WIP – Coffee stick version complete – I am making mini flowers and pots for the coffee stick version as additional detail and will make the popsicle version next, but the coffee stick version is complete.

I saw this Ikea planter online and immediately needed to make it in two sizes: popsicle sticks and coffee stir sticks. I wonder if these were the designer’s inspiration for this planter?

Completed in coffee stick size:

The shelf inside is adjustable, like the actual product it is modeled after.

This  picture below is of the actual product from the Ikea website for comparsion. I couldn’t replicate their camera angle exactly and it’s possible it is a 3D render in any case.

Some miniature flowers I have made. They are made with floral wire and Flower Soft flock. The tufted lavender also has tissue paper tufts. Next will be some pots.

My tools and materials. I found the rotary cutter is much better for cutting these small sticks than the X-acto knife. The pin vice was used to make the holes for the screws and filled with silver paint. Not shown, but very important was some 120 grit sandpaper to smooth the cut ends and my dremel, also used to sand the cut ends.

I stained the coffee sticks with a mixture of two wood stains. The stains are Chestnut spirit stain and I have diluted them with a sanding sealer mixture to make a wash, which stains the wood, but also allows the natural grain and wood features to show through. On the tester sticks, three coats was the finish I wanted, but when I stained the actual object, only two were needed. Also shown are my mini clips, which I used as clamps during the glueing phase and the tester sticks for all the colours of stain I have. I chose to do a mixture of Antique Pine and Golden Oak, diluted with sanding sealer.

WIP picture – Quilting clips make good mini clamps while the glue sets.