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South Carolina, United States
Vetsy is my nickname that my family have fondly called me since my childhood. My blog reflects my personal views about the world around me. My topics may be anything that interest me but the majority of it is about my favorite past times...nature and gardening. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment or becoming a follower.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

DIY GARDEN HEAD PROJECT


Photo credit: Stone Face Creations

I was browsing the internet last year looking for garden inspiration and came across a photo of these fabulous garden stone planters .   Wowed by them, I had to find out where to get one, and if I couldn't find one how could I replicate one?   I posted that question on a site I joined last year called hometalk.com it's a website where home owners, crafters, designers and others share DIY projects. I got quite a few helpful responses.

A home improvement guy suggested  a MAKE YOUR OWN STONE FACE KIT. 
 I liked the faces but, didn’t care for the kit.  From the other contributors I learned that I could purchase these fabulous planters online and locally in my area…However, these beauties are currently, out my budget…“Sigh” what was I to do, I couldn’t get them out of my mind!





To my delight!... Another blogger came to  the rescue!.... Jessica Cramer of Designer Sweet Spot.com  had done a similar post on this subject matter and created her own unique garden stone head planter using a foam head … Thanks to her, I now have one too!  

Miss Betty Bling,  Meet Miss April Rose........


Photo Credit: Miss Jessica Cramer of Designers Sweet Spot
Photo Credit: Vetsy of Vetsy's View
                                                          

            


 













For instructions on how to create your own Miss Betty Bling

For instructions on how to create your own.. Miss April Rose,  read the following pages below: 




Supplies:  Paint brush for applying  the Megikote foam primer, Rustoleum  American Accent Spray,  Krylon Crystal Clear Satin Spray, floral foam knife or any cutting tool that you can use safely to hollow the head.   I swopped out the

 ( Krylon Make it Stone Metallic spray)  that Jessica used for the Rustoleum American Accent Stone Spray…because I wanted my foam planter to have more texture. 

 











  
  
The first Step: is to apply the Megikote Primer,  than let it dry...One can speed up the time by placing the head next to a fan.... The instructions on the bottle warns Not to use a blow dryer!



 The fan method worked great.... It was dry in less than 30 minutes or so.....I than sprayed it with the Rustoleum American Accent Stone spray.... Ooops!  I stood to close to her head when I sprayed her and got bumpy results....

   
Below:  I had to stand at least 2 feet or more to get the right results... I didn't follow directions.. I sprayed her a second time and got better results...When she was dry I applied the  KRYLON CRYSTAL CLEARSATIN SPRAY




NOTE:  leave the top of her head unpainted, Jessica drew a 6'' circle on top with a compass, you can also use a 6'' flower pot.. see photo below.. this is done to make it  easier to remove and excavate  later.



Below: I used a marker and a   6.3'' flower pot to trace and mark the cavity.














I could not find a floral foam knife any where! None of my craft stores had any..So I resorted to using a   Wall Board Saw..... BAD IDEA!  This tools works better on what it's designed for... A Wall!





            I  found a couple of blades and alternated between the two...They worked a lot better..






I kept scraping my way through using straight and circular motions.... TAKE YOUR TIME, MOVE SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY WITH THIS STEP!!  to avoid injuries!

Since the neck of the head already has a hole in it.... all i needed to do was to poke the foam out from the inside...



Below: I decided to use a potato bag in place of a flower pot  because I could not get a pot to sit in the head correctly... I could have chosen to place dirt and plants inside of the cavity.... but I wanted a quicker option to swop a plant out if I wanted to change it...





And... Wah-la!   Miss April Rose is complete.... Almost.. 

I'm indecisive about my plant choice. I love the color and form of  Purslane...
 ( It's related to the Moss Rose)  but read that I'll have to watch out for the seeds during the end of the summer or they'll spread like weeds... I can maintain it by cutting them back or taking care to remove the seeds.... But for now they adorn her head.... 


I just Love her! Thank you Miss Cramer and thank you visitors for stopping by and leaving a comment. If you should decide to make these garden planters,  please stop by and link your project, I would love to see what You.... have created!    Thanks!


  Photo: of Miss April Rose by Vetsy of Vetsy's View

                                  





                


  

39 comments:

  1. This is such a fun idea!! I am so happy that you found a version that is affordable and easy to create. Bravo!

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  2. Thanks Shelly, affordable and fun is right down my line!

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  3. Oh wow! How creative!! That head looks expensive hehe... I love the effect. In fact I love those head planters and have always wanted to them in my garden. I am going to look out for things you have used here. If they are available here, then I can make one as well :-) Thanks for sharing and have the greatest weekend!

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  4. Thanks Steph I hope you have some there because I would love to see what you create. I know it would be cute!

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  5. Love the faces, too. Yours turned out great. Do you have a Tuesday Morning in your area? They have the face planters once in a while. That's where I bought mine. I bought my first one at Hobby Lobby, but it got broken. You might try the Tuesday Morning Web site, too. Miss April Rose looks so content. And l love your bird photos. Jealous of the red cardinal. We do not have them in Colorado. We have bird feeders and this time of year the migrating birds pass through. Yesterday we had a pair of male lazuli buntings, but they didn't stick around long enough for me to grab the camera.

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  6. Thanks Ann.... Yes I have a Tuesday Morning and there's a place called the Urban Planter that sales the exact planters I mention. Perhaps one day there will be room in my budget for one. I'll have to check out Tuesday Morning too..

    Thanks for sharing that info..

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  7. Very creative and cool! I like that you can change her 'hair' as you please. :o)

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  8. Thanks Casa.... I hope I have a lot of fun with this new experiment. I plan to make one more..

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  9. I love it. Can't wait to see to see in a month or two. Did you use Moss Rose?

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  10. Thank you.... I read that it is related to the Moss Rose, it's called Purslane and can be invasive... I'm currently doing some research on it..I may have to switch it out.. But is sooo pretty I really don't want to.

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  11. great idea and it looks pretty cool too!

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  12. Wow, this is so cool. I really want to give this a try!

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  13. Brandi Kathy from hometalk is contemplating making this head planter and placing it on a tree stump. I think that would be something you might want to try too I bet it would be faaabulous!

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  14. This is great! I absolutely love it...i must give this a try..

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  15. Too cool! I love the modern vibe from these planters. A minimalistic way to display your plants with a big impact!




    Garden Designer Norwich & Timber Decking Norwich

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  16. I agree Mark,,,, Thanks for stopping by....... Sorry I'm late with the reply...

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  17. I love this mostly because you showed every step, successful and not quite so successful!!

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    1. Thanks So much. I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Sorry I'm late with the replay.

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  18. Where do you find the foam heads.....I love this idea and would like to try it myself.

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    1. Crafts stores, and beauty supply stores. Sorry I'm late with the reply.

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  19. Are they pretty durable outside? I really want to make a head pot, but I want it to last a long time

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    1. Yes, but I've found I have to re-apply the spray paint coating that I used. Sun and rain did peel the coating somewhat.

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  20. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to find this. I've been looking EVERYWHERE for something like this since I saw the same photograph that inspired your project. Looks like this is a couple of years old, but I can't WAIT to try it. Thank you so much!

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    1. Thank you very much. I'm sorry I'm late with these comments, I haven't been here for a while.

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  21. Thank you so-o-o much for these great instructions! I LOVE head planters and will be trying this as soon as our wintry weather takes a turn for the better.

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    1. Sorry I'm late with the reply. Thank you for stopping by and thanks for the compliment.

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  22. hi there..i made 1 also but i used a drill hole bit that makes a hole for your door handle.drilled into head still messes job then sealed polystyrene.. layered with pond liner/waterproofed added pot and plant...my lady was a black velvet head added crazy grass looks like a bad perm she looks great.....cheers

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    1. Layering the head planter with pond liner is a great tip! I have to try that in the future.

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  23. if you cut the polystyrene head in half scoop out middle then use this as a mold to make concrete ones then concrete plaster bits together....or use molding clay layer over head and cut that in half for a mold to make more....

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    1. Vicki thank you for stopping by my post and thank you for sharing your tips and your unique head planter. I will give more info on this tomorrow and share these with my blogger friends.

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  24. Thanks for the info, im excited to make a couple myself and inspired

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  25. Thanks for the info, im excited to make a couple myself and inspired

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  26. That's nice. But I need to know how to make a concrete head from a form. Anyone can help?

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  27. hi there use the foam head as a mold and get from craft shop the mix- paint it over once dry - i think you need a few layers - you have a mold to make as many as you like but rember molds are silicone so be careful not to heavy a concrete mix -maybe line the mold with glad wrap then pour concrete...

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  28. She looks great - what do you have her sitting on -looks like black wrought iron but what size? Thank you!

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  29. this looks cool and easy to follow ... i'll gather my materials this weekend.

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