Oversized Teacup and Saucer Planter – DIY

Whenever my hubby does something a little over the top, he always defends himself by saying “Go big, or go home” 😀 Well, in today’s tutorial, I’m taking a page out of his book and going big with this DIY oversized teacup and saucer planter. It’s HUGE!!!

The giant teacup makes such a lovely statement in our garden and it’s so easy to make too. We planted a white Butterfly Bush (Gaura lindheimeri) inside this one. They’re a delightful, drought-resistant container plant with delicate flowers and wand-like stems. Since this beauty is about 2 feet tall, you do need a big planter for her to thrive and put on a showy display.

And since this “funtabulous”, oversized teacup and saucer is 1,5 feet tall I have no doubts that the gaura will, ahem, blossom 😀

The giant teacup is also my contribution to this month’s Funtabulous Planter IBC challenge.

What’s the IBC all about

The IBC, or International Blogger’s Club, is a group of bloggers from all over the world who challenge each other every month to make something using a common theme.  Our previous challenge was “I Can Upcycle” and we used pilchard tin cans to make this cute pull toy llama. You’ll be able to see all the other creative Funtabulous planters at the end of this post.

Okay, before I get to the tutorial, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!

What you need

To make the oversized teacup

• A large round, cup-shapped plastic planter
• Large round tray
• Baling wire
• PVC Pipe
• Play sand
• Drill and Jigsaw (optional)
• Plants

To give it a faux aged concrete effect (optional)

• Texture paste
• Grey spray paint
• Burnt umber and green oil paint
• Cheap paintbrushes
• Moss
• E6000 glue

How to make an oversized teacup and saucer planter

The biggest cup-shaped planter I could find had a lip (is that what it’s called?) around the top that kinda detracted from the “cuppish” shape I was looking for. It had to go. If that’s all you can find too you can remove it by cutting the top rim of the plastic planter off with a jigsaw. Drill a hole that’s big enough for your jigsaw blade to fit into…….

……. and then slowly cut along the rim. If your planter is perfectly “cuppish” you can ignore this step.

Decide where you want to add the ear of the oversized teacup and drill two small holes in the planter. One towards the top and one towards the bottom. They should line up from top to bottom. Slide a piece of wire in the holes and bend it into an ear shape.

Measure the wire ear and add an inch to the measurement.

Use the measurement to cut the PVC pipe. Seal off one end of the PVC pipe with duct tape.

That funny-looking contraption next to the pipe is a makeshift funnel made from craft foam. I couldn’t find a proper one 😀 We’ll be using the funnel in the next step when we bend the PVC pipe.

How to bend PVC pipe

To bend the PVC pipe, you’ll need:

• Play sand
• Aluminum foil dish or container
• Oven and heat resistant gloves (very important)
• A funnel
• Something to support the PVC pipe or a willing helper
• Duct tape

Seal the one end of the PVC pipe with duct tape and insert the baling wire.

Pour some sand into the aluminum foil dish and place it in the oven to heat up. I put mine in for 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Once the sand is hot, very carefully remove the dish.

Place the funnel over the wire and into the PVC pipe and then pour the hot sand inside the pipe. Please be careful. The sand will be really, really hot. As soon as the pipe is full, wait a few seconds for the pipe to heat up and then slowly bend it while inserting the wire into the hole you drilled earlier in the planter.

Twist the ends of the wire to keep the PVC pipe in place while it cools down. About ½ hour.

Once the pipe has cooled down, untwist the wire and pour the sand out. Remove the duct tape and reattach the PVC ear to the planter. Use a permanent marker to mark where the ends on the pipe should be trimmed so the ear sits flush against the oversized teacup. Remove the PVC pipe ear and wire and use a hacksaw to cut the PVC pipe on the marks you made earlier.

Reattach the PVC pipe ear to the teacup using the baling wire to test fit. Once you’re happy, twist the wire on the inside of the cup tightly to secure.

Cheers to doing the most difficult part of this oversized teacup tutorial 😀

Giving the oversized teacup a faux concrete finish

Now for the fun bit. Painting the oversized teacup to fit in with your decor. I went for an aged faux concrete finish. We’ve already shared a detailed tutorial on how to achieve that look so I won’t go into too much detail here. Lightly sand the oversized teacup and tray before using a primer to paint them both. I used a grey primer from Rust-Oleum, but any primer that’s suitable for plastics will work. I’m not sure if this step is necessary, but since the planter, PVC pipe ear, and tray are all different types of plastic, I wanted to create a uniform base before applying the texture paste.

Before applying the texture paste, lightly sand the planter, PVC pipe ear, and tray again. I applied quite a thick layer of our homemade texture paste for this planter, but instead of using craft glue, I used outdoor wood glue so it would withstand the elements.

Once the paste dried, I drizzled on some brown and green oil paint……

…. and used E6000 to glue on all those lovely mossy bits.

The moss serves two purposes, it hides my wobbly jigsaw cutting skills and fills the gap between the ear and the teacup 😀

Leave the giant teacup for a day or two so the glue and paint can dry fully before adding your plants.

The finished teacup measures 1,5 feet tall and 1,2 (and a bit) feet wide. That’s about 46 cm by 37 cm.

Now I’m on a mission to make a giant teapot too 😉

If you like the idea of making an oversized teacup planter, don’t forget to pin it for later.

And don’t forget to go see all the other Funtabulous planter ideas below.

1. A giant teacup planter by yours truly 😉
2. Sara was on the ball 😉 with her creative take on Funtabulous planters.
3. You’ll never guess what Anita used to make her gorgeous handbag planter.

Oh and if you’re looking for some of the things 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 make more amazing crafts to share with you 😉

And if you prefer to buy rather than DIY, then maybe these beauties will appeal.

And as always, wishing you a wonderful, crafty week filled with lots of love. Thank you for popping in for a visit.