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TERRA COTTA TOAD HOUSE
Did you know a single toad can eat more than 100 garden pests in one day?
Creatures like beetles, nasty bug critters called earwigs and slugs are
some of their favorite snacks. So let's invite our little toad
buddies to move into a little terra cotta home we're going to make.
You
You will need to get
the following supplies:
3 terra cotta plant pots -- one that's 6 inches in diameter and two that
are 2 1/2 inches in diameter
Patio paint (available
at craft stores) -- choose dark green, lighter green, black, white and
pink
 Craft paintbrushes
Waterproof glue
A large rubber band
First, rinse and
thoroughly dry the pots before you start. When they're dry, paint
the outside of the pots (including the bottoms) dark green. When
they're dry paint the inside of the large pot pink (the toad's mouth) and
the inside of the little pots light green (these are his eyes.)
After the paint has dried thoroughly, paint smaller white circles in the
little pots. When the white circles are dry, paint the black
circles. Then paint the final white smaller circles (like the art
below.) You can make his eyes look up, down or sideways depending
upon how you paint his eyes.
With a generous amount of good waterproof glue, stick the small pots to
the large pot, one at a time. You might have someone help you with
this part. If you're doing this by yourself, you might want to hold
the little pot in place with a rubber band and let it dry completely
before gluing the second pot onto the large pot. You don't want his
eyes to be crooked, do you?
Now that the "eye" pots are on, let the painted and glued toad cure for at
least 72 hours before placing it outside.
When you're ready to put your toad house outside, you want
to find just the right spot. You might partially bury the house so
there's soil filling half of your toad house "mouth." Make sure
there's some soil and a few leaves inside the "mouth" of your house.
Now sit back and wait until the toads find their new home!
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