Flower Pot Tree

• 3 purchased 2-1/2 to 3-inch tall wooden birdhouses with wire hangers
• 6 terra-cotta clay pots in descending sizes from 10 to 3-inch diameter
• Plaid FolkArt Acrylic Paint: Wicker White (WW) #901, French Vanilla (FV) #431, Hunter Green (HG) #406, and Calico Red (CR) #932
• Assorted paintbrushes, including sponge and liner
• Spatter brush or toothbrush
• 1 roll of lattice garland
• 2 to 3 stems or red berries with leaves
• 3 small mushroom birds
• Raffia
• 22-gauge florist wire
• Wire cutter
• Needle-nose pliers
• E6000 glue
• Glue gun and hotmelt adhesive
• Medium-grit sandpaper
• Matte-finish acrylic sealer

1. Base-coat each birdhouse WW and each roof CR. Float FV shading on the front edges of the birdhouses. Use a liner and HG diluted with water to ink consistency to paint a fine line around the front of each birdhouse.

2. Paint the outer surface of each terra-cotta pot, using a sponge brush and HG. Let the paint dry. Lightly sand the pots to create a worn, distressed appearance.

3. Invert the pots and glue them together from largest to smallest, using E6000 applied to the inner edge of the pot, to form a tree shape. Slightly tilt the four smaller pots at the top.

4. Apply two light coats of matte-finish spray to the painted surfaces of the tree and the birdhouses.

5. Dilute FV with water to ink consistency. Dip a spatter brush in the diluted paint, and spatter (flyspeck) the tree.

6. Unwind the twig garland and adhere one end to the top of the tree with hotmelt adhesive. Spiral the garland around the tree, tacking it in several places with hotmelt adhesive, and securing it at the lower edge of the pot.

7. Use the wire cutters to cut 3 to 6 inch lengths from the berry stems. Twist the berry stems to the garland at the tree top, along the garland, and at the base of the tree. Tie the birdhouses to the garland with raffia. Hot-glue the birds to the garland.