHFC83WLFg9IRYcGgYAtBEN8i6QbxoCtW4QAvD_BwE
- Proflowers, 2020, https://www.proflowers.com/blog/how-to-dry-flowers
3 Comments. Leave new
Having an actual schedule is so wild to me, you are a God to me haha. Your project is really cool! I love the concept of the hanging planter, aesthetics and function.
I liked that you included a manufacturing timeline and lots of images! I didn’t know you could preserve flowers in wax so that was cool to learn also.
Hello Sarah,
I think you’ve made great progress so far on your project and I appreciate the diagram and materials that you provided, it was very helpful in visualizing how you were going to approach this. Will you be using any other materials for the pot besides the fabric to give it your desired structure? I am able to follow your concept for the rest of the project and am excited to see the finished project!