How to make a Chia Pet

I absolutely love making these!  They are cheap and easy, fun and fast to grow.  First you'll need a few things:
1. A cup
2. A piece of stocking/pantyhose about 20cm long - you can either use the toe end, or you can just cut a length 20cm long and then tie a knot in one end (I did this and put a pretty bow on it)
3. Grass Seeds (any cheap ones will do, I got mine at Woolworths)
4. Potting Mix (again, anything cheap will do)
5. Googly eyes (or something to make eyes)
6. Water (in a watering can or sprayer)

Okay, all you have to do is fill your stocking with a decent about of grass seeds (about a cup), then pour on some potting mix (enough to make a decent size head).  Then tie it off with a good knot.  Now to place it in the cup I sort of squished some of the potting mix down in the stocking so that it would nestle into the cup (this helps to to not fall over as the head can get a little top heavy).  When you are happy that it's going to fit in the cup snuggly, pour some water into the cup and then sit the head on top.  The water will suck up the stocking and wet the potting mix.  Now I did find that the stocking tended to repel the water.  If this happens all I did was immerse the entire head gently into a dish of water so that the stocking became thoroughly wet, then returned it to the cup.  My grass heads at kindy were put on a bench out on our verandah, all it get's is the morning sun (if at all), and the grass was fully grown within 2 weeks!  We had really good shoots in 1 week!

You can even try to make different hair shapes - we managed to get a mohawk cause the head fell off the bench and dislodged some of the seeds!  Some of the heads ended up with balding spots or whiskers which really gave them character!

Note: I glued the eyes on with normal PVA glue before I wet any part of the grass head.  Once they were dry they didn't mind being dunked in water.  We also used large cardboard tubes (like the cardboard left after you use up all your masking tape) to hold open the stocking for the children to pour seeds and potting mix through - this really made the job easier!

Here is my assistants Grass Head - they truly do take on a look all of their own!


Don't you want one for yourself!?

If you would like to see a new take on this idea, please click here to see some of my Caterpillar Chia Pets

2 comments

Anonymous said...

Those are so cute. I think my children probably want to make them. I sense a project . . . :)

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Amanda Sevall said...

hee hee hee!! This is too cute!! Love it!!