Welcome/ Painted Terracotta Pot

Hello there!

Welcome to my new blog about making stuff! We recently moved from a tiny city apartment to a house in the country, and I've been working bit by bit to make it feel like home. This blog will feature things I'm into of late: crafts, homemaking, cooking, stretching your budget, and creativity in general. I'm a full-time mom to a one year old, and I'm still figuring out how to fit in "me time" with everything else I do on a daily basis, so bear with me if the blog doesn't update on a regular schedule. We'll see how it goes! For now, I am excited to share with you some of the projects I have come up with in the past few weeks.

PAINTED TERRACOTTA POT

Inspiration: I wanted a welcome sign for my patio, but I couldn't find one I liked in any of the stores I went to. I also didn't have much money, but I did have acrylic paints and brushes at home, and a lovely zinnia (a housewarming gift from Mom) that needed potting. All I had to do was purchase an inexpensive terracotta pot and I was ready to create!

Materials: terracotta pot, acrylic paints, paintbrushes, masking tape, potting soil, plant

Time required: a few to several hours, depending on how complex your design is.

How to: Start with an empty, dry pot. I painted my design in white first, let it dry, then went over it again in color. I thought the white helped make the colors more vibrant. I used some masking tape to mark the borders of the red stripe, peeling off the tape immediately after painting on the red (the white was completely dry before taping). 

Hardest part: painting the cursive words. It was a slow and careful process that required lots of changes of direction of my brush.

What I love: this welcome pot is a great little home for my zinnias! I love how it fits so nicely in the center of the pedestal. I designed it so that the "welcome" is on one side and "home sweet home" is on the other, so you see "welcome" as you're coming in and "home sweet home" when you're sitting at the kitchen table. I think it turned out very well.