Paint pouring on terracotta pots is such a fun summer craft – no painting skills or experience needed. These pour paint flower pots are cheerful and SO PRETTY!
Grab a clay pot and some acrylic pour paint and have fun creating these beautiful marbled flower pots. Use this simple pour painting technique to create a set of eye catching pots for your favourite plants!
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DIY Paint Pouring on Terracotta Pots
Use pouring paint to decorate these terracotta clay pots! It’s such an easy and fun gardening craft.
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
Step 2: Prepare the pot
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Paint the outside of the pot with white acrylic paint. This provides a neutral background for the pouring paint, stopping it from being absorbed into the pot.Allow to dry.
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Press a piece of painter’s tape (or masking tape) on the inside bottom of the pot, covering the hole in the bottom. This will prevent paint from going inside the pot.You can also cover the whole outside bottom of the pot with tape if you’d like, since you won’t see the painted bottom anyway.
Step 3: Combine your pouring paints
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Choose your colours of pour paint. Pour a generous amount of the lightest colour (white, for us) into the 2 ounce disposable plastic cup.This will be your paint mixing cup.
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Add your other colours of paint to the same mixing cup. Add your second colour (teal, for us) on top of the white paint. Then pour in your third colour (pink).Alternate adding more of your second and third colours (teal, pink, teal, pink, etc) until the cup is full of paint.
Step 5: Pour paint onto the clay pot
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Make sure you protect your working surface with a plastic drop cloth and/or a tray. A tray or turn table base is useful, since you can turn the pot without touching it.Set a larger plastic cup down, bottom up, and then set the pot on top of it, also upside-down. The clay pot should be sitting above working surface, not touching it.
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Begin pouring the layered paint onto the pot, starting at the top (the actual bottom of the flower pot). Go back and forth, pouring the paint over the sides, creating a marbled look.Continue until you’re happy with the look and the pot is completely covered in paint.
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If the paint starts pooling at the top, use the edge of a popsicle stick to push it over the side.
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Once the paint has stopped dripping, wait a few minutes and then brush a popsicle stick along the top (current bottom) rim. This will remove any large drips, stopping them from drying in place.
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Allow the pot to dry, untouched, overnight.
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Your pour paint flower pot is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Make sure your clay flower pots are completely dry before touching them. This project uses a lot of paint so you’ll have to wait about 24 hours before handling the pots.
- Do your pour painting over top of an artist’s canvas! Once the pot is done dripping very carefully move it off the canvas. Then tilt the canvas back and forth to create 2 art projects in 1!
- Use paint colours that will complement each other or that will blend well. For example, if you use blue and yellow, some parts of your pot will become green. Homebody Hall has a whole article about choosing colours for paint pouring.
Can I use acrylic paint for paint pouring on terracotta pots?
Yes, you can definitely use acrylic paint for paint pouring, as long as you mix it with pouring medium. Pouring medium will thin out the acrylic paint, making it just the right thickness to add onto your terracotta pot.
Using acrylic paint instead of an already mixed pour paint is nice, because you can use any colour of paint that you have. Simply follow the instructions on the bottle of pouring medium and combine your colours in a separate cup before adding them together into the pouring cup.
What technique is used for making pour paint flower pots?
We used a technique called a “dirty pour” to make these pour painting pots. This is where you layer multiple colours together in one cup before pouring them. As the paint spreads and/or as you tilt the pot, the colours create a marbled or swirled design.
Where’s the best place to buy pots for pour painting?
We bought our terracotta pots at the dollar store. You can also check thrift stores for inexpensive pots, or buy them at a garden center or big box store, like Walmart.
Do I need to seal terracotta pots before painting?
Yes, it’s generally recommended to seal terracotta pots before painting them. Clay pots are very porous, which means they absorb a lot of moisture. This, in turn, can lead to the paint blistering and peeling.
We used a coat of white paint as the base for our flower pots, which does offer some protection — but if you’re going to plant flowers in these pots or put them outside they should be treated with a clear acrylic sealer or a special terracotta sealer before painting.
This will help make the paint on the outside of the pot last, and it will also prevent moisture loss inside the pot.
How do you seal acrylic paint on flower pots?
Once the paint is dry we recommend using an acrylic spray sealer on the outside of the pots. This will make your paint pour flower pots last for a long time. Sealing the outside of the pot will stop the paint from being scratched off, and it also makes it easier to clean the outside of the pots.
Use a matte sealer for a flat look that’s almost unnoticeable, or use a glossy sealer for a shiny top coat. If you don’t have a spray sealer, you can also brush on a coat of outdoor Mod Podge. Follow the instructions on your sealer for drying and curing times.
If you’re using your paint pour flower pots indoors for artificial houseplants, sealing them is optional and probably not necessary.
These decorative pour paint flower pots are so much fun to make! Fluid painting is such a creative way to make art, and you get a different result every time. Enjoy using these colourful pour painted pots for flowers or plants, or use them as a candle holder or catch-all dish.
Here’s even more easy art project ideas:
Cat Squeegee Painting
Puffy Sidewalk Paint
Glue Gun Art Flowers
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
