Paint a Pot

Here's a creative idea: Many of us garden-oriented folks have a lot of extra flower pots. In time, they inevitably become old and sometimes even yucky. But there's no need to toss them out! Here's what I did to give my pot a new life:

1) First I got out the scrub brush and cleaned out all the old dirt as best as possible. Mine was a terracotta pot, so it took a while to thoroughly dry after that.

2) Then, I went to the basement to find whatever remnants of paint were left over from a recent house renovation project. I found a nice oil-based white colour (although I think you'd be better off with a less toxic paint --I just used what was around). After two coats of paints, I had a nice white flower pot.

3) Now begins the fun! The blue and black designs you see in the photo aren't paint. I actually used ....permanent markers! In my opinion, they are much easier to use (especially for us dubiously artistic folks) and they have a nice effect! This particular design was inspired by a little blue and white hand-painted Portugese vase. But you can do any design you like in whatever colours are available. The possibilities are endless.

And, voila! ---you have a beautiful "new" flowerpot that will really add a lot more character to your patio/deck/veranda/terrasse/porch than a dirty old one.

One bit of advice, however: I'm not really sure how various paints react to moisture, so, if you painted over terracotta which is a porous material (like I did), you might want to use it as a decorative planter.