Today is brought to you by the letter 'V'

I haven't 'done' Valentine's Day for many years; however, I am attending training with 15 really wonderful women and I decided that I wanted to make them a special Valentine's Day gift.  I have a greenhouse full of overgrown aloe vera plants that need new homes so I decided that each lady will receive a newly potted plant.  I couldn't pot them up in just any old container...no, my mind is much more creative than that. With the help of my son, Andy, I fancied up terra cotta pots with chalkboard paint, liquid chalk, stamps, and chalk ink pads to create a unique gift for each person. 
I love this paint...it's acrylic and cleans up with soap and water
Pot plus foam brush plus chalkboard paint equals...fun!
Andy applies the first coat of paint (it takes a minimum of 2 and then a 24 hour cure time).





Waiting for decorations
Overview of all materials used
Potting soil

 Terracotta pot, foam brush, and chalkboard paint

Regular chalk (my grandchildren's sidewalk chalk) and liquid chalk (chalkink.com)

Something to plant in (makes things neater)

First one decorated

Ready to plant...added a barrier to stop soil from falling out. I use my old fabric softener sheets.

Added the soil

Separating baby aloes from the mother plant

This looks like a good candidate!

Newly potted aloe

Things do get a little messy

5 down...12 to go!
UPDATE:  The aloe pots were a great hit!  I even got orders for more plants.  I will get my greenhouse cleaned out yet!  We even got to use one of the plants when a client had a bad reaction to getting her eyebrows waxed.  Nothing was soothing it so I broke off a stem and put aloe on it.  It cooled right down!

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