Two Easy Projects For Patio Entertaining!

Spring is in full swing here in Tennessee and that means people everywhere are headed outdoors.  Some to play, some to work, and others to just hang out on the front porch with glass of sweet tea.  That’s what we do here in the south, sweet tea on the front porch.  This week I put together two small and very easy to do projects that will help with that front porch entertaining!  And because this is a gardening blog I used garden items to complete both of these projects.  What did I make?  A table/cooler/storage unit out of a pot and a sidetable from a plant stand. Both of these projects used materials provided by Lowe’s Creative Ideas that are available at your local Lowe’s location!

How to Make a Table-Cooler-Storage Pot

To make the table-cooler-storage-pot I purchased a round unfinished table top.  Lowe’s has several sizes available and I picked one that was slightly larger than my pot size (18″).  The pot I picked out was a resin formed pot in the hue of blue.  There were a variety of colors to choose from so almost any garden motif could be accommodated.  I also picked up a small can of finish in the color of “Gingersnap”.  It was a stain and a sealer coat all in one.  I also needed some scrap wood so I picked out a piece of wood leftover from my indoor window plant shelf project and cut it into 4 squares each approximately 3″ in size.  Also don’t forget to buy some screws.  I almost always have some coated deck screws around so they were what I used.

Once my materials were assembled I set the table top down and arranged my wooden squares so that they will line up on the inside of the pot.  The squares will prevent the top from sliding around which otherwise would make for a very precarious table top.  I lined them up at least 3/4 of an inch from the edge of the table and screwed them in with some 1 1/4″ deck screws.

After attaching the wooden pieces to the back of the table top I stained it on both sides.  Once the stain dried I put the table top on top of the pot and the project was finished!  If you don’t need this for a party you could use it for storing your garden tools, gloves, hose nozzles, outdoor kids toys or anything else that will fit inside.

How to Make a Sidetable from a plant stand

If you have company over in the garden you need somewhere to set your drinks.  This sidetable project is another easy project to put together.  You need a round table top like in the table-cooler-storage pot project, a plant stand, four washers, and 4 screws.

Begin the sidetable project by staining the wooden top.  Then flip the stained top over an align the plant stand to be perfectly centered.  The top of this plant stand was 12″ and the table top was 18″ which allowed for a 3″ space all the way around.  Once you have the plant stand centered put the washers and screws in to hold the two parts together.  Flip it over and your project is complete!

My third project for this post was going to be to assemble three planters on the front porch rail but since we aren’t out of danger of frost I didn’t want to plant the petunias yet.  I’ll update you on that project once the weather doesn’t threaten us with anymore frosts!