Guys, I'm getting really sick of fighting with succulents.
The giant aloe plant is losing its arms, and the smaller one is spawning baby plants that are slowly draining its life force. No one is happy. In an attempt to keep the peace, I bought a giant planter and set AloeZilla up in his new home. I moved the cutting I brought back from Ohio in the ceramic planter I decorated a few weeks ago, and then I had to find something to do with its stingy offspring.
Enter the puns.
First, I picked up a cheap, ceramic flower pot and some oil-based Sharpie paint pens. My drawing skills aren't stellar, so I turned to the magic of Microsoft Word to help me out. I found a font that I liked, typed in my ridiculous British pun, and then flipped the whole thing around so I was printing a mirror image of the phrase.
The giant aloe plant is losing its arms, and the smaller one is spawning baby plants that are slowly draining its life force. No one is happy. In an attempt to keep the peace, I bought a giant planter and set AloeZilla up in his new home. I moved the cutting I brought back from Ohio in the ceramic planter I decorated a few weeks ago, and then I had to find something to do with its stingy offspring.
Enter the puns.
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| Use a British accent and all will be revealed. |
First, I picked up a cheap, ceramic flower pot and some oil-based Sharpie paint pens. My drawing skills aren't stellar, so I turned to the magic of Microsoft Word to help me out. I found a font that I liked, typed in my ridiculous British pun, and then flipped the whole thing around so I was printing a mirror image of the phrase.
Once I made sure that the words would fit, I colored them in with pencil. I was really heavy-handed with this part; the whole point was to get enough lead on the paper that it would rub off onto the flower pot. Then I used painters tape and stuck it (colored side down) to the side.
When I was happy with the placement, I colored over the words in pencil a second time. This left a faint lead outline that I could trace with the paint pens, which is infinitely preferable to my feeble attempts at hand lettering. The colors will change a little in the oven, but nothing too drastic.
I added a few more details to the phrase and then used painters tape (my new favorite thing) to add the green detailing to the top. After it had dried overnight, I threw the whole thing in the oven to set the paint. Apparently the key here is to put it in the oven before you turn it on - throwing room temperature ceramics into a 375 degree oven is a terrible idea. I'd also advise you to open up your doors/windows while it cooks. We didn't, and it took us twenty minutes to figure out where the weird smell in our apartment was coming from.
All cautionary tales aside, 30 minutes at 375 was perfect for this project.You do have to leave the oven door closed until everything is back to room temperature, though. I'm not patient, so I found a reason to leave the house until it was done. Then it was just a matter of playing musical planters with these psychopathic succulents.
From our family to yours,
VelociCrafter
I added a few more details to the phrase and then used painters tape (my new favorite thing) to add the green detailing to the top. After it had dried overnight, I threw the whole thing in the oven to set the paint. Apparently the key here is to put it in the oven before you turn it on - throwing room temperature ceramics into a 375 degree oven is a terrible idea. I'd also advise you to open up your doors/windows while it cooks. We didn't, and it took us twenty minutes to figure out where the weird smell in our apartment was coming from.
All cautionary tales aside, 30 minutes at 375 was perfect for this project.You do have to leave the oven door closed until everything is back to room temperature, though. I'm not patient, so I found a reason to leave the house until it was done. Then it was just a matter of playing musical planters with these psychopathic succulents.
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From our family to yours,
VelociCrafter
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