Greenhouse with Potted Plants - Tutorial

Hi everyone! Today I'll show you how I made this mini greenhouse with a pot of basil and a pot of chili peppers. This video is divided into three chapters, one for the greenhouse, one for the potteries and one for the plants. For the greenhouse I started from a real product I have seen online, as I always do. I drew a quick sketch to have an idea of the actual size of the object in 1 to 12 scale. Then I made a very basic template on powerpoint. I didn't draw this one because I wanted to quickly adjust the measurements in case they were too big or too small without drawing the template multiple times. The greenhouse itself is made out of common cardboard. I used some random packaging I found at home. So after cutting the template I glue it on the cardboard using some white glue very sparingly so that the cardboard doesn't warp. And now the hard part, the cutting. First with a sharp blade I cut out all the internal squares and the little triangles of the roof. I keep these pieces aside, I don't throw them away as I'll have to use them later as a template for the glass panes. After that I cut along the outer edges with a pair of scissors. I find that if I do this operation the other way around, so first the outer edges and then the inner edges, the cardboard tends to get wavy. To paint everything I use a silver marker because it has a more realistic metal look than the silver acrylic paint I have. And then to add the galvanized surface effect I dab the marker tip on the cardboard in this way. Now the glass panes. This is some soft cheese packaging I had which works nicely as fake glass. And if you remember earlier on I kept the internal squares aside so I'm using them now as a template. I mark out the edges, which must be a bit larger than the template, with a pointy tool and not with a pen or a marker so that there's no ink on the plastic surface. Then I cut them out and I glue them on the walls and on the roof parts. I use white glue which is not the strongest of glues but it's rather clean and I won't be handling this thing a lot anyway. Then I move on to the metal decorations which I'll be making with this iron wire. There are straight bits and rounded bits. I'm sorry I have no idea what to call them, I hope you understand. For the straight bits I check the right length directly on the greenhouse wall and then cut the wire with my hench ears. For the rounded bits I use a brush to shape the wire into a half circle and then I cut it. I don't really measure it but just eyeball the right shape trying to make the 12 half circles I need for this project all the same size more or less. To glue the metal bits onto the plastic windows I use super glue this time because unfortunately white glue doesn't really work with metal. And here I'm making sure that the straight bits of the roof align with those of the wall. As you might have noticed I didn't make a template for the base because I wanted to have all the pieces ready first and then cut the base accordingly. Then same as before I use my silver marker to paint the base and add the fake galvanized effect. Then I glue all the pieces together. Most unfortunately my hands were hiding this part completely so the clips are pretty useless but basically I added glue all along the edges and then assembled the four walls and the floor together. Sorry about that. And we jump straight to the feet. I use some small beads, paint them, glue them under the base and I'm almost done. Well at least I can show you the clips of me assembling the roof parts together and this is basically the same thing I did for the bottom part I couldn't show you. Applying some super glue along the edges, wait for it to dry for some seconds and then repeat. It wasn't very easy and it required some patience as you can see but in the end I did it. Last bit, the handle. This time to shape the wire I used this funny little cloth spin and a pair of pliers of the sort you use to make jewelry. Then I glue the handle on top of the roof making sure it's centered and the little portable greenhouse is done. Now the pots. The pots and saucers for this project are thrown on my pottery wheel with earthenware. I am not an expert at all, I am a very beginner when it comes to ceramics so this part cannot be considered a tutorial really. I'll just show you some clips of the process. So some months ago I found out that my local art supply store has a professional kiln which is a common kiln where customers can fire their own ceramics and I said okay let's give miniature potteries a try. I bought this mini pottery wheel and started practicing. I didn't take any classes, I just watched some ceramics videos here on youtube and started from gardening pots and saucers because they have simple shapes and they don't require glaze unless you want to add it of course, so that means firing them just once in the common kiln. And now on to the plants. I'll be using this air drying clay which I bought at a miniature fair in Italy. It's made in Argentina and this here is Spanish for cold porcelain. It's quite soft to handle and when it dries it has a very slight transparency to it. To color it I use pastel mixed with water but you can also use acrylic paint. And in case I end up with more green clay than I actually need I will be storing it in this airtight bag. To make the leaves I rolled the clay into small balls and with the help of a dotting tool and this silicone mold I made myself I shaped the balls into leaves. Then I take a bit of preserved moss and cut out a tiny bit which I also paint in green. Then it's a matter of patience and firm hands because the next step is gluing the leaves onto the preserved moss one by one. And then glue the plant inside the vase. The same process goes for the chili peppers. The leaves are elongated and not rounded like basil leaves so this time I shaped the clay like a grain of rice and not a tiny ball. And while making the first one in this way with the dotting tool I realized that simply pressing the clay with my finger was much quicker and led to the same result. I was working with artificial lights here and the green shade didn't turn out realistic at all so I had to adjust it with acrylic paints afterwards. To make the stems of the peppers I roll some clay in this way, cut it in half and with the help of a dotting tool press the clay so that I end up with a kind of tiny barrette. After all the stems are ready I make the peppers which I shape with my fingers. I'm using the clay as it is and I will paint it with acrylics after it has dried. This is because peppers have a very intense and bright color and adding the paint before the clay dries would somehow soften the shade whereas here in this case I need a more vibrant red. Then I glue all the barrettes on top of the peppers and lastly I glue the peppers among the leaves. I put inside the vase a bit of clay, add a dab of glue and some brown pastel to imitate soil and then glue the plant on top of it. And that's the end of the project. Thank you so much for watching this tutorial, I hope you liked it and I'll see you next time. Bye bye!