Can you believe it, spring is finally here! This time of year is always so inspiring with all of the color and new life that brightens up our cold brown landscape from the season before. This month we thought it would be fitting to create your own mini plant stakes for your houseplants, outdoor planters, or garden markers.
Supplies that you will need include: air dry clay, paint, a tool for designing purposes (like a paperclip), and wire. Air dry clay can be found in the craft area in many stores. Start with a small ball of clay and pinch it down to a flat pendant like shape. You can make different shapes if you would like but we just stuck with simple circles. We used a paperclip as our design tool and with that we poked a hole through the top of the pendant for the wire to fit through later on.
Once you’ve got a hole poked in the top, you are ready to design your plant stake. You may choose just to paint your design or you may want to make impressions into the clay with your design tool and then paint. You’ll want to get all of your clay work done before it dries out, if you notice it’s too dry to work with just add a little touch of water and it changes the consistency quickly and becomes malleable again.
We chose to etch several simple words that would be great little inspirations to have tucked in plants, “Grow Love”, “Spring has Sprung”, “Faith Family Flowers” are just a few. You could also make garden markers for your newly planted seedlings to remember what you have planted, “Thyme”, “Basil”, and “Lavender” for example. Once done with the etching let it sit and dry out completely.
If you choose to paint your design, you must wait for your clay to dry completely before painting, the drying period may take a good day. Paint your colors and let your pendant dry again. Once you are done with your pendants you are ready for the wire that turns your pendant into a mini plant stake. We used some colored wire to add a little extra something to our stakes. There are no limits to this, you could bead the wire and add curls or bends. Once you are satisfied, poke your stake into your plant and you have yourself a little decorative stake for spring. I hope you find inspiration and renewal in these coming weeks, happy spring!