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Our chain link fence got a little makeover with a simple tin can flower garden. We had enough cans leftover that we used a few for a centerpiece down our patio table, too. I think any place is a good place for a sweet little tin can flower garden, actually!

Do you have a chain link fence that could use a little spruce up? We have vine growing on the majority of our fence, but it was a bit untidy where the vine tapered off. We fixed that with the sweetest little tin can flower garden that the whole family worked on together. See how simple it was to create below.

Tin Can Flower Garden

If you come around I Should Be Mopping the Floor a lot, you know I am a big fan of loads of color. Why not bring a bit of that fun into the outdoor areas, too, right? Even if you're not as into bright colors as I am, there are so many possibilities with this Tin Can Flower Garden. I think black and white polka dot cans with red geraniums would be stunning, too. Or white cans with pink polka dots and begonias? Lots of possibilities are abounding for this lil' project. These are wonderful for backyard fence decor.

While I love the lush vine that has overtaken this fence, there are times of the year that it's not as lush and pretty. And there are sections of the fence where it's not consistent. And well, it's kind of fun to break up all that green with the prettiest pops of color from both flowers AND pretty painted cans. This tin can flower garden is now my favorite thing to see when I pull into the garage since this fence is right in that spot. Who wouldn't want to be greeted by a rainbow-licious row of pretty Vinca flowers, right?

I had two sweet friends who saved these industrial-sized cans for me from the cafeterias at the schools they work at. I ended up with such a plethora of cans that we painted a few more to sit down the middle of the patio table, too...a tin can flower garden centerpiece!

Creating a Tin Can Flower Garden

I am loving all the color this mini flower garden brings all over the yard. With their drainage holes on the bottoms of the cans, we do move them off of the table (and into the yard) when we water these particular plants.

Supplies for a Tin Can Flower Garden

• empty industrial-sized food cans (cleaned out, labels removed)
• If you have trouble removing residue from labels, I highly recommend Goo-Gone (from Amazon here).
• If you're into essential oils, I also have a recipe to remove residue using lemon oil.
• chalk-style paint (in a variety of rainbow colors) 
• I only recommend chalk-style paint for this. It adheres to the cans perfectly without any sanding or prep. Other paints would flake off once dry. 
• Walmart carries the Waverly brand of chalk paint and it's budget-friendly.
• I also like the Folk Art brand of chalk paint that you can grab here on Amazon.
• regular foam brushes
• I buy these in bulk here on Amazon since I don't reuse mine (they're too hard to clean and cheap enough to keep a few on hand).
• circle-shaped foam brushes
• Grab a set of assorted circle sizes here on Amazon.
• matte varnish sealer
• I use this spray-can variety from Rustoleum, available on Amazon here.

My kids are always begging to help with painting projects. Honestly, I struggle because often I'm redoing antique pieces that don't exactly lend themselves to kids helping. But I feel bad turning them down. This was truly the perfect project for them to join in the painting fun. I gave them carte blanche with the paint brushes and let them have at it.

Painting Your Tin Cans

• Again, since we're using chalk-style paint, you won't need any prep, other than making sure your cans have been cleaned out well and there isn't any residue from labels still on them.
• Use your regular foam brush to apply two layers of a base coat to each can (dry thoroughly between each coat of paint...but chalk paint doesn't take too terribly long to dry).
• Once the base coats dry, use the circle sponge brushes to dab on dots. We just did ours in a random pattern.
• Once your dots have dried, be sure to seal your cans with your varnish. 
• Be sure to also seal the bottom of your cans with your varnish. We skipped this step on a couple of cans. We're two years since we painted these and a couple of the bottoms of our cans are quite rusty (the ones we sealed are not!). 

Drainage and Attachment

• We turned the cans over to drill drainage holes using a 1/8" drill bit. 
• We drilled three holes per can.
• If you're hanging your flower garden on a fence, also drill a small hole on the side of the can, towards the top. You'll use an "S" hook through that hole to attach it to your fence when it's all planted and ready to go (see below).

I hung an empty can on the fence to show how the S hook works in this project (pictured above).

We did plant all of our pretty flowers before hanging the tin can flower garden up.

And of course, hanging the tin can flower garden in a rainbow-riffic pattern was the name of the game.

A little drink and our flower garden was all set. One nice thing about our Tin Can Flower Garden is that it's not under an eave or patio. It gets all the rainwater it needs to sustain it. It's in a somewhat shaded area, too, that doesn't get a lot of heat. We rarely have to water it, so that's a win-win. It has made for some lovely backyard fence decor.

Want More Tin Can Flower Garden Ideas?

• This vertical version of a tin can flower garden from Seven Sisters is so pretty!
• This royal blue tin can flower garden from Ciera Design is also a great fence one.

Or check out my new Window Boxes for another flower garden idea in the below video:

I'm super proud of how our old door patio table turned out, too. It looks so pretty with the flowers lined up on it. I was so honored to have this table featured in a two-page spread in Flea Market Home and Living Magazine.

What would you plant in a tin can flower garden?