Sprucing up old flower pots – creative tips

Your beautiful serviettes made a dazzling but extremely brief appearance during an evening meal or afternoon tea. Extend their use by decorating your flower pots. To do this, you'll need a suitable surface. The serviettes stick best onto clay or terracotta pots. Plastic surfaces are less suitable. For the serviette decoupage you need the following materials:

• Simple clay or terracotta pots
• Any type of paper serviettes
• Special transparent paint for the decoupage (available in handicraft shops)
• Any type of acrylic paint
• A small, pointed pair of scissors
• A soft brush

Got everything? The first step is to prime the clay pot with bright acrylic paint. Ideally, paint two coats on the pot to intensify the effect of the colour. Now you have to wait a bit until the pots are dry. Then create a template that you will use later for measuring. To do this, stand the flower pot on a piece of paper, mark the area that you will be sticking the appliqués onto and cut this out. Now you know size of the area that you can apply to. Cut out the serviette motifs that you will later use to brighten up the planter. You only need the upper layer. Remove this carefully from the paper napkin. In the next step, use the brush to apply glue evenly to the flower pots and carefully stick the motifs on. If the edges of the motifs also stick, wipe them with a clean brush or by hand until smooth. Take care with this, as the serviettes tear easily. Finally paint over all the motifs with a special adhesive and allow the pot to dry. Simple as!

Tip: you can stick different serviettes to a flower pot – such as an upper edge with an abstract pattern and a broad surface with pictorial elements.

Another option for decorating flower pots is different kinds of colouring techniques. One timeless design is to give your flower pots an elegant black and white look.

Note: whatever the colouring technique, always use flower pots with a smooth surface. These are the most suitable for painting.

For your black-and-white project, you'll need the right paint and different sized brushes. Have a roll of sticky tape ready. First paint your pots all over in either white or black, depending on your chosen base colour. Turn the pot upside down. Ready? Add another layer of paint to make sure everything is covered. As soon as the flower pot is dry, you can show off your painting skills. You don't have to be da Vinci to decorate your flower pots. Use different stripes and spots designs, like mandala symbols, to create fabulous flowerpots. If you want to do this with precision, stick adhesive tape on the pots and then paint the spaces in-between. Tip: apply different amounts of paint for greater variations in colouring.

Of course you can also use beautiful motifs as a template for the painting. How about a heart, a star or simple shapes? Cut out the templates, stick them to the pot with adhesive strips and paint the cut-out designs. When the paint is dry, remove the template, and you're done.