Creating Vintage Chalk Paint Terra Cotta Flower Pots

I have a favorite little green flower pot.  It’s a pale, muted green glazed terra cotta pot.  For some reason, it is my favorite little flower pot.  I want to create a similar look by painting my own vintage chalk paint terra cotta flower pots using Poet’s Paint and spraying them with a clear coat.

I decided I would also attempt to add a stencil design, perhaps a French label so I went to www.GraphicsFairy.com of course for some label ideas.  Much to my surprise, not only did I find some great label ideas but sure enough, someone also had the same idea of painting terra cotta pots and giving them a vintage look with French labels. Great minds do indeed think a like. They used a more whitewash look on the pots which was very pretty but I wanted a more opaque pale vintage color like Poet’s Paint Vintage Silk Blue, Vintage 50’s Green, Seaside, Vintage White, Driftwood Grey or Buttercup.

Tools

• Paint Brush
• Paint
• Terra Cotta Pot ($3 at Wal-mart)
• Modge Podge Matte Version ($7)
• Chip Brush (optional)
• Masking Tape (optional)
• Copy paper and inkjet printer
• Krylon I00500A00 12-Ounce Triple Thick Clear Glaze Aerosol Spray  ($3.47) – better than Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel
• Flower Pot Clips ($13) (optional for use for hanging on fence)

If you don’t find a label that you like from Graphics Fairy, you can download the one I created and used for these pots. oval-label.jpg

QUICK TIP: The process of transferring the label using Modge Podge, works better on paler colors of paint such as the colors mentioned above rather than darker colors.  And this is because when you remove the paper from the transfer, there remains a bit of ghostly white haze left behind that is more prominent on a darker color.  You won’t even notice it if you’re using Vintage White, Vintage Silk Blue or Driftwood Grey.

Use the masking tape to mask off the rim then paint the pot.  The paint will dry quickly.

While the paint dries, print out your label on regular copy paper.  REMEMBER to reverse the image when you print it out.  You can download the one I created and used for these pots. oval-label.jpg  Cut out the image.

Cover the image with a generous coating of Modge Podge.

Place the image on the dried pot, image side down and smooth out any air bubbles.  Let the image dry overnight.

The image should be very dry.  Dip the chip brush in water and continuously soak the image.  Using the bristles of the chip brush, gently move the bristles around the image letting it pull up the paper.

When you think you’ve removed most of the paper, use the pads of your fingers to feel and remove any remaining paper. Then let the pot dry.

Once dry, you can spray it with a coating such as Krylon Triple Thick Clear Glaze (about or similar top coat or just leave it matte. Some pots I coated and other I left matte.  I liked them both ways.  I also found I liked some of the pots with a whitewashed rim and some with a raw terra cotta rim.

I purchase these great little clips on Amazon so that I could hang the pots on my wooden fence.  A 12-pak cost me about $13.  The clips could easily work to attach pots to a tree or attach them to anything that you can put a screw into.  They hold a pot quite securely in heavy wind.  These are great for putting my herbs out of reach of the rabbits in my yard. And I just leave flowers in their original pots and put two or three at a time in my larger vintage painted pots and switch them out whenever I want new ones.

This project was super simple and pretty cheap and I love the aged look of the vintage chalk paint terra cotta flower pots.