The Plantern

Materials: M�RKT Lantern

Description:
1. Disassemble your lantern setting aside the glass piece. You can discard the lid or hang onto it for future crafty use. Who knows, right?

2. Using your fine grain sand paper, rough up the surface of the lantern. This is important as your paint will not stick to that smooth shiny metal surface. No need to go crazy, just sand it enough so you can see some texture.

3. Take your sanded lantern and primer to a well ventilated area preferably outdoors. Use an old bag or other material for a drop cloth. Spray paint gets everywhere. Oh...and use one of these. No need to inhale a bunch of harsh chemicals.

4. Holding the spray paint nozzle about 12" away, add a first coat of primer to your lantern using smooth, sweeping motions to avoid drip marks. Let the coat dry 2 or 3 times until the lantern is well coated. You may want to turn the lantern upside down and repeat so you can get into spots you couldn't see well from the other angle.

5. Repeat step 4 using your spray paint color of choice.

6. After your lantern completely dries, you need to adhere the glass piece to the lantern. Using a hot glue gun, apply a layer of glue to the inside edge of the lantern where the glass will rest. Put the glass piece and press firmly (but not too hard. No broken glass please) for about 30 second. Allow the glue to dry for about 30 minutes.

7. After the glue has dried, fill the glass piece with soil appropriate for succulents. We used a Palm & Cactus Mix.

8. Add your succulent plants, find a well lit home for your new little Plantern, and enjoy!

See more of the plantern.

~ Betsy Webster, Los Angeles, CA