DIY Aged French Pots

Inside: How to make charming aged French pots from any garden pot with paint, paper, and a printer with this simple step-by-step tutorial!

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My decorating style kryptonite is French decor.

I thank my lucky decorating stars that I was the child that inherited my grandmother’s French marble-topped credenza (it may have helped that I was the only girl, and the only taker.)

It holds court in all of her vintage European loveliness in my dining room. When I wanted to give it an all-out French look, that called for some French-style friends—French candlesticks and vintage Ironstone tureen.

I wanted to liven it up with some greenery but I didn’t want to just plop it into any old plain pots not worthy of her.

I had an idea in my head of exactly what I wanted, but couldn’t easily find the size, look, or price tag.

What do I do when that happens? I make it!

I came upon the size and shape of pots at a local plant nursery that I liked but they were definitely not the look I was after with their bright blue glaze.

So a new DIY project was born and I gave them the look of those old, aged terracotta pots that live in gorgeous French gardens.💗

Let me share this easy project and how I made two bright blue, brand-spanking new garden pots into these:

Making New Pots Look Old.

Supply list:

• Garden pot
• Rustoleum spray paint in Heirloom White
• Rustoleum textured stone spray paint in Bleached Stone
• Craft paint in light gray, medium gray, and dark gray
• White craft paint
• A couple of artist brushes (or small chip brush or foam brush)

How To “Age” the Pots.

The terra cotta pots I used were almost identical to these and covered in this same blue glaze. But you can use this easy technique on any old pots you have, or pick up a new pot at the dollar store to be your guinea pig.

1. Spray paint the outside of the entire pot with antique white. I started by painting the pots with some Rustoleum spray paint in Heirloom White to completely cover the blue. This paint has a built-in primer so I got to skip the priming step. I also sprayed the inside to cover the orange of my clay pot.

2. Give the pot texture with stone paint. After that dried, the next step was to give the outer surface of the pot a spray of Rustoleum textured stone spray paint. This paint is one of the fastest and easiest ways to make any garden pot look like stone. My coating of this paint wasn’t terribly heavy or uniform, just enough to make them more rustic.

3. Age the pots with craft paint. The first two steps left me with a pot that was a fairly even color, but I wanted something more mottled and aged. Craft store paint that I had on hand in different colors of gray (parisian gray, lava stone gray, and castle) and linen white was a great way to give the white “stone” pots an aged look.

I squirted out a little bit of paint in light gray, medium gray, dark gray, and white onto a paper plate. One color at a time, I dipped a small paint brush into the paints and dabbed the excess paint off on a paper towel until it was almost dry. Then I went around the pots and dabbed and pounced a bit of the different gray colors here and there with a dry brushing technique, and blotted with a rag as I went until I was happy with the level of “aging.” I went over any spots that were too dark or where you could see brush strokes with a little white paint, also softening it with a rag.

How to Apply the Transfer.

I found these free vintage French transfer designs on The Graphics Fairy. You can see all of their beautiful French designs here.

There are so many to choose from but I settled on these:

To demonstrate the process of how I did the transfers, I’m using the same method on a white, rustic pot that I found at Michaels in their spring collection.

Note: This transfer method works best on white/light-colored pots since some of the white paper will remain.

Supplies:

• Dry pots
• Printed transfer
• Matte Mod Podge and brush
• Spray bottle with water or a wet cloth or damp paper towel

1. Download your graphic in the reverse format if offered. If not, you can reverse the design in your photo program. Print it onto a sheet of plain white paper. 

There are other methods of applying transfers that require you to have an inkjet printer. But if you aren’t sure what you have or have a laser printer like me, this easy technique doesn’t require you to know the difference.

2. Cut around the design. Some of the paper will remain on the pot around the design. Straight lines will be obvious and won’t look time worn.

3. Apply the matte Mod Podge onto the PRINTED side of the paper. Then place the design onto the pot in the desired location.

4. Smooth the graphic as best you can to work out folds and wrinkles in the design.

5. Let the design dry OVERNIGHT. Don’t be tempted to peel away too soon!

6. After the design is completely dry the next day, spray or wet the paper with water until you can see the design through it.

7. Rub and roll the top layer of the paper slowly and gently away with your fingers. Rewet as needed until you take off the amount of paper you are happy with.

Bits of the design will come off but that’s ok since the look is supposed to be aged. Just don’t rub off so much of the paper that you remove a lot of the design.

To avoid this, it helps to roll the paper away in stages and let the paper dry in between so you can really see how much paper is left. I let mine dry 3-4 times and just took a little off each time.

The result? Lovely French pots with instant patina!

MoreTips for Applying Paper Transfers.

• When rubbing off the paper, be careful to rub just the paper and not the pot, because the stone and faux finish may rub off.
• Keep in mind that the transfer and faux paint technique is not waterproof without a sealer. I would plan to make them indoor plant pots or use them on a covered patio.

See how I used this same transfer technique to make a cute vintage spring garden pot in the post “How to Create Vintage Spring Flower Pots with Transfers“.

I hope you’ve been inspired to add some je ne sais quoi to your decor with this fun craft. If you try this method, show it off in the comments!

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