Faux Pottery - from Upcycled Jam Jars!

A casual observer might not necessarily guess the humble origins of this make....

Monday again and I am at my desk and ready to go! Those of you who read my work regularly will know that I am quite a fan of upcycling and making something gorgeous out of, well rubbish. 

This gives me satisfaction just to look at it - you will be astounded with the results.

This time, I have collected a few jars which are the same (I really wanted to make a set) and decided that it was time for more faux pottery.

I love this shape and it works really well as a set.

You actually don't even need to get the labels off - you won't see them when they have plants in them and the old label, scratched a bit gives something for the clay to grab onto.

This is such an easy technique and so totally transformative that I guarantee that you will not let a single jar or tin can into the rubbish ever again.

You can swap the colours of the bases to suit your decor - there are many to choose from!

Best of all, it really doesn't need any painting skill at all. That makes it suitable for the little people in your life to join in too.

So what do we need for this....

Paint:

DecoArt Americana acrylics: light buttermilk, lamp black, saffron yellow, melon, lemonade
Media:DecoArt Media Texture Sand Paste
DecoArt triple Thick Gloss varnish
Everything Else:3 similar jam jars, washed and the labels removed
Older 1” flat brush
DecoArt Traditions ¾ flat brush
Toothbrush
Das air dry clay: white

You can buy DecoArt products in the UK here and in The USA here.


Begin by rolling out the clay and affixing it to your clean jars. 

Use your hands to smooth the clay onto the glass and work any air bubbles out.

Aim to have enough on the top edge to roll over and extend inside the jar by about 1”. Allow to dry.
Put  the jars somewhere warm but not hot overnight to dry. An airing cupboard works well. If they are dried too quickly, the clay can crack.

Using the older flat brush, paint the jars inside the rim and two thirds of the way down with Texture Sand Paste.

Leave the bottom part of the jar free of texture. This will be ultra glossy when we are done and will provide a nice contrast.

TIP: your good paint brush will not appreciate this texture paste! Have an older or cheaper brush on hand to do the job.

This bit extended down inside the jar is really important because it is what helps to disguise the fact that it is a jam jar - no actual glass can be visible when you are finished or your cover will be blown.

Allow the texture to dry and then paint the textured part with light buttermilk and dry 
Paint the un-textured bottom third part of the jars with either saffron yellow, melon or lemonade.

Like I said, no previous experience necessary - get that paint on there!

Rather than a hard edge, allow the colour to blend softly into the cream.

Keep the top edge soft.

When this is dry, take the lamp black paint and the toothbrush and splatter the pots all over.

It is starting to look like the real thing now!

TIP: if you are working inside, it is an idea to work inside a cardboard box to avoid splattering everything!

You must do these things to the inside of the rim even though you won't see most of it - we are trying to convince people that this 'pottery' is solid!

You can water the black paint down to get a larger splatter. Don’t forget the inside of the rim.

This Triple Thick Varnish is so satisfying! It acts like a real glaze!

Finally, when everything is very dry (some of the larger, thicker splatters take a little longer) varnish the coloured bottom part of the jars with Triple Thick varnish using the ¾” flat brush (the good one this time!). Really apply this thickly and it will run like a ‘proper’ pottery glaze.

Don't just put the pot somewhere and forget about it - for the first 20 minutes or so (depending on the temperature and the weather) keep turning the pot so that the varnish stays on the bottom bit of the pot. Gravity will make it want to run onto the textured part.

TIP: you will have to turn the pot as it dies so that the glaze stays where it should be and doesn’t pool.
Your pot will be matte on the top two thirds and very glossy on the bottom .

All done! No-one will guess I promise you!

Plant something! The great thing about these jars is that although they are made from air dry clay on the outside, they are glazed inside and can take a small amount of water. Cacti and succulents are a great thing to put into them.

Those colours!

You can do this with tin cans too so start collecting!

I do hope that this post has inspired you to start collecting some jars and tins to upcycle. These make great craft stall items too and if you start finding and cleaning jars now, you will have a fabulous inside activity for the winter when the weather is not so nice.

Thank you for stopping by!
Hugs
Debbie
xx