How To Upcycle Planters Into A Desk Pencil Holder

In the coming weeks, I am going to share with you some DIY projects I did recently. If you have an aversion to DIY projects, have no fear, these projects are so easy and fun to do that you will be amazed.

This week's project is a DIY pencil holder. I transformed these planters into a great pencil holder for my daughter's desk. She loves to draw and there were pencils and markers in a variety of different containers in her room. So, to consolidate all of them together, I decided to make this for her. After finding these planters at a nearby used marketplace, I visited the nearby hardware store to have them help me figure out which screws and bolts I should use. We measured the distance of the two planter sides so the screw will pass through and have enough room to attach a bolt securely. Check it out.

Transforming planters into desk pencil holders step by step tutorial

These three boxes (Affiliate Link) are actually planter boxes (Affiliate Link). They came with these little handles. If they weren't already distressed in white, I would have done it anyway. Perfect find for me!

old planters found at a resell marketplace

Liners hold the pens and pencils inside without marking the wood and will keep it clean if there is a pen leak.

And these liners were included. I want to keep the lining because it protects the screws from getting undone. It also protects my daughter's hands when she goes into the boxes (Affiliate Link) to find a pencil.

I drilled 2 holes straight into the side of the boxes (Affiliate Link) of the smaller planters. After drilling all the way through on the two areas, I lined up the back of the box on the table and used the screw to mark the place where I needed the hole to be for the larger box. Then I removed the smaller box and drilled right into the marks that were indicated on the box. I did the same with the other smaller box and then marked the other side of the larger box, removed the smaller box, and drilled the other holes. So, the larger box had 4 drill (Affiliate Link) holes and the smaller ones had 2 each.

screw the screws through the holds and use a washer and bolt on the other end to attach

drill the holes into the side of the planters

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Attach with screws and bolts.

I passed the screw through the holes from the smaller boxes (Affiliate Link) to the larger box. I then passed it through and attached the bolt to the other side. And, then I replaced the liners that covered the holes.

pass the screws through the holds and lineup with the other wholes in the other planter

And, that's it! This is the finished product. What do you think? Cute, right?

The entire project took a total of 20 minutes to put together. The planters cost was $10.00 and the screws were less than $5.00 so the entire project was around $15.00. I didn't even need to paint it because it matched my daughter's room. So easy!

Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (Affiliate Link), and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.