This is less of a how-to and more a basic idea that you can use to create plant stands of all sizes! I saw a photo on Pinterest a long time ago of someone using an upside down tomato cage as a plant stand and thought it was super clever. When we moved into our house, the previous owners had left a few old metal tomato cages behind.

I figured I'd never have use for all of the tomato cages in my garden, so I brought them inside to use with my plants. I love how simple these plant stands are to make and how clean they look. They do a great job of keeping my plants up and away from pets and in the sunlight. :D

Best of all, I'll show you two easy ways to make plant stands out of tomato cages. We'll cut through the cages with a Dremel for one stand, and use our hands and pliers to bend the next stand into shape.

Step 1: Tools + Materials

You won't need much:

Metal tomato cage
Dremel + metal cutting wheel OR
Pliers (for bending)
Gloves (for bending)
Safety goggles (if you're gonna be cutting!)
Spray paint (optional)

Make sure to wear your PPE if you decide to go the power tool route and cut the cage's legs off. Also: I didn't wear gloves when bending the legs, but you may want to if you can't get a good grip.

Metal tomato cages come in a large variety of sizes, so shop around to find cages to fit the pots you'd like to make stands for. These are fairly large: with the legs cut off they stand at about 18 inches tall.

Step 2: Cutting the Tomato Cage

This is the cleanest and simplest way in my opinion. :)

Cutting the legs off is easy with a Dremel! I made sure to use the cutting wheels to smooth out the edges of any cuts I made. I also used the cutting wheel to cut off the tiny metal pieces that were extending beyond the bottom hoop.

Step 3: Bending the Tomato Cage

I found it hard to cut this gauge of wire using handheld wire cutters, so I played with bending a few tomato cages.

In the end, this is what I came up with! By bending the legs down and around each other, you end up with a nice sturdy plant stand that doesn't wobble.

Step 4: Enjoy Your New Plant Stands!

Here's a photo of both of the stands next to each other for reference, and a close up of my gorgeous Thanksgiving cactus <3

If you make your own stand, please post a photo for an I Made It! below! I'll send you some instructables goodies :D