How to Age Terra Cotta Pots & Add French Flair

Do you love potted plants, but are bored with terra cotta pots? Well, today I’m going to show you how to age terra cotta pots with paint and add a little French flair!

I love the French Country style of decorating!

Since we moved into this house, I have been trying to add touches of the style to my home!

I wanted to plant some ivy and herbs in pots, but the orange color of terra cotta seemed so stark and the pots looked too “new!”

If you would have told me a few years ago that I would buy something new and then paint it to look old, I would have said “no way” and thought you were crazy!

See, that just goes to show, that you should never say never!

Anyway, I decided to age my terra cotta pots and add a bit of French flair to them!

Want to see how I did it??

Gather

Gather or purchase the following supplies to do this project:

• Terra cotta pots
• French labels-free download from The Graphics Fairy
• Scissors
• Mod Podge ( can use glue if you don’t have mod podge)
• Small foam brush
• Chalk paint-I used Annie Sloan Old White and French Linen
• Paintbrush-I used a small chip brush
• Plastic cup
• Paper Plate
• Spray bottle of water
• Protective topcoat- I used Rust-oleum Chalked Matte Clear

prep

Print the Oval French Ephemera Labels by Dream Factory for The Graphics Fairy. They are a brown color so I printed mine in black and white.

Use scissors to cut out the labels.

Protect your work surface. I used paper to protect my desk.

Adhere Labels

Use mod podge to adhere the labels to the pots with a small foam brush. If you don’t have Mod podge, you can use glue.

paint

Now for the fun! Time to paint! I applied 3 coats of paint and used two colors.

A chip brush works perfectly for this project. The uneven bristles make it easy to add texture to the pots!

1st coat

I’m starting the project with Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint. It’s thick paint, so I like to thin it a bit. Put a little bit of paint in a plastic cup, add three squirts with the water bottle, and stir.

Dip the tip of the paintbrush into the paint. Dab the excess paint onto the paper plate wiping back and forth until most of the paint is removed from the brush.

With a very light touch, paint horizontal strokes around the pot. If you want a messier look, paint vertical strokes as well.

The labels need to look aged as well, so apply paint to the edges, to help them blend in.

Lightly paint over the words, so they look a bit aged as well!

Let dry.

2nd coat

To give more depth to the pot I added a second color. Annie Sloan French Linen. Sometimes this color looks beige and sometimes it looks gray!

I used the same technique, as above, and made sure to dab paint on the edges of the label. I also dabbed the paint randomly around each pot.

3rd Coat

I could have stopped here, but I wanted the pots to look more white.

So, I decided to add another coat of Old White to cover more of the terra cotta color.

The picture above, shows a comparison of the pots! I’m loving the extra coat of white paint, so I’ll continue to paint the rest of them!

How do you like the look of the pots?

It’s important to protect the paint and the labels, so now I am going to seal the pots!

Seal

I’ll be going to the garage to spray the sealer on the pots. I put an old fitted sheet over our workbench to protect it!

Shake the can for one minute before starting to spray the sealer. And occasionally while you’re painting.

Hold can 12 inches from pots. Spray moving in a back and forth motion.

Apply 2 or more light coats a few minutes apart.

Let dry for 24 hours.

add plants

Call me crazy, but I just love my new pots that look old!

Are you ready to age your terra cotta pots by adding some French flair? Remember, if French country isn’t your thing then you can leave off the labels!

Let me know in the comments below if you’ve done something similar or would like to try this technique!

Blessings, Donna and Rich

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get the look

Here are some similar items to help you age your own terra cotta pots.