How to Make a Puppy Dog With Clay Pots

As plants become larger, their outgrown pots may accumulate and cause clutter. You can recycle these pots into a decorative terracotta puppy dog sculpture for your garden, porch or balcony. Once the sculpture is complete, you can dress it up by planting a flower in the top pot.

4 large terracotta pots with drainage holes

14 small terracotta pots with drainage holes

Acrylic paint

Paint brushes

Measuring tape

9 treated wood dowels or treated wood pieces

Handsaw

Heavy-duty glue

Hammer and nails

Select six small terracotta pots for the dog's tail, eight small pots for the legs, two large pots for the body, one large pot for the head and the remaining large pot for the snout. Paint dog-like colors and features on the pots with acrylic paint.

Take measurements of your pots. Stack six small pots and measure the length, then stack two small pots and measure the length. Last, measure the length of one large pot and the diameter of the flower pot's drainage hole.

Select nine wood pieces with a diameter or thickness slightly smaller than the diameter of the small flower pot drainage hole.

Saw the wood pieces so that four are 1 inch longer than a large flower pot, four are an inch longer than the two stacked pots, and one is 1 inch longer than the six stacked pots. These pieces will make the two body pieces, neck, snout, legs and tail, respectively.

Saw one end of each leg piece at a 20 degree angle. Take one of the body pieces and nail the angled ends of two leg pieces to the end of the body piece. Saw one end of the tail piece at a 45 degree angle and nail it to the back of the body piece on the same end as the legs, so the tail sticks up. You now have the back end of a dog with two back legs and an upraised tail.

Take the other body piece and nail the angled ends of two leg pieces to the end of the body piece. Saw one end of the neck piece at a 45 degree angle and nail it to the back of the body piece on the same end of the legs. You now have the front end of a dog with two back legs and a raised neck.

Reinforce all the wood joints with heavy-duty glue and allow them to dry. Take one of the large flower pots and thread the back body piece through the hole in the bottom so the bottom of the pot faces the back legs. Take another large flower pot and thread the front body piece through the hole in the bottom so the bottom of the pot faces the front legs. Glue the two flower pot rims together to connect the dog's separate body pieces.

Stack two small, upside-down pots and thread a dog's leg through the pots. Repeat this process with the other three legs and three more pairs of pots. Glue the pots in place. Stack six small pots over the wood tail and glue in place.

Place one large pot, face-up, so the pot's hole goes over the neck piece and glue in place.

Take the last wooden piece and saw it at a 20 degree angle. Nail it to the top of the neck piece and glue in place to reinforce it. This is the dog's snout. Allow the glue to dry before proceeding.

Take the last pot and thread it over the last wooden piece so the open end of the pot faces the body. Glue the snout pot to the head pot and the wood piece to secure it. The dog is now complete. You can plant a flower in the top.

Use broken terracotta pieces to make dog features such as ears, a nose or spots.