Rants, Raves, and Recipes: PAINTED POTS

PAINTED POTS

I haven’t been doing a lot lately, it’s hot, it’s humid, and my allergies are acting up. The tissue people are making a fortune off me. I did get my “garden” going and I already have baby squashes. The peas are doing okay, just slow. I thought by now they would have been a lot larger, and the okra is just sort of sitting there. The tomatoes and green beans are healthy looking and growing, but in my opinion, slowly.

We have been spending a lot of time just sitting on the deck this year and I just could not stand looking at all those mismatched pots. Some had something like cement on them, and others were just permanently dirty. Some of the pots are over 20 years old (the small terra cotta ones).

So what did I do? I painted them, of course. It’s one of the things left that I can do.

Now I’m not going to tell you how to paint a pot, but I will give you a few pointers to make it easier if you are a beginner.

#1. Have no fear. If you mess up, just paint over it.

#2. Soak your pots and saucers in warm water for at least two (2) hours before trying to paint them. Sit them out in the sun to dry.

#3. Spray paint is great. Spray paint the pot, then get your craft paint and paint the top a different color, and stencil a pretty design on the lower part. When dry, spray on a sealer.

#4. If you are not a stenciler, there are a few things you need to know – less is more. Use a stencil brush and almost no paint. Look on Pinterest for more detailed stenciling instructions.

#5. You don’t have to do it all at one time. Take one day to spray paint, then decorate at your leisure.

I have sprinkled photos of my pots throughout this post. Some are hand painted, some are stenciled and some are still unfinished. I’ll get to them before summer is over.