DIY Faux Clay Textured Vase

A simple DIY vase makeover giving a thrift store vase the warm rustic look of clay with textured layers of paint.

Each seasonal change seems to have a colour change for me. A fresh tone that I’m feeling inspired by and that seems to represent the new season.

Normally in the summer I gravitate heavily towards greens and blues. This year, I also want to bring in some warmer colours. Think coral, peach, and terracotta paired with olive, sage, and forest greens. And the faux clay textured vase that was inspired by this palette feels just like it’s meant to: earthy and rustic yet cozy and warm…

via Fab Mood

This scheme is my inspiration for our living room decor this summer, so I thought starting with some more peach and terracotta elements was the perfect place to begin. I used the same technique as I used on these vases to redo couple of thrift store finds with layers of plaster-paint and mineral paint.

The Seasonal Simplicity Summer Series:

Today is the first day of the Seasonal Simplicity Summer Series! Each week in June I’ll be sharing a summer DIY or decor idea article with you, and some of my friends will be joining me to share their great ideas as well!

Faux Clay with Peach Paint and Plaster of Paris

As I mentioned, I’ve been loving all the pops of peachy/terracotta/blush pink tones that I’ve seeing in decor schemes everywhere, and wanted to bring some more of that tone into our living room for summer. Adding some of that colour through a couple of thrift store vase makeovers was the perfect way to do so!

It’s kind of amusing how much these actually remind me of decor from my childhood, but with an updated twist.

How to give an old vase a terra cotta or clay finish:

To make this, I started with a couple of thrift store vases, some house paint (I used a Benjamin Moore sample in a light peach colour), Plaster of Paris, and Fusion Mineral Paint in Casement.

I decided to go with a lighter peach tone rather than a true terracotta because I knew that after I dry brushed on white paint, it would give it that old/aged weather beaten terracotta look.

I mixed the Plaster of Paris with the paint to create a mix about as thick as natural peanut butter.

Next, I gave it a couple of coats of the peach before using a dry-brush technique to add back in layers of white (using the Casement colour Fusion Mineral Paint).

Watch the video tutorial in this article for more details about this technique and process: Pottery Barn knockoff vases,

The dry-brushing over the vase really gives it a softened look with layers of colour and lots of depth. I love the warmth of it!

Today kicks off the Seasonal Simplicity Summer Series! For the next several weeks we will all be sharing some fun summer DIY and decor ideas with you. You can visit all of these great summer DIY ideas by clicking on the links below the images.