Have you ever tried galaxy painting? Today we’re sharing how to create a galaxy painted pot that you can add succulents to (our favourites) or any plant that fits.
This is a fun craft idea that would appeal to teens, tweens and older kids. This finished pots make cute handmade gifts and are also a fun gardening idea for Spring or Summer.
You might also like our Frida Kahlo painted pots
My 10 year old loves to paint terracotta pots as handmade gifts. This galaxy painted pot is something she came up with herself to make and give as a teacher gift at the end of last year. The galaxy painting idea came from some galaxy painted rocks she created from the Rock Art Handbook we reviewed a while ago.
Anything that involves getting messy and splattering paint around with a toothbrush is something she’ll be right into!
I love to indulge the girls’ creative ideas, especially where handmade gifts are concerned, so we went to Bunnings and purchased some plain terracotta pots with matching trays. She also selected a cute succulent plant from the garden section to put in it.
The good thing about galaxy painting is it’s not at all technical, so this is an easy and fun idea for all ages.
How to make a galaxy painted pot
You will need:
- terracotta pot and tray
- paintbrush
- old toothbrush
- kitchen sponge cut into quarters, plus a peg to hold it
- good quality acrylic paint in black, purple, pink, blue and white
- baking paper (as a non stick surface to put the pot on while working on it)
- something to cover the table surface (we’ve used newspaper)
How to:
Paint the pot and dish black all over. We painted the top inside of the pot too but only as far as it would be sticking out from the dirt.
Fold a kitchen sponge piece in half and secure with a peg.
Dampen the sponge and squeeze the water out of it, then dip into a colour and dab patches of it around the pot. Repeat with the other colours (apart from white).
Dip the old toothbrush into the white and scrape your finger along the brush, splattering the paint around the pot to look like stars. You can also splatter some of the other colours if you choose.
Allow the pot to dry. If you wanted to you could add a coat of protective spray glaze over the pot, however we didn’t do this because the paints we use are good quality and don’t really need the protective glaze.
Plant a succulent or alternative kind of plant in the pot. All done!
Give your galaxy succulents away as cute handmade gifts or keep them for yourself.
More gardening ideas for kids
- Dinosaur succulent garden
- Australian animal succulent garden
- Frog habitat garden
- Printable fairy garden
