How to recycle a broken bucket into a planter

Don't you just hate when somebody breaks something, but doesn't tell you? Inevitably when I find out I end up blaming the most likely suspect....but I'm sometimes wrong. That is exactly what happened to my ash bucket last week.

The chilly weather snuck in out of nowhere and I decided I should light a fire in the bedroom fireplace to chase the chill away. The fireplace had some dust from being closed up all summer so I needed the ash bucket to clean the fireplace out. 

I called youngest son and ask him to bring me said bucket from the shed. He does, so I clean the fireplace out and light a fire. The room warms up and everything goes back to normal. This should be the end of the story, right? 

Except a few days later when I pick up the bucket to empty it, I notice bits of dust flaking out of the bucket. Upon further inspection I find something out pretty quickly. The ash bucket is broken. I'm talking caved in on one side crushed! 

I carefully carry it outside, being careful not to spill the ashes and set it down to worry about later. I'm pretty mad at youngest son at this point! I am sure that he yanked it out of wherever it ended up during the summer and broke it.....but didn't tell me. *sigh* Kids!

I fume for a bit, but it wasn't till I was talking to hubby the next day that I got some insight into the problem. I tell him that I'm going up to the store to buy a new one because it's broke and he tells me that HE ran into it with the quad. Really??? 

I was so close to punishing the youngest...and even if he had denied it, I wouldn't have believed him! *sigh* Well, I still need a new one but I hate to waste something so I start brainstorming on how to reuse this ash bucket and I came up with this:

 I simply filled it with fresh compost and dirt, then added some volunteer flower plants that had popped up in the gardens. I also put some flamingo feather plants (which never grow very big for me!) and an extra marigold that wasn't very big yet. 

I wrapped some Dollar Tree ribbon around the base and taped it down. I then cut it off the spool and made the rest into a ribbon for the handle. It was super easy and I used all extra plants that had been in random places throughout the farm. It looks super cute and matches the farmhouse decor here perfectly! 

I love coming up with new uses for old or broken stuff. It keeps me from feeling guilty about throwing something out, plus I think it looks super-cute!

~L

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