handprint flower pots

Last year we made cute flower pots with kids hand-prints for Ali's preschool teachers. Since I am a preschool teacher and decorate our house as such,  I made a couple extra pots with just Ali & Grey's hand-prints for use around the house.

Materials Needed:
Large plastic pots
Acrylic paint
Clear sealant spray
Paint pens

I used plastic pots since they were less likely to shatter if they fell on the floor, and because they were already the colors that I wanted. Since both kids have sensory issues, painting their hands was a challenge. I spread the painting out over a week and tried to use mixing colors to my advantage. For example, I might start with yellow paint on one hand and red on the other, getting a hand-print with each; then have them rub their hands together to make orange. Most of Grey's hand-prints came out smudgy, which looked rather cute.

After all of the hand-prints were complete I used paint pens to write the kids names and the date on the pots. A quick round of spray sealant and the pots were ready to use. I have used one pot for plants, and the other as storage for loose items. This (relatively) quick & easy project still makes me smile everyday. I plan on making more projects with their hand-prints this summer. It is so easy to forget how little they once were, and I love these sweet & tiny reminders.

broken pots birdbath

What do you do when you accidentally break some of your Terra-cotta pots? Make them into a stacked pot birdbath!


Materials Needed:
Several Terra-cotta pots
Terra-cotta bowl
Terra-cotta dish 
Garden stake 
Spray Primer & Paint
Permanent adhesive


A few of my pots became stuck together and out of frustration I dropped them on the ground. Of course, they broke. Wanting to make lemonade out of my lemons, I primed the pieces and sprayed them different colors. After they dried I glued the pieces back together using Quick Grip all-purpose permanent adhesive. This glue does dry quickly and becomes clear, but had a lot of air bubbles that I had to smooth out. I liked that the glue is water- and weather-proof, as the project will stay outdoors year-round. After the glue dried I traced the cracks with a silver paint pen. Why not accentuate what makes these pots unique, right?

I found a few more pots of varying sizes which were already painted, and then prepped a terra cotta bowl and a small dish. I pounded a five foot garden stake about 18 inches into the ground and stacked the first three pots upside down. I glued on the last pot upright to give it extra support. Then I glued on the large bowl to be filled with water, and the small dish for bird food. The kids were excited to see the finished product and we are hoping for lots of cute little birdie visitors.

the wedding tree

I got to try a brand new painting project last week. Some friends of my dad's had a lovely mountain wedding ceremony, which my dad officiated. I have seen versions of this wedding tree around on-line and really wanted to give it a try. The cute part of this tree is that the wedding guests make the leaves with their fingerprints. In this case the couple's wedding colors were maroon and yellow, which made for a lovely autumn tree.

Materials Needed:
Canvas
Paints & Brushes
Alphabet Stickers

I made the background with several colors of cream and brown, with a final coat of pearlescent clear paint for the shiny effect. For the tree I used a darker brown, finishing with cream and gold highlights. I placed hearts and spelled out the names of the bride and groom with stickers, then painted the grassy knoll using greens and yellows. After the paint dried, it was just a matter of peeling off the stickers to reveal the hearts and names. The painting was finally done when the wedding guests placed their fingerprints on the tree. I was told that the painting was a hit, and I hope that I can do it again for other weddings.

cement square hopscotch

 
Last summer we collected 16 concrete squares in our dog run. I wanted to use them as some kind of decoration, but just putting them out in the pea gravel in rows was boring. So, this summer we made them into a hopscotch!

Materials Needed:
Concrete squares
Spray paint & primer
Spray sealant
Outdoor puff paint
Stencils

I tried spray painting a few of the squares without first priming them, which was a mistake. The paint seeped into the cement and the color was terrible. After priming each square, I coated the squares several times with spray paint. We had some special glitter spray paint on hand, so a few of the squares were extra sparkly.

After the paint was dry, I taped on number stencils and sprayed the numbers white. Alisen decided which number would go on each color. Obviously, I didn't do a great job of taping around the stencils, as there is a lot of extra white paint outside of the stencil areas:

 

 

I let the stones dry overnight, and the next morning traced the numbers with a bottle of black outdoor puff paint. This paint was easy to apply in the squeeze bottle and didn't stick up too far off of the cement. Once again I waited overnight, and then finished the squares by coating them with a clear spray sealant. 

We arranged the stones in order from 1-15, with an extra white square being the 'starting line'. This is a project that can easily be extended as far as we want; we might end up with 25+ squares before the kids get bored with the hopscotch. I like that it encourages the kids to use math skills & turn-taking while being active. An added bonus was the colored pea gravel we ended up with, since we had spray painted all of the squares on top of the gravel without a tarp.

Although this project took several days, it was easy and fairly cheap. The kids were excited to help, and they are very proud of their unique game.

tipsy pots

I loved making this project! I initially saw this idea on Pinterest, but cannot find the original link. If it turns up I will add it to give appropriate credit to the creative person who came up with this idea.

Materials Needed:
Spray paint & spray primer
5 foot of metal rebar
5-8 terra cotta pots (depending on size)
Dirt & flowers


I started out by spraying the terra cotta pots with spray paint, and quickly learned that primer was going to be a necessity. Some spray paints have primer added in, but it is harder to find. So, after re-spraying the pots with primer it was time to pick the colors! I don't use a lot of red inside our house, but the patio umbrella outside is bright red, so I was happy to use some bright warm colors on the pots.

After pounding the rebar into the ground about a foot, I placed the short, squat pot over the rebar and slid it down until it hit the ground. I had to fill up this pot with dirt in order to prop the next pot on top. After that it was simply a matter of sliding each pot on and angling it, then we added some dirt and flowers to finish the project. I was able to fit a small sprig of ivy in the bottom-most pot of the red tower, and am hoping that it will wrap around upwards as it grows.

The kids enjoy watching the water trickle down from the top pot when we water. The pots have had no trouble withstanding our constant breeze and have gone through a few giant wind gusts unscathed. Sturdy and eye-catching, this was a great project to celebrate the arrival of summer weather.