How To: Chalkboard Pots

Horray that it's finally June! Today is Lily's last day of preschool and she gave her two teachers these chalkboard pots that we made and planted with herbs. These are a fun and easy project and can be made for any occasion. Enjoy!

You'll need:

1 in cheapy foam brush (I got mine at Home Depot)

Chalkboard paint in black (also from Home Depot)

Terracotta pots and the corresponding terra-cotta trays (also from Home Depot, these pots are the 8 in)

Chalk

Shake your jug of paint up, crack it open and start painting the outside of pot. Don't paint the inside though!

You'll notice the paint dries fast. Be thorough and don't worry if you can see your brush strokes in the paint as it dries. This is normal and it looks better in the end.

Paint each tray all over with chalkboard paint. Even the bottom.

Allow everything to dry for at least an hour.

When the pots and trays are dry, you'll need to "season" them. This step is important, otherwise your pots and trays won't have that nice chalkboard patina- they'll just look like you painted them black.

Take a piece of chalk and run it all over the surface of your pots and trays.

When they've all been scribbled on, take a paper towel and wipe it all off! This'll give it that nice chalky/dusty look.

Voila. Now they need to be potted with some herbs!

We chose a Lemon Verbena for Lily's two teachers. These plants are really fragrant and smell just like lemon- just perfect to have in a kitchen.

Plant whatever herbs you think the recipient would like (or you would like): basil and oregano if they like to cook Italian food, Cilantro for the salsa lover, and even Parsley is a good bet since you can put it in anything for some added freshness.

Use chalk to write on the pots. You could write the name of the herb you planted or write something sweet and simple, like, "I like you!". And you can always erase what you wrote and start over if you mess up (use a damp cloth or dry paper towels to do this).

Rest a fresh stick of chalk on the tray and they are ready to be given......or kept.

P.S. Sorry for the blurry finger in this picture.

all images by Briana using the iphone hipstamatic app