Lines and Dots – Paint Clay Pots

When you’re a little girl, you spend a lot of time drawing and doodling and you dream of all  the wonderful things you’ll do when you grow up. Get married. Have babies. Cook yummy meals for your family. Have a big, beautiful home.

Plant flowers in the yard of your big, beautiful home.

Sometimes, though . . . a funny thing happens on the way to becoming a grown up.

Yes, you get married. Even twice, if you get it wrong the first time.

Babies? Not everyone is so lucky.

We won’t even talk about cooking. Just find a husband that’s a great chef and you’re golden.

And the big, beautiful home? How about 13 or 14? Of course, not all were actually big – or beautiful – but that’s not the point here.

No, the point here is you assume you’ll do things in your life, everyday, normal things. But one day you wake up and you’re 56 years old and a grandmother and, while you’ve lived a full life to this point, you realize you’ve completely missed out on one area . . .

You’ve never planted flowers.

How did this happen? You love flowers. You were a florist, for goodness’ sake. You paint flowers all of the time! But when it comes to planting them, you haven’t a clue.

That is about to change, my friends. Yep, I picked up some perky red geraniums and a bag of potting soil that promised perfect results. I mean, if it’s called Miracle-Gro, the flowers are guaranteed not to perish, right?

It’s true. Every morning I checked my precious pot. Leaves are green – check. New blossoms forming – check.

I got this.

What I didn’t ‘got’, however, were any pretty pots. If you haven’t planted anything in a . . . lifetime, you don’t have pretty pots, do you? Well, except for those ugly plastic ones. No, those simply won’t do.

The stores are full of pretty pots right now. All different shapes, sizes, colors . . . and prices. Prices that might make you choke, especially when you’re not absolutely convinced those pretty red blossoms will make it to see June 1st.

So I grabbed some spray paint.

There aren’t too many things that can’t be made pretty with some spray paint.

Especially if it’s Rust-Oleum Deep Blue.

On the rectangular planter I taped off a section so we’d have some terracotta color to go with the blue. We bought some new chair cushions with a pretty rust background so I thought the terracotta might pull it all together. (I have a few more projects to finish before I show you the whole deck.)

My first thought was to paint the pots with a mediterranean feel. After googling ‘mediterranean pots’ I realized that would take a bit more time than I wanted to invest in some planters that, you know, might wind up with nothing but shriveled up stems in them.

So I opted instead for some paint markers – DecoArt Glass Paint Markers. I know, I know, it says ‘glass’ but I figured if the marker would stay on glass, it’ll stay on glossy spray paint too. (I’ll let you know if it wears off or chips.)

I have an assortment of colors and thought I’d draw some loose colorful flowers or something. But then I thought better of it. These pots are going on Mom’s deck, where she sees them all of the time, and she likes things simple. Or as she puts it, not fussy.

I’ll save the floral pots for my downstairs yard.

After testing the markers on the bottom of the pot, I really liked white the best, particularly on the bright blue.

I drew four dots with the paint markers, just eyeballing the placement.

Next, I drew three more dots around each single dot, forming a little cluster. Then I simply drew a line connecting the clusters.

I did it freehand but you could use painter’s tape if you want it more precise.

I just turned the pot and repeated – a dot near the top, one at the bottom and two on either side, three more dots to create a cluster, and then lines connecting the clusters.

In total, I had three ‘diamonds’ around the pot. For just eyeballing, they wound up pretty even too.

But I wanted a little more . . . oomph. Adding another line worked fine, without getting into more colors, patterns and stuff.

The planter was easier to draw on because of the straight sides so I grabbed the ruler. On the bottom edge of the terracotta inset I marked tiny dots three inches apart.

Along the top of the inset the dots were marked in the center of the dots on the bottom.

With the ruler, connect the dots. It helps to go thru and draw all of one angle, let that dry and then draw the second angle. Then there is no smearing of paint with the ruler moving this way and that.

And then . . . pretty painted pots!

Ok, so the artist in me really wanted to go hog wild and paint italian and french pots. But I restrained myself and am actually pretty pleased with the simplicity.

The geraniums are doing quite well, too! Oh, but those geraniums, the ones in the blue pots? They aren’t the first ones I potted.

They’re the second ones.

That weather-worn plastic pot that looks white but actually was terracotta at one time, that pot that holds the first geraniums.

I was so excited to plant them, I actually forgot to paint the pot first!

Oh well, a coat of spray paint and some more lines and dots and it’ll fit right in. (I’ll take the flowers out before I paint, don’t worry.)

You know, I may still be doodling and drawing like I did as a girl, but I’m thrilled I finally – FINALLY – planted some flowers. (I’m thinking Miracle-Gro was a major factor in my success.)

Is there something you’ve always wanted to try but never had the chance or taken the plunge? C’mon, spill!

Have a great week!

Colleen

about Colleen

p.s. I realize that, technically speaking, I didn’t actually “plant” flowers. More like “potting” them. But it’s a step, a huge one. Who knows? Maybe I’ll drop some bulbs in the ground soon.