These little up-cycled K-cup planters are super easy and so cute! Air plants are the perfect plant to use in these since they don’t need dirt, it makes them simple to make and easy to care for!
“Well I have 3 little air plants left,” I said to my husband after I finished making my cute little hedgehog air plant planter a couple of weeks ago, “I want to think of something cool to do with them.”
Now my dear hubby is super supportive of my blog. He learned a long time ago not to throw things out if I’d clearly piled them somewhere for use for “something, someday.” He has gotten used to my crafty nature, my love of mason jars, my generally cockamamie undertakings that sometimes turn out awesome, and sometimes have me spending an entire afternoon modge podging craft paper to a soda can box resulting in a project that ended in the trash can… no that that actually happened.
However, he is also an extremely sarcastic smart ass.
“Well… maybe you could put them in k-cups, you know turn them into little planters,” He had a smart assy grin on his face.
“That is a fantastic idea!!” I was actually quite inspired.
He just laughed, and laughed, “I was totally joking!”
He should know better than to joke with me about something like an up-cycled k-cup air plant planter… I mean that’s serious stuff! In my crafty mind it made all kinds of sense… so I took it and ran with it.
When I was finished with them I sent him this picture with the text… “See it was a fantastic idea baby!!”
These are super easy to make and an awesome way to reuse those k-cups! You can also personalize them with what ever color you’d like and what ever dangly bits you love.
Here’s what you’ll need for these k-cup planters –
Empty K-cups
Spray Paint
Fishing line or clear beading thread
A Pin
Washers
Beads or prisms
The first thing you’ll want to do is poke holes in your k-cups where your thread is going to go. You’ll want to poke on in the middle of the bottom and two on either side of the top edge.
Once your holes are poked it’s time to paint. These little guys blow away very easily so you may end up with painted fingers like me, or just get out of the breeze!
Spray the outside and the inside. You won’t see much of the inside but you’ll want it painted in case a little peaks out.
Now thread a piece of your beading thread through the bottom hole and tie it to a washer. If you’re just using a few lite beads this may not be necessary but if you’ve got any with some weight it’s a good idea to keep them secured
Now thread on your beads and other bling. It’s a good idea to loop the thread around the last bead before tying it off to make it extra secure.
Now depending on how you wan to hang your little planter you can either go ahead and make the hanging loop now or wait and tie it directly around your curtain rod (or whatever else you’re hanging it from) I went ahead and made mine a little handle and then used another piece of thread to hang it. The choice is yours.
When you tie it just put your thread through the hole on the side and pull it up and triple or quadruple knot it. Do that on both sides creating a little handle.
Stuff a little blob of Spanish moss down into your k-cup.
Then you can just make a little indentation with your finger and nestle your little air plant down in there nice and secure.
That’s it! You’re done. Now you have happy little air plants to brighten up any room!
Where will you hang these k-cup planters? I’ve got mine in my kitchen and they are perfect!
Up-Cycled Reusable Dryer Sheets
Stephanie R says
This turned out so cute! I always feel so bad throwing away old pods and this is the perfect way to use some!
Gabrielle says
This is so cute! I see blog posts about up cycling K cups all the time and I have never seen anything that I would actually do. This one though, I would totally (and proudly) do! Thanks for sharing!!
Joelle Povolni says
This is such a cute idea. Love it and love the idea of air plants and how elegant, fun, and funky these containers look. Great job!
Angela Boone says
This is so cute! I have used K-cups to plant seedlings but I’ve never thought of this. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing at Meet Up Mondays.
Christin {Mrs. Ciz} says
What a brilliant idea! I read somewhere that the inventor of K-cups wishes he never invented them because they create so much waste, but this is perfect!! I think we should send him this post, so he can feel better lol! Thanks for sharing at the Talented Tuesday party!
Krista says
They really do!! We switched to the reusable ones recently, but I still have a stack of them to make fun stuff like this!
Mindy Sullivan says
What a fun and creative idea, will need to try this. Great unique gift idea as well!
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gwen says
What kind of paint did you use? There are so many kinds now days that it becomes a big thing just to get the right kind. Since the k-cup is plastic I would imagine that is the kind to use. But thought I’d ask which one you got the best results with. I am planning to paint some silver & use them in wreaths & decorations. Thanks and a great job & idea..
Krista says
Using them in a wreath is a great idea!! I used the krylon spray paint that is for plastics. So far it is holding up great!!
katherine says
I have a drawer full of the k cups these are cute, thanks to you and your hubby for a great idea.
Tracy says
This is awesome! My only thing is how do I water them?
Nancy says
Wouldn’t to water them leave no place for the water to go but all over everything?
Krista says
That’s why I used air plants. They only need a light misting of water so nothing to leak through!
Dee Dee says
Clever and smart — just one little problem. The hardware between the crystal rusts very quickly.
I dunked a length of the glass crystals into an anti-rust product, and the crystals turned opaque and were no more crystal. The acrylic beads had a similar problem. Any ideas (aside from individually painting each “O” ring to prevent the inevitable rust?
Krista says
I used rubber washers. You could also use a rubber O-ring or even a plastic bead to anchor it. Anything that will hold but not made of metal should do the trick!
Dee Dee says
Genius!!! That’s perfect for indoors. I think my tragic error was to hang these outdoors. Even though they were in a “sort of” protected area, still the humidity and just being out there, rusted the connections. I’m going to redo them and hang on the interior…unless you have another idea to share.
Donetta James says
I use them to make hats for little snowmen. Just paint black and put a little piece of black felt for the brim . So cute.
Cynthia Taylor says
Upside down k cups can be a bell!