100 dollars? For a flower-pot with shells glued to it?
Are they kidding?
Love this shell pot at Wisteria, (ignore the flash)
But seriously? 100 bucks???? We have tubs (plural – tubSSSSSS) of shells in the garage.
Let’s see if I can make a pot like that for a fraction of that price.
The home improvement stores sell terra-cotta pots for pennies.
Literally, pennies, 125 of them.
I got a 6 inch azalea pot for a buck and a quarter. – Third from the right, bottom row – Yeah the Wisteria pot was slightly taller, but I’m working with what I got here.
Also sorted through some of those tubSSSSSS and pulled out these beauties. Mostly white-ish, and nicely sun-bleached.
So that establishes my color story.
I want my shells to really stick to the terracotta, so I use Gorilla Glue White.
It’s a little bit runny, but sticks like MAD when it’s dries.
I glued a row of scallop shells along the top to hide the lip of the terra-cotta pot.
I lay them along the top overlapping just slightly.
The glue starts out runny but it dries pretty solid. No worries, because my spackle will cover all the drips.
Here’s my finished top edge.
Pretty good start, right?
After I glued them on I used a piece of blue painters tape to hold them in place till they dried.
Here’s the row of scallops that I applied to the bottom.
Then I just keep adding more shells to fill in the middle of my pot….sort of in a pattern,
……but not really.
After the glue dries completely, I peel off the blue painters tape and find this…..
Looks pretty good. Don’t it?
Just wait…..it’s guna get a whole lot better.
Premixed grout comes in a rainbow of colors. Bright White seemed a little too Bright. So I went with Alabaster.
I filled the corner of a Zip-Loc bag and gave it a small twist to hold it all in. Then I snip off the corner to make a pastry bag for “piping on” my grout.
Trust me, it’s a brilliant idea.
I “pipe” the grout on between all the shells…..and on any exposed terracotta surface.
It will look a little messy. Just be sure to immediately use a damp sponge to smooth out the grout and wipe the excess off the shells.
Be sure the shells are showing.
Let the pot dry for about 24 hours,
……..then put a plant in it.
And enjoy.
Think my shell flower-pot cost about 8 bucks. Not bad.
Plenty of grout left over to make a dozen more.
And the hardest part of the whole project?
……Waiting for the glue to dry.
THE CAVENDER DIARY 
And as Miss. Piggy once said to Martha Stewart, “Sure– after a b-zillion MAN-HOURS later!”
Stop using my heros against me………
Now .. You KNOW… Some sweet little dlave child in the Phillipines or India works her fingers to the bone making these. … And you gonna put her outta bidnrz!
* slave child
I think yours looks much better than theirs…really. But I would have liked a taller pot. I would think you’d find something useful at a yard sale and man, if I had tubSSS of shells, I’d go to work making Christmas presents! I love your blog.
Thanks Linda. I thought the same thing. The next pot will be a thrift store find…guess the possibilities are pretty endless……
Beautiful….and way more better than the one from Wisteria. 🙂
We thought it was Way More Better too, Tina….hehehe
Wow, great job, I definitely want to try this. I have everything but the grout.
Give it a try, Jan…I’d love to see how yours comes out!
Prototype is great but go bigger next time
Trust us! The next one will be huge!
I like yours better – I think it’s because you used all white shells – it’s more subtle. I couldn’t imagine spending $100 on a flower pot – that’s a bit nutty.
I like the tonal white better too……and 100$ is just cray-cray!
Love this! I like the all white much better
I think yours looks better.
Aawwww shucks, Doris…(looks down and kicks dirt)……thanks,
Looks fabulous! Works great with broken tiles or dishes too. We made so many with our kindergartners. Of course, I did the grout. The shells look great too on little jewelry boxes for your friends. Love, love, love your blog!
Aww Tracie….I do have soem broken Fiesta pieces…HHMMMM…..Jewelry boxes sounds like a great idea too…..We’re they called “Sailor’s Valentines”?
So glad that you found our little blog…we do our best.
Clever use of sweet memories. Something to do with the grandkids when they get old enough. And for sure yours is better than theirs. 😉
Not a contest, making it your own is the point…..
Oh stop it! That’s freaking awesome! I agree with other commenters, go bigger next time. Make a crap ton of them. 🙂
LOL….”A CRAP TON”!!!!
Could be cool gifts…..with cacti, maybe…….Just might do it now, stay tuned
Wisteria is having a big sale right now. Maybe your pot is on sale. Your pot looks wonderful by the way but I was just thinking about your time having to wait for the glue to dry. Also try E6000 glue. Great job!! You’re so creative!
E6000? Never heard of it…headed to Google right now, thanks for the tip 😉
Nice work….I have noticed that you do nice work massing materials ( I still can’t get your Christmas antigue ornament wreath out of my head).
Question….I want to do a wall in wood, but I don’t want to finish pallet boards because of chemicals that may be in them. Have you done anything like that? I want my 12 year old sone to pin on to it without worry of damage….so something that could take abuse….Just thought you might be the ones to ask….
Thanks
Laura
From Lake Michigan
Hi Laura.
Yeah, I tend to like “A whole lot of one thing grouped together” just look at any of my wreaths. That 4 foot ornament wreath is a prime example.
We’ve actually done a few wood walls in our house…the wall behind the master bed is just pine slats…https://thecavenderdiary.com/2012/02/05/wood-wall-completed/ it was super easy to make, but maybe not so easy to pin into.
We did line our garage walls with cedar, https://thecavenderdiary.com/2012/08/16/cedar-planking-the-garage/, cedar is super soft, and easy to pin into …but may be a bit “splintery” on little hands,
Maybe…..It would be cool to do just a small section of wall for his artwork with 12X12 cork tiles, like these…..http://www.wayfairsupply.com/Dooley-Boards-Inc-12-x-12-Cork-Tile-Board-1212-COTL4-L6391-K~DOOL1005.html?refid=XT411-DOOL1005
Just brad them to the wall with a nail gun, or glue….
Hope this helps inspire you, let me know.
We’d love to see what you come up with ……
Wow…your pot turned out absolutely GORGEOUS. That $100 pot has NOTHING on your $8 pot. You could make a killing on ebay or Etsy!
Thanks. We were thinking about doing a handful of them to fill with succulents on the back patio…..
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