5 Hydro-Dipping Flower Pots

SILVIA GUTIERREZ / TEACHER LIBRARIAN

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Library Media Commons

Type of Library Best Suited for: Any

Cost Estimate: $3 per participant

Makerspace Necessary? No, but must be held outdoors because of the strong nail polish odor

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Nail polish is not just for fingers and toes anymore. This long-lasting pigment comes in an ever-growing palette of colors, and the painted results are eye-catching. A bit of paint and a few drops of nail polish will make plain terra-cotta pots pop with designs in vibrant colors.

In this project, you begin with a plain terra-cotta pot (used to hold plants and flowers) and you end up with a piece of art. The results are dazzling and yet simple to achieve. No special artistic talent or skill is needed. Just ordinary nail polish! The technique involves swirling the terra-cotta pot in a container of water and polish. The polish forms a design on the pot that looks difficult to paint but isn’t. The swirling action creates the design. Use colors to match your flowers, your home décor, or just go wild!

OVERVIEW

I hold twice-monthly “Crafternoon” sessions at my high school library, and many of the projects revolve around holidays or special occasions. This is a “Mothers and Others Day” craft project held in the month of May. Luckily, May brings warm weather, and this craft needs to be held outdoors due to the strong odor of nail polish, and because it can be quite messy with spilt water and polish. Our “Crafternoon” projects usually attract our teenaged young ladies, but young men are enticed into this one when we advertise, “If you don’t have a Mother’s Day gift ready for your mom, aunt, grandma, come make one free at the library!”

The teens will decorate a plain clay terra-cotta plant pot with paint and nail polish. The easy technique requires no art skill, yet results in a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece that is ready to give. It is safe for a live plant.

This session is an hour in length. The clay pots are prepared in advance and the materials and equipment are displayed and ready as the session begins. We have two adults supervising and twelve crafty teens. We limit the program to twelve teens because it is a fast-paced craft and the adults need to be constantly circulating among the teens. More adults = more teens.

MATERIALS LIST

◦ 6-inch terra-cotta pots—one or two for each participant
◦ Nail polish with no glitter, sequins, or sparkly fillers. Minimum of three colors per participant, but bottles may be shared
◦ White acrylic paint and paintbrush or white enamel spray paint
◦ Several Popsicle sticks
◦ Bucket of clean, lukewarm water
◦ Container large enough to fit the length and width of the plant pot
- — The container doesn’t need to be deep. The pot will not be submerged but will only skim the surface. The container does have to be large enough for the length and width of the pot to fit into easily. Larger is better so the pot can be rotated without scraping the sides
◦ One 10-ounce or larger tin can for each pot to dry upon
◦ Pair of disposable gloves for each participant
◦ Polish remover
◦ Cotton balls
◦ Roll of paper towels
◦ Clear varnish spray

Many of these items are available in your library’s supply cabinet or from your staff, and do not need to be purchased. Put the call out to your staff and patrons, and donations of nail polish will be plentiful! Who doesn’t have a few bottles of unwanted nail polish?

Someone may have recently finished a house painting job and have leftover white paint. Or you may purchase paint samples that are available in small jars for just a few dollars. A little goes a long way, and one sample jar or spray bottle will paint several pots. Terra-cotta pots can be purchased from craft or home improvement stores for less than one dollar apiece. If your budget allows, provide more than one pot per teen.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Preparation

The pots need to be painted white in advance of your event. Terra-cotta clay is a dull brown and doesn’t create a contrasting background. White paint is a wonderful backdrop, and the polish will pop and look vibrant on this painted background. Use acrylic paint with a medium paintbrush or enamel paint spray. The spray paint is easier and quicker to apply. The paint will dry within an hour, but it is best to paint a day ahead and have the white pots ready for your group when they arrive, rather than having them paint the pots themselves and then wait for the paint to dry.

Advisory

You must do this craft outside due to the strong odor of nail polish. We began inside with all the doors open and the odor was still so strong we had to move outside. It was a big disruption to cart everything outside.

You are ready to begin. Assemble the supplies and have each participant collect

◦ terra-cotta pot
◦ a few Popsicle sticks
◦ container for water
◦ one tin can for each finished pot
◦ pair of disposable gloves
◦ paper towels

Have a wide selection of nail polish colors. The polish must have no glitter, sequins, or sparkly fillers. This is because if the polish is too heavy, it will sink; instead, it must float. Group the polishes by color and display them on the table. Participants choose three bottles. They can select various shades of one color, or they can mix it up with different colors for a wild look. Bottles may be shared.

Fill each plastic container halfway with lukewarm water. Not cold, not hot. Wear gloves. You are now ready to add the polish.

The teens work in pairs; one teen will drizzle the polish into the water, the other teen will “paint” the pot.

Starting with the lightest color, one partner slowly and gently drizzles the polish into the water close to the surface to prevent the polish from sinking to the bottom. The polish should stay floating at the top and not sink to the container’s bottom. If it sinks, slowly drizzle more polish on the surface. If it sinks a second time, discard that polish; it is too heavy. Make a spiral pattern with the polish as it is slowly poured. Use a Popsicle stick to swirl the polish if it has not spread.

Have the pot ready to be “painted.” It must be “painted” quickly before the polish dries. Yes, the polish dries in the water. Don’t believe it? Try it! If the polish is left in the water for a few minutes it will congeal into clumps.

One teen holds the pot as the polish is poured. Hold the pot horizontally. Clasp firmly around the pot’s top ridge with the fingertips of one hand; the other hand holds the bottom. Holding the pot, lightly roll the pot’s surface through the polish until the entire pot has been rotated. The polish will adhere to the pot. Remove the pot from the mixture but continue to hold it. Do not set it down.

The partner repeats the above with the second shade of polish. Drizzle the second color. Quickly rotate the pot through the polish.

Repeat one more time with the darkest color. Drizzle and “paint.” After the final coating, take the pot out of the water and gently place it upside down over the tin can to dry. If spots have been missed, you may fill them in by lightly dabbing polish on them with the nail brush.

Ready for another pot? It’s easy to change colors. Remove the polish from the container using the Popsicle sticks to catch the nail polish. The polish will bond to the stick. Or mop up the nail polish with paper towels.

Begin again. Drizzle the polish and “paint” the pot with multiple colors.

Wait about fifteen minutes after painting and do a “touch” test. It the polish is dry to the touch, it is ready for the varnish. Spray clear varnish on the inside and outside of the pot. The varnish will set the color and also make it more water-resistant.

The teens may take the pots home immediately or return the next day to pick them up. Wait overnight for the varnish to dry before planting live flowers in the painted pots, or arranging a bouquet of silk flowers in them.

This little artistic piece will bring smiles and oohs and ahhs from the recipient!

LEARNING OUTCOMES

◦ Teens learn that nail polish is a decorative paint for more than toes and fingernails.
◦ There is more than one use for an item. Teens are encouraged to look for alternative uses for common items.

RECOMMENDED NEXT PROJECTS

Teens may try other nail polish projects. Mugs, glass jars, ceramic bowls, and tiles can all be painted with nail polish. Use the polish-in-water method or paint with the nail brush directly on to the surface.

◦ Bookmarks can be created with this same method by using cardstock of special watercolor paper from an art supply store.
◦ Bling a cell phone case with nail polish polka dots.
◦ Fabric can be painted with nail polish. Highlight a sweatshirt or jeans. The polish won’t come off in the wash!