We had T’s baptism and baptism party last weekend and I wanted to give everyone a small favor to thank them for coming.  While planning our wedding, I remember seeing people giving small pots of flowers for wedding or bridal shower favors.  I decided (with my mom’s help) to replicate this for for the baptism.

Materials:
-terra cotta pots
-small flowers
-primer
-metallic paint
-extra soil
-wooden skewers (cut in half)
-colorful paper (to print flags on)
-ribbon to tie around flower pots (optional)

My mom, T, and I headed to a gardening store and picked up some small terra cotta pots.  We also picked up some small perennials already planted in plastic containers.  We scrubbed the labels off the pots and soaked them in water to allow the air pockets in the terra cotta to saturate.  Then, we dried them off for a few hours before painting them:

Next,  we laid out newspaper in an open area and spray-painted primer on both sides of the pots:

Once the primer was dry, we brushed on silver paint to each pot:

When the silver layer of paint was dry, we then started the process of planting the flowers.  We first took broken terra cotta chips to put in the base to help with drainage.  Then, we transferred the flowers from the plastic pots and added a bit more soil on top:

I created tiny flags that read “Thank you for coming!” using PowerPoint word art.  I cut out each flag and sister C helped glue gun each flag to a small stick (1/2 of a wooden skewer).  We then stuck a flag in each flower pot:

At the baptism, I made a tiny sign telling people to take a flower on their way out and left paper bags for them to carry the pots in:

It was a fun project and brought a little bit of  early spring to the party!

-m