How To Make A Clay Flower Pot

If you have ever been to a store that sells gardening products, you must have wondered how they make those beautiful looking clay flower pots. Well, in this article we tell you how to make your very own flower pot. With our tips to make a flower pot, you will be able to make one yourself.

However, there are certain preliminary steps that are involved before the actual process begins.

Clay - The basic thing that is required to make a clay flowerpot is obviously, clay. So, you need to purchase clay first, that will be used to make the flower pot. Clay is easily available in a store which sells art products or even in a craft store. However, be informed that there are two types of clay available in the market, namely, regular clay and terra cotta. While regular clay will serve your purpose well enough, terra cotta is always the better choice. This is because terra cotta clay is full of small granules which allow the pot to breathe easily. This will, inturn help the flowers and the plants to grow bigger and healthier.

Prepare the clay - Now that you have got the clay that you require, you will need to prepare the clay. Take a little more clay than you would require to make your flower pot. Start to roll the clay around in your hands and on the table, just the same way as you would roll bread dough. The main purpose of rolling the clay is to get the air bubbles out of the clay which will prevent any air pockets to form.
Preparing the slip - The next step involves preparing some slip. Take some clay and have a bowl ready which is half filled with water. Take the clay and place it in the bowl and begin to squish it, preferably with a fork so that you don't get your hands all muddy. Keep mixing the clay with the water until it has formed a clay soup. This clay soup is called slip. This will act as an adhesive and will keep the clay coils and the slabs together.

Making Clay Flower Pot

Now, that the above steps are complete, you are ready to make your flower pot.

Start by rolling out the first slab. Use a rolling pin and start to roll and flatten the clay by turning it into a slab which is about quarter inch thick or a little more than that. This thickness can be varied according to the requirement for your pot.
You will need to cut the bottom of the flower pot. A traditional flower pot is round, but it can be square as well. After you have cut and decided on a size for the bottom of the flower pot, you can start and cut out the sides of the pot. For cutting the sides of the pot, you can cut one large slab, unless you are making a square pot. Make sure that the side is just a little longer than the bottom.
Start to put the clay together by using a fork and the slip that you made for this purpose. Take the round bottom of the pot that you cut in the earlier step. Take the fork and start to draw lines all around the edges in the bottom. The main purpose of doing this is to create a sort of border of scored lines all round the side of the pot.
Next, take the side that you have cut and lay it down with the inside portion facing upwards. Start to score a border of around half an inch around the bottom of the side. Now, hold up the side and see how it looks.
Now, that you have your pieces nicely done, you will need the slip that you made in the previous steps. With the help of either your finger or the fork, start to put the slip over the scored lines of the bottom of the pot. Apply the slip to about a quarter of an inch.
After you have applied the slip, take the side slab and place it around the bottom and press firmly with your fingers so that it spreads to all around the borders of the pot.
This step is optional. If you have created a lip for your flower pot, then you can connect that as well. But remember to use lot of slip to attach the lip.

Now that you have completed the steps successfully, your clay flower pot is ready to use.

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