terra cotta Christmas: clay pot trees

it's tiiiiiime! (channeling Mariah Carey there...)

there's no waiting any longer to start sharing holiday decor content!

my muses love to yank my chain....

i HAD a plan for holiday content this year on the blog. yes i did.

and then... 

surfing through IG one night when i couldn't sleep,

a photo shared by one of my former employers and clients
came across my screen - and wouldn't you know it,

that one photo inspired a whole NEW idea and theme.  

this is the photo posted by Molbak's Garden Center near Seattle

to promote one of the themes of their holiday products this year.
(i used to be on the visual merchandising design team there,
and love keeping up with what they are doing now - it's amazing!)

those are turned wood trees on the mantel.

but that's not how i interpreted it... 

instead, i saw a forest of terra cotta trees made from pots!

that one photo inspired me to create decor
that was subdued, simple, natural, and elegant -

along the lines of something from Pottery Barn, Terrain, West Elm.

in the process, i've come up with different ways to use terra cotta pots
to embody a new theme for the holidays this year...

(and there's not a BIT of yellow in it! ;) ) 

...continue reading to see three styles of terra cotta trees!

dwk

inspired by the Molbak's display photo,

i gathered up all of the miscellaneous terra cotta pots i have

and figured out what sizes were needed to make those 'tree' shapes possible.

i grabbed all of the smallest pots - most from the Dollar Tree -  and stacked them up.
in the process, i discovered something:
the way the pots nest together makes a big difference in the 'tree' shape.

top row: if you just stack up the pots, they form a column - not a tree shape.
bottom row: tiny plastic cups used as a spacer between each pot
allows the pots to sit a bit higher, creating a better 'tree' shape.

oh yeah, THOSE...
truth is, i didn't like the way that the pot 'trees' had flat tops.
i would have loved to have had some French clay pots with a more conical shape,
but i didn't have any and wasn't really willing to spend $$$ to get some! 

then i remembered the stack of paper sno cones i had in my stash -
so i grabbed a few, painted them with the faux terra cotta finish,
and they gave my trees the pointed top i wanted.

and as you can see, the painted paper cones can stack up as trees, too!

i used small plastic cups as risers to add space between each cone here, too.

next, i made some larger trees, using larger pots:

i did pick up four medium-sized pots at a local thrift shop for those,
to make the transition from large pot to tiny pot work better.
larger plastic cups were used as spacers on these trees.
making them is easy - but here's a tip:
place them on a sturdy flat surface for the stability of the stack.

 then i remembered some ceramic trees i have used in years past:

2020 'Merry & Bright' theme

2021 'Sweet Sweater Season' theme . 2022 'Gingerbread Holiday' theme

some are ceramic, some are carved wood - 

 i grabbed them all and painted them to look like terra cotta clay.
and when some of the hot glue that held the pom pom trim on refused to come off,
i painted that bumpy surface to look like moss!

using a few pots with REAL moss on them as a guide, i replicated the look:

this faux terra cotta paint treatment is exactly the same process i have used
on pumpkins in the past - i just added faux moss to the finished terra cotta paint.

here's a quick look into my paint techniques:

TOP TIP: it's important to mix enough paint for ALLLL of your project,
and keep it in a covered container so it doesn't dry out. 
i mixed my terra cotta color paint before anything else...
the image on the left side below shows you how i kept mixing color in
 until it matched the small un-aged pot from my collection.

white, orange, brown, and a few drops of pink and yellow acrylics
helped me to get the right hue.

top row, above:
i pulled the pom pom and rickrack trim off of the 'gingerbread' trees,
then soaked the ceramic ones in HOT water to get the glue residue and brown paint off. 
the wood trees couldn't be soaked, but i pulled off all of the hot glue that i could.

using a soft, flat brush, i covered every inch of the trees with the terra cotta color paint.
two coats covered all of the color and flaws very well.

bottom row, above:
next i made a brown 'stain' in a small plastic cup:
1 teaspoon of dark brown paint and 4 teaspoons of water

using a long-bristled soft brush, i painted the stain all over one section of a tree
by 'scrubbing' it into the painted surface.
before it dried, i used a soft cotton towel to gently wipe the stain away.
(you can wipe or stipple, it's up to you) 

i continued this until all of the trees had been stained - 
and then i put a second coat of stain on a few of the trees/sections
just to replicate the way terra cotta ages in varied tones.

OPTION:
if you don't like the darker brown tones that this creates, skip it.
instead, mix a stain with white paint and water, and use that.
you can even press some cornstarch or flour into the wet 'stain' before it dries
to give your project a dusty, aged look - in white!

the moss effect:
i mixed another 'stain' with brown paint, forest green paint, and a few drops of water.
this stain isn't a runny, wet glaze - it's thicker, easier to control.
i used a few small pots with REAL moss on them as a color reference.

using a short-bristled brush, i picked up tiny amounts of this stain
and gently placed it onto the areas where the hot glue texture was visible.
after it dried, i went back and did it again for more contrast.

i can't capture the realism of the texture in a photo,
but i can say that it even wowed ME!
i love being able to replicate colors and textures with paint,
and this is one of my best faux terra cotta paint projects ever.

(and isn't it funny how what was a flaw - hot glue residue - 
became the impetus for a better result than i had originally planned??!!
there's a life lesson in that, i'm certain...) 

now, i know that i didn't invent the idea of stacking pots into trees ;) 

but i love being able to give a project special touches that make it uniquely MINE - 

and i hope you are inspired to do the same!

coming up in my next post,
terra cotta pots + welcoming wreaths!

related content:

other ways i have used terra cotta pots in decor

faux terra cotta painted pumpkins

shared online:

funky junk interiors | new upcycled ideas #703

thank you for featuring my project, Miss Donna!


southern sunflowers | home matters link party #457

creatively beth | team creative crafts linky party #173

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