Teacher Appreciation Gifts

I have wanted to paint with chalkboard paint for quite some time.  I finally found a project that I thought might work.  The boys and I made chalkboard flower pots for their teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week coming up.

I saw this craft in Real Simple magazine last year and kept it in the back of my mind.  These were a lot of fun to make with Thomas & Brennan.

What you need:

Terra Cotta pots

Spray Sealant

Acrylic paints

Chalkboard paint

1 1/2 inch foam brushes

Plants

Chalk

I started by spray sealing the pots outside.  I am not sure this is necessary, but I would think that it couldn't hurt.  I used a sealant that can be used on any surface and sprayed them well.

Then I started painting the saucers and rims of the pots different colors.

On the first one I thought it would be a good idea to use painters tape, but it turns out it wasn't necessary.  The 1 1/2 inch brush is the same width as the rim of the 6" flower pot that I chose.

I ended up doing a couple of coats of paint on each flower pot rim and saucer.  The blue and green went on thicker than the yellow so the yellow took about 3 coats.  It dries so fast, it's a pretty quick project, even with the drying time added in.

My snack-eating helpers.

Then it was time for the chalkboard paint.  I had never used it so wasn't convinced it was going to work.  However, it worked really, really well.  Two coats and I was done.

And it worked beautifully!  I painted the chalkboard paint right before bed.  Turns out drying time is less than an hour between coats.  It was super fast.  The boys were excited to see the finished project the next morning.

And, the finished project....

We'll write a note on the pots before we take them to their teachers next week and we wrapped up a few pieces of chalk to give to them as well.  I think they turned out really cute. 

The cost per pot is about $3, plus the cost of the plant.  Total was about $6/gift and I have plenty of chalk, chalkboard paint, and acrylic paint leftover.

Now I'm trying to think what else I can chalkboard paint!