And lastly, the larger or fancier they are, the pricier they are.
This project will allow you to have beautiful custom pots without a price tag that would wilt the healthiest bloom. It’s that time of year again. Some flowers are beginning to bloom and we are working hard to insure there will be plenty more to follow. With the thought of flowers everywhere, it seemed the perfect time to do a flowerpot project.
Materials needed:
10 “ – 12” Terra Cotta flowerpot
Oil paints
Painter’s tape
Brushes
Linseed oil
Newspaper
Optional- Polyurethane
For this pot we are going to use the burnt orange color of the pot as part of the design. I am using a glossy dark cobalt blue for the other color just because the contrast between the gloss of the paint and the mat of the pot adds another dimension. Feel free to choose one or two colors that you enjoy. You may want to consider what other colors are in the area the pot will inhabit when choosing your colors.
Lay out your newspaper to cover your work surface. Oil paints are messy. Lay the pot on its side and using the painter’s tape, tape off stripes in a diagonal fashion. Do not tape the pot lip. Leave about two inches between stripes. Turn pot and continue around. If your last stripe doesn’t leave two inches, adjust the other stripes out or in to give the impression the gaps are close to equal.
Now work in the other direction. Lay tape in the opposite diagonal across the existing stripes. Once again, do not tape the pot collar or lip. Repeat the process all the way around including the adjustment at the end.
Now if you are using several colors, randomly paint your colors into the untapped spaces. Don’t leave any of the untaped spaces unpainted.
Now you need to paint the lip of your pot. Run a line of painter’s tape along the top inside lip. If you are using one color with the terra cotta, the lip will be painted the same color. If you are using multiple colors, you get to decide which color to showcase. I say that because this will be the primary color of the pot.
Allow pot to dry completely. This is critical. Moisture will seep into the terra cotta after you pot a plant. If the paint isn’t dry this can alter the paint.
Polyurethane can be used to seal the entire pot and give it a universal sheen (i.e. Gloss, matte, semi gloss) or can be used only on the paint or only on the terra cotta. The other option is to skip the polyurethane altogether. This is strictly a matter of style.
Use it yourself, give it as a gift or save it to use for our next project making feather flowers.
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