Upcycled Aluminum Frying Pan Planter

Split_upcycle_02The aluminum frying pan was in our “get rid of” pile after doing some spring cleaning, but we decided to upcycle/repurpose it. For a while we weren’t sure what to do with it due to our inspiration taking a very extended vacation.

 

As you can see, the finished project turned out to be a hanging planter. Read on to see what we did to achieve this result.

Even though we weren’t sure what we were making, we did know the non-stick surface should be removed.

We had a wire wheel brush that attaches to a drill and that removed the worn and ugly surface of the frying pan with ease. Unfortunately, it left a very uneven pattern in the aluminum.

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We purchased a wire cup brush that worked much better and left an even patten on the front and back of the aluminum frying pan as seen below. Wheel, left. Cup, right.

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Next we began to sand the wood handle because our original thought was to paint it. We quickly discovered the handle unscrews so we decided to remove the wood and kept the metal rod with a ring at the end for easy hanging.

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Then this project sat in the garage for several months until a couple days ago when we decided to make it into an air plant mount. Not a big surprise I guess.

We used some scrap pieces of natural cork and driftwood, moss and a tube of E6000 industrial adhesive.

The natural cork was up first to add some bulk to the space, and then filled in with moss and driftwood.

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Then we let it dry overnight.

Then it was time for air plants. We used Tillandsia Funckiana and Tillandsia Punctulata.

The air plants are glued with the same adhesive, but should be allowed to dry overnight before watering.

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Update: Approximately 2.5 years later. The Funckiana (on bottom of pan) didn’t do very well, there’s only one left. The Punctulata are doing very well but are super slow growers.

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