crafts

DIY Clay Planters

It’s been a while since we made these, but I promised I would post photos and a “how-to” for these cute DIY clay planters.  I’ve recently started hosting a monthly “Crafty Night” at my apartment, which has been a success so far!  Our first crafty theme was miniature clay planters, a project I originally saw on the A Beautiful Mess blog.  They are perfect small embellishments for a hallway table or window ledge, and you can hang them too!

Here’s what you need:
Rolling pin
Wax paper
Sculpey clay (or another oven-baking clay)
Sculpting tools
Acrylic paint
Paint brushes

DIY Clay Planters - Jackietara blog
DIY Clay Potter - Jackietara blog

Directions:
1. Roll your clay out about ¼ of an inch thick and cut a long rectangle that is 10 inches long and 2 ½ inches tall. Cut out a circle for the bottom of the planter that is 3 ½ inches wide.

2. Place your long rectangle piece on top of your circle to create your sides. Roll thin tubes of clay to put on the inside bottom of the planter (where the walls meet the planter bottom), then use the clay knives (or your fingers) to smooth out the clay tube between the crack to create a water-tight seal.

4. Roll out more clay and cut out the design that will go on the sides of your planter.

5. Use a wooden skewer to poke 4 evenly spaced holes near the top of your planter. Bake your clay according to the package directions and let the planter cool.

6. Paint freely!

DIY Clay Planters - Jackietara blog DIY Clay Planters - Jackietara blog DIY Clay Potter - Jackietara blog DIY Clay Potter - Jackietara blog DIY Clay Potter - Jackietara blog

Christmas is around the corner, and a mini clay planter would make a great gift!

Jackietara

Happy Flowers

This year, Teddy and I hosted my 25th birthday at his parent’s house in Annapolis.  I wanted to add my own personal touch to the decor, so during my three-day “stay-cation” I made a DIY birthday banner from paper and ribbon from Michael’s and put together a few gerbera daisy arrangements with flowers from Costco [an easy pickup while food shopping for the party!] for the table outside.  August weather is always a little tricky, but we lucked out this year with a sunny and low humidity day, and the daisies just made everything that much happier.

Birthday Party-4

Birthday Party-2

Birthday Party-6

Birthday Party-8

Birthday Party-9

Wearing: Top of the Byline Dress: ModCloth // coral bib necklace: Stella & Dot

Jackietara

DIY Birthday Banner

I have been missing “crafty time” in my life lately, so I committed some of my birthday “stay-cation” time to making a banner for my Annapolis birthday barbeque.  It was a very simple banner, made from patterned Reflections paper, letter stencils, and turquoise ribbon, all from Michael’s craft store.

After stenciling out the letters and tracing out triangles, I cut everything out and decided to mix and match all of the patterns [using a yellow, green, and blue color palette].  I then glued all of the letters on and punched holes in the triangles with a standard hole punch and ran the ribbon through, and voila!  A simple and beautiful birthday banner.

photo-1

Birthday Party-5

Jackietara