Wednesday, February 18, 2009

painted pots.


I always find that sick kids get to a point where they want to be busy, but are still pretty tired and can only do bits and spurts of things at a time. That is when I like to pull out a longer all day sort of craft. It is interesting, creative, requires short bursts of activity, and yet keeps kids engaged, even if they are not feeling so hot.


G was sick all last week and so we did a few projects like that. Our favorite was painting terra cotta pots. The boys have been interested in India lately, and so we have been checking out books on culture, history, food, holidays and more. A few books we have are huge and full of large vibrant photos - which made us all decide that we want to create an Indian theme on our deck this summer. So we need pots!


I usually have a bunch of terra cotta pots around for projects. In addition to their use as plant pots, they make great pencil holders, paintbrush holders, and candle holders!


Painting pots is easy. It just takes a few steps. We paint the base layer. Let dry. Paint any other layers or designs. Let dry. Varnish and let dry. You can find craft acrylic paint just for ceramics at most craft stores. While this project does need a grown up for setup and cleanup at each step, my boys were able to paint, stamp, decorate, and varnish pretty independently (although I did only put out one solid color at a time). I added a few little paint embellishments too, for fun.


They all look so great and will be perfect for holding individual herbs on our colorful deck this summer - and it is nice to paint and fill our home with such vibrant color in February!

18 comments:

Crescent Moon said...

Those look great! I love the colors!

Willo said...

Those are great! They give me a little spring fever and a lot of happiness!

Tara said...

Those pots are just gorgeous... the colors are so pretty!

I enjoyed studying India with Owen- it was one of our favorite topics.

Joy said...

Those are fantastic! My daughter did a bit of pot painting this weekend as well. Must be in the air. Hope your kids are enjoying their books on India. The Just So Stories make a nice addition to that. :)

nettlejuice said...

Beautiful! I've got tons of little pots in our shed. This may be a project for us too.

STEPHANIE. said...

How beautiful!

dawn klinge said...

Color is the first thing I think of when I think of India. It looks like you're off to a great start on your Indian themed porch. Those pots are so pretty.

Amy Bradstreet said...

These are very pretty and will look great this summer! I still have stacks of pots mod-podged with cut-outs from seed catalogs that my kids did years ago. Nice work!

Sara said...

love love love this! They are so pretty.

Dawn said...

Love them! The vibrant colors are fantastic!

Hope your little lovies are feeling better...sending hugs~

:)

Cloudberry said...

So bright and great colors!
They really makes me in a good mood!

Elisheva Hannah Levin said...

Wow. Pretty snazzy pencil holders. You and your boys really ought to set up in business.

G was sick? It seems you have had a bad winter in the health department. I hope everyone gets well and stays well.

And those pots made me smile!

Anonymous said...

Those are beautiful! It's that time to crave strong colors when everything's been pretty dull outside for so long.

Lizz said...

I want to jump right in to that book! Can you tell me which book that is from?

Awesome colorful pots!

denise said...

The book is gorgeous:

India: In Word & Image
by Bharati Mukherjee, photographs by Eric Meola

Lizz said...

Thank you!

*kiss*

dongdong said...

Those are beautiful. What a wonderful idea! Thank you for sharing. I found you through The Olive Tree community.

Sam said...

I love those pots. Wonderful colours :-)