How to Create a Marbled Look with Country Chic Paint!

Check out this tutorial to learn an easy and fun way to give your simple, terracotta plant pots a beautiful marbled finish!

The supplies:

• All-in-One Decor Paint
• Clear Glaze
• Disposable tray, big enough for whatever objects you are dipping
• Plastic cups
• Toothpicks
• Tough Coat
• Cardboard / drop cloth

This first step can be the trickiest part of any project: choosing your colors. You’ll want to pick 3-4 colors that all coordinate nicely together. One of these colors will be your main or base color, and the rest will be accent colors.

Tip: try to stick to colors from similar color families; for example warm colors such as yellow, orange, and red, or cool colors such as blue, purple, and green. Avoid color combinations that don’t mix together well like red and green as they’ll create brown when you try to marble them.

In this case, we chose Vanilla Frosting as our base color, and Cherry Blossom and Bee’s Knees as our accent colors.

Next, you’re going to apply a base coat of color to your entire piece. If you’re working with a flower pot like this one, make sure you paint inside AND out. Allow this base coat to dry for 1-2 hours before moving on to the next step.

In preparation for mixing our colors, we’re going to dilute the paint just a bit so it runs and drips more smoothly and evenly.

Take your base paint color (Vanilla Frosting in our case) and dilute it with clear glaze and water (2 parts paint, 2 parts clear glaze, and 1 part water). Next, take your accent colors and pour about a quarter cup of each color into individual plastic cups. Add just a little bit of water and mix well. There’s no exact ratio here, but about one tablespoon should do.

This is where it starts to get fun! Take a disposable tray or container and pour your diluted base color evenly into the bottom. You can gently shake the tray to help make it even and level. Next, take your accent colors and gently drip them one at a time, all over the surface of your base color. Keep your plastic cup close to the surface of your base color while you pour so the paint pours slowly and gently. This part doesn’t have to be perfect, but try to spread the colors out fairly evenly.

Are you ready to blend your beautiful colors?!? Grab a toothpick and slowly drag it through the paint to allow the colors to start mixing. Make sure you change directions from time to time to create a truly randomized pattern.

Hold your flower pot sideways and gently begin to roll it in the paint. You’ll want to allow the entire exterior to be covered with color, but try not to submerge the edge as you don’t want paint collecting and pooling on the inside of your pot.

Once completely covered, set your flower pot upside down to dry for a minimum of 24 hours.

Finally, we recommend sealing your plant pot inside and out with Tough Coat to make sure it’s durable and can withstand regular watering. Apply two coats with 1-2 hours dry time between coats for best results.

Tips:

• If you’re going to be marbling multiple items, you can stop at this point and re-swirl your paint before dipping again, or you can even add more colors if you’d like!
• Make sure you set up some cardboard or a drop cloth right next to your marbling station before you start rolling your pot in the paint so you’re ready when the time comes to let it dry.
• You might want to use a prop like a small block of scrap wood or a cardboard box to lift your pot up so it can drip nicely.
• The dipping part of this project can get messy! If you want to avoid getting paint stuck under your fingernails, consider wearing rubber gloves.

That’s all there is to it! This technique would be perfect for vases, picture frames, mason jars, and more! If you have any questions, please leave your comment below.

To see Rosanne making these marbled flower pots first hand, watch this video:

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We would love to hear what projects you’re working on, so make sure to leave a comment or post a picture of your project to our Facebook page or Instagram (@countrychicpaint)!