The Basics……….

As a crafter it is fun to create something new. To allow that to happen I need to utilize the basics to fund creative time. For our business it is the hearts and small oval containers, our best sellers, that provide much of our income. 

We build the recipe, mold each container, allow to dry, sand and add to the pile during over the Winter. It is usually necessary to add a few during the year as our pile starts to diminish. 

The finished containers are either offered empty or filled with some of our select succulents. Lot of fun to be had putting these combinations together. Mid March begins the planting season for 2023. Applications are being submitted this month for the many festivals and shows we will attend this year. 

 The Papercrete Potter will again offer a large selection of planted containers. We will also offer everything to build your own combinations but the potting mix!

Always Fun……..

Yes we will still vend at most if not all our usual haunts. Here are a couple of special shows for 2023. The Myriad Gardens hosts the OKC Flower & Garden Show and the gardens adjacent to the show are beyond fabulous! Plan on browsing both the show and the gardens. Pack a lunch! 

Once again we have been invited to vend at the International Master Gardeners Convention for 2023. Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, KS is the venue selected to host this event. We are excited to see some of our old friends in June. More info at imgc2023.com

 

Back to it……….

 Here we are 2023 and determined to build and offer our best to all our customers. Lots of new containers this year and an even wider selection of succulents to fill them with. 

2021...........

Here we are! We have escaped 2020 with life and limb! I must say that it was a year full of challenges but it turned out a very good year for the sales of succulents and our signature Papercrete planters and combos. We are receiving inquiries about our willingness to participate in upcoming festivals to which we answer with an enthusiastic ‘YES’. 

We have been working overtime the last couple of months building inventory to be ready for whatever happens. As soon as we can get some notifications we will start building a 2021 schedule. 

Thankfull!............

After a long wait it is time to venture off the farm and greet gardeners again! Covid has upset our normal and we will adapt. Our show schedule has been shuffled but May 30th we will be behind our sales tables offering our goodies in Oklahoma City, OK at Myriad Gardens.

Spring Shows..........

Spring is here and the virus has vendors parked at home. This too shall pass and gardeners will be ready to venture out and take on all the projects dreamed up over the Winter. Our inventory continues to build as we are taking advantage of the extra down time. Check the schedule tab at the top of the page as we will update it as plans firm up or we get notified of cancellations.

November 2019.........

 Squares and Tubs

 Assorted Hearts

 Squared Bowls

 Assorted Oval Bowls

Smalls

Twenty nineteen was a very busy year. We were booked for shows or classes twenty six weekends this year. At the end of October our show season was over and thankfully our inventory was nearly depleted. The above pictures represent what was built in the month of November not counting our table tops or what my wife had put together. We are looking forward to planting a majority of these containers with succulent combinations. The next three months will be a flurry of pulping, mixing, and molding. Who knows what the pile will look like by the middle of march.

Requests.........

We have been asked more than once for containers or plantings of a religious nature! One of the first things on the to do list was to build a cross mold. We built two, planted one with sempervivums and left one empty. Took the pair to a herb festival in Oklahoma and came home with a smile and no crosses. Looks like we will continue to build the cross shaped containers and fill them with an assorted plantings. 

Hearts have also been popular and have sold well both filled and empty!

Build'em and Fill'em...............

Winter or at least the cold weather seems to be over! It is time to start filling some of our papercrete containers with plant material. We have amassed quite a pile of driftwood, rocks, and other natural materials to incorporate into our combination plantings! So let the fun continue! ☺

Ready to Go........

We have been hard at it building a sizeable inventory to begin the season with. We began building containers last November knowing what we had the most demand for during year. There is no doubt we will be long on certain items and short on others we will not be short on everything!!

It is against our nature to waste anything even the last little bit of recipe left over as we build larger projects. That last little bit is turned into what we call 'smalls'. The little containers are always popular when filled with succulents. They become an easy to care for plant arrangements. Many are purchased as gifts others are added to customers succulent collections.

My wife's papercrete hands creations were a big hit last season. They do take extra time to build and finish so she began in earnest to build a sufficient supply. Looks like I will have plenty to fill with hens & chicks this year. Oh what fun! 

It was our intention to have forty shells ready to sell this season. As we were building our inventory a special order was submitted for thirty five shells plus another eighty five containers to be delivered in early March. What a blessing to be instantly behind on production! That order is finished and ready to be loaded on the truck.

You can see our vending schedule for the 2018 season here

Crevice Gardens in Papercrete Troughs..........

Show season has finally slowed down enough to allow me to experiment with new ideas. This is my version of a crevice garden using a papercrete trough and papercrete crevice rocks. The trough is filled with sempervivums and sedums. I will build a few more and see what customers have to say about them. Hope they like these little gardens as much as I had fun building them. 

Spring Fun..........

Leftover pumpkin head pots from last Fall. Now that Spring has sprung I decided they needed some hair! Small hostas, Variegated Ficus, and String of Bananas succulent all make good fillers!

Tabletop.............

I just took a tabletop out of the mold and allowing it to thoroughly dry. As soon as I have determined it to be dry I will sand the edges and corners and place it on the short stand which sits beside the top. The slot in the middle of the top will be planted with succulents. This top is 44" X 21" and is the second one I have made. The first top was sold almost as soon as it was displayed for sale! 

The mold is ready to be oiled and filled again. I'm thinking I will add concrete colorant to the mix for the next top. I like to make stands for the tops and other projects well ahead of time from recycled wood then placed outside to weather. My customers like rustic but then I have never offered them anything with a fancy finish.

Four days from start to finish! Here is the final product that has been sanded and is now ready to be planted! Time to start another one..........

And finally planted!

New Papercrete Trough.........

Winter is almost non existent as of late yet it is our off season. Off season recreation for us includes days spent in thrift stores, flea markets, and even an occasional yard sale. While shopping last week my wife ran across a long low Rubbermaid brand storage container. It had no lid and was probably utilized to haul a shelf load of what-nots to the thrift store. A two dollar price tag enticed her to see what a long low trough might look like coming out of this mold.  

We were both pleased with the results of her labors on this one. Planting season is just around the corner and I am anxious to fill one of these troughs with an assortment of small sized plant material. I suggested she try building a few in different colors. Her response was "you will have to mix me some"! Well I guess I asked for that one! ☺

A New Year..............

Starting 2017 with a growing inventory. It is always a scramble to have enough ready to accommodate our customers throughout the sales season.  January and February will be spent doubling our supply and experimenting with some new ideas.

That time of year.........

If someone on Pinterest can dream it up my wife will try to recreate it! Autumn began on September 22nd so it getting to be 'Halloween' time very soon. We will have some papercrete Jack-o-lanterns to offer our customers this year!

Papercrete Hands.............

My wife has been experimenting with different things and here is the results of her latest efforts. After trying several ideas and not being happy with any of them her assessment of this set of hands is "almost" there. I was very pleased with her progress. She has several sets drying as I write. It will be fun to plant each of them!

Today I planted her set of hands with sedums and sempervivums. I'm sure this arrangement will not last long on our sales table!