it's time to talk about my pot addiction.

no, that post title ISN'T an April Fools Day joke -
and it doesn't mean what you THINK It means!
in case you haven't noticed, i just love terra cotta pots!

they are such a versatile decorative element...

i can ALWAYS find a way to use them, in every season:

gather them on a platter or in a crate, sit them on a miniature chair,

add a little moss, tuck in a blooming primrose or tulip (fake is okay!),

dome them under glass, set the table with them,

make mushrooms out of them, turn them into Christmas decor,

and generally use them in ways they were never intended to be used!

i don't think i'll ever run out of ideas...

there was this ONE incident, however, that launched me into

the terra cotta pot stratosphere...

dwk

driving down a country road one day about twenty years ago,

i saw something that caused me to slam on my brakes:

there were terra cotta plant pots 

sitting in boxes and standing in stacks in a yard by the side of the road.

lots of them.

lots and lots of them.

lots and lots and LOTS of them....

and next to them, there was a sign: 'FREE!'

Be.Still.My.Heart! 

just LOOK at some of the vintage ones in the mix:

that green glazed McCoy pot on the right just makes me SWOON!

so you know what happened next, right?

 i quickly loaded those babies into my suv, took them HOME with me,

...and they lived happily ever after!

in my yard at 'The Cottage'...

and also in some displays at the wineries i created displays for (no photos of that)

then i used them in this display at our Petite Retreat vintage show, 

held at our first house on the island...

underneath that cool old stove above, a broken pot adds charm....

and behind the register setup at that same show...

 in our booth displays at the Farm Chicks Vintage Show in Spokane (not shown)
AND at the Sand Point Antique Show in Seattle...

then they moved with us to the farmhouse on the other side of the island...

and i used them in displays in the Petite Boutique farm store we had on the property...

then life changed radically and rapidly, and the last of the unsold ones

ended up in the gardenhouse that i made over

in the backyard of a kind friend's small bungalow in Seattle...

after completing that gardenhouse makeover in two days,

i staged some tablescapes and had a fun day photographing them.

my favorite was the simple garden style version:

the moss in the pots came from the backyard (it's the PNW, there's moss everywhere!)

and the 'sprouts' pushing up through it are actually ONIONS!

oh, and those domes over the tiny pots at each place setting?

stemless wineglasses!

... and finally, when i left Seattle in February of 2012

to return to California and start a new life, i gave them all away.

since then, i've gathered a few terra cotta pots

from thrift and dollar stores, garage sales, and even a neighbor -

but my 'collection' isn't anywhere near the size of my past one.

i still love finding fun new ways to use them - indoors and out!

coming up in my April posts, every Friday morning:
some of my NEWEST ideas for using terra cotta pots in your spring decorating!

what's YOUR favorite thing to do with terra cotta pots?

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