I come from a family of green thumbs. My dad was famous for his vegetable garden (corn, tomato, beans, etc.)and my mom was always in the garden (despite her allergies.) We always had many different plants growing all over the house.

I questioned my ability with plants when I first tried to grow some in my old apartment. I blame it on the lack of sunshine (basement apartment.) My current apartment has sunshine all day, and my plants are thriving! I am always on the lookout for some nice planters. The plant pictured below has been sitting in a chinese food plastic container for at least a year. I finally decided to replant it before it died on me.

I got some paint, a terra cotta planter, glue, and some pebbles left over from my fish tank, and got to work. I decided on yellow paint, and applied two coats. I did not paint all of the inside...just enough for the paint to show if the dirt did not completely come to the top of the planter.

After the paint dried, I carefully glued the pebbles to the outside of the planter. You can pretty much glue anything...I almost decorated the planter with some plastic sea shells I found in Michaels. I decided that they might look better on a blue planter, so I will save them for the next time.

I transferred the plant to the new pot, and all was fine until I woke up this morning. For some reason, the pebbles were starting to come off, and the glue that had dried clear last night, looked white as if I just applied it. I used an all-purpose glue, and that might be my mistake. I think that the water in the plant may be seeping through the terra cotta. So, if you are going to try this, research different types of glue so that you don't make the same mistake I made. Now, I have to figure out how to fix this and hopefully save my little plant. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

-Nordea
nordeasoaperie