Recycling is so important to me. Ever since I was in middle school and our school got recycle bins, I made a point of recycling everything I could. A few years ago, that turned into a passion for upcycling. I never see garbage; I always see a future craft, like this DIY Cat Grass Planter made from an upcycled soda bottle.
I’ll wash something and keep it around for a while until inspiration hits. Just like with this soda bottle. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would use it for at first, but I knew it would turn into something fantastic.
And then I stumbled onto a photo of a soda bottle cut to look like a cat. I thought it was an adorable. But what could I do with that? It still felt a little bit like garbage on display.
It finally hit me! I would buy cat grass seeds, “plant” them in the cat-shaped soda bottle, and give it to my parents’ cat Sox as a gift.
Because yes, I’m the kind of person who gives gifts to people’s pets.
Eh, there are worse things I could be.
DIY Cat Grass Planter
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Use your marker to draw the outline of the cat face on your bottle. You’re only drawing the line for where you are going to cut, not the actual face.
Using the scissors, puncture a hole in your bottle. Then, use your lines as a guide to cut out the cat face.
Discard the top of the bottle.
Spray paint the bottle whatever color you want your cat to be.
Side note: You should always spray paint outdoors.
I actually ended up cutting two of these: one from a 2-liter bottle and another from a 20 oz. bottle, so that’s why you see two of them above. But the rest of the tutorial just shows the 2-liter bottle one. Honestly, either size is fine. It really just depends on what you prefer.
Now, here’s my spray paint tip that will save you lots of headaches. When you are spray painting something smooth, a thick coat will drip down your surface. So you need to very lightly spray a coat, let it dry completely, spray another light coat, let it dry, on and on until you achieve the color you’re looking for.
Use your marker to draw a cat face on the front of the painted soda bottle. You can add other colors or just go with black. Be creative.
Open the cat grass seeds and set them up according to the package. Our package came with cat grass seeds and a container to grow the seeds in, but the container didn’t fit in the bottle. So instead, since our package also came with soil for organic growing, I just dumped the soil into the soda bottle, then planted the seeds.
If you don’t want to deal with dirt, and you know how to grow cat grass without soil (using a wet paper towel or coffee filter), go that route. Chances are, when this starts growing, you cat will forcefully chew the cat grass and knock the entire cat grass planter on the ground, leaving you with lots of dirt to clean up.
Be diligent about watering the cat grass seeds — and keeping it away from your cat until the grass starts to grow. You don’t want the cat digging in the soda bottle before the grass has grown.
When the grass starts to grow, set it somewhere your cat can get to it. She’ll love nibbling at it. The grass will continue to grow, so it’s a natural and self-sufficient treat for your furry friend.
Cat Grass: Frequently Asked Questions
Does cat grass need drainage?
You may have noticed that I didn’t poke holes in the bottom of this planter. You could, if you wanted, because cat grass does need drainage.
But, if you only water it a little bit, or use a spray bottle, you won’t accumulate enough water for it to be a problem.
Cat grass thrives in moist soil though, so if you want to avoid watering this daily, drainage holes are necessary.
So, what you’ll want to do in that case is, prior to spray painting, take a small nail and make small puncture holes in the bottom of all the cat’s “feet.” That will allow the planter to drain. Just keep in mind that you will need to keep this on some sort of plate so that the drainage water accumulates there, not on your table.
Does cat grass need sun?
Cat grass needs some sort of sunlight to grow. It is used to full sun outdoors, so if you have a spot in your home that gets lots of sunlight — even indirect sunlight — that’s a great place to keep this.
If you don’t have a spot that gets direct sunlight, you can put it near a heat lamp, but just be really careful of that around your cat.
Will cat grass grow back?
Unfortunately, cat grass is kind of a “one and done” plant. The bunch you sow in this planter will grow as your cat eats it, and you may even need to trim it back a couple times, but it will only thrive for a short amount of time (three weeks to three months depending on the type of cat grass you’re growing).
After that, you’ll need to add some more cat grass seeds to the potting soil. You can sow seeds at various times, though. You don’t have to wait for your first crop to die completely before you sow more.
Want more upcycled cat-themed projects?
Believe it or not, this DIY Cat Grass Planter is not the only upcycled cat-themed project we have on Drugstore Divas. We also have a DIY Cat Food Can Christmas Ornament tutorial post. You should check that one out right meow.
Want another grass planter tutorial?
Another shocker. This isn’t our only grass planter tutorial on Drugstore Divas.
Such a fun and cute idea. My girls would love to work on this.
Alexandra Cook
Sunday 28th of July 2019
This is such a cute and fun idea. This would be perfect planter decor in our garden are. My mom would love this for sure.
Kam
Saturday 27th of July 2019
I love it! I think we should do this because we are crazy cat people. LOL!
Brian Cicioni
Saturday 27th of July 2019
Wow, now that's a clever idea. Almost looks like ceramic. Good way of reusing our resources!
Lyosha
Saturday 27th of July 2019
oh my! how cute is that! I absolutely like it! SO simple and very cute and it's repurposing, my favorite way to deal with packaging!
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Deola
Monday 29th of July 2019
Such a fun and cute idea. My girls would love to work on this.
Alexandra Cook
Sunday 28th of July 2019
This is such a cute and fun idea. This would be perfect planter decor in our garden are. My mom would love this for sure.
Kam
Saturday 27th of July 2019
I love it! I think we should do this because we are crazy cat people. LOL!
Brian Cicioni
Saturday 27th of July 2019
Wow, now that's a clever idea. Almost looks like ceramic. Good way of reusing our resources!
Lyosha
Saturday 27th of July 2019
oh my! how cute is that! I absolutely like it! SO simple and very cute and it's repurposing, my favorite way to deal with packaging!