Altered Terra Cotta Pots

The weekend is over and Monday is here, but no need to feel blue when you’ve got pretty pink cyclamens to lift your spirits!  I found these mini cyclamens at the grocery store and couldn’t resist … although I’m not a fan of the plastic pots that store-bought flowers often come in. So I altered terra cotta pots I purchased for a song and transplanted my mini pink cyclamens.

My first thought was to simply give them a coat of white wash, but then I decided to add a decorative stamp.

 

Here’s how the mini cyclamens looked at the store … adorable, but housed in plastic. Although I like the color of the containers … they’re still plastic and that just rubs me the wrong way. Wanna know why these pots are so tall?

 

They have a self-watering function and need that extra height. Who knew? I certainly didn’t.

 

Since miniature cyclamens are dainty and feminine, I wanted to off-set that with something a little more rustic. I purchased 99-cent terra cotta pots and gave them a light coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White. Before the paint dried, I dabbed each pot with a slightly damp paper towel, removing some of the paint. Work with one pot at a time since the paint dries quickly. I then repeated this procedure on the inside of the clay pots.

 

Thinking the white might be a little too stark and plain for the miniature pink cyclamens, I decided to apply a dragonfly stamp with black ink. If you don’t want to stamp the pots, you could also just tie a pretty ribbon or piece of jute around them.

 

Before transferring the mini cyclamens to the altered terra cotta pots, I added a few stones to the bottom to provide additional drainage for the plant. This is a trick my mother taught me.

 

Then it was just a matter of carefully transferring the cyclamen to the clay pot, adding soil as needed. I lightly tapped down on the soil around the edge of the plant to remove any air bubbles, and watered them. And this is when the magic happened!

 

The terra cotta pots absorb some of the moisture from the soil when the plant is watered, and the paint begins to take on a rusty hue making the pot look aged. I’m sure there’s a scientific explanation on how this happens, but I’m just happy that this transformation takes place without much effort on my part!

 

You can see in this photo that the clay pot without a plant is still white and clean, while the pots with the cyclamens are getting that crusty look to them.

 

Clean and white, the altered terra cotta pots are great for holding things …

 

But I think I prefer when they get a little crusty from the moisture in the soil.

They continue to “age” as I keep watering them. It’s kinda like a science experiment!

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