Don’t you just love making something intricate and beautiful out of something dated? There’s just something about reusing lost or forgotten materials to create something new that we adore. One of our favorite ways to decorate for the season, without buying new decor every year, is to uplevel pieces that we already have. You’d be amazed at how many uses you can get from one ceramic pot.

In this tutorial, we’re going to turn a simple ceramic planter into a beautiful fall-inspired pot. Let’s give that lonely plant on your shelf a new home! We painted our planter with a rich terracotta chalk-type paint and a white glaze to give it a vintage patina (you’ll want to save this technique for future projects, trust us 😉). Merge these colors with beautiful designs from the Trimmings 2 Mould and the quintessential fall elements from our Autumn Cottage Mould, and you have yourself a lovely fall planter. 

Grab your IOD products and supplies by using the store locator and finding a stockist near you.

IOD Products Needed: 

• Autumn Cottage Mould
• IOD Trimmings 2 Mould
• IOD Air Dry Clay

Other Supplies: 

• Thrifted Planter
• Thick n’ Quick Glue
• Cornstarch
• Tape (hold the castings in place during dry time)

Step-by-Step Guide

STEP ONE: CLEAN YOUR POT

First step with your thrifted goods, give them a quick wipe down! Now, if we were doing this over again, we would have primed it, just to give the paint a little something extra to grip onto since our planter was a very slick ceramic. Unfortunately, we were out of primer, so we went in without. 

STEP TWO: PREPARE YOUR MOULDS

Start with your casting. We knew we wanted a pretty trim at the top and a perfectly autumn feel for our planter, so we went with a mix of Trimmings 2 and Autumn Cottage. Give your moulds a quick dusting of cornstarch and make sure to remove any excess. Too much and your casting will want to pull out of the mould too easily. Keep making castings until you have a good supply to play with for your planter. We ended up with multiples of the wheat and seed pods especially. 

STEP THREE: APPLY TRIMMINGS CASTINGS 

Start gluing your rim castings. We wanted to make sure there was room for everything, so we began with our trimmings up at the top. Apply a liberal amount of glue, then apply your trim, butting them up appropriately. We flipped our pot over and let it have some dry time so they didn’t want to slip down as they dried. 

STEP FOUR: APPLY AUTUMN COTTAGE CASTINGS

Next, start building up your autumnals. We put the pumpkin down first to stand as our center, then tucked our leaves and wheat around it. Don’t be afraid to nip off elements so it doesn’t end up too bulky. We removed a couple of leaves to give the appearance of coming out from behind the pumpkin. Glue as you go. If you’re like us and the castings wanted to slip before they set, take a little tape, fold it over itself, and make a little “dam” so they get a chance to set where you want them.

STEP FIVE: PAINT YOUR PROJECT

We like to paint our castings wet - usually with about a fifteen-minute dry time so they get a chance to form a little bit of crust. We’re going for a rich terracotta feel. Our paint came premixed, but if your favorite paint line doesn’t have a specific paint color for that, we’ve had good results with one part chocolatey brown, one part deep red, and two parts orange. Paint your entire piece, including a rim around the inside. Allow to dry. We needed two coats for ours. 

STEP SIX: APPLY AN AGED PATINA

Finally, we mixed one part of white chalk paint with six parts of water and gently applied it to sections of our planter. After each section, we took a damp paper towel and gently wiped off the paint from the raised areas. We were left with a vintage patina that’s perfect for planters. This final touch really brings out the small details in the castings on your project. 

If you're just kicking off your creative journey, have no fear — our Product 101 pages are packed with straightforward techniques to set you up for success. We're thrilled to accompany you as you explore and create. For more how-tos and creative inspo, make sure to browse through the rest of our blog.

Once you've crafted your final piece, share it with our Facebook Creative Tribe! This community is not just a showcase but also a supportive hub for when you hit those creative roadblocks. And remember, your local stockist is always ready to assist with IOD supplies and expert advice. We're excited to see what you'll bring to life!