#DIY - A Decoupaged terracotta pot for your balcony garden

 
Have you tried decoupage?
 
Well, here is a small terracotta pot, that I bought from the local road side seller for Rs.30!! Add to it some left-over paint, some varnish and a pretty picture and viola! 

Decoupage is the art of 'decorating something by gluing picture cut outs on to it in combination with paint'. Then the item is sealed with varnish or glue to create more of an inlaid look versus a pasted on look.

I discovered this last year and have not been able to stop since. You know how you can spend more time on Pinterest pinning and re-pinning than actually making any of those things.. Yes, just like that- I ended up staying up all night for a week ooh-aahing over the prettiest pictures and then I was possessed. I had to try it out. After a marathon of video tutorials and (really over) exceeding my Internet quota for that month, I decided to get my hands sticky. And I loved it. I definitely recommend this to anyone creatively inclined and definitely to anyone who is feeling down. Much therapeutic! 

To break it up into easy steps:

1. Wash your pot clean and let dry. While you're at it, smell that wet clay pot.. it's quite divine. :)

2. Sand to remove bumps. Make sure you have your floor covered in newspaper and try to work in a place where there is less breeze.

3. Repeat step 1. Let it dry completely. 24 hours?

4. The next thing I did was give the pot a couple of coats of varnish. More like a precaution to seal the pot and ensure water seepage does not ruin the paint work. You have to let each coat dry. Might take a few days in total.

5.  I had a few sample tins of cream paint (emulsion) left over in the store room from when we were painting our apartment, so I just used that. I guess you could use acrylic paint. Again multiple coats. I may have done 2 or 3. Both inside and outside. 

6. The decoupage. You could use any paper cut out. Magazine, greeting card, laser printout, fabric, paper napkin etc. This is part of a paper napkin I picked up at an exhibition in our neighbourhood. You will find a lot of fabulous tutorials on Youtube that will guide you through this process. Its take a little practice. But the results are totally worth it. Glue your picture in place. I used Fevicol.

7. Finally couple of coats of any matte finished varnish from the local hardware store and let it dry completely. Some experts even suggest letting it cure for around 3 weeks! 

Hope you will try it! 

I still have mine sitting (a year later) in the balcony with some succulents in it..