If you are looking for an easy DIY planter for your outdoor space, this post is going to be perfect for you! I found these darling unfinished wood milk crates and spray painted them with this white Rust-Oleum’s Stops Rust Heritage spray paint. So perfect for the outdoors! I added some holiday trees and plants to create inviting holiday milk crate planters. Scroll down for my tutorial!

[This tutorial on how to make milk crate planters contains sponsored links. The items featured and linked in this post were all provided by JOANN and Rust-Oleum; all opinions and reviews are my own.]

I have always loved crates as a design element. They are a great piece to have as a part of a farmhouse or rustic decor. When I saw these unfinished milk crates at JOANN, I knew they would be perfect for a fun holiday planter for our outdoor spaces. I grabbed two of them!

How cute are they? Next up, I went to get my favorite spray paint for outdoor projects, which is this Stops Rust Heritage Rust-Oleum formula. Not only does it have corrosion protection perfect for outdoor projects and pieces, but it also has this texture option which I love! We used this same spray paint but in brown for our porch swing revamp. You can read all about the revamp here.

I found an open space outside and laid down some paper to prevent spraying it all over our grass lol! This spray paint goes on very easily. Tip? I use a Rust-Oleum spray paint *assistant to make painting easier when doing projects that are going to take a few cans (like this one). It also helps provide more of an even coat on your pieces.

After just one coat you can see how evenly the spray paint has gone on, and I am not a perfectionist.
If you are like me, this spray paint is perfect for those of us that move quickly haha! I love the look of white wash too, so if you don’t want a solid white look, you can keep some of the wood grain showing like this for that look.

My goal was not to completely cover the wood grain, and I could not be happier how it turned out. The texture of this spray paint is so amazing. I did three coats and used 3 1/2 cans of paint, so I would recommend 2 cans of spray paint per crate.

Now it was time to add the greenery to create these beautiful holiday planters for our outdoor spaces. For the one I placed by our porch swing, I simply added a faux 4 ft. prelit tree and used an extension cord to plug in the lights. Isn’t it so cute?!

I added this cute holiday rug from JOANN on top of our everyday outdoor rug. The plaid is perfect for the “feel” I wanted in this little spot on our porch. The red pillows are also from JOANN and were in our entryway but have found a fun new home here for now! You can come see our warm and welcoming Christmas entryway here.

For the second crate, I placed two live Cyprus plants from a local nursery. I used furniture risers that we had on hand to elevate them so we didn’t have to spend a lot of money on larger plants (they can get expensive!). Then, to fill in the holes, I wrapped this flocked garland around the plants. To make it sparkle at night, I placed some white lights on the garland.

These milk crate planters turned this empty space by our back door from an eyesore into something bright and festive for the holidays! You can easily trade the plants out from season to season, which is going to be fun to do. What do you guys think? Aren’t they a great addition to any outdoor space and an alternative to traditional planters? I can’t wait for you to give this project a go!

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