One Pot Painted Three Ways

I can play this game all day!

I've been staring at a couple of metal cachepots that have been sitting on my kitchen window sill for the past year and thought "these little buggers would be so easy to zhush up"- but then the phone would ring, or someone needed a snack or I'd see a squirrel and then I'd forget about them...

SO today, in the midst of a big deadline, I decide NOW was the time to bedazzle those babies. Procrastination gets shit done that doesn't really need to be done- am I right?

This took me an hour to do, and I have about 50 more ideas on how to paint this little pots, but for now I'll show you three.  It just takes a little paint, a steady hand and your imagination.

There's a style for everyone here-

 traditional chinoiserie, clean and simple modern lines and the eclectic/funky "evil eye". 

 Here are some tips...
-don't try this after drinking 2 cups of coffee- shaky hands, disaster!

-If using spray paint let your base coat color dry completely before doing your top pattern, otherwise the Sharpies and paint pens will get gooey/smudgy.  Learned this the hard way. 

 Use acrylics to avoid the wait.

-I used a white chalk marker (this one) because it was very smooth and fluid for drawing the chinoiserie scene.  It also will wash off with a wet rag if you make mistakes, so be sure to seal it with and polyurethane when you're finished.

-Sharpies work great for fine detail, just be sure to use an acrylic polyurethane on top, since some oil-based ones will make Sharpies bleed.

-Krylon Gold Paint pen does it again!  Easy peasy for lining the rims and coloring in the feet.

-I used a ruler to draw in the lines on my mint green pot, and then free hand traced to beef them up a bit.

-For the eyes, draw in the whites first with a chalk marker or acrylic paint.  Add colored irises with paint, and then line, lash and dot with a black Sharpie.

 The change up is fast and easy to do, and they'd make great little gifts.

What's your favorite?

p.s. -I found my pots at a local floral supply shop last summer, but I've seen these ingarden centers too.