Adding some greenery

 I like houseplants. They add lovely pop of color and a softness to any house and they also help clean the air. All wonderful things! However, historically, I've not been super adept at keeping them alive. 

Though, that being said, the string of pearls plant in my kitchen has been there for multiple years now (and still is looking good)... so, I must be doing something right! 

Then, during this past winter, I inherited a couple new plants, unexpectedly. One, a spider plant, was a gift from my little guy for Christmas (guess they were planting things at school before the break). And the other, a tickseed plant, was gifted to me by the staff at the local bakery when I came to pick up a birthday cake in January. 

So, I brought them home and tucked them in the only sunny spot in the house.. the little corner by the sliding glass doors. (See how the string of pearls is thriving!)

However well this set-up worked, this couldn't be a permanent solution. (My kids want the tall chair back eventually).

So! I've been taking pottery classes for a while and I thought, I can just make a couple planters and hang them on that little bit of wall! And so I set to making. 

It all seemed fairly simple and straight forward.. throw a couple bowls, turn them into planters, repot plants and hang them on my wall. Easy, right? Well... I'm still very much a beginner potter. And, when this project started, I was still struggling to throw pots taller than 3 or 4 inches. And still working on consistently getting the shape I intended. So.. I made several attempts before I got them the size and shape that I wanted. But I did it! (Sixth time's the charm!)

Then, there's the hurry up and wait for the pottery to dry (cuz it'll explode in the kiln if there's too much moisture). Then, wait for them to finish their trip through the bisque firing.. then it's time to glaze and a final trip through the kiln. And glazing is a step that even my (very experienced) teacher says is full of uncertainty and chance.. so, you glaze and cross your fingers and hope for the best.  (So, I'm not *that* sorry to have made so many...lol) this way I get to pick the best looking for hanging in my kitchen. 

Eventually, they all came back from the kiln.. then it was decision time! 

I picked the lucky two, and re-potted my little plants into their new home and hung them in the wall! 

This lovely set up was in place for a weekend, then I snagged the top planter to temporarily display at a student art show that the pottery studio was having: 

Once the show is over (in another week or so) my stuff will come back home and the planter will be back in its forever home. Here's hoping I can keep these plants alive!