Plants and flowers are still very welcome presents as small gifts for friends, colleagues or acquaintances. They always look good as a colorful addition to a voucher or something else. Cut flowers are rather unpopular in my environment for many reasons - that's why I always give away small potted plants.
And if you already have such a great Mr Beam with Height Extension at home, you ca n't leave such a small flower pot unengraved , or what do you think? You can personalize it with a funny saying or your name.
Choosing the plant for the engraved flower pot
When it came to choosing plants, I switched to succulents. Because do you know them too, the people without a green thumb? Where every plant simply dies after a few weeks or months?
Succulents are simply survivors. They require very little attention due to their water storing ability. This means that the amount of care and therefore the amount of work required is very limited.
What are succulents?
Succulents are water-storing plants that are adapted to particular climate and soil conditions. They store water in boots, leaves or roots, or even a combination of the above-mentioned water stores. Typical stem succulents include cacti. You probably know the houseleek as a well-known representative of leaf succulents. Root succulents form tubers on the roots to store water.
So in summary, they are the ideal gift - even for people without a green thumb.
Material for flower pot engraving
- small clay flower pots with a maximum diameter of 6.8 cm at the top edge (tip: the actual dimensions usually differ slightly from the stated dimensions, so I recommend taking a small ruler with you when buying if you want the maximum possible size)
- the height extension
- small succulents
- possibly acrylic paint for spraying and painter's tape
Mr Beam Cutting Sti[x], 6 pack, 24cm
Sale price
From £19.00 GBP
Mr Beam Upgrade Kit ([x]Laser Head + Height Extension + Accessories)
Sale price
£1,166.00 GBP
Mr Beam Height Extension & Cutting Frame
Sale price
£239.00 GBP
You can paint the flower pots before engraving
You can give the small flower pots a different look with spray acrylic paint. Furthermore, you can let your creativity run wild, and the clay pots also look really beautiful in person with an engraving. Since the engraving is dark afterwards, I recommend painting at least the engraved area in lighter colours.
When painting, you should make sure that your spray paint does not contain any of the ingredients on this list from Mr Beam. You then prepare the spray can exactly according to the manufacturer's instructions and place the flower pot that you want to engrave in your paint booth or in your sufficiently large cardboard box set on its side. This way you protect the surroundings from the paint mist. You protect yourself with gloves and a mask.
Painting the flower pots
Paint the flower pot in several thin coats. This way you avoid drips and overall the paint dries much faster. If you want to use several colours to engrave your flower pot, let the base colour dry first.
Small drops or patterns on the flower pots
You can create small drops of paint with the spray paints by pressing the spray head very lightly. This creates small drops that you can let fall evenly onto the flower pot. You can get creative with acrylic pens or acrylic paint and brushes. I would leave out the area on the flower pot that needs to be engraved, or even cover it with masking tape.
Once dry, the flower pot is ready for engraving.
Engraving your flower pots
Start your Mr Beam and put the flower pot in it. Place the lower part on one of your Sti(x) in order to have the engraving area as horizontal as possible. In addition, you fix the flower pot on the right and left with a stylus (x). This will prevent it from rolling away.
Use the focus tool to determine the height of your engraving and open the Mr Beam software.
You can now set the height in the camera preview to get the most accurate preview image possible.
Create the engraving for the flower pots
I like puns! You too?! There are some funny sayings in English for flower pots, some are puns tailored to succulents. You can find a lot of suggestions on the internet.
No matter what you want to engrave on your flower pot , whether a pun or a personalization, the Mr Beam software has beautiful fonts installed that you can use for it.
To do this, select “Text” and type the saying of your choice into the field. The font “Amatic SC” is very suitable for very small pots, as the letters are narrow but still very legible. But the other fonts are also well suited for engraving.
Lasering the flower pots
In order to get the most beautiful engraving possible, it is important to focus the laser head precisely. The edge of the flower pot is higher than the rest. And if you want to engrave the entire side with a saying, it makes sense to engrave the saying in stages and always refocus in between. Due to the conical shape of the flower pot, the laser head will otherwise be completely out of focus at some point.
I used the following settings to engrave the flower pot:
Intensity: 80%
Speed: 1500mm/min
Runs: 1
Line spacing: 0.1mm
After engraving the flower pot, plant the succulent and your funny or personalized flower pot is ready.
I hope you have fun imitating and giving away the easy-care succulents to friends and acquaintances without a green thumb 🙂
Your Rina
