Valentine’s Day Flower Pots

Designer Alecia, from Chicken Scratch NY, is on our blog today with Valentine's Day flower pots that will have you buzzing.

Time: 30-45 Minutes (including paint drying time)
Level: Beginner

I’ve never been a fan of cut flowers. I’d rather have a live plant in a pretty pot; and what’s prettier than a couple of Valentine’s Day flower pots with a sweet stenciled sentiment? Today I’ve got two versions for you to choose from, one with sweet little bees and another covered in adorable flowers made from easy to find garden stones and Glue Dots®Advanced Strength adhesive.

Here's what you need:

• Glue Dots® Advanced Strength Dispenser or All Purpose Glue Dots
  
• Glue Dots® Repositionable Dispenser (optional)
• 4” Rose Pot
• Decorative Garden Stones (yellow for the bee, pink and white for the flowers)
• White, Black, Red and Green Craft Paint
• Paint Brushes
• Contact Paper for Stencil
• Transfer Tape
• Silhouette Cutter, Mat

Here's what you do:

1. Paint the top band of both pots white.
2. While the paint is drying, use the Repositionable Dispenser to hold 4 yellow stones to a piece of scrap cardboard. Paint several thin black stripes on each stone to create the bees.
3. While that’s drying cut your stencils using your Silhouette Cutter. I set up a two piece stencil for each pot. The bee pot says “Bee My Valentine [heart]” on both sides and the flower pot says “I Pick You To Be” on one side and “[heart] My Valentine [heart]”on the other. Making a two piece stencil allows you to use the regular 12" x 12" mat and smaller stencils are easier to manipulate.
4. Paint the grass near the bottom of each pot. I used high gloss paint and randomly dragged the brush down the pot to make irregular grass patterns. Make 4 evenly placed ‘stems’ with the green paint on the ‘flower’ pot as well.
5. On the ‘bee’ pot paint 4 white sets of wings. Check them against the stones you’ve turning into bees, I had to double the size of my original wings! Paint antennae using high gloss black, make a small dot and drag the brush toward the wings, where you’ll place the body of the bee. Using the same black paint, add in the bee trails; I turned one into a heart and the others were meandering swirls.
6. Use the transfer tape to apply the stencils to the pots. Fill in the lettering with black and the hearts with red.
7. Use the Advanced Strength dispenser to apply the stones. The flowers look the best if you start with the center stone, add the top petal and then fill in around with the others.
8. You can fill the pots with Valentine’s Day candy for your sweetheart or slip in a potted plant for someone special.

I loved using the Advanced Strength dispenser for this project because they’re so STRONG! My husband asked me how well the stones were stuck and I surprised him by holding up the whole pot by one ‘bumble bee’. I like using the dispenser because cleanup is even easier than with the regular Glue Dots, and by that I mean there isn't any. You just pop the top off, roll out a few dots, put the top back on and go about your day. The fact that I don’t need to wait for my glue gun to heat up, and then watch it like a hawk in case one of the cats decides to throw it on the floor for my toddler to grab, is a major plus.

~Alecia

P.S. Repositionable and Advanced Strength dispensers are available at: