DIY Tuesday: Rustic Chalkboard Pots

I came up with a little project last week after deciding I wanted to plant some herbs. I've seen lots of cute terra cotta pots that have been revamped with a little chalkboard paint, but I wanted to give the pots a rustic feel with a little color, too. Here's a simple way to transform basic terra cotta pots into something a little more unique!

Materials Needed:

-Terra Cotta Pots (any size) and saucers

-Pottery Sealer

-Chalkboard Paint

-Acrylic Paint, including dark brown

-Matte Mod Podge

-Paintbrushes

-White Chalk

Step 1: Spray several coats of pottery sealer on all surfaces of the pots that won't be painted with chalkboard paint. Allow the surfaces to dry before applying a new coat (10-15 minutes). The surfaces to spray are the inside, the rim, the bottom, and both sides of the saucer. In order to paint the rim without spraying the chalkboard section, you can wrap it with a plastic bag or newspaper.

Step 2: After allowing the pots to dry to the touch, paint the chalkboard section with several coats of chalkboard paint. It will take multiple coats to completely cover the pot (like 5 or 6!) and be sure to let them to be dry to the touch before adding a new coat.

Step 3: Paint the rim, the inside of the pot, and the saucer with your choice of acrylic paint. This will also take multiple coats.

Step 4: After allowing the colored areas to dry to the touch you can use an "antiquing glaze" to make the pots look more weathered. The "glaze" is very simple- just water down some dark brown acrylic paint to the consistency shown, almost like watercolor paint. Paint it all over the colored areas, allow it to soak in for about 20-30 seconds, and then wipe it off with a dry paper towel. The result is a slightly darker, more rustic looking version.

Step 5: After allowing the antiquing to fully dry, you can give it a little more "age" by sanding down some of the edges with a finer grit sand paper to expose bits of the terra cotta underneath. Then paint all the colored areas with several coats of mod podge, again making sure it's dry to the touch before adding a new coat. This will seal the acrylic painted areas.

Step 6: Give all the colored areas another 2-3 coats of pottery sealer, again making sure to cover the chalkboard area when spraying. The purpose of the pottery sealer is to seal the paint from water so that when you water the plants the painted areas aren't affected.

Step 7: Once dry, condition the chalkboard area by rubbing chalk all over it and then wiping it off with a paper towel. The pots are now done and you can label each with what's planted inside!