Upcycled French Country Herb Garden Caddy

Besides wooden trays, one of the things I always keep my eyes out for at the thrift store is wooden tool caddy boxes. They have so much upcycling potential and the possibilities for their use are endless. Like this one that I turned into a lovely French Country-Style Herb Garden Caddy.



The inspiration for the herb garden caddy came from a trip to a quaint family-run greenhouse. Earlier in the day, I was going through my thrift store stash. At the bottom of one box, I found a wooden tool caddy that I completely forgot about. When perusing the herb aisle at the greenhouse my wooden caddy came to mind and the idea for a small herb garden was born.



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

Wooden Tool Caddy Herb Garden

A small wooden caddy is perfect for small space gardening. It's perfect for a window ledge, tabletop, or apartment balcony herb gardening.



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

I see refreshing mojitos being served on our patio soon! The mint plant is an orange mint that I'm excited to try 😋 and the stevia eliminates all that guilt-ridden sugar. I've never made simple sugar with stevia before so wish me luck.



You may be wondering why I didn't just use the galvanized herb garden planter pictured below on the shelf of our DIY Outdoor Potting Bench. Well, I had a little too much fun shopping for herbs and ended up planting two herb gardens, one for cooking and another for mixology.



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

This is what the wood tool caddy looked like before.



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

It has a heart-shaped handle that I seriously considered removing before deciding it added to the french-country charm. Besides, filled with herbs the heart is hardly noticeable.



Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to turn the caddy into an herb garden, almost all of the DIY projects shared here at Interior Frugalista have step-by-step tutorials so why not get your budget DIY on and subscribe. You can also follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.



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How To Upcycle A Wood Caddy Into An Herb Garden

The first thing I did was clean the dirty wood toolbox with Simple Green spray cleaner and a rag. I also gently tapped the corners with a hammer to tighten the joints.



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

Next, I painted just one thin coat of Upper Canada Fusion Mineral Paint so the light wood still showed underneath. I used my handy dandy spray misting bottle to thin the paint as I brushed it on.



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

Once the paint dried, I transferred this French Herb Graphic from the Graphics Fairy website onto the front of the painted caddy using this Parchment Paper Image Transfer Technique.



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

After the ink on the transferred image dried overnight, I applied an exterior clear coat with my favorite applicator sponge.



Once the clear coat was dry I applied brown wax along the edges of the caddy for a time-worn patina. Brown glaze would also work to age the painted wood. I let the wax sit for about 15 minutes and then lightly buffed with a lint-free rag.



DIY Paper Bag Herb Markers

For herb markers, I made paper bag sleeves for each pot with the name of the herb stamped on the front. These are great for an indoor herb garden or in a covered area protected from the elements outdoors.



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

To make them simply cut paper bags in half, using only the top half for the sleeves. I don't throw anything out so I kept the bottom half to use as treat bags for the grandkids.



I used a stamp kit to label the paper bag markers. Simply slip the sleeves over each pot and tie with twine. Easy peasy!



How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden.

Potted Herb Gardening Tips

I'm fairly new to growing herbs in pots and have been researching successful gardening tips. I thought I would pass some of those tips onto you in case you are new at it too.

  • Growing herbs in individual pots are good for their individual watering needs.
  • While mint likes more water, herbs like rosemary, basil, oregano, and thyme prefer to dry out between waterings.
  • Use kitchen shears or your fingers to pick fresh herbs.
  • Picking from the top increases growth and makes the plants grow bushier.
  • For herbs that grow in clumps, like chives, it's better to harvest the outer stems first and work towards the center.
  • For herbs like rosemary or thyme, snip individual branches.
  • Once flowers start to form, remove the blossoms.


Here's another idea for a plant pot herb garden by tan outdoor herb garden by Transforming Terracotta Pots With French Country Charm.



Thanks for stopping by the Interior Frugalista today! I hope you were inspired by this herb garden idea. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!



If you enjoyed this upcycled wooden caddy garden, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your Wooden Tool Caddy Ideas or Herb Gardening Ideas board on Pinterest.




How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden. #upcycledwoodentoolcaddy #woodentoolboxes #paintedwoodcaddy


How to turn a wooden tool caddy from the thrift store into a lovely French Country-style Wooden Herb Garden, perfect for window ledge gardening, tabletop herb garden, or apartment balcony herb garden. #herbplanterideas #frenchcountrystyle #containergardening

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Comments

  1. oh! it looks so cute! it is great idea with decor on the tray and looks perfect with herbs :) very decorative piece

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    1. Thank you so much! It's great to see you here and I appreciate the visit 😀

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  2. You had me at mojitos, erhhmmmm I mean herb gardens:D Lovely makeover Marie. But then again you do have that magic touch. And thanks so much for the herb growing tips. I didn't know the one about the chives. It's no wonder mine always look so sad. I've been yanking bits out from the middle instead of the sides.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Girl, the motivation for this herb garden was the potential mojitos! I must've stood in front of the mint shelf for half an hour deciding which of the many varieties to buy. I just harvested and dried my chive crop and hope to get another one or two more harvests out of the summer.

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  3. Super cute herb caddy painted in the favorite color. I am green with envy:)
    Hugs,
    Kippi

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    Replies
    1. LOL Kippi, thanks to all the rain those herbs are growing like weeds. I need to keep harvesting and drying them so they continue to fit in the caddy. Time for some mojitos! Hugs backatcha

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  4. Marie,
    I love your herb caddy. So cute. Congratulations, you are being featured at Over The Moon Linky party. I hope you stop by. https://www.eclecticredbarn.com/2020/06/over-moon-linky-party_21.html
    Hugs,
    Bev

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was thrilled to see my herb garden caddy featured when I popped over to the party this morning. Thank you so much, Bev! xo

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  5. What a sweet save! You know I love gardening, so this is right up my alley.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, you've got some mad gardening skills, girl! I'm in awe of your front garden.

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  6. Where do I start, I love everything about this! From the color of the caddy, to the French graphic, to the fonts on the bag. Beautiful job Marie!!

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  7. Your herb caddy looks great. The bags for each pot give it so much style, I still have and love the caddy I bought from you years ago. I think it may even be the same green.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, yours is the same green. It's one of my favorite classic heritage shades of green, especially on light wood with a distressed finish.

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