Vintage planter pincushion tutorial

Isn't this a cute pin cushion?  Today I am going to teach you how simple it is to make a sweet pin cushion from a thrift store or antique store find. 

This is my little chick planter I got at an antique store....it was super cheap...$1.50.  These planters are often at thrift stores....for a dollar or two.

Here is a super cute elephant planter on Etsy....from lostlakevintage.  This would be a great one to use for someone who collects Elephants!!  What a fabulous gift.

This sweet planter on this Etsy site  ...only $4.00

Here is a sweet patchwork Dog...so adorable.....and who doesn't like dogs!

The planter I am using has a smallish area to plant a plant....too small in my opinion...lol.

To start....all you need is a 7 inch circle...you could use a plate as a template.  Cut out your circle from cool fabric...I had fun looking at my fabric to see which choice to make.

Using strong thread....stitch a gathering stitch all the way around the circle about 1/4" away from the edge.  Pull up the gathering stitch and stuff the circle firmly with polyfil stuffing.

You don't have to gather it too tightly....just knot off.

Hot glue a circle of felt to cover the bottom.

Fill inside planter with fabric scraps if the inside goes pretty deep....then insert gathered fabric circle on top.  Glue in place.

I used pretty yarn to go around the planter edge...you could also use lace, ribbon, or buttons....just hot glue in place.

I had little chips on my planter...I decided to glitter the chips up.  This paper glaze is nice to use for glittering...but any clear tacky glue or white glue will work.

I glittered up his beak and used pink glitter on his cheeks....why not huh?

I hot glued buttons to his eyes and found a pink ribbon laying around.

Here I added the ribbon,  threaded on a spool of thread to the side and also added all kinds of pins.  I even  added buttons by sticking a corsage pin through buttons and then stuck the pin in the pin cushion. 

This is so cute and simple.  You could also add more embellishments....like fabric yo-yos, old jewelry pieces, felt or ribbon flowers, and buttons.  These would make great craft show sellers, gifts, and is a great way to reuse an object that gets no attention anymore. 

This was so fun to do....I felt like I was playing...very fast too.

Have fun finding a planter to re-do!!

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