This post, while being a how-to, is really more to give you a fun idea for a present, since I’m sure you could figure out how to make it like I did. 

A dinosaur planter is a great decor idea for your dino-obsessed child’s bedroom…or makes a cool desk adornment for your dino-obsessed 30-something year old husband :)

I made this gift to go along with Nate’s bigger birthday present that I got him- a glass blowing lesson! 

I had gotten the idea to make this after seeing something similar sold on the website theplaidpidgeon.com:

They were charging $30 for this baby, plus shipping, and of course being the cheap DIY-er that I am, i asked myself the question that I seem to ask myself quite frequently, “why would I pay for that when I could make it for half the price?!”

Well, in the end mine ended up costing about $15 (if you don’t count the extra $10 I paid for the wrong size plant I bought, that I couldn’t return). Plus, it was made with love <3

I’ll admit mine isn’t quite as nice as the inspiration piece, because the dino wasn’t deep enough to hide the planter, but I think it’s still pretty cool. You could easily find a better, deeper dino but I had a limited selection in my over-priced nyc toy store. I imagine Toys ‘R Us probably has some cheaper dinos.

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find an appropriate dinosaur for my project. The inspiration picture seemed to be a dinosaur made of hard plastic, but I knew I had no tools good enough for carving such a thing. I was on the lookout for something softer, but sturdy enough to stand up on its own.

After checking out a couple toy stores, I finally found this dino for $10 at Mary Arnold Toys on the Upper East Side. I thought $10 was a little steep for something about 4″ high, but what can you do. I mean, this was a birthday present after all.

To get started I estimated about how big the succulent plant I saw at the floral store was (about 2″ in diameter) so i would know how big a hole to cut.

Then I set my little dino on her side, stroked her little head and told her I was sorry. A single tear rolled down her scaley cheek. I wiped it away and performed a small operation to remove a chunk of her back. 

 **No actual dinosaurs were harmed during the making of this project**

She was fine- no blood at all. In fact, this dino happened to be filled with stuffing, so I took the stuffing out of the middle part but left it in the head and tail pieces so she didn’t completely deflate.

Since I was told the plant needs to breathe and needs drainage, I put the planter in the bottom of a little cup. This way you can pour out any excess water that drains by taking the cup out, since the inside of the dino would be harder to clean.

And then I surprised the birthday boy with a little dinosaur buddy he could share his desk with.

According to Nate, she (apparently it’s a girl)is  currently “guarding his inbox:”