DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Fourth of July Party Pot

contributed by Leanne Guenther

This 4" terra cotta pot can be used to hold napkins and utensils at a Fourth of July or Memorial Day barbeque.

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 stars on the top edge are from the printable template so you won't be forced to try to paint on perfect star shapes!

Just thought I would share a picture of the memorial day project my son, Alex, age 5 did from one of the ideas you suggested.  It was a big hit at the picnic.  I made a chef's apron and matching napkins to add to the painted flower pot.  Thanks again for the great ideas!!  You guys are the best!

Susan and Alex

Materials:

• terra cotta pot - size doesn't matter.  We used 4 1/4" pots when we made ours.  They're the perfect size for napkins or plastic utensils.  Alex's photo looks a bit bigger...  An 8" pot maybe.
• 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 stars.  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, white and blue paint. 
  • 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, up to the rim.
• Paint the rim of the pot blue.
• Paint the pot holder bottom blue if you choose to buy one.
• Set the pot aside to dry (it takes about an hour).
• Print out the template of stars.
• Cut out the template pieces.  It took me about 7 stars for my 4 inch pot, though you could space them closer.  There are extra stars on the template.  You can use them to decorate additional pots or just discard them.
• When the pot is dry, add a second coat of white/blue as necessary.  Let dry again.
• When the pot is dry and you're happy with the coverage of the white and blue, glue or mod podge the stars around the rim of the pot (the blue).
• Paint a couple of red stripes around the pot.  I tried to tape the lines with the same kind of masking tape you use for painting walls, but the pot is tapered so it doesn't work very well.  We ended up just doing it by hand.
• 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, though you may want to skip the red stripes.
• Glue a couple of stars onto the body of the pot instead of onto the rim.
• Put some red, white or blue playdough or plasticine 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).

Stars Template

Print friendly version of these instructions