I want to introduce my little plant friends. Curly, Larry and Moe. They don't care if I water them or not, how good the light is or if the temperature drops below freezing! We have had very inconsistent weather around here, and last night, we had a couple little, late-planted sprouts freeze to death. It can get kind of discouraging. I thought it would be fun to share this little project today. That real Aloe plant was safely in my bedroom window last night and just went outside to photobomb the little guys.
The pots I used were just cheap plastic mini pots that we had kicking around in my garage, but it would have been really nice with those tiny terracotta pots that are available at the dollar store.
- 3 pots
- 3 rocks that can fit in each pot snugly
- 3 shades of green acrylic paint
- white acrylic paint
- average size paintbrush
- fine tip paintbrush
- filler for the bottom. I used white play clay from a dollar store.
- sand or small stones or aquarium gravel
- Googly eyes
- craft glue
- mod podge (optional)
I washed and dried the rocks carefully. Next, I set them up on some newspapers and gave them a coat pf green paint with the bigger brush. It was good with just one coat. I went over the rocks once they base coat dried with the white acrylic paint to create different styles of marks with the small brush. My intention was to suggest they were assorted types of cactus. When they were fully dry. I attached their eyes and promptly started laughing at them because I thought they were so cute. In a while, I decided that they really did need a glossy finish. I was a bit sloppy and wished later that I had been more careful beside the eyes because I required some very gentle clean up on the plastic eyes.
I tried to just balance them in the pots initially and decided they needed a little more secure of a resting spot. I added a bit of play clay in the bottom to stabilize them and raise them up a little higher in their pots. The plastic pots have a drainage hole on the bottom so I didn't try sand. Since I have put stones around my aloe plants I thought these little guys needed a finishing topping of stones as well. I had a small bag of leftover aquarium gravel for that little finishing touch.
This project would be appropriate for all ages and skills. You can get a lot more detailed painting each cactus if you are up for a challenge or just leave them a solid colour for an extra easy craft. Bigger rocks in bigger pots would be a fun accent to an outdoor garden, but you would want to seal them with something more weather resistant than craft strength mod podge.
I might use these as a craft program at the personal care home some time. Wouldn't they make cute centrepieces for a Western event or a Cinco De Mayo party?
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| Cute as can be Curly |
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| Meet Moe |
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| Lovely Larry |
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| The Whole Gang. |
1 comment:
SO CUTE!
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