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Pretty Plants
Make a treasured gift for moms and teachers this month by making
creative containers to display your pretty plants.
 SUPPLIES
v Pretty cups and saucers
v Teapots, and coffee pots
v Coffee mugs
v Polished rocks
v Clear silicone glue
v Oops glue cleaner & rag
v Spray paint
v Clay pots
v Plants
v Potting soil
v Gardening tools
 STEP 1
Gather supplies and hunt for cups, saucers and other unique items for planting. Hunt at garage sales, thrift stores, and dollar stores and collect them from relatives. Make sure that any items that you use are clean. Then glue the cup to saucer and any other accent items that you may want to add. Use a generous amount of glue but be careful not to have spillage. It would be best to let glue dry for 24 hours. When glue is dried use glue cleaner to clean off any excess glue. Spray paint clay pots inside and out using a gloss finish.
STEP 2
Divide plants to be potted. Good choices for transplanting are lemon balm, small ivies, any mints and use a good potting soil. I like to soak my divisions in miracle grow for a few minutes to establish healthy and strong roots, of course this is optional. Plant your plants in the dry pots that you painted and water plants. Make sure that your pots have drainage holes so it can drain into your container as it will act as a self watering pot as long as there is water in the container. Now show off your plants by displaying them in your creative containers.
Be the teachers pet by
surprising your teacher with a pretty plant!
 TEACHER TIPS:
Not only will these plants make great gifts but they would make a creative way to display plants for a plant sale. This would be a good opportunity to teach on dividing plants, fertilizing and container gardening. All ages will enjoy this unique but simple project. The price could be very inexpensive if you have items donated as well as plants. It may be best to do this project in two sessions to allow for drying time of glue and spray paint. As the teacher you may want to spray paint pots ahead of time for safety reasons. I never let children use spray paint without them using a face mask and giving them a safety lesson.
This project gets a 1 on a five point messy scale (but its fun and EASY!).
Developed By:
Sharon Abbott
Texas Master Gardener
Meet Sharon Abbott
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