Clay Pots – Upcycled

6 Materials
$20
3 Hours
Medium
Clay pots are abundant. You can find them at almost any gardening center or big box store and if you’re like me, you can also thrift them as well. Even better yet, they are cheap. Yes, they cost little or nothing and another great thing about them is that they can easily be upcycled into something beautiful. Whether for your garden or to store kitchen utensils, Clay Pots – Upcycled is a great idea.

In this article, I will walk you through the process of upcycling clay pots and turning a diamond in the rough into a smooth and beautifully polished diamond of a container.
My flowerpots were new but if you are upcycling an old/used pot, you should first clean it thoroughly with soap and water. If they have not been sealed and are stored outside, they can be pretty cruddy. If you are using a new pot then you can move on to step 2 which is to seal the pot. I use an all-purpose sealant by DecoArt. thoroughly with soap and water. If they have not been sealed and are stored outside, they can be pretty cruddy. If you are using a new pot then you can move on to step 2 which is to seal the pot. I use an all-purpose sealant by DecoArt. 
I seal the pot both inside and out and I usually apply 2 – 3 coats on the inside and the outside before I begin painting. The sealant is because clay pots are porous and if you intend to use them as a planter, the moisture will destroy the painted surface in no time. Whereas if you seal it first, you should not have any damage at all. Allow the sealant to dry between coats. The next step is to paint the pot(s) the color of your choice. I used an inexpensive chalk paint in the color Spanish Moss.





I painted two coats of the chalked paint and allowed it to dry/cure overnight because it just didn’t look finished to me. I needed time to think. icon
The next step for this project was to decoupage a napkin onto the pots.
I decoupaged each pot with a napkin of flowers. I used Modpodge as my decoupage glue. After the napkin dried thoroughly, I whitewashed the post with a white chalk paint. After the whitewash dried, I dry brushed a tan in places over the white paint. This technique aged the pots a bit and made them look as if they had been sitting around for a while, which was the look I was going for.
Finally, I applied 3 coats of my final sealant. For the final sealant, I used MinWax Waterbased Indoor/Outdoor Spar Urethane. The five steps used for this project are listed on my website and you can get the entire step-by-step instructions and the supply list here.


If you are a crafter, you will have some of these supplies in your stash as I had and the project will cost little or nothing. If you are a new crafter it could be a little more expensive but you will use your paint, sealants, Mod Podge and even the napkins in other projects. You can visit my site for links to the supplies.


Also, if you like this post, you can find a similar one here.
Suggested materials:
  • Clay Pots   (Had them At Home)
  • Sealant   (Amazon)
  • Chalk Paint   (Amazon)
See all materials
Clearissa Coward
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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