Cactus Painted Rocks with Yarn Pots

Painted rocks have been everywhere lately – one of the biggest crafting trends of the past few years! I’ve seen so many cute ideas… but I had a few more, and I decided to try them out. Here are  some of the things I learned along the way, my failures, and my best results: Cactus Painted Rocks with Yarn Pots!

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links; materials provided by Red Heart Yarn.

Okay, so some of you may have seen my Instagram photo from last Sunday, when I decided to try out some of my ideas. And this post almost got named “Potato… Potatnot.”

Time to get crafty! 👐 #sundayfunday #crafting #whileiwasyarning #redheartyarns #rockpainting #plaidcrafts #decoart #joannfabrics #craftastherapy #mooglyblog #sneakpeek #comingsoon

A post shared by Tamara Kelly (@mooglyblog) on Jun 10, 2018 at 11:47am PDT

Because lemme tell ya – first of all, the rocks do totally look like potatoes here! Touche, and too funny! I was glad for the smiles because… I was failing. Every idea I had was just. not. working.

I thought Rose Gold is hot – let’s try painting rocks Rose Gold!

Eh…

Then I tried that “dip the yarn in the paint and use it to create a neat design on the rock.”

Bleh.

I also tried making a stamp with yarn – and that made a big ole paint blob.

Nope.

There were more ideas. And they failed spectacularly, one after another.

Then… a success! I did figure out how to attach yarn to a rock – good ole Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue! Sticks great, dries clear, easy to find and use, kid friendly – I was on to something! Let’s mix this idea with the rose gold, and….

Meh. I didn’t love anything I’d made, but I *had* made some discoveries along the way. And I had a new idea! So I grabbed some spray paint from the garage…

And then I found out that spray paint takes at least 3 days to dry on rocks – and they might still be tacky as you read this. It’s pretty humid here, in fairness. I think the coverage is great though – I was just out of patience (and time!) for this project!

So, I went back to the store and started over with a new bag-o-rocks and a new paint. I had exactly one day to see if this last idea would work – or this would be a week on Moogly without a project!

I got home and covered the rocks with Mistletoe Green DecoArt Patio Paint Outdoor.

Then I saw this on the back…. yikes!! 72 hours was NOT going to be fast enough!

Luckily, it was dry to the touch within 2-3 hours – though I’m sure it needs the full 72 hours to “cure” or whatever it is it does to be outdoor ready.

So then, I used a Testors Acrylic Paint Marker in Gloss White to add some details!

Time for the final – yarny! – step. Using Red Heart Super Saver Chunky in Goldenrod, I wrapped the bottom portion of each rock.

I would add a row of glue, then a row of yarn, then a row of glue… etc.

Almost there…

And a little while later, voila!

Cactus Painted Rocks with Yarn Pots!

Rock painting may not become a steady hobby for me, but it was fun to give it a try – and the addition of yarn! What do you think? Have you tried rock painting? Do you have some fun ideas for rocks that include yarn?

I hope you enjoyed this project – a little different to be sure! Rock painting is a fun project to try with your kids over summer vacation – or a good way to make plants that won’t succumb to my lack of a green thumb…

If you make Cactus Painted Rocks with Yarn Pots or this project inspires your own, I’d love to see! So if you share a photo on social media, be sure to tag me @mooglyblog or #mooglyblog – and happy crocheting!

Written words and photos copyright Tamara Kelly 2018, all rights reserved. Please do not reprint or repost this post, but please do link to this page to share this pattern with others. To print or download, use the Print Friendly button below, or go to PrintFriendly.com, or right-click to copy and paste it into a word processing document if those options do not work for you (please note that Print Friendly is a free outside website that the button links to, and you can click here for a tutorial on how to use it, but I cannot provide additional technical support for this service). If you wish to make items for sale from this tutorial or translate it to another language, please visit the About page for details. Thank you to Red Heart Yarn for providing the materials for this pattern.