I did the lacy terracotta succulent pots project

For Mother's Day I had to come up with something inexpensive yet totally lovely to give to all the mothers in my life. Since I really love plants and things that grow, I was looking to do something in that vein, but I also wanted something kind of artsy/crafty since I don't go to work anymore and have some mental capacity to do creative things. I did a google search for "DIY Mother's Day" and decided to go with the succulent garden in terracotta pots with lace. That project just looked stunning!

Since trying to head towards the 'zero waste' road, I decided to hit up some thrift stores to find the materials, to see if I could reuse some stuff before buying new. I found plenty of lacy things to deconstruct into the lace ribbons I would need, but terracotta pots were in short supply. I only found two pots after checking three stores! So I had to go to a garden center to get the remainder of the needed pots.

So, after cutting up the lace into usable portions, I went to work gluing the pieces to the pots. they definitely did not go on totally smooth, I did some cutting and overlapping of the fabric to get it to lay as flat as possible against the pots. In the end, they came out quite nicely. I think the recipients of the gifts were pleased. I decided to keep a couple for myself :)

My Process:

1. If using a lacy material, cut the lace into decorative strips.
2. Lay out the design on the pot and cut the strips of lace to the right length so it will go around the pot.
3. Since terracotta pots are narrower at the base than the top, you'll probably need to make some slits in the lace from the bottom to get the lace to lay flat. It's ok for the fabric to overlap!
4. Apply the glue (in my case, modge podge) to the pot with a brush then attach the lace. In some cases, I would glue the top portion of the lace first, then work on the bottom part a few hours later. Then paint some glue on top of the edges lace to really seal it to the pot.
5. After the glue is all dry, check for any areas that might need more glue and repeat step 4 to those areas.

I did a total of three glueing sessions until I was happy with the way the lace was attached to the pots. One really important thing with this project is to not strive for perfection or you will go crazy. You will have lace that overlaps, or is not fully attached to the pots, or is a little bulgy, and that's fine! It gives your creations some character. I can't say I'd ever want to sell these in my etsy store or anything, but as gifts they are great. I think they are just lovely. Something about the lace, terracotta, succulent combo is just gorgeous to me.