Hello dear friends! Today I am sharing the cutest little “free thyme” basket that I quickly put together using a free basket I scored at an estate sale this past weekend, planted with some thyme from my own herb garden. So far it has rained every single day of June except two, and one of them was this past Saturday. It was such a nice summer day which began by shopping my friend’s parents’ living estate sale and then coming straight home and getting to work on a couple of makeovers on the treasures I found at the sale (before the rain started up again!)

I only picked up this basket at the sale because I needed something to carry around some vintage brooches, necklaces, and a few other small treasures while I was still shopping. When it was time to check out, the estate sale worker just gave me the basket for free because the handle was breaking on one side. At first I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, but when I got home and was unloading my treasures out on the patio table I got the idea to use it as a planter since it was tearing up anyway. I figured I could get the rest of summer out of it at least.

First I repaired the broken handle. I simply used some floral wire to wire the handle on a little tighter. Next I spray painted the whole thing lightly with Rust-oleum Chalked. In my honest opinion I don’t think there is anything spectacular about this spray paint that makes it look like a chalk paint finish. I think I can get the same look for cheaper from normal spray paint, but I do like this color a lot and the Chalked was what I had on hand so that’s what I used.

After spray painting the basket I let it dry while I was working on painting a beautiful antique china cabinet I also scored at the sale. After the basket dried I lined it with a little bit of landscape weed barrier fabric to keep the soil from falling through the basket weave.

EEEEK!!!! I am so excited! China cabinet sneak peek… the makeover reveal will be this weekend, as long as the sun comes out!

I always grow lots of herbs in various pots and containers, so I had plenty of free thyme to spare for my basket (no pun intended here!)

To dress up the basket with a little bit of country cottage garden style, I added a cute little rusty bird house that I found at a recent yard sale for .50 and a little chalkboard herb marker from Dollar Tree (4 for $1.00).

I had the short shepherd’s hook in the middle of my big galvanized tub of herbs for a couple of weeks, but I hadn’t been able to find anything like wind chimes or a cute garden sign to hang on it (it is too short and flimsy for a flower hanging basket.) The thyme basket ended up being the perfect size to hang on the hook, and I think it looks so cute!

I love how this little basket looks and I love that it was free since I had all the garden supplies and spray paint on hand.

I hope this post has encouraged you to create a quick and easy herb basket too. Just look around your house or local thrift shop for an inexpensive basket. You can always use any regular paint you have on hand to whitewash the basket or paint it a fun color. Right now annuals and herbs are already being marked down on clearance too so it’s a great time to get planting since there is still a lot of growing time left.

So far the basket is holding up well despite the torrential rain, and this makeover has given me ideas to maybe plant up a few other baskets I have in my stash. Hopefully in the days ahead we will start getting some sunshine so I can finally take some photos to share more of my country cottage perennial and herb garden where the basket is hanging, along with rest of my gardens and a patio tour.

How is your garden growing so far this summer? Are you having nice summer weather? I love hearing from you, dear readers!

Thanks for visiting today!

Amber