Inspired by My ‘Partner in Grime’: Milk Paint Planter

Prep

I used Letraset to create the wording on the front of the planters and tray because it has a strong adhesive. If you don’t know, Letraset was the brand name for the very first dry-transfer lettering product. It was only around until the late 1990’s (and was very expensive) but you can probably still find similar products in craft stores, office supply stores or even the dollar store. These days, Cricut machines are very popular so you can always design and cut your own wording instead.

I always suggest roughing up the surface with fine grit sandpaper first before painting, When sanding the metal, try the sandpaper out on the bottom where you won't see it. Use a circular motion to obscure any scratches from the sandpaper. If the scratches are too apparent, move to a finer grit. I decided to throw caution to the wind this once and didn't sand the metal beforehand, but you really should: it will help ensure the paint adheres.

I ran a piece of painter’s tape along the bottom to act as the line against which I stuck on the letters. This piece of tape is just temporary to set the height of the letters.

When I laid out the lettering, I used the back seam of the metal planter to line up as a visual guide for ‘centre’. I then ran another piece of tape along the top against the bottom edge of the ridges:

Lastly, I ran a piece vertically on either side of the wording at approximately the half way point to fashion a border. I literally just eyeballed everything; no measuring.

Once the letters were in place, I peeled away the bottom piece of tape so I could replace it with with a thinner piece. I cut a piece of painters tape in half through the middle and adhered this new thinner tape on the bottom as shown. This created a higher border around the letters.

Paint

Before I started painting, I made sure everything was well burnished – both the tape and the lettering.

If you’re using milk paint that’s been in storage for a few days, like I did, be sure to stir it thoroughly to reincorporate all the pigment. This particular milk paint was left-over from my mini adirondack chair project. It already had bonding agent already in it so I used it to brush on a first coat right over the lettering. For tips and tricks + step-by-step pictures on how to mix milk paint from scratch, head to our blog (link at the end of this post).

As I painted each container, I used these plastic painters pyramids to keep them from rolling as they dried. I don’t know how I ever got along without painters pyramids in previous paint projects: they are so handy!!

I gave each container two coats of paint, then let it dry overnight between coats (the bonding agent suggests 12 hours).

I lifted the green tape to see if any of the paint bled underneath; it was actually pretty good. If you do miss burnishing an area and get a paint bleed, I found that I could use a combination of X-acto knife to lightly score where I wanted to remove paint and then an orange stick to carefully scrape away the mistake. It takes some patience because the milk paint sticks well with the bonding agent in it, but you can still do small touch-ups.

I would suggest that you keep all the green tape on because you’ll be applying a clear coat to seal and you’ll just have to re-tape it again if you remove it.

Remove Lettering

Carefully remove the lettering. If you find the lettering difficult to lift, just use an X-acto knife to carefully pick away at one corner to get it started. Be sure to aim toward the vinyl letter so you don’t accidentally scratch the milk paint.

As you peel off the letters, take it slow and pull back when you reach the end so you don’t accidentally peel off paint you want to keep!

Terra Cotta Pots

I was curious to see if the milk paint would stick to clay pots as well. I gave each pot two coats of milk paint on the outside only, like I did the metal. I much prefer the bright red to the lacklustre terra cotta colour!

Below you can see that I also put lettering onto the tray. While I used our blog name, ‘Birdz of a Feather’, you could write anything your heart desires! I marked the centre of the tray and worked out from there; forwards to the right and then backwards to the left. However, that was tricky because letters like the ‘O’ and ‘A’ were much wider and took up more visual space. I ended up peeling it off and repositioning several times (which is why you don’t see me laying down the letters in the video!!! – I was so consumed with the layout that I forgot to turn the camera on!!!) Luckily Letraset has a great adhesive; even after sitting for years, I was able to reposition. Once burnished, as you can see, it forms a strong bond that doesn’t allow paint to bleed.

Topcoat

We’ll likely also use these outdoors, so we topcoated only the painted section portions of both the metal and clay pots with a clear outdoor satin finish. Hubs sprayed on three fine coats using a paint sprayer so we wouldn’t get runs (see our blog for further details).

We didn’t bother to paint the inside of the clay pots – either with milk paint or clear finish – because they’ll be filled with soil anyway.

Reveal

The wording on the metal pots says ‘partners in grime‘ because it is Birdz of a Feather’s catchphrase (not to be confused with our tagline which is ‘Feathering the Nest – One Room at a Time’). I often use it to describe my relationship with Hubs and our DIY adventures, but I am sure you can come up with something that is meaningful to you!

Add some succulents to the metal and terra cotta pots and place it in front of a sunny window - or outside!

In retrospect, the Letraset letters were too big for this project (you can’t see the ‘s’ in partners) but I used what we had on-hand so we could use them up. I don’t think the Letraset brand is still available but if I were doing it again, I would either purchase a smaller size of of another brand of letters to make it more legible – or get a Cricut machine to design and cut my own. But you get the gist of it 

Below you can see I displayed the mini adirondack chair, the metal planter and the terra cotta pots together on our plant stand.

We’re seeing a lot of red these days (in a good way!). It’s a testament to the success we’ve had using the bonding agent on hard to paint surfaces such as varnished wood, metal, and terra cotta. I wonder what’s left to put it to the test? If there is anything, you can be sure you’ll see it here on Hometalk in a future post!

Have a look at the brief video to see just how easy it is:

One thing hubs has taught me is about DIY is that it's not about what you spend, or the value you add, it about how much fun you have along the way. I'm glad I found my partner in grime :)

Don't forget to pin for later:

If you’re interested in trying out a milk paint project – with or without the bonding agent – you have to  check out Homestead House! While they are the driving force behind their own milk paint line and Miss Mustard Seed Milkpaint, they also make modern paints. But I think I'll stick with traditional milk paint for a while: it’s got my creative juices flowing!

For instance, we just completed two more inspirational milk paint projects created from this phone booth surround we found at the Aberfoyle Antique Market (you've probably already seen the tutorials on Hometalk)! If you're curious to see more about what we found at the antique market, head to our blog at the link below this post where you see our logo!

Get your DIY mojo on at Birdz of a Feather and subscribe if you don't want to miss another unique idea (link below where you see our logo)! You can also follow us on:

Pinterest: http://bit.ly/BirdzPIN

Facebook: http://bit.ly/BirdzFB

YouTube: http://bit.ly/BirdzYT

Instagram: http://bit.ly/BirdzIG

Crochet for a Cure

If you haven’t heard, we’ve just launched a pattern shop, where we’re donating 100% of our proceeds to Alzheimer’s. You’ll find patterns, like our signature Kayla Pillow, Air Planter Pods and Tooth Fairy Pillow (shown above), available to purchase as a donation to our Alzheimer’s fundraiser.

Come  visit us to purchase a pattern; with 100% going to charity, it's a win-win!