DIY Christmas clay pot soldiers

These terra cotta pot soldiers are a fun project I helped my mom do for Christmas 2009. We oringially saw similar Christmas toy soldiers guarding a front door in a neighborhood in Dallas and had talked about making out own for years. This was before my blog obsession which is why there are no action shots! For more of my mom’s Texas themed Christmas decorations, check this post out.

*This post was first published on December 4, 2010.

What you need to make Chrsitmas toy soldiers

5 pots all the same size
paint
ribbon
belt
hot glue
black faux fur (or black felt)
wooden base (we used the top of a stool)
epoxy glue

How to make Christmas toy soldiers out of clay pots

Step 1- Make the base and paint black

We used the top of an old bar stool for the base of the pot soldier and painted it black. Then, paint one pot black.

Step 2- Paint black and blue

Next, it’s time to paint the second terra cotta pot. For this pot, paint the rim of the pot black and then paint the below the rim blu

Step 3- Paint the 3rd pot

Keep the black paint out because you will paint the rim of the 3rd pot black to create the toy soldiers waist. Below the rim, paint red.

Step 4- Paint the 4th pot

There is no not need to paint the rim of the 4th pot since it will get covered with black felt. Below the rim of the pot, paint it skin tone as this pot will be soldiers face.
Step 5- Paint the 5th pot

The rim of the 5th pot does not need to be painted since it will also get covered with black felt. Paint the rest of this pot black. It will act as the soldiers hat.

Step 6- Add details

After ample drying time, it is time to bring the toy soldiers to life! Here are the embellishments my mom and I added:

We added a real belt around the waist.
6 gold buttons and we used ribbon to connect
We used fake fur around the the rim of the face pot and hat pot to add character to the hat. We put 2 stripes of gold ribbon above the fur to fancy up his hat.
The hat topper is actually 2 gold Christmas ornaments we found at Hobby Lobby for 1$. We used hot glue to stick them together and then attached them to the pot with epoxy glue.
For the face- We used a sharpie for the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth, and then painted a simple light pink triangle for the nose. The rosy cheeks and inside of the eyes are felt.

Step 7- Glue pots together

We glued the pots together with epoxy glue. Word to the wise, the toy soldiers are very heavy and moving them is difficult. We use a little red wagon to move the soldiers from place to place!

And here’s one last picture of the clay pot soldiers guarding the house!

A few years after my mom and I made the big toy soldiers, I made these mini clay pot Christmas soldiers by myself. For the record, it was so much easier!

Have you ever made Christmas toy soldiers our of clay pots? I’d love to hear…

What you need to make Chrsitmas toy soldiers