Use Old DVD Cases to Make a Vertical Garden
Hey, y’all, can you believe it’s almost the end of June, and we’re more than halfway through the year already? That just seems wrong somehow. I hope it’s been a good one for you so far. If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ll know that the last Monday of the month means it’s time for the Int’l Bloggers Club (IBC) challenge. Every month, a group of bloggers from all over the world get together, to make, create or recycle something based on a specific theme. Last month we all repurposed tin cans, and you won’t believe what everyone came up with. This month we had to do something with a common household item, and we chose old DVD cases.
That’s a common household item, right? Everyone has them gathering dust somewhere. We have loads of them. Games, backups and movies, they’re all there. When we went through our stash, most of the inside bits were missing. How does that even happen? There is no way we could donate them, so we decided to recycle them instead and make a vertical garden.
Recycling turns things into other things. Which is kinda like magic
How To Make a Vertical Garden Using Old DVD Cases
The plastic outer casing makes perfect planters. They’re sturdy and a nice size. All we needed to do was drill a few drainage holes at the bottom of the DVD cases and find a piece of wood to hang them on.
The plain black casings aren’t the prettiest, so I put together this rough template to make a cover.
Transfer the template to a newspaper and adapt the measurements to suit. Once you’re happy place the newspaper pattern onto your fabric and cut it out. We used leather bits we have left over from our epic suitcase bureau makeover to cover the cases.
Using contact adhesive, we glued the leather to the old DVD cases.
Wait for the glue to dry completely before adding a few pebbles to the bottom of the DVD cases.
Screw the DVD cases onto the piece of wood and fill it with soil, succulents and a Heart Leaf Philodendron.
This little beauty is often called the Sweetheart plant and will grow really quickly in low to medium light.
She’s probably the most common house plant here in South Africa. We have a huge one in our garden, so we just took some stem cuttings that had been dipped in rooting hormone.
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. Audrey Hepburn
We used another leftover from the suitcase makeover to hang the vertical garden.
I love how the DVD-repurposed vertical garden turned out. I just can’t decide whether she should be hung on the wall ………….
Or do we put her against the wall with our other succulents?
What do you think? Would you hang it or stack it? And if you have any other ideas on how to recycle DVD cases, I’d love to hear about them because we have a few more empty cases gathering dust 😉
If you like the idea of repurposing DVD cases to make a vertical garden, don’t forget to pin it for later.
Sharing is caring 😉
Oh before I forget, if you don’t want to go to all that trouble and find some of the materials we used, we’ve got you covered. Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us come up with more crafty ideas to share with you 😉
Now I’m off to see what common household items the other IBC bloggers have recycled. Wanna join me?
This is awesome. I am trying to replicate this and struggling a bit to understand how to make the template. Would you be so kind to share more details about that?
Of course, Danielle. I’ve added a rough pattern to give you a better idea. Please let me know if you don’t come right.
What a brilliant idea!
Thank you Elena
Do you think this would work for herbs? Love the idea and looks so cool.
It will definitely work for herbs to Patricia. I think it would look absolutely lovely with some Creeping Thyme spilling over the sides and perhaps Winter Savory and Parsley as fillers.
Great idea … we have a BAZILLION of those cases.
I would worry about water damage to the leather if used for plants, but as wall storage pockets it would be awesome.
Thanks so much Tsu. Surprisingly enough the leather has held up nicely so far. Maybe because it’s not real leather
Such a cool idea for planters. What a way to put those dvd cases to good use!
Thanks so much, we have a few more empty cases that need to be re-purposed somehow. Weird how that happens
Brilliant…such a lovely planter Michelle!!
Thank you Michelle 😀
Michelle, this turned out so gorgeous! Love it. Does the leather wrap all the way around, holding in the dirt and plants? Fill me in, I may have a few cases that I can use myself!
It goes about half way around the back Nikki. You can see it in the one picture where we added the stones. We didn’t have big enough pieces of the faux leather to cover the whole back. Hope that helps and thank you so much for the lovely comment
Wow! What an ingenious way to use old CD cases. I never would’ve known, it looks so professional 🙂
Thanks so much Gennifer 😀
This is such a wonderful planter Michelle. One would never say it is made from old dvd cases.
Thanks so much Odette, I really appreciate that
This is a really great idea & so creative! Hopefully this inspires more people to upcycle/repurpose items.
I really hope so Samantha, we need to start giving back to our beautiful planet 😉
Confession, I was browsing through your article really quickly. Did a double take when I see nothing like the ugly casing you said and then started reading in depth!
Will this casing breed mozzies? That’s something I’m concerned about.
I don’t think so Tiffany, there are drainage holes at the bottom of the DVD cases and the soil we added drains well too.
Where does it drain to? What catches the runoff@
Hey there Susan, Our Vertical garden is hanging outside in our courtyard so I’m wasn’t too worried about the runoff. What I can say though is that we always water the planter from the top and let the excess water run down into the next layer. By the time the water gets to the bottom layer most of it’s been absorbed by the upper two.
This is such a cool project! I could never even think of something so creative! I love how you were able to repurpose something old into something new and so beautiful!
Thank you so much Courtney
I just love succulents and this is the perfect way to feature them! You are always so brilliant when it comes to designing something unique! I love getting inspired by your work.
Carolann xo
Thanks so much Carolann. I must admit we had lots of fun recycling the DVD cases for this vertical garden
I’ve been getting more into recycling lately. Great ideas.
Recycling can be lots of fun 😀
This is such a creative way to reuse materials from around the house! I love how you’ll be growing plants.
Me too. It’s always such a lovely feeling when we can take something that could harm the planet and turn it into something that earth friendly
Ok, i have to say this is probably one of the most creative ways i’ve ever seen a dvd holder being used. beautiful!
Thank you Amy, now I just need to figure out what to do with all the others
What a beautiful idea. I always seem to have more plants than I can figure out what to do with. This looks like a real good space saving idea.
I love vertical gardens, they’re so perfect for small spaces. Thanks for stopping by Regina
Wow!!! What an awesome idea. I’m so not a DIY girl, but greatly admire people who are. This is a really good one. 🙂
Thank you Ty, this is an easy one to try
This is a brilliant idea! They’re not much good for anything else these days!
You’re so right about that Claire 😉
Wow…that’s sounds cool. Great idea to convert old DVD covers to a vertical hanging garden. The concept of reusing things is very important in our current world. You have done a great job. I will definitely try this.
Thank you Jithin, we really do need to start making a plan to turn all our plastic waste into something useful and hopefully pretty too
So Cool Michelle. Love succulents and love how they look in your amazing recycling project. Visiting from Sweet Inspiration, where I posted Are Artificial Food Colors Harmful to People? Thanks for being one of the fabulous hosts. Have a great weekend.
Thanks so much Nancy and I’m really glad you joined us. I’m on my way to have a look at your post.
What are great idea! We have tons of empty DVD cases laying around…mainly because my kids of destroyed the dvds that used to reside in them ? I am all about succulents and finding new ways to plant/display them! I will be trying this out sometime this week ?
LOL, that sounds like our house. How do they disappear or get broken like that? Thanks Claire, let me know how it works out and I’d love to see a pic of your version
Michelle, this is such an amazing project!! I’m always amazed by what you can do! This is such a beautiful planter and I can’t believe you made it with DVD cases. I think I like the planter hanging up although it does look good next to the other succulents. I guess you could switch it up whenever you felt like it. Awesome repurpose, just amazing!!!
Thank you Keri. The garden was a lot of fun to make and I’m glad to say the plants are still thriving.
Wow Michelle, what a cool idea of using the old DVD cases, nobody can guess what are they made of? I like them on the wall.
Thank you my friend, I’m starting to think the same thing 😀
I never would have thought to use them for that! I’ve been trying to repurpose things for gifts this year. Love all the things you’ve done!
Thank you so much Emily. Re-purposed gifts are the best in my books. They always come from the heart instead of the wallet.
wow! I knew there was something more behind those drab CD cases! A wonderful repurpose Michelle. I couldn’t have guessed just by judging by the photos!
Thank you so much Maya <3
Whoa! This is such a cool hack that I have never seen before! I live in a small apartment but love plants so this is way up my alley. Thank you for posting.
Oh my Amanda, thank you for that. The little vertical garden is perfect for a small apartment
Would never guess in a million years what the planter is made of Michelle (if it wasn’t in the title obviously!) Very clever
That’s good to know 😉 Thanks Sarah
No one but you can think about these types of ideas Michelle. Your brilliant at this stuff. I really like the leftover leather idea. You could easily grab an old jacket to do this with. Love it as always.
Oh my yes, an old leather jacket would work perfectly too. You’ve just given me an idea, thank you Leanna 😉
Oh would you just stop it?! Of course I’m kidding. Never ever ever stop! Your brain is insane in the very best way 😉 Love it!!
LOL Angie, that’s one of the best compliments I’ve ever gotten 😀 Thank you
Wow! What an idea! That’s one I never thought of. I had no idea DVD cases could be used that way. So clever!
Thanks so much Florence and welcome back from your camping trip, hope you had a lovely time. I missed seeing all your lovely vintage finds
Very clever Michelle! You never cease to amaze me with your creativity. Your dvd case vertical garden is amazing! It looks great on the wall or with your other succulents. I love the Heart Leaf Philodendron with the colors from the other succulents mixed in with it. You are really good at thinking outside the box. 😉
Thanks so much Linda 😀 That little Philodendron is such a rewarding plant. We got a small cutting about two years ago from a friend down in Hibberdene and she just does her own thing in the garden. I suspect that the leaves a will turn a little darker now that some of her babies have been planted in the vertical garden. She’ll get a lot more natural light where we’ve put her.
You are so very clever. I love seeing what you have been up too.
Thank you Debra, I really appreciate that 😉
I am pulling my hair right now because before the move I got rid of all our old cases aarrrggg!! You have such a creative mind, and it turns out that the finished product is amazing.
Thanks for the wishes but no sipping martinis at the beach for me, I can have some cold water instead ?
Ahhh sorry to hear that Pili, maybe you’ll find a few in all those apartments your redecorating? 😀
Never EVER in a million years would I look at an old DVD case and think, hmmm, I see a hanging succulent garden! You are so freak’n creative, Michelle, seriously girl!!!!
LOL Marie, thank you 😀
I can’t believe you! Do your fairies come in your dreams and whisper those amazing ideas to you? How do you look at an old CD case and think – aha! Garden! My mind would go – aha! Trash! LOL
You just never cease to amaze me!!!
😀 LOL Jas, yes those fairies whisper all the time 😀
I would have never thought of that, Michelle! What a great idea! Your vertical garden looks beautiful!
Thank you Julia, but knowing how creative you are, you would have made something completely out of this world with DVD cases
I don’t even know where to start, one of these days I’m gonna get a major freak out anxiety attack when going through your posts! This is brilliant and sooooo pretty! Love your idea Michelle!
Oh no Katrin, please don’t. I would far rather have you anxiety free so you can enjoy your beautiful summer weather my friend.
Aww Michelle this is really epic! The use of the leather makes it look so earthy and goes great with the wood and green of the plants. I have quite a few of those DVD cases and never knew what to do with them. Your idea is really great but I think you’ll forgive me if I put faux flowers in them instead. I don’t want to do any harm to the real ones.
LOL, of course I’ll forgive you Mary. Adding faux plants will work just as well and you won’t have to remember to water them either, especially with the heat wave you guys are having at the moment 😉