DIY Flower Trough

Just in case you’re new to my blog, this summer has been filled with all things wedding!  3 weddings in less than 1 month!  One was my brothers, one was a great friends on the SAME DAY as my brothers (YES we went to TWO weddings in one day) and I’m a bridesmaid in a wedding for one of my very best friends over Labor Day weekend!

We hosted a shower for my brother and his fiancée, and I had a lot of fun decorating for the shower.  One of the guest’s favorite DIY items was this trough:

And YOU can easily make your own!  Seriously!  Added bonus – no power tools are required.  Here’s how I made mine:

I have been dying to make a trough for flowers for ages, and then I saw this one from Thrifty Décor Chick and I fell in love!   I just needed the occasion/space to put the trough.  When we were looking for something to fill the space at the kitchen table for the bridal shower, I knew this was my opportunity!

I first planned out how big I wanted to make it.  Our table was just about 6 feet long, so I decided to make this trough 4 feet long.  I went to Lowe’s, and found some cedar wood in their lumber section.  What I love about Lowes, is they will cut your wood for you!  Just give them the measurements, and they’ll cut it.  Seriously – best thing ever.

Here were the measurements I used:

• 2 planks: 3/4” x 7 1/2” – 4 feet long
• 1 plank: 1 1/2” x 5 1/2” – 4 feet long
• 2 squares (cut from the thicker piece): 1 1/2” x 5 1/2” – 5 1/2” long

I will be honest – the awesome lumber man from Lowe’s helped me out a lot with this part – he made sure they all fit together correctly and “shaved” off parts so they were even.

I first glued them together with some Liquid Nails, and let that sit overnight:

In the morning, I hammered in some nails at the seams, just to make sure it was secure.  I then roughly filled in some of the bigger cracks with wood filler, and sanded it down.  I didn’t want this to look perfect – I knew I was going to paint and distress it, so I wanted imperfections.

I picked out a blue color I had in my stash (originally an “oops” can for $3).  I didn’t prime the surface since I painted right onto the bare wood.

I let that dry, and then I painted with a very light gray over top (the same gray I used on this desk).  I did not do this meticulously – I tried to leave some spots where you could see some of the blue coming through:

I then had some fun with glaze and sandpaper.  There’s no science to this – I sanded down in certain spots, glazed over areas, and wiped down with a damp cloth.  I like to use this glaze, which can be found at Lowe’s or Home Depot.

Finally – I let it dry, and it was ready to be filled!  I would have *loved* to fill it with fresh flowers, but it just wasn’t practical.  We knew we wanted to keep the decoration in my mother’s living room after the shower, so she bought fake flowers from Michaels.  I usually hate fake flowers, but these look surprisingly pretty!

What I love about this project is that it wasn’t just a “shower decoration”, but we are now able to use it in my mother’s living room (it’s part of the make-over I did!)

Of course my little “dog baby” Buckley had to get in the way while I was taking pictures:

What are your thoughts?  Have I convinced you that you can easily make yourself one of these as well?

This post was originally a guest post at East Coast Creative.

Linking to:

Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello, Stories of A-Z, The 36th Avenue, Someday Crafts,  Under the Table and Dreaming, Today’s Creative Blog, Finding Fabulous, The DIY Show-Off,  Shabby Chic Cottage, CRAFT, Domestically Speaking, Young and Crafty, A Glimpse Inside, My Girlish Whims,  Serenity Now, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Not JUST a Housewife, Whipperberry