DIY Orchid Hanging Baskets

Do it yourself - Wooden Orchid Baskets
Stuff:
Four 5/8 x 5/8 x 36" wood rods, cut into 6" pieces
Some hanging loops
A ceiling hook
Some wood glue
Some water based wood sealent
A hammer
Some small nails



I started by laying out the first level of the basket. On the bottom, I used 4 sticks across, hopefully enough to contain the orchid media.



For ease of building, aesthetics, and sturdiness, I decided to glue every contact point, and nail about half of them. On the bottom, I nailed every piece.











Once the bottom was built, I just kept building upwards until it was the height I wanted




I didn't glue the top pieces, because I needed to put the loops in. I scored the ends of the piece of wood with a rasp, and put on a generous amount of wood glue. I didn't have a clamp, so I just put some books on it to hold it down while the glue dried.



I decided to seal it; I didn't want the wood to rot.



When the sealent dried, I screwed in the loops





Here's the basket with the orchid in it:




I still have to decided where to hang it and tie the twine to the loops and ceiling hook... but you get the idea

It's not perfect, I know, but it's my first time and I did it alone so I think I did ok.

Some problems I encountered were the rods splitting when I nailed them into place. Next time I would be more careful about nailing a little further from the end.

Also, the rods weren't all perfectly 6"... there was sometimes a small .25" variance (at most). I don't think I'll ever be sawing them perfectly, so instead of worrying about it, I just designated one side as being the "back" of the box, and any excess wood sticks out on that side.

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