Add instant curb appeal to your front porch with a container of flowers. These painted yard flamingo planters are fun and funky. Plus the flowers deter mosquitos.
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I’ve always loved pink yard flamingoes. They’re so cute and retro! I’m not a big fan of pink for home decor, though, so I decided these needed a paint job to match the rest of my front porch and backyard.
We always have problems with mosquitos in the summer. This year I decided to try planting flowers to deter them. I’m pretty sure I’d have to plant my yard solid with flowers to really scare them off, but hopefully a few containers by the doors will at least keep them out of the house!
Plus, this painted yard flamingo planter really adds to my home’s curb appeal. I went with colors that match the rest of my outdoor decor and I think the result is pretty cute.
How to make a yard flamingo planter
Supplies
- plastic yard flamingoes {I found mine at Dollar Tree for $1 each}
- Rustoleum 2x Ultra Coverage paint in flat white
- Deco Art Curb Appeal in farmhouse white
- Deco Art Patio Paint in various colors {I used geranium red, blue jay and fiesta yellow}
- 1-inch foam paint brushes
- watercolor brushes
- old newspapers to protect your indoor workspace
- garden containers {I have these from Walmart}
- potting soil
- flowers {I planted marigolds and geraniums}
Instructions
1. Paint yard flamingoes.
Painting the flamingoes is the biggest part of this project. First I spray-painted a coat of white on each flamingo. My husband cut some pieces of wire hangar for them to hang from while painting and drying. The white didn’t 100 percent cover the flamingoes, but it did create a nice coat for the subsequent coats of paint to stick to.
The primed flamingoes hung outside and dried four about an hour, though I probably could’ve brought them in and started painting sooner. When in doubt, check the instructions on your paint.
I brought the flamingoes inside and laid them on newspapers on my dining table. Using a foam brush, I painted all three with a coat of white paint. By the time I finished the third one, the first was dry enough to flip and paint the other side. Each one dried about 15 minutes per side.
Below, you can see the flamingo on the left has a coat of the DecoArt white and the one on the right just has the Rustoleum spray-paint.
After the white was thoroughly dry, I carefully painted the eyes, beaks, and feathers with the red, blue, and yellow. The foam brushes worked fine for the beaks, but I found that they were too large for the detailed feathers so I switched to watercolor brushes. Below, the flamingo on the left was painted with watercolor brushes and the flamingo on the right was painted with sponge brushes.
It took quite a while to paint three flamingoes on both sides in three different colors. Basically I used one color at a time and painted across all three flamingoes. By the time I finished the third, the first was dry enough to paint with the next color and so on.
After everything was definitely dry on the first side, I flipped them over and repeated the process. I let the finished flamingoes dry overnight before I put them outside.
2. Plant flowers in each container.
While you could just stick the finished flamingoes anywhere, I thought it would be fun to put them in planters. I had three red containers that I planted with yellow marigolds and red geraniums. Simply fill the containers with potting soil, dig a space, remove the flowers from their store pots, and plant the flowers in the holes.
Each container has a geranium in the center and four smaller marigolds around the outside. I left space in the “back” for the flamingoes.
3. Add a flamingo to each planter.
The last step is pretty simple. I added a flamingo to each planter. Each one has a pair of metal legs that slide into holes in the bottom, then stick into the soil.
Front porch curb appeal
I put one yard flamingo planter on the front porch and the other two on the back patio. While I hope they deter mosquitos this summer, even if they just look cute I’m happy.
See the rest of the projects that go along with my painted yard flamingo planters in my front porch makeover:
What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:
Hey there, I am thinking about doing this for centrepieces. Did you have to sand down the bird and was the spray paint sticky at all when dry ?
I think these would be cute as centerpieces! I didn’t sand the birds. The white paint/primer I used is great for plastic and it wasn’t sticky at all. It also dried quickly. I’ve found the best way to do spray paint is in several thin coats instead of one or two big ones.