DIY Mexican Painted Planters

It's Cinco de Mayo weekend and I know there is a lot of sombrero and chili pepper crafting going on, so I thought it was my duty to up the ante a bit and show a new side to Mexi-themed party decor! (I refuse to do sombreros and chili peppers for personal reasons, lol) How about learning to paint your own Mexican-style pottery?

 

Here at iLTC, we have a whole wall filled with shelves of blank bisque. This week I came across these wall planters that reminded me of Ensenada, Mexico. They had amazing, beautiful designs like this:

I decided to try my hand at the planters and give them my own spin! Here is what you need:

Pencil

Eraser

(carbon paper if you want to trace designs)

Duncan Blank bisque: 31531 Teardrop Wall Planter (you can ask your local paint on pottery store to order for you!)

Duncan® Cover-Coat® Opaque Underglazes or Duncan Concepts Underglazes

Red, blue, white, green, yellow, orange, teal, purple.

Duncan® French Dimensions™

Pure Brilliance® Clear Glaze

Assorted brushes

Fan brush or sea sponge

Draw your designs on the bisque. Don't worry, the pencil will burn off when you fire. Erase if needed. This is to get your design down, so you know where you want to apply the paint. I ALWAYS sketch my design first, it makes the process so much easier!

Once your base is completely covered with your paint, let it dry. For a traditional look, you'll want to add thin white lines to outline. I skipped that part because I wanted to give it my own spin!

Time to break out the French Dimensions, this is my favorite part! It's like Puffy Paint for ceramics! Make sure the liquid flows easily from the tip, otherwise your hand will cramp from squeezing. I always knead my bottle before I open it and turn it upside down and tap, tap, tap, so the paint goes to the top of the bottle.

Outline everything in black! In the picture above, the photo on the left is the paint dry, and the photo on the right is of the paint still wet. It will look super matte when it is dry, but will fire to be super colorful and brilliant!

Once it is all dry, you'll want to coat it in glaze. This will make it super shiny and bold. TIP: I ONLY use a fan brush or a sea sponge to blot onthe glaze, otherwise the paint can smear and you'll cry because your work will be ruined!

Here are my pieces, glazed and in the kiln! fire at cone 06, if you glazed the back of the pieces, make sure to add stilts!