DIY a Fake Stone Planter from Styrofoam Box

          

This is a repost of a popular project which has been requested over on 

Facebook's Garden Art Junk group.

 

Here's what I do with those holiday ham styrofoam boxes 

I don't want to pitch into the landfill.

RECYCLE!

I make "stone" planters for my succulent pots!

Here's how....

and please note, this is best done OUTSIDE.

This part is messy!

Using a serrated steak knife, I cut the top edge down to make the box the size I wanted.

Then I scored all the sides with a wire brush.

I made stone shape grooves with a butter knife. You can cut as deep 

or as shallow as you wish to get the look you like.

Next, I brushed a some grey, white and black acrylic craft

 paint over the whole box.

Very sparingly, spray black spray paint at some of your stone joints. 

The paint will melt the foam and give it some very rocky texture. 

Don't over do it, you can always add more texture.

 Go slow and look at the results from all angles.

Now with a brush or a paint rag or a sponge of what have you,

 start layering on acrylic craft paint in rock and moss colors.

 I used black, charcoal grey, brown, several greens and even a bit of dark blue.

I do not plant my succulents directly in the styrofoam box. 

I keep them in their own pots so I can change them out as I wish.

 But I have to say, the sedum in this fake stone box look wonderful!

DIY "Rock" Planters from Styrofoam Boxes

What to do with those 

styro foam boxes

 you get with Christmas goodies inside?

Here's a great solution and it's easy to do.

Make faux rock planters out of them.

Yup!

Here's one finished planter with a succulent that's loving it's new home. 

This planter is a few months old so you can see I have to touch up a few spots 

but really, it looks like an old stone planter covered with moss!!

This was a box for our Christmas ham. I trimmed it down then roughed up the sides 

with a wire brush. Then I scored rough rock shapes into the foam.

I took my regular acrylic craft paints in rock and moss colors and started layering

 and layering until it looked authentic. 

I used spray paint sparingly at some of the joints and I loved

 the cool rocky texture it made.

So now I tried some more light sprays of paint in little areas and loved it even more!

This is definitely a stony, rocky look right there.

Then I layered on more acrylic paint to blend the colors and cover up 

any white foam showing through.

I'm in love with this project!

I already had a pot of mixed sedum on my deck so I

popped it into the new planter.

Oooh aaaaah!

Make a Grungy Primitive Pumpkin for Halloween

 I make almost all the accessories for my Halloween witch dolls and their pumpkins are no exception. I cannot find exactly the right primitive looking Jack o' Lanterns for my projects so I make them. 

Say what?

Yup, this grungy little guy is handmade. All it takes is a styrofoam ball, tissue paper, mod podge or white glue, craft paint and a stick for the stem. Here is how!

Start with a round styro ball. Smoosh it down with slow, even pressure to make slight flat spots on top and bottom. Then use the tip of a skewer or skinny paint brush to score in some seams.

Use the tip of a craft knife, x acto blade or even a steak knife to cut the eyes, nose and mouth holes.

Coat the whole ball with mod podge or white glue. Stick it on a skewer or the handle of a paint brush for the next part.

Tear your tissue paper in small pieces, less than 1" square. While the pumpkin is still wet lay the paper pieces carefully over the whole ball, using a soft skinny paint brush to gently coax it into all the crevices. This smooths out the surface so your pumpkins looks pumpkiny and not styrofoamy. 

;o)

After the tissue layer is dry paint your pumpkin with bright orange craft paint.

 Once the first layer of paint is dry, go over all your crevices and holes with a q tip dipped in brown paint. Get it in there and don't worry about being neat about it because the next thing you are going to do is use a clean q tip to remove the excess brown paint. The brown paint in all the crevices will make your carving details POP.

Poke a hole in the top and hot glue a short stick in for a stem.

Next, use another q tip with black paint and get it deep into your carved face crevices. See how delightfully prim and creepy this makes your pumpkin look? 

I hot glued a tiny silk leaf to the stem and put him in a miniature basket. I LOVE it!

You can make this prim pumpkin out of bigger styrofoam balls, too. Next I will try to make some primitive grungy skulls out of egg shaped styrofoam. That should be fun!

 This would be a fun craft for kids with proper supervision. The  neat thing about primitive pumpkins is that they never have to look perfect. Have fun with it!

Making a Grungy Prim Pumpkin from a Styrofoam Ball

I sold one of my primitive witch dolls on Etsy and found, when I went to pack her up, that she was missing a prim pumpkin in her basket. Vanished! I make almost all the accessories for my witch and Santa dolls so I just decided to  make another one... and for once took enough photos to capture the process. 

Yup, he's not a cute and pretty Jack like you see everywhere at Halloween. My pumpkins have character!

So here we go.....

I have a stash of styrofoam balls and grabbed one in the right size. This process will work for any size foam ball. I flattened the top and bottom with a saucer to make it less round and more pumpkiny. Then I scored it with a small paint brush handle.

Using my clay tools I carved out a face. You can also use the tip of a steak knife, an X-acto blade or anything that will give you the holes you want. Crumpled up tissue torn into small pieces will cover the curves of the ball and Mod Podge sticks it on. Use a soft paintbrush and just smooth the tissue on gently. This takes the styrofoam look away from the ball and makes it look more pumpkiny and gourdy. You know what I mean!

 Here I've used pumpkin orange and red to paint the whole pumpkin. You can let this dry naturally or, if you want a bit of warty skin texture, use your heat gun to dry the paint. Hold the heat close to the pumpkin surface and you will get a bubbly, bumpy effect in no time! Go slowly and steadily so the warts form but your styrofoam ball does not melt. Soon your paint will be dry and textured.

Next, add a bit of burnt umber paint to your pumpkin then blot it off with a rag while it is still wet. Use a damp q-tip to clean up the details. If you take off too much just put more paint on and blot, q-tip it again until you get the contrast you want.

                             

I wanted my Jack to have some grungy teeth and I used the tip of a butter knife to press them into the mouth seam. Then I added black paint deep inside the eyes and nose holes and along the mouth. Use a damp q-tip again to clean up your details but not too much. Don't worry, you can keep adding and taking away paint until you get just the right grungy prim look you are happy with!

I have a jar o' twigs in my stash and found one just for this guy. What, you don't have twigs in your stash? A stick from the yard will do or even a small  cinnamon stick. I added two silk leaves (which I grunged with a little burnt umber paint since they were too bright) and a bit of curly rusty wire to my Jack and voila!

My prim Jack looks happy in his new home and tomorrow he'll be travelling with his witchy mistress to a far city.

This process works for any size styrofoam ball and you don't have to carve them like jack o' lanterns at all. You can make some grungy primitive pumpkins for your Halloween and Thanksgiving decor. I guarantee no one will have pumpkins just like yours!

Silver Button Blingy Decor Ball

Here was the little display I set up on a kitchen end counter and I mostly like it. 

But it needed a kick to maybe draw the eye and make your brain go wow, you know?

The  silver ball in the milk glass urn just needed a little something. 

It looked too much like an oversize plastic Christmas ball, which is exactly what it is. 

You know when you go to someone's house and you see a decor item that just draws you

 and you want to pick it up and handle it and  say,

 "What is it? This is so cool!" 

 That's what I was shooting for.

In my craft room I always have a  store of silverish buttons.

                            The ball was very slick and so were the buttons, so I roughed up the ball                                       with  some sandpaper to give the surface some tooth for the hot glue to grip.

                         I snipped the hasp thingies off the back of the buttons with my wire cutters.

So then it was me and the buttons and the ball and my glue gun.

 I threw in a few silvery stars and snowflakes and some beads......

The hubs poked his head in and said it looked steampunky. Is that a word? I agree. 

 It does look kind of steampunkish.

And a couple hours later and shot with a heat gun to remove the  glue webs and I have this.....

It looks good no matter where I put it!!

 Yeah. That's the place. I love the way this came out! 

 Don't you want to pick it up and turn it over and check it out? So do I! ; 0 )