Make Any Material Look Like Glazed Ceramic With This Easy Hack

Inside: Looking to make over a thrifted vase or planter? Here’s my simple solution to transform a garage sale find into a glossy glazed ceramic pottery treasure with paint! ➡

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I always pop into estate sales near me. Because…

1) FOMO that I might miss an amazing deal on something I didn’t even realize I wanted.

And 2) curiosity. I’m the nosy neighbor that likes to see the inside of some of these houses.

And a couple of weeks ago I spotted something that I DID want. It just wasn’t the right color or material. But at $30, it was going home with me in the chance I could make it that thing in my mind.

This thrift purchase was originally brown resin. And it did become that amazing deal I’m glad I didn’t miss.

During its makeover, I found a super simple solution to make it look like this glazed ceramic pottery, and a new favorite craft paint!

The inspiration planter that stuck in my head.

When I was looking at all of the latest beautiful offerings during my visit to High Point Market this year, this artichoke planter called my name:

It was my favorite item in a store of so many lovelies. But at almost $500 I took a hard pass. Fast forward to the estate sale, and I actually spot an artichoke planter. What are the chances?

My thrifted diamond in the rough.

Even at $30 I felt like it was a decent deal. It was large. Heavy as a brick. And the original price tag was heavy too – $184. The bad news was it had an old world finish. Could I make this brown resin look similar to that timeless white glazed stoneware inspiration planter?

1. Paint over the brown.

The first step was a no brainer – to paint it white.

I had this Rustoleum “Chalked” paint in Linen White left over from whitewashing a fireplace and the linen white color was exactly the shade I wanted.

You can see the easy process I used to whitewash stone and brick.

I could have used spray paint and sped the job up, but this wasn’t difficult. And on this very hot day, the paint dried almost immediately between coats.

2. How do I make resin look like ceramic?

I took a trip down the spray paint aisle at Home Depot in search of a glossy topcoat to mimic the shine of fire glazed ceramic and this caught my eye: Rustoleum Triple Thick Glaze High Gloss Coating.

I mean, the name basically said to me, “I’m made for this project!”

And this was going to be a true test of how glossy it was on its own because it was going over the flattest, matte-est chalk paint finish.

I sprayed three coats over the white paint, letting them dry for about 5 minutes in between.

After just the first coat I thought, this might actually work!

3. The finishing touch.

In studying the inspiration for this planter, it had some brown “aging” detail.

So I dry brushed and dabbed just the tips of the artichoke leaves with some brown antique wax craft paint like the inspiration piece.

And even added a few more “age spots” around the base.

Did it work?

Is it a copy for the gorgeous inspiration planter? No, and I didn’t expect it to be. But the price tag is a whole lot better, and I’m happy enough overall with the way it came out to use it.

My resin planter has a texture to it so it may not pass muster for ceramic on close inspection. A smoother material should have even more realistic results.

But the big win from this experiment is the discovery of the Rustoleum Triple Thick Glaze High Gloss Coating. Now that I know that it creates this lovely, glossy, thick-looking top coat, I can’t wait to try it on other materials to make them over as kiln glazed ceramic!

So for $30 and some paint, I feel like I scored a deal.

Oh and just in case you’re wondering, the estate sale house was gorgeous, so this thrifting “snoop” was a winner all around.

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