If you thought Venus Fly Traps were scary, just wait until your guests see these these scary sprouts. Talk about creeper vines.
Welcome to Day One of Paper Calliope’s 13 Days of October. Each post in October will feature a unique October-themed craft. These projects aren’t for the faint of heart. All you mummies with young children should carefully wrap up and tuck away your tender little ones before attempting any of these projects. Even if you don’t try them, you are sure to be sent to an early grave by all my horrible Halloween puns.
For today’s tutorial I will show you how to make these venomous little plants. You can use them as place card holders, centerpieces or just to decorate a mantle. Wherever they go, they are sure to be bootiful.
Making the Pot
That would be making the flower pot, not weed. I’m not a felon after all.
Step 1
Get some small pots about 2.5″ tall. Don’t worry if it’s too small, it’s not the size that counts.
Step 2
Decorate your pot. Brace yourself–you have a big decision to make because you can go about this in more than one way. You can:
- Give the pot a base coat of paint, then decorate with paper and ribbon
- Only paint the pot
- Leave the pot unpainted and wrap it with paper and ribbon
- Make lots of pots and do all of the choices
Wrapping the pot in paper is a little tricky because of the tapered shape. If I can dig up the pattern I made, I will put it on the bottom of this post for you to use.
Making the Pot Plant (if that headline doesn’t bring me web traffic, I don’t know what will)
Step 1
All of the plants use the same basic structure. First, twist pipe cleaners into a stem and leaf shape.
Step 2
Wet Activa Rigid Wrap and wrap pipe cleaners in it. Let dry. This will form a paper mache-like base. Kind of looks like a mummy wrap doesn’t it? this would be the perfect place for me to insert a Halloween pun, but that would be too obvious. I want you to get your mummy’s worth after all.
If you wish, you can add in the sturdy stems of a few plastic autumn-style flowers* as you wrap.
Step 3
Spray paint plastic flowers and leaves with black paint.
Step 4
Using a strong adhesive, glue your scary objects to the plant base. Hold in place with masking tape until dry. If you don’t, heads will roll!
Sometimes it helps to have an extra hand when gluing the objects in place.
Step 5
Paint the stem and scary objects with black, gray and white paint.
What did one spider say to another? Time’s fun when you’re having flies!
Step 6
After dry, add any of the painted flowers and leaves to fill out the plant to your liking.
Step 7
Place florist foam in pot and insert stem into foam.
Step 8
Secure foam with hot glue.
Step 9
On spider plants, make spider webs with hot glue strings.
Step 10
Add moss or other decorative dried material. Just make sure all the glue is dry on your fingers or you will become Hairy Potter.
Stuff you need
- Pipe cleaners
- Rigid Wrap
- Little pots about 2.5″ tall
- Halloween paper
- Ribbon
- Scary little objects such as bones, spiders, flies, baby heads, etc.
- Florist foam
- Black, gray and white acrylic paint
- Black spray paint
- Strong adhesive
- Hot glue
* Hey, just thank your lucky stars I didn’t tell you to use MUM(mies). See, I threw you a bone by sparing you from a Halloween pun….Or maybe I didn’t…
Pattern for flower pot paper
