Flower Pot Mayor
Looking for a way to transform your boring flower pots?
This Nightmare Before Christmas-inspired craft is sure to be a unique piece to add to your holiday decor!
Creating Art from Flower Pots
I first learned of flower pot art many, many years ago.
Every Christmas I couldn’t wait to go over to my grandma’s house so could play with my favorite decorations, her toy soldiers made from terracotta pots. And by play, I mean I played by them without actually touching them because I would get yelled at if I did!
I loved those soldiers so much! I asked to have them when she was done with them. And I’m still waiting 30 years later!
One day I’ll make my own! Maybe…but I digress.
This year, while browsing the aisles at Michaels, I stumbled upon an endcap filled with multiple sizes of terracotta pots. As I looked over the various sizes, I came up with the idea to make the Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The only problem was that I needed help figuring out how he would look. I started arranging pots in the middle of the aisle trying to get the right shapes.
When I got to the hat, my husband found me and asked me what I was doing. As I explained, he told me, “Well that won’t work this way, you’ll have to do this.” And he started to help me arrange the pots.
So here we are in the middle of Micheals messing around with their terracotta pots, trying our best not to break one!
It took us a few tries and arrangements, but we had found a way to make the sculpture look correct.
The hat was the most challenging part because of its tall cylinder shape, but my son had the perfect solution (which you can see in the final photos).
Let me show you how we did it!
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List of Supplies:
Makes; 1 flower pot sculpture
Estimated time: 2 days (including dry time)
Skill Level: Advanced Beginner-Intermediate
Flower pots in the following sizes:
Oil-based Sharpie in Black
Pencil
Black acrylic paint
Grey acrylic paint
White acrylic paint
Blue acrylic paint
Red acrylic paint
Antique white acrylic paint
Foam brushes
Painter’s tape
Grey marker
Step 1:
Gather the supplies.
Step 2:
Glue the pots together to create the shape of the Mayor.
To do this, I first put a layer of E6000 around the lip of the pot and follow it with a layer of hot glue.
I assembled the following order:
10” pot placed right side up
10” pot placed inverted
8” pot placed inverted
6” water dish placed inverted
6” water dish placed inverted
tall 4” pot placed inverted
3” pot inverted
2” pot inverted
2” pot right side up
The hot glue provides instant hold, while the E6000 provides a long lasting one.
When it’s done, it should look like this.
Step 3:
Paint the hat and pants black.
To do this, I used the pots’ natural design as a guide for painting. Each pot has a body and a lip. I used these different parts to help create the illusion of a person.
If you look at the way we arranged the pots, you can see the vague shape of a person. The hat is easy to distinguish because of the brim. From there, you know the pot underneath the brim becomes the face and the remaining two are the body, where the two meet is the stomach/waist.
The Mayor’s hat has a small, grey band near the brim of his hat. So, I simply used the lip of the tall 4” pot as a guide and didn’t apply any black paint to that spot (see image above).
Additionally, the Mayor’s suit jacket is a bit long, so used the body of the bottom pot as pants and left the lip blank versus painting the whole pot black.
***Apply paint around the entire pot sculpture.
I used black acrylic paint for this project.
This paint was purchased at Target. The color is fresh pavement.
Overall, I was not very happy with this paint and will not be purchasing it in the future.
Step 4:
Paint the band on the hat and the suit jacket grey.
To do this, I painted the lip of the tall 4” pot on the hat that I had left blank. Then, I painted the inverted 10” pot completely song with the lip of the bottom 10” pot.
I used acrylic paint from Target in the color smooth pebble.
***Apply paint around the entire pot sculpture.
Step 5:
Paint half of the face the nude/antique white color.
To do this, I used a foam brush to create a line down one side of the pot. Then, I made a line down the opposite side of the pot. Finally, I painted the space in-between.
***This required two coats to achieve full coverage.
Step 6:
Paint the backside of the face a blueish-white.
To do this, I mixed a small amount of blue with some white paint. Then, I applied the paint to the backside of the pot, stopping where the front nude color was.
***This took 3 coats to achieve full coverage.
***Save this paint for touch-ups.
Step 7:
Use white paint to apply pinstriping to the pants.
To do this, I used the edge of a foam brush to create even lines.
I should have started with a line down the middle. Instead, I started off-center which resulted in my pinstriping being uneven.
I recommend starting with the center and working your way around.
Additionally, be mindful of how the pot tapers. The lines will have more space at the top of the pot than they will at the bottom.
***Apply paint around the entire pot sculpture.
Step 8:
Use white paint to create the undershirt for the Mayor.
To do this, I used painter’s tape to create an inverted triangle near the center of the face. Then, I applied a thick layer of white paint to the triangle and removed the tape (slowly) while the paint was wet.
***Typically, the Mayor only has one active face and one resting face, which he rotates between depending on his mood.
I decided to have two active sides to my Mayor so that I could switch it whenever I wanted. This means I had to create two front undershirts.
Step 9:
Draw on the facial features for the jovial face.
To do this, I used a reference photo and sketched out my design in pencil first.
This way I could make mistakes and adjustments without having to repaint.
Then, I used an oil-based Sharpie to trace over my final sketch.
Step 10:
Paint the lips on the Mayor.
To do this, I used a small paintbrush and some red color to paint a thin lip around my mouth outline.
Step 11:
Paint the teeth white.
To do this, I used a small, squared paintbrush to fill in the spots for my teeth.
***I did have to go back and outline the teeth again because white paint covered some of the lines.
Step 12:
Paint the lapels, jacket front, buttons, and pockets using black paint.
To do this, I used my reference photo to determine the shape and location for each item and I used a foam brush to paint it on.
The lapels have a slight batwing to them where they have two small points at the end. You can see a close-up of the image below.
I used the center of the inverted triangle as the place where the jacket overlaps and closes. So I painted a line straight down with a slight curve at the end to simulate the curve of a suit jacket.
I used the lines of the pots to find a good placement for the pockets. This fits naturally around the top lip of the inverted pot.
Finally, I added two small buttons. You could glue on two small black buttons or paint them on as I did.
***Repeat this on the other side if you are using both sides.
Step 13:
Add on arms and spider tie.
To do this, I used a piece of black felt, a small piece of white felt, and a plastic spider.
I took the black felt, folded it in half, held it up to the pot, outlined the shape (small tubes with a slight bend), and cut it out to create two arm pieces (see image below).
Next, I took white felt, folded it in half, and cut out a small hand shape (only four fingers) using the arms as a reference for width.
Once I had those two pieces cut, I used a hot glue gun to put a small strip of glue along the edge of the white glove and glued it to an arm piece. I repeated this process for the other arm.
I, then, placed a small line on glue along the other edge of the arm and glued it in line with the split faces. (One of my arms was a bit off from this line.)
This placement allows me to have the arms sit forward or I can bend them backward if I want to display the opposite side of the Mayor.
Finally, I used a small bead of hot glue to secure the spider upside down as the Mayor’s tie.
Step 14:
Draw on the facial features for the worried face.
To do this, I used a reference photo and traced the outline in pencil first (just like the jovial face).
Then, I used an oil-based Sharpie to go over the parts that needed to be filled in with black.
***I missed the nose and I added it as a later step. You can add it in here though!
Step 15:
Paint the blue lips and accents around the eyes on the Mayor.
To do this, I took a blue and mixed it with a bit of white to mute the color. Then, I used a small paint brush and applied a layer around the mouth, following my sketch lines.
Additionally, I added a bit more white to the mixture and painted the blue accents around the Mayor’s eyes.
Step 16:
Add in the missing nose using an oil-based Sharpie.
Step 17:
Paint the teeth and eyes of the Mayor and add in finishing details.
To do this, I mixed the nude color (antique white) with a little white and applied it to the desired areas.
Once the paint dried, I had to go back over my teeth outline with my oil-based Sharpie.
Finally, I took a grey Crayola marker and added in the detail lines around the eyes and mouth.
That’s it!
The flower pot Mayor is ready for display!
Top Tips…
Oil-based Sharpies are a great way to achieve precision lines. Plus they have the additive of looking like the art was hand-drawn (like the real thing).
The pots have enough weight to be displayed outside without the risk of tipping over. However, if strong winds are present, it is best to bring the sculpture inside.
Saving paint is essential for this project! I typically mix my paints on a small plate so they are easy to save. I placed my mixed paint plates in a plastic bag and placed them in the fridge in case I needed them for touch-ups.
This project requires lots of drying time. This is a good project to complete in sections.
Let sections dry out before moving on. This will ensure you do not mix any paint.
Drawing the faces in pencil allows you the ability to see the final result without having to repaint if you make a mistake. You can easily erase the pencil lines.
This project is very fragile! It will chip or break if tipped over.
Keep this away from small children!
Final Thoughts…
I am in love with this project! Everyone who has seen it adores it and wants one for themselves! It looks great on display with other Nightmare Before Christmas decor or alone with other fall decorations.
That being said, there are a few things I would like to change if I made this project again.
I would like to find a way to elevate the head and/or make it rotate.
While I enjoy my sculpture, I would like to only rotate the face versus the whole body when I want to change his expression.
It’s a bit scary to rotate him because I don’t want him to break.
I have an idea of what I would do (it would involve marbles in between two trays), but I’ll have to test it before I commit.
Need to make a ribbon button that says “Mayor” for him!
Use a white chalk marker for the pinstripe pants.
While I was okay with the way they turned out, I would have preferred the lines to be cleaner. I think a chalk marker would have let me achieve this look.
Overall, I am extremely pleased with how this project turned out. It has inspired me to try and make different characters (I’m thinking Oogie Boogie next)!
I really hope you enjoyed this make! If you did please consider subscribing to my newsletter, so you never miss a new project!
If you make this project, make sure to tag them with #DarkkFluriDIY so I can see your creations!
Until next time, stay crafty!
