Since next week is Teacher Appreciation week, Grace and I have been conspiring to make an inexpensive but thoughtful gift for her teacher.  Our little kintergartener sure loves her teacher, and we wanted to do something to show Mrs. R just how much we appreciate the extra heart she puts into the children.

My friend Kari from Ucreate made this adorable garden gift basket as a Teacher Appreciation gift

via Ucreate

And Grace and I felt like this saying sums up everything Mrs. R is all about.

via Ucreate

But of course, we have to make a wood planter, don't we?

I've been pinning quite a few planter ideas, and I especially love the idea of a kitchen window herb garden.

via pinterest

But how to make, keeping the cost down?

You already know I have a thing for cedar fence pickets.  Where else can you get a good cedar board for less than $2?  It's amazing what you can make from one!  I decided to make this project from exactly ONE cedar fence picket.

And this is what it looks like chopped up and nailed back together - literally 5 minutes of building time.

Please don't tell Mrs. R that we spent $2 and 5 minutes on her Teacher Appreciation gift.  It's our secret, okay?

And don't tell her I dug in the trash for those handles.

I'd be mortified if she found out I went through the trash at the Momplex to come up with this metal strapping piece used to band wood together.

I promise, I wiped it down before I screwed it to the sides of the planter.

And it is really sturdy and functional.

While adding a pretty rustic touch to the ends.

But if we do get found out, here's our saving grace (well, our other saving Grace)

I did hand trace letters out on the front

And hand paint the letters with black craft paint.

On second thought, maybe we better give Mrs. R something a little more expensive and difficult to make.

Because the herb garden kitchen planter sure looks good on my windowsill, and I'd love to break off a sprig of parsley or a handful of basil fresh from the plant, savoring the aroma of fresh herbs in our food.

Or I could go make another one.

Yes, I could do that.

via pinterest

Grace and I also love these DIY seed packets - perfect if you are gifting multiple Kitchen Herb Garden Kits and want to split seeds up into cute packages.  It's be fun to make a DIRT one too!

And if you'd also like to be a lazy cheapskate like us, you can follow the simple instructions below to build your own Kitchen Herb Garden Planter from just one cedar fence picket!

Have a great weekend!

XO Grace and Ana