Painting Flower Pots

Michaels has a good tutorial on painting flowerpots.

If you go to that site, the instructions seem somewhat complicated. And they do not state that it is desirable to apply a gesso product on the clay pot prior to painting on the pot. It is advisable to paint on the clear product so that the paint won't soak into the clay.

At your local home improvement center, you can find a clay product sealer which will allow your acrylics or oils to lay on smoother. Otherwise, without a sealer, the clay soaks up the colors and more layers of paint are required in order to get the desired coloring effect.

This site gives excellent step-by-step instructions for preparation of the pot prior to painting. That same reference will further explain the importance of preparing the clay surface for paint.

The picture on the right upper corner is one from the Michaels website. Near right photo shows a flower pot which I painted two years ago (using a clay sealer undercoating), which has held up fairly well. I used oil paints on this flower pot, but acrylics also might be applied for a quicker drying time. (The painting on the flower pot to the right was taken from an original Linda Le Kniff drawing.)

If you were to paint on the newer heavy duty plastic pots, prep time would be quickly shortened.

Remember to spray a clear acrylic coating on the finished pot for a bright, clear finish.

Using Oil Paint as Furniture Stain

A Quick Tutorial on how to Use Oil Paint as a Wood Stain:

1) Gather materials of tubed oil paint, mineral spirits, rags or paper towels, a container for mixing the stain (disposable), a stirring utensil (plastic fork), linseed oil, a little patience and elbow grease;

2) Now squeeze out about a two inch ribbon of paint from the tube and mix it with about a 1/4 cup linseed oil and 1 cup minerals spirits. The mineral spirits will help dissolve the oil and allow the paint to spread more easily.

3) Mix the paint, the oil and the minerals spirits really well. But don't worry if it does not have a thoroughly incorporated texture, because that is where the elbow grease comes in (by rubbing the paint mixture onto the wood);

4) Apply the paint, mineral spirits and linseed oil mixture directly to the wood. In this case, I purchased a table top from the local home improvement center;

5) Allow to dry for a few days as the linseed oil needs to soak into the wood;


6) Apply an acrylic protection over the stained wood - - even a spray acrylic covering works fine. Let the acrylic dry for several hours before final use.

The finished table topper is shown at the left as used on our pato to hold colorful summer annuals.

This particular batch of stain made enough to cover the table top, and to give a spring refreshment of stain and oil to the accompanying patio rocker.

Name to the Moon

Want to learn about the Lunar Reconnaissance Project?

Sign up to send your name to the moon. Names will be collected and placed onboard the LRO spacecraft for its historic mission bringing NASA back to the moon. You will also receive a certificate showcasing your support of the mission.

The deadline is June 27, 2008 for the submission of names.LRO's objectives are to find safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

Here is what I received as confirmation that I am going to the moon...

Certificate of Participation
This certificate recognizes that Nancy McCarroll has joined the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter "Send Your Name to the Moon" Project
Date: June 15, 2008 Certificate No: 1297879
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is built and managed by NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center for NASA. "Send Your Name to the Moon" is a partnership with NASA, the LRO Project,The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the Planetary Society.

Try the Lunar Reconnaissance Project link and add your name!