I grew up in the tropics. We didn’t have ceilings in our house. Just beams and the underside of the roof tiles, which were painted white. I remember we used to have tropical plants hanging from the beams. They were macrame ones my mum made. I decided to make my own. Not macrame, but denim and leather recycled hanging planters.
A few months ago I came across a discarded old leather sofa waiting to go to the dump. The sofa was beyond repair, but I couldn’t let all that old leather go to waste.
So I cut off large sections of the leather to save for upcycling. I used some of that leather to make a boho leather DIY vase and for these recycled hanging planters.
You probably don’t have an old leather sofa to cut up. However, you don’t need much leather for this project. An old leather handbag or jacket (real or faux) would work just as well.
Upcycled Denim and Leather Recycled Hanging Pot Holders
I keep my family’s old jeans for repurposing and decided to use some of that denim with these indoor hanging pots. I love the combination of denim and leather together. Which is why I made these hanging pot holders using a bit of both materials.
It is just as easy to make an all denim, or an all-leather pot hanger rather than combining both materials. To keep with the upcycling theme I used old tin cans planters. It is easy to make these hanging plant holders fit other plant pots.
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What You Need To Make Recycled Hanging Planters
- An old piece of leather (real or faux). A piece from an old leather jacket, sofa or bag will do. You will need a piece approximately 20 cm in diameter. For a denim recycled hanging planter you will need a piece of denim the same sort of size.
- Denim seams from an old pair of jeans
- Tin can or another planter
- Leather hole punch or Crop-A-Dile
- Superglue or needle and thread
- Wooden curtain ring
- Xacto knife and cutting mat
- Cutting pattern, free to download here.
- Fabric glue for the denim hanging planter only.
How To Make A Leather Indoor Hanging Pot Holder
1. First, download and print out the cutting template. This template has been designed for a planter the size of a standard tin can. To make a larger or smaller hanging planter adjust the size of the pattern before printing.
2. Next, tape the template to the leather piece. Place this on top of a cutting mat. Using a Xacto knife cut out the pattern. Cut from the center circle out just cutting the solid lines.
3. The dots on the template highlight where to punch the holes. Use either a leather hole punch or a Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the leather. Leave the holes as they are or add coloured eyelets.
4. To hang the recycled hanging planters use denim seams from an old pair of jeans. However, a leather thong or twine would work just as well.
Cut four denim seams so they are all the same length. Thread one seam through the hole in the leather and then either sew or glue it in place. Repeat with the other three seams and holes.
5. Next, secure the other end of each denim seam to the wooden curtain ring. Again either use a needle and thread or superglue to hold it in place.
6. Finally, all that you need to do is to add the tin can planter. If you put pebbles in the bottom of the tin can planter this will not only help with drainage. The weight will also help the indoor recycled planter hanger, hang well.
To add the Boho look of these recycled indoor hanging planters, how about adding tassels. Here you can see how to make tassels out of an old piece of denim.
How To Make Denim Recycled Hanging Planters
As well as leather, I also made some recycled hanging pot holders out of denim scraps. To stop the denim from fraying, cover it with fabric glue. Once the glue has dried, cut out the denim plant holders in the same way as with the leather pot holders.
For the denim plant holders, I cut strips of leather to use as the hanging string. Again you can use, denim seams or twine for this.
Again, I added an upcycled denim tassel to the bottom of the recycled hanging planters.
The velvet upcycled planters I made, also look good with these hanging plant pot holders.
I used real plants in these upcycled planters however if you don’t have green fingers I have a great tutorial for DIY tropical leaf planters that will look just as good in these planters.
For other wall hanging vase ideas check out these broken China teacup DIY wall vases.
If you liked these Boho recycled hanging planters, you will probably like these other posts.
For other thrifty craft ideas visit Cheapandthriftyliving.com
Puppy Foodie
i will try from an old pair of jeans
Claire Armstrong
Good luck and have fun.
Cecilia
Such a fun planter, Claire! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Cecilia. I’m pleased you liked them.
Maria
Great diy project and love the recycling! And the fact that it offers another way to display plants makes my heart sing! Thanks for sharing.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Maria. You can never have too many plants.
Julie
Very cool, I saved our old leather sofa too, I’ve been able to use it for all sorts of things!
These are a really fun twist on traditional macrame.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, and a lot easier than macrame.
Evija
Love these plant hangers and the fact they are recycled makes it even better!! As Always Claire, your project is so original and SO amazing!!! Very clever indeed!!
Claire Armstrong
Aww, thank you Evija. I just love making stuff especially out of the things other people discard.
Kippi
Groovy project I am going to try too. I will use it in my daughter’s bedroom makeover.
Happy spring, Kippi #kippiathome
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, they are simple to make.
Susan Homeroad Stevenson
Claire these are both great ideas I like both versions!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Susan.
Catherine Cornelissen
I love these ideas!!! I would have never thought of the concept, but I think these make wonderful decorative features!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much. They do make lovely wall decorations.
Mary Middleton | hello peagreen
What a fabulous DIY craft, you’re very good at explaining the steps too. I’m wondering whether this fabulous hanging planter could be done by the craft club at school…..
Claire Armstrong
I think they would be a great craft for a school craft club, as long as they are ok with very sharp box cutter knives.
Sam - Dove Cottage Blog
Ahh they look so cool! You make it look so easy to make too!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, they are easy.
Mary Beth
These are amazing, Claire! I would love to make some of these for my office space. Thanks so much for sharing at Project Inspire{d}. Have a lovely week.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. I’ve got one hanging in my living room and love it.
Fiona Mostyn
A great DIY project. I’m off on the hunt for some fabric now to see if I can recreate this one.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, it will work with fabric as well as leather just treat it the same way as the denim.
Pati Robins
those are soo cool , they were on my to make list for a while now – i need to get myself going – feeling inspired now x
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. They don’t take long to make.
Michelle Leslie
Stunning Claire, but your tutorials and crafts always are. Love how easy the planters are to make and we have so many scraps of leather and other canvas type materials we could use to make some too.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Michelle. They are simple and you only need small pieces of fabric.
Karen
Great example of small offcuts still being totally fit for a project! Lovely!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, there are lots of things you an make with off cuts that’s why I hang on to them.
Donna Ford
Very cool idea! Love the denim and the leather
Claire Armstrong
Thank you ?Denim and leather is such a classic combination.
Sarah Mailer
What a fantastic project! I love both leather and denim so it’s extra lovely to see them combined. Very clear and easy to follow too – thank too! Sarah x
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. Denim and leather are meant to be together, that’s probably why jeans tend to have leather labels on the outside of the waistband.
Linda at Mixed Kreations
This is a really cool hanging planter! I love upcycling cans and this is a very clever way to upcycle them! LOVE!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you], Linda. You can put any pot you want in them but cans work well.
Becky
What a fab idea, I love reusing things that would otherwise go to the tip x
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Becky. I try to reuse whenever possible.
Marie
Gosh, I love the boho vibe of these fabulous hanging planters. Such a clever idea! Pinned 🙂
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Marie. I love them on hanging on my wall. I think I will make a few more.
Susanne
Claire! These are so cute!! I really love the leather one. I have some old leather laying around from a project, maybe I will try to make one to go with my macrame ones. Pinning!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Susanne. They are really simple to make and you don’t need that big of a piece of leather either.