Decoupage Flower Pot Tutorial

With Mother’s Day and Easter just around the corner I started to think about what would make a lovely handmade gift. After trawling through pinterest I decided on decoupage flowerpots, and thought I would share with you the process of how I made mine!

Materials Needed:

Terracotta Plant Pot

Decoupage paper (or any pretty paper you have, you can basically decoupage with any type of paper, some people even use napkins, but I find it too fiddly and they tear too easily)

Mod Podge (or PVA glue mixed 2 part glue to 1 part water)

Paint brush

Acrylic Paint

Foam Brush

Scissors

A pretty Tag

Flower

Chocolate Raisins (or chocolate snack of your choice)

One of the things I love about me is that I have a great eclectic collection of craft supplies, so at any moment I can be carried away on a crafty whim and know chances are, I have what I need. The thing I hate about me, having zero organisation and never EVER being able to locate the craft supplies I need without at least a 20 minute search first. Moral of this story? Keep buying lots of lovely supplies, but perhaps also buy some sort of decent storage solution to keep them organised in! So after the obligatory 20 minute search I came to the conclusion that I used up the last of my mod podge glue at my last craft session with the kids up the school (decoupage tea light lanterns, v. popular with the kids!) And so I’m going to start this project today, and then finish tomorrow once I’ve brought some more glue!

Any who….

The first thing I did was cut my chosen paper into little squares, ready to be glued on. I usually buy the Craftseller Magazine each month, which always has a few pages on beautiful papers, so I have a lovely collection of them now. However you can use any paper you have, napkins, magazine cuttings, old books, decorative papers, even wallpaper.

Next I painted the top ‘ridge’ of my terracotta pot, I decided I wanted to decoupage the bottom of the pot, but keep the top ridge as just painted. As you are going to cover the bottom part you don’t need to worry about being too accurate with your painting. I used an all-purpose Acrylic Paint in Blush Pink as I thought it would complement the papers nicely and be suitable girlie for a mother’s day present. I took 3 coats of the paint (allowing it to dry in between each coat) to get a good coverage over the terracotta.

I let mine dry out over night ready for decoupage the following day (this of course had absolutely nothing to do at all with the fact that i had no decoupage glue, and i WILL wrestle anyone who says otherwise!)

Time to get down to the business of decoupaging!

Take one of your squares at a time and apply a layer of Mod Podge onto the back, press it onto the flower pot and smooth it out with your fingers, ideally you want none or as little creases as is possible. If you are using napkins you will find this differcult.

Once your pot is completely covered (layering where needed to fill in the little gaps) cover the entire pot (included the painted top ridge) with a coat of the Mod Podge Glue. Let it dry. Apply a second coat and allow to dry. Its better to cover in a thin layer and add additional layers than to try to go for one thick layer.

Now if you intend your pot to be an indoor one, then you’re finished, you clever thing! However, if you would like it to be an outdoor pot, then I would suggest spraying with a sealant to help protect it from the elements.

Pop your flower in, add a pretty ribbon and tag and Tah-Dah! Your done! One lovely handmade gift!