How to Make Homemade Clay Planters

Combine your creativity with your gardening skills by building your own clay planters.

Building a homemade clay planter can be as simple as constructing a cardboard mold and covering it with clay. Once you have built the clay planter, you can add decorative features such as fluted edges, etchings and additional pieces of clay. You do not need to be an artist to complete this project -- you simply need to be able to roll out and cut slabs of clay and follow the basic principles of slab construction.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Cardboard
• Pencil
• Masking tape
• Clay
• Fettling knife
• Straight edge
• Wooden or metal clay tools (optional)
• Water (optional)
• Metal cabinet or plastic grocery bag
• Damp sponge
• Kiln
• Glaze (optional)

Instructions

1. Draw a trapezoid shape on a piece of paper equal in dimension to the desired dimensions of your clay planter. A trapezoid is a 4-sided shape that has a shorter top than the base and the two sides are of equal length. The trapezoid shape will be used to construct the sides of your planter.

2. Cut out the trapezoid, lay it over a piece of cardboard and trace it in pencil. Cut out the cardboard trapezoid and use it as a template to trace and cut out four more of these shapes. Cut an additional piece of cardboard in the shape of a square using the measurement of the shortest side of the trapezoid as the measurement for the four sides of the square.

3. Lay the cardboard square flat and align the short edges of four of the trapezoid-shaped pieces of cardboard with the sides of the square. Arrange the trapezoid-shaped pieces of cardboard so the edges are flush, forming eight joints where the edges of the trapezoids meet with each other and with the square base. The result will be the cardboard form that you will use to construct your clay planter.

4. Apply strips of masking tape along the joints of the cardboard planter form to secure the sides and base in place.

5. Cover the cardboard form with pieces of paper, folding the paper as necessary so it sits flush with the surface of the cardboard. Use pieces of masking tape to attach the pieces of paper to each other, but do not attach the paper to the cardboard. After covering the cardboard form with clay, you will be able to slide the paper form off to remove it without damaging it.

6. Roll out five slabs of clay to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch each. Four of the five slabs should be slightly larger than the trapezoid template and the fifth should be slightly larger than the square base.

7. Lay the leftover cardboard trapezoid template on top of the first slab and cut around it using a fettling knife. A fettling knife is a common clay tool featuring a long, flexible blade that is ideal for cutting and sculpting clay. For a more seamless construction, set the blade at an angle to the template as you cut to create a beveled edge. Use the template to cut out the remaining three sides of the planter as well as the square base by following the same procedure.

8. Set the cardboard planter form on top of the square slab of clay and, one by one, lay the trapezoidal sides over the cardboard form. After adding each new side, press the edges of the clay pieces together at the seam. Use your finger to gently spread the clay from one edge over the adjacent edge, blending the clay rather than pinching it together.

9. Smooth out the sides of the clay planter by dragging a straight edge up and down the sides. The straight edge will smooth away any dimples or imperfections in the clay, leaving you with clean, smooth sides.

10. Add any decorative elements you desire to the outside of the planter form. You may experiment with wooden and metal clay tools to draw designs or carve shapes in the side of the planter or you may add extra pieces of wet clay to form shapes. If you add more clay, wet the area that you're applying it to with water first to ensure that it adheres securely to the surface.

11. Set the planter form aside to dry in a cool location. To keep the clay from drying too quickly, store it in a metal cabinet or cover it loosely with a plastic grocery bag. After two days or so, the clay should be hard and dried enough to keep its shape but still be malleable.

12. Gently lift the cardboard form out of the clay form and set it aside. Use a damp sponge to clean up the joints inside the planter, blending the edges and smoothing away any imperfections in the clay.

13. Set the finished clay planter out to dry completely. After another 7 to 10 days, the clay will have hardened and a majority of the moisture in it will have dried up.

14. Fire the clay planter according to your preferred method and color it with your choice of glaze, if desired. If you glaze the planter, you will need to fire it a second time to set the glaze.