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How to Make a Lovely Vintage Tea Cup Planter Perfect for Spring

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With a trip to the thrift store, you can easily create a vintage tea cup planter that will look lovely anywhere in your home. 

Spring is just around the corner so it’s the perfect time to liven up your home with some fresh decor.

What better way to do this than to repurpose antique tea cups and saucers into charming planters?

Follow these simple step by step instructions, and soon you’ll be enjoying a unique planter filled with spring flowers!

spring teacup planters for spring collage

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It’s my favorite day of the month! Time for the Thrifty Style Team to get together and share inexpensive craft and home decorating ideas with you.

This month is all about thrift store before and afters.

Thank you to our fearless leader Julie from Redhead Can Decorate for organizing this monthly challenge.

Be sure to check out all of the projects with the links at the end of this post. 🙂

thrifty style team logo

Thrift Store Vintage Tea Cup Planter

While shopping at my local Goodwill, I spotted a box of vintage tea cups and saucers.

Unfortunately, I neglected to take a picture of them set up in the box, but they were a steal for $12.

There was one tea cup missing but I knew right away I would make either fairy gardens or spring planters with them.

Look at how delicate and romantic they are:

set of vintage tea cups

I’ll show you how easy it is to make these beautiful teacup planters as part of this month’s Thrifty Style Team’s challenge.

I LOVE decorating with vintage teacups.

They are inexpensive, easy to find and there are so many beautiful designs.

Maybe you already have some teacups that you want to update?

You will easily be able to make your own eye-catching teacup planter to use in your own home or to give as a gift.

Be sure to check out the soy teacup candles I made using vintage teacups.

They make a great Mother’s Day gift too.

I’ve also included a printable craft card tutorial at the bottom of this post to make it even easier for you!

Supplies Needed to Make a DIY Tea Cup Planter

thrift store tea cups

How to Make a Tea Cup Planter

Cut the floral foam

Start by cutting the floral foam to fit snugly inside your tea cup. No glue needed.

floral foam

Cover with moss

I found the most beautiful shades of reindeer moss! Have you ever seen purple before? Isn’t it so pretty?

purple reindeer moss

I found chartreuse green too. Reindeer moss is so much easier to work with than Spanish moss, plus I think it looks nicer.

green reindeer moss

Just cover the top of the foam with your choice of moss. I didn’t even use any glue.

The reindeer moss is somewhat moist and sticks to the foam.

It helps to push the moss into the sides of the foam so it is nice and secure.

purple moss on top of teacup

Add Spring Flowers

This is where you can get creative and make a unique planter.

When I think of spring flowers I always think of pansies and forsythia.

Those are the first flowers we typically see in springtime.

pansies for tea cup planter

So for my first planter I went with pansies. Plus, they match the tea cup perfectly.

Simply trim the flowers to fit into the cup. Just push them into the foam. You can’t get much easier!

Decorate with Birds, Bunnies or other spring embellishments

Next it’s time to add the embellishments. How cute is the lilac bird I found at Michaels?

securing flowers into tea cup

The birds have clips so no hot glue is needed to secure them to the flowers. So far no glue has been used.

Glue the Teacup to the Saucer

If you want to gift these sweet planters, it’s best to secure the teacup to the saucer using E-6000 and hot glue.

The combination works well with ceramics.

purple and white teacup planter

That’s all there is to it! A super simple and adorable spring craft that can be made in about 15 minutes for about $6.

Here are a couple of other color combinations to inspire you.

Target Dollar Spot Hanging Bunny

Did you see the Target Dollar Spot glass cloche I shared last week?

When I bought the egg cloche I also spotted the cutest set of 3 hanging bunnies.

I added one to the side of one of the tea cups and it fit perfectly!

hanging bunny on tea cup planter

To really make the purple reindeer moss pop I kept it simple with a white Easter lily.

This might be my favorite of the three. What do you think?

Pink Roses Teacup Planter

The bright green moss and pink flowers look great with the elegant pink roses tea cup.

pink roses and bird's nest planter

The adorable birds nest was secured into the floral foam. Again, no glue was needed.

I tend to change things around a lot, so I try not to make things permanent if at all possible.

set of 3 tea cup planters

If you are gifting these planters, I recommend adding a dab of hot glue to secure the flowers and embellishments just to be safe.

But if you aren’t transporting them anywhere then glue is not needed.

These would be a thoughtful gift as an Easter hostess gift, housewarming gift or for Mother’s Day.

Attach a sweet gift tag and you are good to go!

tea cup planters with bunny

What about a bridal shower favor? They would look so pretty at each table.

You can even add a place card for a table setting.

Even More Teacup Craft Ideas

  • Pendant light
  • Teacup candles
  • Teacup fairy garden
  • Teacup pin cushion
  • Bird feeder
easter tea cup planter favor idea

Thanks so much for visiting. I hope you enjoyed this thrifty home decor project.

Let me know in the comments if you give it a try.

Sharing is caring…please PIN the below image:

tea cup planter with bird

Now it’s time to visit the rest of the Thrifty Style Team to see their incredible thrift store makeovers!

before and after thrift store finds

Thrift Store Makeover Before and Afters

spring tea cup planter with bird

Vintage Tea Cup Planter

Yield: 1 Tea Cup Planter
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $5-$10

Make the cutest spring planter with inexpensive thrift store finds. Each one is about $6 and can be made in just 15 minutes.

Materials

  • Vintage Teacup and Saucer
  • Reindeer Moss
  • Hanging Ceramic Bunnies
  • Small Birds or other fairy garden accessories
  • Floral Foam
  • Hot glue gun
  • E-6000

Instructions

    • Start by cutting the floral foam to fit snugly inside your tea cup.
    • Cover the top of the foam with your choice of moss. I didn’t even use any glue.
    • Add your spring flowers. Simply trim the flowers to fit into the cup. Just push them into the foam.
    • Decorate with birds, bunnies or other spring embellishments.
    • Secure the teacup to the saucer using E-6000 and hot glue.

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Here are even more thrift store makeovers:

hanging bunny from target bullseye in tea cup planter

Google Web Story: Quick and Easy Spring Tea Cup Planter

You can find me on social media below:

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Kristi

Monday 13th of March 2023

Michelle- This idea is just the sweetest! I'm loving how your birds coordinate with their tea cup. And the moss is such a great addition, too. Happy spring! xoxo, kristi

Rebecca

Sunday 12th of March 2023

Michelle, your teacup crafts are adorable! I've never seen purple reindeer moss...it's just perfect for this project. The ceramic bunnies are so cute! I'm going to look for some at my Dollar Spot. Thanks for the inspiration. Pinned!

Michele

Sunday 12th of March 2023

They are all adorable but I love the purple best! What a great Goodwill find! I’m throwing a tea party baby shower and these would be perfect!

maria

Saturday 11th of March 2023

The vintage tea cups turned out adorable. They are perfect for Spring and Easter.

Cindy

Saturday 11th of March 2023

What a charming idea for Spring Michelle! So cute! Pinned.

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