A VERY "DEER" PLANT POT

Hello all!

I'm Tara, and I am the sarcastic voice of Suburble. 

I'm very lucky to be guest posting here at Silo Hill Farm today. Danni is a very sweet and talented blogger, and I thank her for the loan of interweb space! I'm happy to be able to show off my latest project - a plant pot with a bit of panache.

Finally, Spring is slowly starting to stretch out her legs and rub the sleep from her eyes. We are anxious to get outside, feel the sun's warmth, and leave our windows open. I'm starting to become preoccupied with all things garden-and-flower related. And when I thought of creating a silhouetted plant pot, I gathered my supplies and dove in immediately.

I already had this green plant pot lurking around one of my many piles-o-chaos, and he was desperate for a makeover. I gave him two even coats of Rustoleum's "Fossil" in matte. (And when you're painting a smaller piece, remember to give yourself some space and focus on light, even coats. Otherwise, you're going to get the dreaded Drip Of Despair. There isn't much to fix that... but screaming inside your head sometimes helps.)

I found this image of a buck in the silhouette gallery on The Graphics Fairy. Can I say how much I love that site? Lurrrve it. 

Using my Silhouette Cameo, I cut the buck's image out of vinyl. Instead of using the actual cut-out silhouette (as I would typically do with vinyl), I used the negative space as my stencil. Curved surfaces and stencils are a teensy bit scary, in case you couldn't tell by the wrinkles. It pays to spend a bit of extra time smoothing out any spaces where paint can seep in.

A helpful tip is to use a credit card to go over all of the "seams" of the piece. This will ensure that everything is adhered properly.

I used black acrylic paint to paint over the stencil. A foam brush was the best (and fastest) way to get the paint on evenly.

And here is where I started to sweat.

Thankfully, the Craft Gods were on my side. I waited around five minutes for the paint to dry a bit, carefully peeled off the vinyl and found a regal buck staring back at me! It worked! It wasn't a giant black mucky-mess!

(Believe me, I had my doubts).

I let the paint fully dry, and then coated the entire pot with two coats of Mod Podge. This sealer is fine for inside, but before I bring it outside, I may give it a spray of a more intense Krylon sealer. I'd hate to see Bambi wash away like last night's mascara. 

I'm immensely thrilled with my King of the Forest. He's guarding some mums right now, but I'm thinking that he may love to house some succulents in the near future.

I have another awful-greeny pot waiting for his debut. Any suggestions on what might pair nicely with my buck pot? A rabbit? A doe? If you're suddenly inspired, please let me know in the comments.