More Trash To Terracotta coming right up. I’m back with another update on my experiment with upcycling ugly vases to look like chic, handmade ceramics!
First up, if you’re new here and love updating vases as much as I do, make sure to head over and follow me on Instagram, where I’m constantly updating this project. You can also see all the amazing #trashtoterracotta projects that have been done using my methods.
You’ll remember last week I delved into the world of whitewashing thrifted vases to give a white ceramic effect (which was in itself an evolution of my trash to terracotta project), and shared a recipe for using to turn white paint into chalk paint. I loved this so much and was very curious as to whether this would work with other coloured paints. My main question was if the baking powder would give a white chalk texture, which might make it difficult to use with out colours, or whether it would dissolve, making it perfect as an additive for any coloured paint… Read on to see how to make DIY textured chalk paint in any colour!
How To Make DIY Textured Chalk Paint
The first thing I did was to do some research about our dear old friend baking powder. It will probably come as no surprise that I’m no baker (no matter how well practiced I may seem at dumping baking powder into a cup of paint lol), so I have to admit to having no idea how it works. I had thought it was something about the heating of it in a cake that causes the reaction and resulting rise. BUT, in fact, it actually reacts to water! Apologies if this is something other people instinctually know. I obviously did not.
The Verdict
After a few experiments with it, I found that it does in fact dissolve. Meaning, it works in ANY COLOUR PAINT! Wait a moment while I do a happy dance. The water content of the paint causes it to dissolve and then creates the reaction – where essentially your paint fluffs up and turns to mousse, with a resulting thick textured effect. Multiple paints also showed me that the more baking powder you use, the more fluffy (and thus textured) your paint becomes. In my last tutorial on the matter I recommended that you use around 1 tablespoon per cup of paint, but you can also use less or more depending on the texture you are after.
Naturally I got some new vases to try this out on! A reader actually gifted me a bunch of vases at my book launch (along with a lovely card!), so I wanted to put them to good use!
My DIY Chalk Paint Recipe
- A cup of water based wall paint in any colour
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- A plastic container
- A stick to mix with
- A bristle or foam brush
In case you’re wondering, there is a difference between baking powder and baking soda (aka bicarb soda) so make sure you use BAKING POWDER not soda.
How to
- Put your paint into the container.
- Add the baking powder.
- Mix it in immediately, and notice that it starts to fluff up and turn into a mousse consistency. If it doesn’t fluff up much, and you would like a thicker texture, I suggest adding a little extra baking powder.
- Use a brush to apply it to your vase or anything else you would like to paint. A foam brush will give a smoother feel, and a bristle one will give more texture.
- Let the paint dry for an hour or so until it is touch dry, then do another coat. Note that the paint you made will dry quite quickly so make sure to use it before it dries.
It doubles in size too! You will need to use this paint as soon as you make it, as I’ve noticed it doesn’t keep very well.
Voila!
Paint Colours
I chose colours that would give a sense of clay or ceramic, so opted for ochre, orange and pink tones. You could also use green, bright blue… anything! For these vases I used the following paint colours.
- White: Haymes Paint in Minimalist
- Pink: Taubmans in Pale Russet
- Yellow: Dulux in Raw Umber
- Orange: Megatreat Liquid Terracotta (I didn’t add baking powder to this)
