Recycling Nature

What if you could take something useless and make it useful, take something ugly and make it lovely? As I clear brush and collect firewood for the winter, I find I have tons of small branches that are too small to work as kindling. There is a lot of birch and I hate to throw them on the burn pile because I love the color and texture of the bark.

For years, as my houseplants have turned into a jungle, I have struggled with how to make the planters and rollers attractive. I have looked at expensive pots and tubs but could never justify the expense, while totally dreading the idea of repotting the monsters. Now that fall has arrived, the plants have all moved back inside and the pots were bothering me more than ever.

So I started with something useless.

Introduced it to something ugly…

And came up with a concept – Pot Wraps!  It turns out planters are fairly standard sized and once the pieces are all laid out, these come together quickly.

I’m thinking of testing the market for my plant wraps, and have thought of other potential uses for recycling nature.  Soon enough the holidays will be here.  If you remember last year, I blogged about making custom-themed wreaths. If I cut the boughs at the right phase of the moon, they will last for several months, even indoors. Using the nature that surrounds me just feels right.