How To Paint and Distress Terra Cotta Pots
If you have a few terra cotta pots laying around and a little paint and some extra time, then try out this super simple DIY project. I already had everything on hand to make these and it only took a day to complete. And it was also so much fun to make as well! You can see my full blog post tutorial on it here too: https://morningsonmacedonia.com/easy-diy-painted-terra-cotta-pots/
- Terra Cotta Pots
- Paint (I used fusion mineral paint)
- Brushes
- Antiquing Glaze
The first thing you need to do is to paint the pots to the color of your choosing. Like I stated above, I used fusion mineral paint and I used the colors Bayberry, Lichen, and Homestead Blue. These colors are perfect for my front porch because I have a lot of blue and green hues there.
To distress the pots, I used white paint and I just dry brushed it on there. Basically, I just poured a little white paint out on the cardboard I was working on, dipped my paintbrush in there, and wiped off the excess. Then I used the little bit of paint that was on there to dry brush the pots.
If you're happy with how your pots look after dry brushing them with white paint, then you could totally stop there and not do this step. But I wanted my pots to look even more distressed so I decided to add in a little antiquing glaze. To apply, just use a damp rag dipped in the antiquing wax and rub over the pot. A little goes a long way! You don't need much of it at all. Then, just use a dry rag to wipe away the excess after you're done applying the glaze.
Like I said above, I wanted to display them on my porch even though at the time I didn't have any extra plants to plant in them. They look perfect just as decor by themselves, or with a plant in them as well. I eventually added some succulents in there and they look so good with them too!
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Jdw106910812 on Jun 28, 2024
I am old school. I love the way you painted the pots before you added the distressed look. I love vibrant full colors and they were beautiful bef0re the shabby french look got added. They would be always be beautiful with the colors your chose. But I love the look of real colors and real wood. Not a fan of distressing things.. I lived thru that era back in the 1970's when my mom went with the fad of painting wood antiques a faded olive. I have since refinished all that back to real wood.
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Love the colors - did you do anything special to the saucers? I fear water would ruin the mineral paint job!