Paint a pot: Terra-cotta dresses up - Project - Brief Article

Sunset, March, 2002 by Jil Peters

Ordinary terra-cotta pots turn fashionable when you add vivid colors and labels. Use them for growing young herbs or annual bedding plants; they can go in-doors or out, as long as there's no danger of freezing.

TIME: About 1 hour, plus drying time

COST: About $35 for three pots

MATERIALS

* Terra-cotta pots (ours measure 7 1/2 inches tall, 5 3/4 inches wide)

* Pottery sealant spray

* Acrylic paint: one 4-ounce jar each of blue and green (or two colors of your choice)

* 2-inch-wide foam brush

* Masking tape

* Sheet of vinyl letters

* Spray-on clear acrylic coating (gloss)

* Sheet of self-adhesive laminate (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1 Spray the inside of the pot with pottery sealant; dry for 24 hours.

2 Paint outside of pot green (or your first color); allow to dry for about an hour.

3 Wrap masking tape (or a strip of the self-adhesive laminate) around the top or bottom third of the pot. Peel backing from vinyl letters, then press them to the pot, just above or below the masking tape. (To make the variation with circle, see below)

4 Apply the blue paint (or your second color), covering the letters (see photo above); allow it to dry for about an hour.

5 Remove the tape and vinyl letters from the pot. Spray on acrylic coating; allow to dry.

Variation with circle. To create the circle shown on the back pot, follow steps 1 and 2 above. While paint dries, cut a 5-inch square of self-adhesive laminate, then draw a 4-inch-diameter circle in its center. Cut out and discard the circle. When paint is dry, peel off laminate's backing and position the stencil on the pot where you want it. Peel backing from vinyl letters and apply them to the pot within the circle. Apply second color within the cut-out circle; allow to dry. Proceed with step 5.