I love it when I see women break away from fearing heavy-duty type industrial equipment like welding torches! Yeah, I don’t care what is said about “we’ve come a long way, baby!” in terms of women’s lib (is that terminology dating me, or what?? Yes … I did march up 5th Avenue in NYC many moons ago, screaming “What do we want”? Equality! When do we want it? NOW!!!” But I digress…) I find that many woman are still very hesitant to pick up anything more menacing than a paint brush.

Anyway, I came across an article by an Alaskan gardener, Christine who shared her experience in picking up a welding torch and making these cool rusty metal fish.

I thought you all just might get some inspiration to try your hand at a new way of creating garden art items – whether or not your tool of choice is a welding torch. It could be anything, even something like picking up a sponge to try your hand at daubing to very easily create a decorative paint technique on a pot to use outdoors. Let your creative juices flow! It’s fun to try new things. You might find a new hobby, too.

You never know … you might gain a passion for something that allows you to give really personalized gifts to friends and family to grace their gardens (and they’ll always remember you when they look at what you made), or maybe this new hobby you enjoy could turn into a side income for you. Hey – who knows?

Anyway, as I always say “Remember … Have Fun!”

I received an email from Yogesh, asking for help with trying his hand at applying a decorative paint technique of some sort to a 100-year old pot he really wanted to repaint. That first email didn’t have enough information for me to properly answer him, so I asked him to email me again with more exacting information.

Here’s his reply to me:

Thank you very much for your offer to help me.

Please find attached pics of the pot I was talking about. This pot is around 100 years old, we used to keep water in this, but now I want to keep it in my hall as a show piece.

It was leaking so my mom had applied cement, which you can see in the pic, too. I want to paint it in coffee/dark brown color, but if you can suggest something great I would appreciate it.

Do also let me know which country are you located in? I am from India.

Kindly suggest what best [sic] can be done on this pot? Looking forward to your reply.

Regards, Yogesh

My reply:

Hello Yogesh:
First, I live in Tennessee, in the USA. Nice to know my website is visited by people from other countries.

About what decorative paint technique you could apply to this pot … after reviewing the photos you sent (thank you) this is my suggestion on how to try and bring it back to a more eye-appealing object:

1) Scrape off/sand off/wash off any dirt, loose paint, or loose cement on the pot. If it has any dirt, or grime, or possible greasy residue on the outside surface you must remove it, as the new layers of paint need a clean surface to adhere to. If you wash your pot with water and soap, please make sure it is 100% dry before you proceed. Water might absorb into the pot, especially in the spots that have cement, so give it a few days at least to dry.

2) For a 2-tone coffee/dark brown coloration – that decorative paint technique is not at all hard to do. I will suggest choosing 3 shades of coffee/dark brown colors … light, medium and dark shades. I will assume in India you have stores that sell either “craft paint”, or if those are not available, then you can use paint used for painting inside walls in houses – “latex paints”. Latex paint cleans up with soap and water, which is much easier than using oil-based enamel paints. However, you can also use oil-based enamels.

3) I advise that you use either of these decorative techniques to apply the paints: the daubing technique or sponge technique. Easy to do and either can provide a very nice, antique looking result. My website provides the information on this page Daubing Decorative Paint Technique and this page Sponge Painting Technique.

**Make sure you paint a good base coat of paint onto your pot before you begin to apply the other colors (again … follow the directions in my instructions).

4) PRACTICE FIRST on something other than your pot to make sure you like the colors you chose, and to get the knack of how to daub or sponge on the paint to get the “look” you want after the paint dries. I practice on large pieces of cardboard that I brush on a neutral color paint on first, so that my paint colors show truer than if I painted them onto plain brown cardboard. You may find that you need to use more of one color and less of another; you may decide you don’t like the colors you chose; you may find the way you apply the paints doesn’t look realistic enough … or you may LOVE your first test and know you can proceed to do the same technique onto your pot.

5) After the painted colors have dried, apply at least 2 coats of clear sealant. There are matte, semi-gloss and gloss finishes available. It’s up to you how “dull” or shiny looking you want your pot to be.

That’s about it.

The biggest factors in being successful in making any decorative faux finish look attractive and/or “real” is going to be correct color combination choices AND your SKILL LEVEL or artistic ability in order to apply a convincing painted finish to the pot. These two issues I cannot help you with.

I hope this information helps and I am sure that if you take your time, practice some, experiment with applying the paints in different ways to finally achieve the “look” you want, that your very interesting old jug will take on a whole new life!

Best of luck with your project Yogesh, and do not hesitate to contact me in the future if you have more decorative paint technique or faux finish questions or “how to” concerns.

Gabby emailed me asking:

Hello, can you help me find the right type of paint for a large concrete planter? It is grey concrete and I want to achieve a tuscan look. Also where do I buy this paint?

Thank you sooooo much … Gabby

My reply:

Hi Gabby:
I will be happy to help and answer your questions.

#1) For information on what paints to use and info on what I think will be an easy way for you to get a tuscan look, please refer to my article: Decorative Sponge Painting.

Note: in this article I do not mention concrete planters (but I should – think I’ll add that to the page) but acrylic OR latex paints will be fine for your planter. Follow the directions in my article and you ought to have a nice long lasting decorative paint finish for many years.

Getting the “Tuscan look” you want will of course rest upon your artistic abilities. If need be … practice on a large piece of cardboard to get the color combination and appearance right. Sometimes my color choices aren’t always the greatest after I see them applied together. I have to do trial runs myself sometimes!

#2) In the USA, acrylic craft paints can be found at stores like Michael’s Crafts, Hobby Lobby, even the Wal-Mart in my area has a huge array in their craft section.

Or, regular latex paint can be purchased at stores like Sherwin Williams (though probably pricier than what you need to spend), Home Depot, even Wal-Mart sells latex paints, or most large hardware stores. You do not need to buy the most expensive paints.

#3) Make sure to apply at least 2 or 3 good coats of clear sealant, too. There are matte, semi-gloss and gloss finishes. For a Tuscan look I will say a matte finish is what you should use.

In addition, I suggest you take a few extra minutes to read all the pages I have in the decorative paint techniques section of my website. You’ll get lots more helpful how-tos that will not only help you have success with this decorative paint project, but any others you decide to to try.

Best of luck in dressing up your concrete planter! A Tuscan-type technique really isn’t a too-difficult decorative paint project for even a beginner to try.

I received an email from Beth asking:

First of all I have to tell you I absolutely love your website. I just found it yesterday and am really enjoying all of your information.

Question … does sealing the inside of clay or terra cotta pots affect the plants at all? I have painted several of them for this summer and had left the inside untouched. Was a little hesitant and just wasn’t quite sure. Thanks! Beth

My reply:

Hi Beth:
Thank you so much for your kind compliments. I appreciate you taking the time to tell me.

Sealing the inside of pots causes no problems that I am aware of … I seal all my pots on the inside and my plants are thriving. I use Krylon acrylic clear spray paint, BTW. Always am happy with the long-term results.

However, I know a garden-art artist who swears by Thompson’s Water Sealant to seal the inside of her pots. She says it doesn’t harm her plants in the least.

But, to err on the safe side, I wouldn’t use Thompson’s Water Sealant if you’re going to grow something edible in it – not sure if the sealant would leach into the soil, and ultimately the plant.

On a side note: before she begins a decorative painted technique project, she told me she applies a good coat of SprayN’Seal. It’s a pottery sealer and she says the only place she can find the stuff is at Ace Hardware Stores. (It’s a product from Canada – made by Cartanna International Sales Inc.; phone number is 604-943-2727)

The only other thing I’d like to add here about using Thompson’s Water Sealant … maybe it’s great for terra cotta, but it sure STUNK when I used it years ago on my deck! What a waste of my money; it only lasted one year and did a p##-poor job of sealing my wood deck.

So … even when using on a terra cotta / clay pot … you be the judge as I’ve not personally tried it.

To see all the painted techniques and how-tos on my website that will teach you how to liven up any old plain plastic, resin or terra cotta or clay garden pot, please go to: Decorative Paint Techniques For Garden Planters & Pots.