Santa's Hat- A Tutorial

        After borrowing the idea of a Pilgrim's Hat planter from the Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine, I decided I wanted something similar for Christmas.  It was so easy.  I often craft in multiples for gifts.  When I went to Lowes to buy clay pots, they only had three... so, three Santa's hats it was.
      First, I took three clay pots and painted them red with craft paint. If these were pots you were going to use all year, I would probably get a better paint; however, to last for a season, the craft paint works fine. I painted all the outside, but the bottom, and painted the inside rim. I decided it would look better to have anything not covered with dirt, covered with paint.  I let the paint dry, and added a second coat.

       Next, I put a rock in the bottom of the pot, to keep the dirt in.  Then I filled the pot halfway with potting soil.  I added a small Poinsettia and filled the pot with dirt.  I then watered the plants well and let the pots dry.

       When the pots were dry, I cut strips of white faux fir for the trim on Santa's hat.  I made them slightly larger than the rim of the pot.  Mine were an inch and a half wide.  The fur was only 15 inches long and each pot's circumference was 17 and a half inches long, so I cut an extra strip for my fill ins.

       I used hot glue to attach the fur to the pot.  I decided to put the hot glue on the fur, about 3 inches at a time, to make sure it didn't dry too much before attaching it to the pot.  When the long strip was on, I cut the fill in strip, to fill in the spot.  I glued it on. I made sure it fit well and rubbed the fur together, to try to make it blend well.  It worked.

 Then, I was done!  So easy, inexpensive, and CUTE!