DIY drinks cooler

Get set for a garden party!

You don’t need much for a summer garden party, but a few nice touches can turn it into something really special. By decorating a zinc planter, you can create a unique eye-catching feature in a matter of moments. Not only will it look good, it can also serve as a highly practical drinks cooler. Whether you decorate your zinc planter with colourful drawings of fruit, floral patterns or your own unique designs, you can create your own stylish party accessory in next to no time.

Categories: Summer
Creative garden ideas
Products: Acrylic range
Materials: Metal
Difficulty: Easy peasy
Downloads: Images (ZIP)

Step-by-step

Step 1

You can see all the materials you need at a glance in this photo: a zinc garden planter, acrylic markers in your chosen colours, a pencil (if you wish) for tracing your designs, plus an extra sheet of paper for activating your markers.

Step 2

Before you start decorating your zinc planter, you’ll need to activate your acrylic markers as follows: shake the marker with the cap still on until you can hear the small mixing ball rattling inside the marker. Next, carefully press the nib up and down a few times on a piece of scrap paper until the ink fills the tip. Try out a few test strokes on your scrap paper. You’re now ready to get decorating.

Step 3

Now it’s time to design your zinc planter by using your chosen colours to draw the basic outlines of items of fruit or by adding your own design. Once you’ve finished, leave the ink to dry for a short while. Acrylic markers with a chisel nib are perfect for broad strokes and for colouring in larger areas.

Step 4

As soon as the basic fruit shapes have dried, you can use the medium edding 5100 acrylic marker in different colours to add extra details, such as fruit pips, or to embellish outlines. This will give your designs more depth and lend them a fresh, vibrant touch.

Step 5

And that’s it! Your very own unique drinks cooler is ready! Filled with ice cubes, it will be a veritable highlight at your next garden party and is sure to get noticed.