DIY Baby Groot Chia Pet Style Planter

Best Guardians of the Galaxy craft: How to make a baby groot chia pet inspired planter
Is a Groot Chia Pet on your Christmas wish list? If you love baby Groot and are dying to grow your own chia pet style Groot planter, I have a super fun DIY project for you!

This is a super unique recycled craft - I'll bet you've never imagined using toilet paper rolls quite this way!

I love baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. The baby version of him makes his sacrifice in the first movie so fun. He didn't die and we get to enjoy a cuter version for a while.

I love at the end credits of the first movie to see him dancing in the planter to the music. 


Baby Groot dancing in pot

My recycled version of the Groot chia pet is like a Guardians of the Galaxy chia head - but more fun!

This project was originally created and published on Creative Green Living in June, 2017.

For Christmas 2018, we noticed that official Groot Chia Pets were now on the market! How fun!

If DIY isn't your style, you can definitely pick one of these up!

Feeling crafty? I'd love to show you how to make your own Groot Chia Pet inspired planter!

Chia Planter FAQ

Have you ever grown a chia pet before? Not sure what chia seeds are? Here are answers to commonly asked questions about chia and chia planters!

Make an upcycled DIY chia pet style planter that looks like Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy

How do you grow a Groot chia pet?

Once you have built your DIY Groot planter body, mix 1 teaspoon of chia seeds with 2 Tbsp of water. Stir and allow to sit until the chia seeds have plumped up and absorbed the water - about 30 minutes.

Spread the thick chia seed mix on top of the Groot head, along the arms and anywhere you want to grow the chia seeds!

Continue watering your chia planter my misting it with a spray bottle filled with water once a day.

Do chia seeds come from chia pets?

While Chia Pets definitely made chia seeds a mainstream family item, chia seeds come from a plant known commonly as salviaIt is also known as hispanic chia or salba chia

Chia is a desert plant that flourishes in South America. It's tiny blue or purple flowers are what produce the chia seeds we eat or use in chia planters.
© sherjaca/Fotolia (Chia from Encyclopedia Brittanica)

 Can chia plants be eaten?

Yes! Both the plant and seed is edible. Want to sneak a taste of your chia planter? Just give it a good look to make sure it hasn't gone moldy first. 

How to Creative a Groot Chia Pet Inspired Planter


Here's the full tutorial for this fun little Groot planter using recycled toilet paper or paper towel rolls. It's a great craft for the kids to work on with you!

DIY Guardians of the Galaxy craft - how to make a Groot chia pet inspired planter

Supplies 

  • 3-4 empty toilet paper rolls or 2 paper towel rolls
  • 4 inch plant pot or other recycled plastic container
  • Moss, pebbles or soil filler
  • Bird seed, grass seeds or chia seeds
  • School glue
  • Styrofoam ball or filler for planter
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Directions

How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 1: Soak

Soak the paper rolls in a bowl of water until they open up.

How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 2: Mold like Clay

Tear strips of the paper and roll 4 long pieces for the legs and arms.  The edges can and should be rough and tattered.


How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 3: Build Body

Line up the legs and arms and then use strips of paper and wrap them around the torso, between the legs and waist.  The wet paper sticks to itself, so it's pretty easy to wrap.  Young children might be frustrated with this technique, but older kids should get it.

How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 4: Form the Head

Take some paper and roll a ball, continue to wrap it in pieces of paper until it is slightly over-sized for the body you made.  I tore a rough edge to wrap around it with the angle of Groot's head.  Press a pencil or your finger in the base of the head, this will help with assembling on the body later.

How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 5: Glue and Bake 

Lay on a baking sheet and add some white school glue right on top.  You can forgo this step, as the paper dries hard enough on it's own.  Then bake it in the oven at 175F for 3 hours.  Or you can let it air dry over a couple days.  You can glue the head on the neck at this point, but I opted to wait until after drying.

How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 6: Assemble

It looks a little bit like a voodoo doll!
 Add some glue right on the neck
 And fit the head snugly in place.

How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 7: Plant!

Now you have some options.  You could tie some twine on Groot, cover with some peanut butter and cover in bird seeds and hang on the tree. I decided to do a planter.  Fit the styrofoam ball or other filler in the pot.
Next fill the pot with some moss, potting soil or pebbles before inserting Baby Groot.

How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 7: Add a face!

Use a permanent marker to add a little face.  At this point you could just sit back and enjoy your baby Groot as a decoration but I want to turn mine into a fun planter!

How to Make a Baby Groot Chia Planter STEP 7: Add Seeds

To add seeds to your new friend, adhere them with a little peanut butter.
 Just add a little peanut butter to the head and arms.
 And sprinkle with seeds.  I used bird seed, but using grass seeds or chia seeds and misting with a spray bottle would be so fun for kids to see the grass grow, just like sprouting Groot!  Kids would love giving their new friend a hair cut in a week because the grass grows so fast.

I am Groot!

I love doing crafts with items that would normally get thrown out.  TP rolls are a huge contender.  This is a great summer craft to do with kids!


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About the Author:

Natalie Shaw is a Craft/DIY blogger at Doodle Craft. She loves sci-fi, fantasy and video game geekery and that comes out in many of her projects. She posts budget conscious DIY’s, crafts, jewelry, kid friendly projects, upcycled treasures and other fun on her blog five days a week.You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

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