Welcome to a Spring DIY and Craft Round-Up and if this is your first time visiting here to French Ethereal, I am so glad you are here! Each Wednesday I host a link party called Share Your Style but this is my first time hosting a blog hop and I’ve invited some of my favorite designer friends to join in. Here is my Spring DIY…
If you are coming over from Yvonne of Stone Gable, don’t you just love how she has decorated her home for spring? Love her styling and her flowers look absolutely real!!
My Spring DIY French Clay Pot Paint & Refresh
Here’s how my large flower pots looked before I began working on them. Not pretty. The outer clay surface had water getting underneath from rain and they are only three and four years old, and of course I wanted to save them. 😊
I began by lightly brushing off all dirt and loose pieces of clay, then Mr. Ethereal and I moved them onto the patio and onto opened paper bags. (Later, I moved them over to plastic trash bags to apply the sealer.)
Supplies needed
- Paint brushes including a chip brush to throw away once used (for sealer)
- Exterior paint in desired color for main color ~ I used Glidden Premium Exterior Paint + Primer – Flat White (right off the shelf)
- Liquitex Acrylic Basics – Burnt Umber (brown paint)
*This is the same Burnt Umber I used when I painted over a small cabinet to antique it. You can see that post here.
- Miracle 511 Impregnator Sealer (for tile) ~ comes in a deep blue bottle.
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| Love these pots and their pretty swags! |
Protect your plants
If your pots have plants in them, use an cut-opened plastic trash bag tied around the bottom of the plant to protect them from paint and sealer.
Begin by dry brushing paint on your pot. You can also apply glue underneath broken pieces of clay to help adhere them back in place; I chose to use paint as my “glue.”
Keep brushing paint using random strokes ~ a little more paint here, a little less there. Stipple paint into the grooves of the floral detail, if desired.
To me, these pots looked a little too white for me so this is when I decided to add some “antiquing” with the Burnt Umber.
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| Here this pot is partially antiqued. 🙂 |
Antiquing your pot
Add a small amount of Burnt Umber paint to a plastic tub and thin with water. Use a brush to add low lights in spots on the pot. Rub back with an old cloth.
Eventually, I dipped my cloth into the Burnt Umber thinned paint on the brown trash bag and rubbed that over the pots. This worked better and was “less streaky.”
Seal your pots
I wish I had realized this when I first bought these expensive pots so they wouldn’t have cracked off any clay, but I didn’t. Happily, we had leftover sealer from laying travertine tile in our Big House in California and I think this will make all the difference. I plan to seal the other clay pots that aren’t already painted and fired, too, in a few weeks.
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| A good shot of the travertine floor ~ part of a Settee Covers DIY. |
*Use sealer outdoors or with lots of ventilation. It stinks, literally, and can make you feel ill. When I sealed our tile flooring in our former living and dining rooms: my children and husband would go upstairs, close their bedroom doors, and I would brush on the sealer while wearing a construction mask with micro charcoal filters. It does stink!
Here are the finished pots beginning to dry and
I am really happy with the results!
Thank you so much for visiting today! I hope you will consider following my blog and/or any of my other social media accounts. I appreciate you! 💝 I’d also like to thank all of my friends on today’s tour ~ all the posts are linked at the very end for you!
Up next on today’s Spring DIY and Craft Round-Up is Cindy of County Road 407 with a fun and easy-to-make Kitchen Towel Apron. So fresh and perfect for future parties with friends and family! I know you’ll love her project!!
Barbara ~ French Ethereal | Cindy ~ County Road 407 | Judith ~ Botanic Bleu |
Laura ~ Decor to Adore | Amber ~ Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Also sharing with
Tuesday Turn-About ~ My Wee Abode
Enjoy the tour and happy creating!
Such gorgeous pots.Thank you for the tutorial and for hosting!
Beautiful job on the clay pots. I never think to seal them but that's great info. Cute patio. I bet you spend a lot of time out there. Happy Spring and Stay Healthy!
These look great, Barb. And a good idea about the bags over the plants. Well done!
These were gorgeous. We had a dreary, rainy day in Maine and those cheerful flowers helped combat my blahs! Thank you!
Barb,I am so glad you were able to save your French style flower pots. They look so much better and the burnt umber was just the thing to tone down the white.Thanks for including me in this blog hop. It was just what I needed to write about how I made the paper cones for Easter.Happy Spring,Judith
Thank you, Laura! This was fun. <3
Thanks, Cindy! I do like to sit outside and watch the birds and squirrels come and go. Enjoy your weekend,Barb 🙂
Thank you, Jeanie! The bag idea just popped into my head as I realized that they weren't empty… ;)Happy spring to you,Barb 🙂
Hi Kathy, thank you so much! I hope your weather turns better soon. I keep hearing of snow flurries and I know my mom couldn't really plant anything before Memorial Day weekend when she lived in Connecticut because of late freezes. Hope spring comes your way soon (for real!),Barb 🙂
Glad you were able to join in, Judith! I hope to do another hop soon. Enjoy your beautiful home and garden,Barb 🙂
Your pots look absolutely gorgeous! I end up white washing just about every clay pot I have except a few that I keep for vegetables in a more \”country\” rather than \”French\” part of the garden. I also adore that gorgeous statue next to your pot. I am in the mood to drag out the paint now and shop my garage for some pots to paint. Thanks so much for inpsiring and hosting this fun hop! Happy Easter!