I couldn’t think of anything clever for the title other than drug references, so this was the best I could do.  My husband didn’t get it, but it might help if you say it out loud!

It’s been so long since my last post, it took me a few minutes to remember how to log in.  I’ve been meaning to crank out a post, but I am the lazy sort.  A lot has been going on over the last couple of months, so life has been hectic, as usual.  Right now, I am making myself get to stuff that I’ve been putting off, including writing a blog post, and doing some serious house cleaning.

I started reorganizing all my arts and crafts supplies.  I am a slob, so over the last half year, I’ve been leaving my stuff all over the floors and various table tops.  Anytime I had guests over, I’d scoop everything up and dump them in a pile on top of my work table, under it, and next to it.  My work table got completely covered, and as a result, I worked on projects on the dining table and kitchen table, and they became covered, and so on and so forth.  What a vicious cycle.  But, I just have no more space left to work on stuff, so here we are.  Hardcore spring cleaning.

Speaking of spring, how is it almost over already?  The weather here is so freaking bipolar, springtime always feels so short.  I swear, it was just snowing not long ago, now the air conditioning is on.  My daughter only has a couple more weeks of school left.  She loves school, and is genuinely sad when she has to miss school.  I really hope she feels like that when she is older!  Her teachers are all amazing, which obviously plays a huge role in her love for school.  We want to give them a thank you present, so I racked my brain for a project that my daughter could help make.

I wanted to give her teachers something meaningful that she helped make.  I walked around the craft store looking for inspiration.  I saw terra-cotta pots in the floral section, so I finally decided to give her teachers a potted plant.  I had my daughter help me paint the pots, and then I got some Hen and Chicks succulents, or sempervivum.  The Hen and Chicks are very low maintenance since they do not require frequent watering.  If you forget them for a while, they will still be alright.  I also thought it was a cute idea, since you know, teachers are like hens, and the students are like chicks.

I never painted a terracotta pot before, so I did a little research on various diy gardening sites.  We first peeled off the stickers and scrubbed the pots clean.  Some of the sites recommended using sandpaper to smooth out uneven surfaces, but as you know, I am lazy.  Plus, I didn’t notice any really uneven spots.  Here, our clean pots are drying outside.

I got several bottles of patio paint.  This paint is for terra-cotta, concrete, wood, and masonry, so they fit my need.  Patio paint is water resistant and does not need a separate sealer.  Some of the sites I visited, used regular acrylic paint, but they also used a sealer on the pots first so water would not screw up the paint job.  The sealer at the store cost more than all my bottles of paint, and I do not need that much sealer, so I just got the paint.

There were stencils conveniently placed right next to the patio paints and pots.  Even though I already have stencils at home, I decided to get these since they are stick on AND reusable.  I figure it would save some trouble to just stick these stencils on the pot instead of struggling to hold a regular stencil in place.  Yay for craft store coupons!

My daughter and I painted the pots.  I did not get a primer, so we just covered the pots and saucers with a layer of white patio paint first.  I don’t know if that really made a difference, but whatever.  I figure in any case, it would make the colors pop more if they were painted on a white surface as opposed to a reddish-brown surface.  The terra-cotta soaked the paint right up, so it took many layers of paint to achieve the color we wanted.

Notice that I protected my table with a layer of scrap paper.  That was actually a bad idea.  The paint is really tacky, and kept sticking to the paper, and bits of paper would stick to the paint, or paint would get ripped off of the pot.  So after a couple of frustrating paint layers, I finally wised up, and got out plastic place mats, and that helped a lot.

This pot is ready for stenciling.  The stick on stencils really were convenient.

Dab dab dab.  We ended up just using foam brushes.  It was easier to apply the paint than using regular paint brushes.

And the big reveal!  Ok, so it’s not perfect.  The paint does bleed a bit.  BUT, no worries.  After the paint dried a bit, I fixed it.

More smeary paint awaiting a makeover.

This is a nail art dotting tool.  If you do not happen to have one of these, a tooth pick should work too.

After the first stencil layer dried, I used the dotting tool to apply more paint, and clean up the fuzzy lines.  Now that’s what I’m talking about.  I love it when my craft supply hoarding pays off.

After following the paint instructions and allowing the paint to fully dry, I sprayed the pots and saucers with a few coats of glossy acrylic sealer.  I like things extra glossy.  Plus, the sealer made the patio paint less tacky feeling.

Finally, everything is dried and ready for the succulents.  I used fast draining potting soil for cacti and succulents, and popped a Hen and Chick into each pot.  This project took a few days because of the drying times, but it was rewarding to go from a regular blah looking terra-cotta pot to a bright customized piece of art.  My daughter was very excited to make these for her teachers.