Hello friends!
I’ve never been much of a green thumb, but I’ve managed to keep my little fiddle leaf tree alive for a couple months, so I like to think that maybe I’m learning a thing or two.
And with the fiddle leaf still alive and well, I thought I’d take a shot at growing some herbs next. I like the idea of having a few of the staples on hand – I don’t know about you, but the majority of any herbs I buy from the grocery store always end up going to waste before I can use them up.
After a trip to our local garden center, I came home with some basil, cilantro, thyme, and lavender – the first three I cook with frequently, I grabbed the lavender just because I looove the smell of lavender – and I picked up a cute little plant (angel vine maybe?) for fun. 🙂 And I was feeling creative so I grabbed a few inexpensive terra cotta pots too.
I love terra cotta pots, but orange is not really my color, so I decided to give these pots a new look. I started by giving each pot a coat of light gray chalk paint (I used a color called Twig by Vintage Market & Design).
Once that was dry I topped each pot with a coat of white chalk paint (Lace, also by Vintage Market & Design). You could certainly stop at one coat, but I decided I wanted a little more coverage so I did a second coat of white paint.
I let the paint dry overnight and went back the next day to sand off some of the white paint to give these pots a more distressed look.
I am not gonna lie, sanding these pots gave me a run for my money. I had actually wanted a much more distressed look, but that paint did not want to budge in most spots – and then in others, it all came off completely – so I did what I could and called it a day. I found using a dampened sanding sponge worked the best for removing the white paint, but leaving the gray exposed and not going all the way through to the orange of the pot.
After I was happy (enough) with the distressing, I decided I wanted to add labels. I grabbed a little stamp set I received for Christmas a few years ago (this one came from Pottery Barn, but I’ve seen similar sets at craft stores), and a black ink pad and set about stamping each pot with the name of each herb.
And for the cute little plant I just stamped the word “grow”.
I didn’t care that the letters did not turn out perfectly placed, perfectly straight, or perfectly stamped – I feel like that’s part of the charm.
I then filled each pot with their respective herbs and called it a day. Quick and easy project complete. 🙂
I didn’t put much thought into this before I started, so I wasn’t thinking of where I would keep these cute little potted herbs…and we don’t get much sun in our house…
Oops…
So, I currently have these sitting on a random work bench that’s hanging out in our still unfinished sun porch in hopes of keeping them alive. But I can definitely see them in some sort of cute display and becoming part of the décor once that room is finished.
If I don’t kill them first, anyway… 😉
Have a great weekend!!
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Where did you get the letter stamps?
Pottery Barn
Hi there, I have emailed you but I have now found another website who is using your image https://www.frugalcouponliving.com/diy-fixer-upper-ideas/#comment-436522 it really frazzles me when people use other people’s images to benefit their own websites. Your project is gorgeous by the way 🙂
Hi , what size are these pots? Trying to decide between petite or bigger. 🙂 Thank you
They were a smaller pot – 4″ or 5″ maybe…I no longer have them so I can’t be sure.
These are adorable! Did you have any trouble with the inked titles fading when you watered the plants? I’m making these this weekend to get me through winter 😊
The ink has faded some but I think it’s due to the sun more than watering.
Why don’t you just use artificial herb plants in your pots!
Now that you’ve had these for awhile, can you tell me if water has leached through the pit and affected the paint?
I actually killed all of my herbs within about a month of potting them (too much water/not enough water – who knows) and have never replaced them so I’m afraid I can’t provide you an answer. 😑
Hi Tonya! These are super cute. Where did you buy these terra cotta pots? I love that they’re different than the typical ones they sell.
I found these at a locally owned garden center.
Love these pots! What should I seal them with? I don’t want the ink to wash away 🙂
I did not seal mine, as I planned to use them indoors only, but I used chalk paint to paint our front door and sealed it with an exterior sealer made by Vintage Market & Design and it’s held up great. Whatever you do – don’t wax them (not a sealant anyway and the wax will melt off in the sun). 🙂
Thank you!
love….Love…..love…..what you did!
Thank you Suzanne! Glad you like them!
These are so cute!! I just bought a bunch of these little pots so I can plant herbs, too. I think I might have to jazz them up like you did. I love the idea of labeling the pots with stamps!
Just wondering. I just painted with chalk paint on a couple of my terra cotta pots. Does the water soak through to the chalk paint? I also painted the drip tray with chalk paint. How does the chalk paint hold up to the watering of these plants. Even if I spray the outside of them with a sealer, would the drip tray suffer? I have a friend that I am doing these for and I would hate for her to have a disaster after getting them from me.
Hi Linda! I haven’t had my pots long, but I have not had any issues with water damaging them so far – and my drip trays (which I painted as well) look as good as new. Also, my pots are kept indoors so they are not exposed to the outside elements. Knowing I was not going to be using my pots outside, I did not seal them with anything – but if you choose to seal them, make sure you don’t use a wax. Wax – which isn’t a sealer anyway – is a popular chalk paint finisher, but will most definitely melt if placed in direct sun. Hope that helps!
I love what you did with them. They wold look perfect in your home now that the terra cotta is gone. And the stamped lettering is just perfectly imperfect. As it should be since the pot are distressed. Tonya, I am hosting a new link party, Sweet Inspiration and would like to invite you to join us. It runs Friday till Tuesday.
Thank so much for the invitation, Mary! I’ll definitely try to stop by and take a look. 🙂
Love these what a great idea!
Thanks, Mom! 😉
I really love how these turned out! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Linda. Glad you like them! 🙂
Darling idea….!
Thanks Cindy! 🙂
Ha, you said you didn’t craft or DIY….well if these pots aren’t the cutest DIY craft, I don’t know what is.!!! These are super adorable, the distressing and all.!!
A little water every other day and these little plants should shine in their perfect little pots 🙂
Thanks, Min! I’m glad you like them. Even though they’re not quite what I had pictured in my head, I’m happy with how they turned out. 🙂
Soooo cute!
Thanks Jenny! 🙂