This 4" terra cotta pot can be used to hold napkins and utensils at a Canada day party.

You can also make smaller pots as name holders or fill with treats for guests to take home.

At the end of the day, you can continue enjoying this pot by using it for a plant.

The maple leaves are from the printable template so you won't be forced to try to hand paint on perfect shapes!

Materials:

• terra cotta pot -- we used a 4 1/4" inch pot as it was the perfect size for holding napkins and plastic utensils.
• Optional:  terra cotta pot bottom (another 89 cents...  Though you don't really need it if you're just making the pot to hold utensils and such).
• Printer, paper and scissors.
• white glue or mod podge
  • white glue works just fine for affixing the maple leaves.  But mod podge is water resistant (though not water proof), white glue isn't.
  • Having said that, it's also very smelly...  I can just feel the brain cells popping when I use mod podge.  If doing this project with younger kids, just stick with white glue.
  • A parent can always go back in the evening when the kids are asleep and coat the whole project with a coat spray varnish.  My girls are convinced there's a spray varnish fairy out there covering special craft projects with magic varnish in the middle of the night.  They're always so excited to see if their latest project was special enough to warrant the spray varnish fairy's finishing touch.
• red and white paint.   (if you used white only, it wouldn't be the end of the world)
  • acrylic paint is the best choice if you want this project to last forever.  But, if you get it on your clothes, the paint lasts forever there too!
  • tempra paint works just fine, but it isn't water proof.
  • The spray varnish trick works over tempra paint!  Make sure you coat the inside of the pot as well as the outside.
  • WHAT I DO:  I "bulk paint" terra cotta pots white or light grey.  I often do this when we're painting the house or the fence...  I just use the same paint or stain I use for the house and fence.  I paint about 20 of them, stick them in the spare room and pull them out as needed.  The white/light grey are easier to cover with tempra paint than the terra cotta color.  When a project is finished, the spray varnish fairy comes along to seal in the outside.

Instructions:

• Paint the pot white.
• Paint the rim of the pot red
• Paint the pot holder bottom red if you choose to buy one.
• Set the pot aside to dry (it takes about an hour).
• Print out the template of maple leaves.
• Cut out the template pieces.  You won't need them all for one pot, but I gave extras.
• When the pot is dry, add a second coat of paint as necessary.  Let dry again.
• When the pot is dry and you're happy with the coverage of the red and white, glue or mod podge the maple leaves around the pot in whatever pattern desired.
  • The red ink from the maple leaf will come off if you scrub the mod podge (don't paint over and over and over with the wet mod podge).  Just dab it on with the paint brush and let it dry.
• Fill the pot with utensils and napkins or with treats for your guests.
• Optional:  After the party, put a plant in it.

Alternative - name tags:

• use 2 inch pots instead of 4"
• Paint as described above.
• Glue a couple of maple leaves onto the pot.
• Put some red or white playdough into the pot
• Write out a card with each person's name and glue it to the end of a popsicle stick.
• stick it into the playdough

Templates:

• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Template   (color)   or   (B&W)

Print friendly version of these instructions