Pot Makeover

This summer I have made a major discovery (for me), plants can be free!   One day while pondering in the hut and enjoying the sweet potato vine growing in my deck containers, it hit me. My grandmother used to grow these things all over the kitchen from a little planter on her wall that held a sweet potato.  Hmmm....can I do that?   I figured it was worth a try so I took cuttings of both coleus and sweet potato vine.  Half the cuttings I dipped in rooting hormone and planted in potting soil.  The other half I simple dropped into Mason jars filled with water.  Both methods proved very successful, so much so that I was running out of places to put the new plants.  I added sweet potato vine to the petunias in my tilted pot tree but I still needed more pots.  Which leads me to today's post.

First Cuttings

Tilted Pot Tree with Sweet Potato Vine and Petunias

 What good are free plants if you have to buy new pots?  So, given my budget  ($0)  I went shopping here at home and I scored a couple of coconut lined hanging baskets (filled immediately with a coleus and sweet potato vine combo) and this beauty..

 I have had this clay pot for years.  It literally has been a half dozen colors including white with Donna Dewberry inspired florals and navy and white checkerboard.  For whatever reason for the last couple of years it hasn't been in use and has vacationed under the deck.  It had aged beautifully in some areas and had even developed some moss but alas not enough to cover old designs or to be considered aged chic.  I gathered my supplies, elbow grease and a wire brush and went to work.  2 Hours later (I can't believe I spent that much time, but it became personal) I had scrubbed away the bulk of the old paint.  Then I dug out some moss green acrylic paint and faux paint glaze.  I mixed the paint and glaze 50/50 found on old sock from the rag bag and wiped it over the entire pot.  Some areas I wiped away the excess and some areas I let it sit for a bit to deepen the color.

I'm pretty happy with the results  I achieved...hopefully it looks aged chic!  It is perfect in the shady area in my backyard beside my park bench .  Fast, easy and best of all....it is filled with free plants!