How to Decoupage Flower Pots with Napkins: Fun DIY for Pretty Planters

Torn napkin decoupage is super popular in the Pinterest crafting world. Because it’s fun. And easy. And your artist palette is unlimited. Florals, geometrics, chinoiserie—pick your favorite pattern and “paint” it onto a simple garden pot for an instant handpainted look!

I’d made decoupage Easter eggs with this technique and had always wanted to try it out on garden pots. So when I had a couple of extra pots left over after making the spring vintage flower pot place cards for my Easter tablescape, they became the perfect guinea pigs for me to use for my next decoupage fun project.

Let me show you how very simple these decoupage terracotta pots were to make—it’s one of those truly easy, gratifying crafts!

Supplies For Decoupage Flower Pots.

• Terra cotta pots
• Patterned paper napkins or paper guest towels (I used this pretty patterned napkin)
• Mod Podge, matte finish
• Antique white craft paint
• Paintbrush or foam brush

How To Decoupage a Terracotta Pot.

1. Paint the pot.

First, paint the orange pot with a coat of soft white paint. The pots are so porous it only takes a few minutes to dry. Paint the inside of the pot too, just in case you ever want to display it empty.

I used chalk paint I had on hand that gave me this nice matte finish.

2. Separate the layers of the napkin.

It’s easiest to separate the whole napkin before you cut out the designs. But in these photos, I was working with scraps I had left over from the Easter egg project so the napkin was already cut up.

You may have never noticed, but most paper napkins are either two-ply or three-ply. You’ll want to separate the napkin layers and use just the very top layer with the print on it.

This is honestly the hardest part, but not even hard with this trick to get it started:

Tear or cut off the corner. Holding the edges of the cut in each hand, pull the napkin in and out quickly a few times. You should see the layers start to separate. You can then start to tease them apart and peel away the back white layer. You’ll be left with the printed layer that looks like tissue paper.

3. Cut out the designs.

Next, cut or tear out the designs from the napkin you want to apply to the pot. I wanted just the purple flowers from my napkins so I cut out a few of those.

4. Apply the napkin pieces to the pot.

Paint a coat of Mod Podge (a decoupage glue that looks like school glue) onto the pot where you want to apply a design.

Carefully lay the napkin piece on top of the wet Mod Podge area. Then apply more Mod Podge on top of the design.

You can gently do some smoothing of the paper at the same time with the brush. Don’t worry that the Mod Podge looks white—it will dry clear.

Let the piece dry for a couple of minutes before moving on or the paper tends to pull up when you touch it.

Continue applying the pieces in this way around the pot until you’ve achieved the look you want. I chose to only add two or three pieces to these pots and leave them partially uncovered. You can also cover the entire pot with designs or somewhere in between—all different ways will make for a pretty planter!

I’m no artist but this craft lets me create pots that look hand painted. I popped some moss and an Easter egg inside the pots and they became a cute addition to my Easter garden theme table centerpiece.

You definitely don’t have to be crafty to make this decoupage project. And it doesn’t cost much—only one or two pretty napkins and the cost of the pot. And terra cotta pots are cheap. You may already have pots lying around, or you can pick some up at Dollar Tree or a local flea market. You could even use this same technique on some inexpensive plastic pots.

I hope you give this fast and fun craft a try to add some of your own sweet little custom pots to your spring decor.

Maybe people will even think you painted them.😉

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