This article was prepared with the support of UFL flower delivery. A beautiful pot shows off a plant and makes it part of your interior. You do not need to buy a designer planter: a plain terracotta or plastic pot, a few materials you already have and a couple of hours are enough.
You need: old china or tiles, tile nippers, tile or mosaic adhesive, grout, safety glasses and gloves.
The quickest way to give a pot a cosy, natural look. Apply hot glue in a band from the bottom up and wind jute twine tightly, coil against coil. You can alternate twine with coloured thread or weave in lace.
Paint the primed pot in a base colour, then add a design with a brush, a stencil or a sponge. A foam sponge makes it easy to create abstract patterns or an ombré effect. Geometric designs with masking tape and colour-blocking, leaving the top or bottom natural, are also popular. Once dry, apply 2–3 coats of acrylic varnish.
Separate the printed top layer of a three-ply napkin, lay it on a pot primed white and brush decoupage glue over it from the centre outwards. When dry, seal with several coats of varnish.
An old jumper sleeve or a knitted cover makes a cosy, glue-free decoration: just pull it over the pot and fold the edges. Burlap, linen, lace and wide ribbons work too.
Cover a pot with bark, cinnamon sticks, coloured pencils, shells, corks, preserved moss or buttons. Use hot glue or clear construction adhesive for these materials.
Craquelure is a pattern of fine cracks like those on antique porcelain. An easy way to create it without special varnish: paint the pot with acrylic, glue on pieces of eggshell (peel off the inner membrane first) with PVA and press gently so they crack. Once the glue is dry, rub dark paint or ink into the cracks, wipe off the excess with a damp cloth and varnish the pot.
To make a terracotta pot look as if it came from an old garden, sand it lightly with coarse sandpaper, degrease it and dab on waterproof filler or plaster with a sponge to create an uneven texture. When it's dry, add a patina by dry-brushing white, green or ochre paint over the raised areas.
Acrylic: it dries quickly, adheres well to ceramics and plastic and is water-resistant once varnished.
Yes, but lightly sand the surface with fine sandpaper first so paint and glue grip better.
Want to make a pot from scratch? Read our guide to making a DIY clay flower pot, and choose a plant for your new pot among our houseplants.
Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
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