Pittwater Online News

Painted Flowerpots and Herb Trays

This is one for young and old alike, and definitely one that can be done together. Choose some small to medium to large plain terracotta pots and decorate them with more flowers or scenes from around your home of Pittwater, or anything else that takes your fancy and inspires. 

The only time an adult need step in here, unless they are doing this themselves, is when the pots need to be finished with a protective coat of a clear acrylic or varnish. Make sure you use pots with base drainage as sealing the exterior will prevent moisture being able to soak into the soil, and feed what plants you place in these pots, or for it to evaporate out. Good drainage means healthy plants.

Materials and Tools

• Clean terra-cotta pots

• Acrylic paints in assorted colors – good way to use up all those bits of paints in tins at home – or use non-toxic craft paints

• Small or medium foam brushes

• Plastic plates

• Cotton swabs

• Small artist’s paint brush

• Wire brush 

• Clear spray acrylic

• Protector mask when spraying acrylic sealer

To begin, remove price tags and stickers from the pot by soaking it in a tub of warm water for up to an hour, then scrubbing it with a stiff brush. Allow the pot to dry completely before painting.

Apply your base coat first and allow to dry on newspaper so you don’t have a nice ring if paint runs.  Apply the paint with a foam brush, working around the pot in broad strokes and make sure you don’t coat the base so water may drain. Extend the paint an inch or so down into the top of the pot. Terracotta  pots will absorb a lot of paint. Apply additional coats if you’d like, allowing the pot to dry between coats, until the desired colour depth is achieved.

Now for some decoration – you can trace some stencils or just do a free form version of whatever you like – flowers – leaves, or even do a range of pots which are painted with what’s in them for seasons when they are not flowering or fruiting – great for herbs or balcony gardens where chillies or herbs that die off during cold weather are grown, such as sage. 

These make a great gift idea too and a row of various sizes inside along the kitchen sink window, or outside, will brighten up your garden and get youngsters more interested in what to plant in them.

Mosaic Flowerpot

Another variation is to make these using a mosaic version - choose what size pot you want to redesign, collect pieces of broken old tiles, rocks, beads, and work out a design before you begin. You could start with a small pot to begin with, or if you want to do something spectacular straight off, choose a larger pot.

You will need work gloves, protective eyewear, a small hammer, a clear workspace and a heavy cloth or towel. Lay the tile on a flat surface and place towel or heavy cloth over the tile. This way you will have something to keep tile in one area when you break it.

Gently tap the tile with a hammer until you feel pieces breaking. Don’t smash the tile as it may disintegrate. Remove tile to reveal what you’ve broken. Use a nipper to re-shape pieces if necessary or to complete the breaking process (for tile that may not have broken all the way).

Before you prepare the mortar or tile adhesive in order to adhere the tile to the flower pot, please put on a protective mask as the powders used in these products are not meant to be breathed - ditto when you mix the grout a little later on in this project. 

Pick a polymer-fortified, thin-set mortar for best results. Add water to mortar powder until it becomes the same consistency as peanut butter. Mix constantly so that the powder is fully integrated into the mixture.

As you need to use the mortar immediately (so that it does not dry or change consistency over time), only prepare the mortar when you are ready to place the pieces of tile or stones on the pot. If you are making a larger pot, perhaps do one side then the other, or work from the base up and only mix enough to do each section at a time.

Create your mosaic design by spreading a thin layer of mortar on the back of each piece and affixing the piece to the flower pot. Refer to your map or sketch as you go along.

Press the piece of tile firmly against the flower pot and hold for several seconds or until you know it has adhered to the pot. Remember to leave 1/2 a centimetre space between pieces to make room for the grout. Simply re-size tile if pieces are too large or are not fitting properly.

Add any other design elements such as stones or beads. You don’t have to add other elements but if do, now is the time to integrate them into your design.

Complete the design and then allow the pot to set and dry overnight. Mortar needs up to 24 hours to fully set and dry so leave the pot in a cool, dry area until its fully set.

Once the mortar is completely set make the grout. If you’d like to add interest to the grout, mix with acrylic paint to create coloured  grout or even add in some glitter. 

You’ll need work gloves for this project as you’ll be placing the grout on your pot with your hands.

Combine water to the grout to create a mixture of peanut butter consistency alike that needed for the mortar.

Scoop a handful of grout and slather it all over the pot. Be sure you take care to fill in every section between the tiles. Use a clean, damp cloth to wipe excess grout from the pot, taking extra care to remove grout that was smoothed over tile/stones.

Take a thin wire brush and brush over the entire pot when you’ve finished grouting to ensure all excess grout falls off the tiles. Go over the pot with a clean cloth to remove brush marks.

Allow this to set overnight too before you begin putting any potting mix or plants into your pot.

This project is a great one for those who want to give a unique gift or brighten the garden with some real art. This is also a great project for younger children too, as long as there's a helping hand with some of the trickier elements.

Rejuvenate that Old Picnic Table

This idea may be catered to your own personal taste - you don't have to paint giant sunflowers or rainbows all over that sun-bitten old picnic BBQ table, but it will certainly introduce some art to your garden if you do and give an extra lease of life to that table that's seen so many Summers under blazing Australian sun it's going pale!

The other option is to sand it back and give it a few coats of TLC by sanding it back and restaining that wood - a good job to do while the weather is cooler - but probably not one that may appeal to those on holidays!

Turning that old outdoor table into art can be elaborate as deciding on putting a mural over the table and its seating, or painting a great Australian eucalyptus scene and placing that under your own gum trees - or even your version of a local scene such as the view to Barrenjoey or the view to Scotland Island or doing something easy and simple that little fingers can get involved in too - simply adding some splashes of colour or doing that flowers and fairies and butterflies thing.

Perhaps even make it a family portrait, cartoon style, or in everyone's own style - get them to paint themselves, or each other; use those gold star sketches from kindergarten on the fridge door as ideas!

Just one idea from around the web:

Finished whimsical flower painted green picnic table. Art By Denise Walker

Recycle old doors into family memories

If you have an old door you just can't throw away, perhaps these school holidays are the days you may finally relinquish it to your teenager and allow them to turn it into: 

A Table, a Message Board (choose one with panels and paint some blackboard paint in these), an outdoor Workbench, a Coffee Table, a frame within which they will paint a picture or even a frame within which they will display favourite photographs, a noticeboard they can work out larger school projects on, a set of shelves, a tool rack for the garden shed replete with hooks to display all that stuff that's long been a jumble on that shelf over there or a mess or cords and hammer, chisel and sander on the shed floor .... in fact, they'll probably come up with a few more ideas for that - old - door.

Vegepod For Young Gardeners

HERB SIX PACK SEEDLINGS: $8 Assorted pack with carry handle. 

DIY Lego Table For Littlies Or Study Desk For Students

The Tools + Products To Get It Done From Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 At Mona Vale, Avalon, Narrabeen

Maxisafe Dust Mask Nuisance - 10 Pack: $5.95

DUNLOP 750G ADHESIVE WALL TILE: $16.60

DUNLOP 1.5 KG Coloured Grout $11.25