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.

Broken Pottery Craft

     My mom died in May. One of the things that Mom enjoyed was pottery purchased from Luling Icehouse Pottery. She had several pieces that had sentimental value to the child that was with her when it was purchased. The one piece that my little sister wanted was a chip and dip bowl. That was no problem. My sister, being a university student, doesn't have a lot of room (or want) to store valuables in her apartment style dorm room. Therefore, she was leaving a lot of her stuff at my house. No problem. When she left to go back to school in August, I assumed that all of her breakable possessions we put away, out of a child's reach. Long story short, Thing 2 accidentally knocked over the box that the chip and dip bowl was in, causing it to shatter into many, many pieces. I called my sister, crying, to tell her and she said to just throw it away. I had other plans. After I calmed down, I started looking for ways to reuse the pieces of the bowl. I thought that if she couldn't have a functional pottery piece, she could at least have the pieces.

     What I came up with was to set the pieces in concrete in a mosaic style. Since it was Mom's, I decided on a cross shape. Below is the tutorial of how I went from a broken bowl to a beautiful decorative cross.


Supplies:
   Broken Pottery
   2x4 (or smaller board, depending on desired size)
   Plywood
   Nails
   Hammer
   Pencil
   Paper
   Screwdriver
   Metal Wire (chicken wire or something similar)
   Cement
   Plastic drop cloth to protect work site


     Start by building your mold. I wanted a cross, so we drew it out and cut out the plywood backing. Then, we measured the 2x4 and cut the pieces to the appropriate sizes. Lastly, we nailed the 2x4 pieces to the plywood.

     Next, use the pencil and paper to draw out the shape. Make sure that it is the exact size as you intend your finished product to be. Then using your screwdriver and hammer, break any larger pieces down to the desired size. Arrange the pieces on the paper as a rough plan of what your final product will look like.

     Now, cut the metal support so that it fits inside your mold. This is going to help hold the cement together and prevent it from breaking. Since my final product was going to be large (about 11.5" long, 8.5" wide and 1.5" thick), I used 2 separate metal supports.

     Make sure that your mold, metal supports, and pottery pieces are all close by. Use a plastic drop cloth to protect your work site. I also put a Rubbermaid tote lid on top of the drop cloth and then put my mold on top of that. 

    Now for the fun part. Mix your concrete according to the package directions. It is important that you use concrete and not Quikrete or other fast drying concretes. Once it's mixed, fill the mold roughly 1/3 of the way. Put in your first metal support. Pour more concrete until it's about 2/3 full. Put in your second metal support. Now fill the mold to the desired depth. Carefully, place your pottery pieces into the concrete. Note: You may have to push down while moving the piece back and forth to get it to set into the concrete. Just be careful not to break them!

     When all of your pieces are where you want them, leave the mold somewhere where it won't get bumped and nothing can get into it (animals, kids, bugs, etc.). If you're worried about something falling in it, you can use the plastic drop cloth to cover it.

     In about 2 days, your concrete will be completely dry. Once it has dried, use a hammer to gently remove the mold from around the piece. Note: If there were cracks where your board pieces met, you may need to use a piece of sand paper to smooth the edges and get rid of any excess concrete.

     

    When it's all done, everyone will be surprised that you went from this:

     To this:

Foil Baking Cup Crayons

     

    If your kids are anything like mine, you end up with more broken crayons than whole ones. I have been saying that I was going to buy a Crayola Crayon Maker for a year, but I still haven't. So today, I had a little inspiration and decided to melt the broken crayons in my oven.

     First, you need to remove the paper from the crayon bits. I found that it was easier to cut a line down the entire paper using a knife than it was to try and pull it back with my fingernails.

     Second, place foil baking cups on cookie sheet (I used an old cookie sheet so that I would't ruin a good one if I burned crayon onto it) or use them to line your muffin pan (any size!).

     Now, you're ready to put your crayon pieces in the baking cups! I made 2 different kinds. I made some in mini-muffin papers and some in jumbo muffin papers . For the jumbos, I mixed a bunch of different colors together. I filled the cups about 3/4 full with crayon pieces. For the minis, I used various shades of the same color, also filled 3/4.

Colors in jumbo baking cup

The tray of jumbos.

     They're finally ready for the oven! I set my oven at 250 degrees F. At that temp, my jumbo cups had to bake for about 15 minutes. The minis only took 10 minutes. Part of the bake time is the size of the crayon bits. Smaller bits are going to melt more quickly.

     When all of the crayon bits are melted, it's time to remove them from the oven. Be sure to disturb them as little as possible while moving them.

Jumbos fresh out of the oven

     Allow the crayons to cool completely before removing them from the foil baking cups.

     Your new crayons are now ready to use!


     Below are some picture of the final product! I'm going to add a Merry Christmas tag and a Christmas-y bow and give them to Thing 1's and Thing 2's friends.

Cooled and bagged jumbos

Minis - one set in bag, the rest cooled in pan