How to age a Terra Cotta Pot

Well, it's been forever and a day since I have posted anything. School stared, then preschool, PTO, and the list goes on!
I did this a while ago, but I still wanted to share this. It's a great way to age your plain terracotta  clay pots. This would work on a new one, or even some that you may have laying around your backyard!

Here is what the set looks like. Now, these for some centerpieces at that I did for our church. When they were done, they had some silk flowers in the saucer. We thought that it sort of has a birdbath look to it.

Here is how to get the look:

Get yourself a clay pot. You don't have to add the saucer if you don't want to.

You will need:

1) All Purpose Joint Compound. This stuff is a miracle in a bucket. They are so many things that you can do with this product!
This bucket was from Home Depot for under $7.00

2) Cream paint or any other shade to your liking. Any water based paint would work. Plus you will want some earth tone colors for the aging process.

3)Sea Sponge. Remember when these were all the rage for faux finishing?

4) "Knife" or blade to spread the Joint Compound onto your pot.

 

First, you want to give your clay pot 1-2 coats of paint. Make sure that you get a nice even coat on. Let this dry...here in AZ that takes about 20 minutes! In this photo, you can see that I would just put the Joint Compound on in certain places on the pot. I used the blade to add the compound and then use a damp sea sponge to lift and give the mud a little more texture.
Now it's time to say goodnight and let this dry until the next day.

If you feel that your "peaks" might be a little too high, take a sanding sponge to knock and smooth this off. Make sure that you do this step outside and wear a mask. 

Drywall dust can be nasty!

Brush on the earth tone colors in a random patter. I made sure that the acrylic paint was watered down a bit so that there was flow to it. And I also tried to keep the color on the "mud."

Time to bust out that sea sponge again! Make sure it is damp also, and blend in the brown color to give it a soft look. You could add a couple of different shades at the stage too. When the browns were about dry, I added a green just with the sea sponge to make it look like moss was growing in certain places.

So there you have a fun and really inexpensive way to age your pots! This gives them a look like there were in a garden for centuries!