DIY 4th of July pots

Transform some old or boring pots into real 4th of July eye catchers :-).

I used two grey outdoor pots that I already have for a couple of years.

Things you need to make these patriotic pots are:

- 2 pots...well, that was to be expected ;-)

- gesso

- red, white and blue acrylic paint

- mod podge for outdoor use

- a star shaped foam sticker

- a cork (or something else to stick your foam sticker on in order to easily dip it in paint and stencil)

- a brush

- something to put some paint in in order to stencil
- painters tape

First I applied a pretty thick layer of gesso with a brush. I treated the outside of the pots with gesso, as well as a bit of the upper part of the inside of the pots.

As soon as the gesso is dry you can start to paint. The pot with the stripes I painted completely white at first, whil I painted the pot with the stars blue. Use as many coats of paints as it takes for you te be satisfied with the result.

Make sure the paint has dried very well before applying the stars and stripes. For the stars I used a star-shaped foam sticker, I sticked it on a cork and dipped it in white paint. Because the post are round (or at least mine were :-) ), you need to move the star over a bit when stenciling. If the stars are not perfect or you used too much paint, you can touch up using a small brush.
For the striped pot I used painters tape to make sure the pot stayed white where I wanted it to. I applied two 'stripes' of tape and stared painting the rest of the pot red.
Once you're done painting let it dry a bit (although I would advise not too much) before tearing of the painters tape.
To make sure the pots can be used outdoors again you need to apply some mod podge for outdoor use. I applied quite a thick coat.

Now your pots are ready to use.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Edith

4th of July folding chair

One of our folding chairs really needed a new paint job. I didn't really know what to do with it, except that the green really needed to go.
Starting to get into the '4th of July spirit', I thought it would be cool to transform it into a patriotic chair. Of course this can be used all year round. I probably am going to put mine out front, together with the pots I transformed and a welcome-sign that I am creating right now.

What do you need transform a chair like this?:
- red, white and blue acrylic paint
- sanding paper
- gesso
- painters tape

and either:
- star shaped foam stickers and a cork
or
- A cutting plotter
- template paper
- stipple brush

and also either:
- mod podge for outdoor use
or
- wood-stain

I will show you with pictures and an explanation just how I transformed my folding chair. I started out with this (sorry, took the picture just a minute too late, after I had just started working on it), a green folding chair. I gave it a quick sanding and then I treated all the metal parts with one coat of gesso.

I looked like this after I had applied the gesso:

Then I painted the upper half blue. I painted the metal too and didn't mind going past the 'halfway point' too much. I also painted the white stripes. After about three coats of blue and white the chair looked like this:

I then put some painters tape at the frame just above the seat. After that I started with the red paint. I used a big brush for the bigger parts and used a small brush for the smaller parts and the sides of the boards.
To make the stars I made a template for the stars with my Silhoutte craft cutter and then used a stipple brush to dab the stars on. If you don't own a cutting plotter, you could also use a foam sticker of a star shape and attach that to a cork and dab it into paint and just apply the stars that way (I used this technique for a pot I transformed as you'll see in a next blog).
Just apply as many coats of paint as it takes for you to be satisfied with the result.
After the paint is dry apply either a coat of mod podge for outdoor use, or use wood-stain (colorless)

Have lots of fun with your '4th of July chair'!