Preschool Flower Pots

   
     The reaction to the flower pots in my Eco Orbies Review post was both large and positive. So, I thought I'd show you how we made them. I got the idea from Preschool Crafts for Kids. They used old milk jugs, to make "green" flower pots.We tried that, and they're cute. However, I didn't like how flimsy the flower pot was. Also, if you let the kid carry it, there's a chance that they'll push the edges in (because it's flimsy) and then the fabric scraps come off.

     Here's what we did. First, we went to Dollar Tree and bought some eccentric ceramic flower pots. They're small (each holding about 2 cups of dirt/Orbies), but they were only a dollar!

     When we got home, I went through my craft bin to find fabric. I let the girls choose 2 fabrics (one mostly solid color and one print). They wanted to use the same two, which was fine with me. If you're going to buy fabric for this craft, check the remnants bins. Both of the fabrics that we used came from the remnants bun. Then I cut 1x1 squares out of their chosen fabrics. If you have a rotary cutter, use it! I don't know exactly how many pieces each pot took, but remember that the pieces will overlap, so you really need more fabric than will wrap around the pot one time.

Next, we used mod podge to stick the farbic to the pot. They put some mod podge on a section of the pot, then they stuck fabric to the glue. After each section was complete, I added a layer of mod podge over the fabric. This needs to be done by an adult because if you push too hard, the fabric is going to move.

     Once the entire pot was covered (no spaces between any of the pieces), we let them sit until they were completely dry. Then, the girls added another layer of mod podge and let it dry again.

     Lastly, I used some purple felt quilt edging to finish the top edge of the pot. Thing 1 tried to do hers, but it takes nimble fingers and more patience than she has.

     For additional decoration on their recycled pots, I pulled out some butterfly fabric that I had (no idea why). Each girl picked out 2 butterflies and we glued them on.