Painted Upcycled Garden Tools

Easy Painted Upcycled Garden Tools from the Thrift Store

At Habitat for Humanity not long ago, I found these garden tools for about $3-$4 apiece. I snatched them up and took them home thinking in my head that, “these are great. I need them, but I can make them prettier…” Ha! So, here is my quick and super easy tutorial for how to make painted upcycled garden tools.

You can do this and add a pop of color to other things like:

• Rakes and Hoes
• Wooden Spoons
• Broom Handles
• Serving Utensils

These also make great gifts for:

• Birthdays
• Mother’s Day
• House Warming
• Christmas

Instructions

Here’s how to make them in just a few easy steps. You only need a few materials.

Time: 30 minutes (excluding dry time)

Materials:

This materials list contains Amazon affiliate links to products I have used and recommend.

• Garden Tools
• Acrylic Paint
• Paint Brush
• Painter’s Tape

Here are the tools I found at Habitat for Humanity Restore. Find a location near you. The hardest part of this was taking that darn stubborn price tag off of the wood handle. Here are a few tips for taking price tags off (all of which I had to do for these).

Removing the Price Tags

• Blow dry it to melt the stickiness, making it easier to peal.
• Soak them in warm soapy water and then rub off with a sponge
• Use nail polish remover to get the price tags off and then wash them clean

One the tools were dry and clean, I taped the handles with painter’s tape measuring about four inches from the end of the handles. Press the tape firmly onto the handles to prevent bleeding.

Next, I painted four coats of Martha Stewarts Satin Craft Paint in Diving Board Plongeoirs Trampolin (say that 3 times fast), allowing 15 minutes in between each coat.

Tip: To let the handles dry, I set them upright in glasses so the paint on the handles didn’t touch any surface. You may have to balance them to prevent the glass from tipping over.

Lastly, I removed the painter’s tape after the last coat and once they were dry, I added some twine to hang them on the side of the potting bench I made out of a changing table.

By the way, check out that potting bench post! I did a repurposing challenge to makeover an IKEA changing table and it ended up in Parent’s magazine!

Other Ideas

I love the pop of color for Spring! You can also:

• Play around with different colors
• Add different colored stripes
• Add a pattern by hand painting over the top

Now I’m ready to plant more succulents… Ha!

Another Fun DIY Idea

Check out these wooden spoons I made too! These make a great house warming gift as well.

You May Also Like

Before you go, here are few more easy DIY ideas. The American flag is one of my favorites and one that I made out of fence pickets.

• DIY Drink Station
• Repurposed American Flag
• DIY Repurposed Ceramic Tile Coasters
• 12 Thrift Store Housewares Transformations