Sunday, July 25, 2010

Tin Can Flower Pot


Ivy in Tin Can.36/100 in 100 creative challenge

I'm spreading my wings here. Telling myself that being creative means more than just painting or drawing or writing.

See. I know that is true. Creativity is a natural state for humans and it is a way of living, not just making pictures. But I have this thing about me that likes to say I am not doing things well enough to count.

So if I take this tiny ivy that I bought, deciding it was time to have an ivy plant again, considering I have a sprout of an Ivy running around my house growing like mad, and find a creative vessel
(not waiting anymore for a "proper" flower pot) and pot it and tend it... well then, that is part of my creative project.

So here's what I need to put together my DIY ivy in a tin can pot.
A hot day, a lawn and a sprinkler. To occupy the half wild kids while I get dirty, in order to not get the house even dirtier.
A tin can of good size.

This I believe was a can of crushed tomatoes. You know what would have been cool? One of those imported tomato cans with the pretty design painted right onto the tin. Then your flower pot would be decorated already. Maybe I'll be on the look out at the grocery store, although I kind of like the metal look and texture.Something to poke water holes in the bottom of the can. I used a hammer and a large nail. I suppose you could use a drill, but I'm pretty low tech, so I used a hammer and a nail. Pound pound pound.
Plant.
This, a 2$ ivy. Ivies are pretty hardy. I used to have an ivy that I grew for years, from a little plant like this. I got it on my first day of college. I don't know where it went. But perhaps I'll start a new one.

Dirt. Rocks. Pottery shard.

I don't have a picture of this. Put shards or rocks in the bottom of the pot to help drain water. Cover with soil. Take your plant out of the old pot. Loosen up the root ball if it is too tight (just dig your fingers in and pull the little roots apart, it won't hurt it.) Put the root ball in the soil so that the plant sits an inch or so below the rim of the pot. Fill the rest of the space with more soil. Gently tamp down.

Water thoroughly.

Fluff plant, brush off dirt.
Enjoy.

I feel a little silly posting about how to repot a plant. It's pretty simple. And I'm not an expert by far. But you know, everyone knows a little something that they can share with other people. And sometimes it's the basic stuff that you need to know.

Have you ever googled how to boil an egg? Apparently there is quite a lively discussion about it and there are many ways to do it.

Anyway, I think this silvery pot would look nice set in amongst some more traditional ones. A nice little surprise of shine.

Now I just have to build up my potted plant collection.

Think about some seemingly simple things that you know how to do. Do you count them as something important? Do you count them as creative?

2 comments:

Three Owls said...

love the kids in the sprinkler... distracting wild children is very essential in almost all creative pursuits...

The Creative Bohemian said...

I love that you recycled at the same time as getting your creative on.

Kudos,
Diane

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