As I was perusing through the Pottery Barn catalog one day, I came upon a photo with this flower trough centerpiece with beautiful hydrangeas sitting on it. It immediately made me think of the old pile of fence slats that I trash-picked inherited from my neighbor. I knew it would be simple and free to recreate.

Overall dimensions of mine: 20” x 3 1/4” x 3 1/4”
Supplies:
2 old fence slats (mine were 3 1/4” wide)
miter saw
air brad nailer and stapler
old thin belt (optional)
scissors
tape measure and pencil
1. The fence slats were 3 1/4” wide so the first two pieces I cut were 3 1/4” x 3 1/4” for the length on the ends.
2. Next, I cut 2 of the sides at 20” and then the bottom piece at 19”. (Since you won’t have the same slats that I did just take the thickness of your board and times it by 2 and then subtract that number from your sides to figure out how big your bottom piece should be).
3. Once all the boards were cut I used my brad nailer and nailed the sides to the bottom piece. Then I attached the front and back pieces. Simple as that!
4. You can leave it as is or try and find a grayish color paint to paint the ends since you can see the original color of the wood once cut. I opted for an old belt that was way too big for me and cut two pieces to 13”. Then I air stapled that to the sides to give it handles. Functional and cute!
5. Then I put a cry out for some hydrangeas to fill it and my friend Lisa came to the rescue. I filled it with these gorgeous blue and purple hydrangea blooms from her yard.
Do you like weather wood? Check out the other projects I have made with the stolen inherited fence slats. (Links below)
Eat, Surf Pray Art (with free printable), Pallet Silhouette Art, Barn Wood Frames, How Sweet It is to Be Loved By You art piece
Don’t have old wood sitting around? You can still make one with purchased wood. Check out a couple of my friend’s tutorials here: