Rainbow Hanging Baskets for the Porch with Our Creative Stylist, Beth Clevenstine

We’ve loved all the rainbow art we’ve seen cropping up in our communities—from finger paintings in windows to sidewalk chalk on driveways, families have been sharing this colorful symbol of hope as a way to stay connected, even when we’re apart. We got inspired by these displays and created a trio of hanging baskets filled with brightly hued preserved stems as another way to create an uplifting moment of friendship on your front porch. We chatted with our creative stylist, Beth Clevenstine, to get the dirt on how she created these colorful hanging arrangements.

terrain: Hi Beth! These hanging baskets are so cheerful, which feels like such a nice way to infuse some positivity into our porch and patio décor right now. Can you walk us through the basic materials you used to create it?

Beth: Thank you! These were fun to design. I started with our Zinc Sphere Hanging Baskets (I used all 3 sizes but choose whichever size suits your space best!), the Water-Saving Hanging Basket Liners, and a mix of my favorite dried and preserved stems. 

terrain: Our basket liners are natural colored—how did you make these blue?

Beth: I just used a flat acrylic paint to paint our neutral liners. I went with blue, but you could really paint them any color you’d like as long as you’re using an outdoor-safe acrylic paint!

terrain: Did you have to do anything else to the baskets to get them prepared for the stems?

Beth: Once the paint liner was dry, I placed it in the sphere. Then I cut a large rectangle of chicken wire, about twice the width of the basket, folded the chicken wire in half so that it was the same width as the basket, and nestled it in. The chicken wire helps keep the stems in place.

terrain: What was your inspiration for the arrangements? Any tips on designing the baskets?

Beth: We wanted to create looks that have a nod towards contemporary floral art featuring bold colors, while remaining playful and nature-based. I call this asymmetrical look the “check mark composition”! I used warmer tones for the larger branches and cooler tones for the trailers and plants closest to the liners and a mix of transitional colors in the middle. So that it wasn’t a full gradient, I then finished off the arrangements with little pops of random colors in both warm and cool tones. I also cut a lot of the stems to different heights, pulled branches apart, and unbundled some of the dried stems to arrange them more organically. 

terrain: These baskets are so vibrant and full of life, but the best part is how low maintenance they are! Did you use any fresh stems in addition to the dried?

Beth: Yes! I used a mix of dried, preserved, and fresh stems. For example, the forsythia branches in the large sphere are fresh. I attach little water tubes to the ends of each branch to prolong their life. 

Inspired to create a rainbow hanging basket of your own? Check out our Shop the Look: Rainbow Hanging Baskets to get started with the baskets, liners, and dried stems!