Little Figures Made from Flowerpots for Every Season

You can craft really cute figures for your home and garden from clay pots of various sizes. Whether they're animals, gnomes, or flower girls – the material and shape of the pots offer plenty of room for creative ideas.

You can implement numerous design ideas with clay pots for every season, allowing the garden to be decorated in a varied way according to the season with the "Terracotta Gang." In spring, for example, figures where lushly growing plants overflow from the top flowerpot are suitable. Thanks to the wide range of potted plants, the "hairdo" of such flower figures can be created in a fun and varied way. Suitable plants for this include sugarloaf spruce (Picea glauca), shamrock (Oxalis tetraphylla), ivy (Hedera helix), heather (Calluna vulgaris), cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum), or even flaming Katy (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana). Various grasses and all bushy, low-blooming potted plants are also suitable here. In autumn, harvest helpers, flower girls, or figures with heads made of ornamental gourds (Cucurbita pepo) can be created from flowerpots.

Here are the materials you'll need:

- 1 x red-blooming bud heather (Calluna vulgaris) in a 10 cm pot
- 2 x red or pink-blooming mini cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) in a 6 to 10.5 cm diameter pot
- Potting soil
- 1 x bell-shaped clay pot with a 13 cm diameter (for the head)
- 1 x clay pot with a 15 cm diameter (for the torso)
- 6 x clay pots with a 6 cm diameter (for the arms)
- 1 x clay pot with a 20 cm diameter (for the lower body)
- 2 x rose pots with an 11 cm diameter (for the cyclamen)
- Acrylic paints or fiber-tip markers in white, black, red
- Semi-matte, weather-resistant clear varnish
- Fabric scraps, e.g., jute, linen, or patchwork
- Plant bast (alternatively, thin hemp or coconut rope)
- Possibly fabric ribbons and buttons, as well as googly eyes
- Fabric and paper scissors
- Paintbrush
- Strong adhesive or hot glue, or adhesive putty
- Newspaper (to cover the work surface)
- Writing paper and pen

Take the plant bast multiple times. The strand, however, must still fit through the drainage holes of the flowerpots. Tie a knot in the middle and insert it from the inside through the drainage hole of the pot for the torso. Thread three small pots for the arms onto each of the two strands of bast and tie a knot at the end again. The ends of the plant bast should stick out a bit from the bottommost pot and fray slightly. Glue the two inverted pots for the torso and lower body on top of each other. Attach the bell-shaped pot for the head, with the large opening facing upwards, onto the torso.

To dress the flower girl, cut out a bib apron from the fabric scraps. First, draw a pattern on a piece of paper. Put the apron on the flower girl, glue it a little at the hip, and tie a nice apron bow at the back or front. Then, draw the face with the pens or acrylic paint, or glue on the googly eyes. After drying, brush over the colored areas with the semi-matte clear varnish.

"Finally, attach the two rose pots to the left and right of the skirt with the adhesive putty. These can be used like cachepots.

Plant the heather in the head with a little potting soil. While the bud heather forms the hair of "Red Heidi," the mini cyclamen go into the rose pots attached to the skirt. A beautiful, individual decorative element is now complete."