Our Hopeful Home: How To Make A Chinoiserie Planter Jardiniere

Chinoiserie planters, or jardinieres -- especially large ones -- cost a pretty penny. Luckily, we have a way to DIY our own! As with so many of my other DIY chinoiserie projects, I'm going to show you how to make a chinoiserie planter with little more than a planter, some cocktail napkins and Mod Podge.

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Today I'm going to turn an otherwise ho-hum planter jardiniere into a gorgeous chinoiserie planter -- with only a few supplies and a minimum amount of time.

But first things first: so what is a jardiniere?

Jardinière is a French word, from the feminine form of "gardener". In English it means a decorative flower box or "planter", a receptacle (usually a ceramic pot or urn) or a stand upon which, or into which, plants (often in pots) may be placed, usually indoors.

Now that we have that settled, it's time for the tutorial!

cement urn filled with preserved boxwood ball

I purchased this cement planter jardiniere filled with a preserved boxwood ball at a pop-up estate sale a number of years ago. I forget the price, but I remember that I got a good deal on it (or I wouldn't have bought it!). It was the perfect vessel for my DIY chinoiserie planter jardiniere project.

SUPPLIES FOR MAKING A CHINOISERIE PLANTER

1. Mod Podge (either Mod Podge Matte or Mod Podge Gloss; I used gloss)

2. paint brush

3. planter jardiniere (large concrete planter similar to mine)

4. white paint (I used Rust-Oleum Chalked Ultra Matte Paint in Linen White)

5. printed chinoiserie cocktail napkins

Before we get started I have to say that I've shared my DIY napkin decoupage method in no less than FIVE different blog posts already. I've shared SO MANY general tips and tricks throughout those posts that I urge you to check them out before starting the DIY Chinoiserie Planter:

How To Make Chinoiserie Pumpkins DIY Decoupage

DIY Chinoiserie Vase

How To Make Chinoiserie Easter Eggs With Cocktail Napkins and Mod Podge

How To Make Chinoiserie Christmas Ornaments

DIY Floral Decoupage Bunny

Now that you're familiar with the ins and outs of DIY decoupage chinoiserie, you're ready to make that chinoiserie planter. Basic instructions for this project are below.

HOW TO MAKE A CHINOISERIE PLANTER

1. Paint your planter white; let dry.

2. Cut or rip up your napkins. I cut mine into rather large pieces since the planter is fairly large (unlike my other smaller projects -- mini pumpkins, Easter eggs, etc.).

Don't lose any sleep over this. If your napkin has a chinoiserie pattern, you've got a lot of wiggle room as to size and placement.

3. Start with small areas, using your paint brush to paint a base coat of Mod Podge onto the planter, followed by putting your napkin in its place and covering it with more Mod Podge to seal it.

4. Continue with this process all the way around the planter.

close up DIY chinoiserie planter in progress

Here's my DIY chinoiserie planter in progress. As you can see, it's almost finished. I apologize for the bad lighting, but I was so excited to get the project started that I forgot to take some in-progress photos until this point -- which happened to be at night!

I think the whole thing (after the paint dried, which was very quick) took me about an hour.