DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pots *

With all of this time at home, I decided to try a project that I have wanted to do for a while- DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pots.

They were pretty easy and just the most fun to make. There are a lot of tutorials out there to achieve the marble look, but I think that I have a few tips that will help make it easy and fun for you to make DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pots too!

Black and White- My go-to colors

5 DIY Marble look Terra-Cotta Pots — Black and White nail polish DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pots

There are so many different options to get a marble look while making crafts. I was drawn to an easy how-to using a water bath and oil-based paints. Using either oil-based enamel, spray paint, or the one I chose- nail polish! Water and nail polish? I got that!

I have put together a quick Pinterest board with ideas for Marble Terra-Cotta Pots Feel free to go and check it out for more inspiration.

Gather your supplies

DIY Marble Terra Cotta Pots — Pot #1- Spots of White and Black- this is the front side of the pot

I found this to be a pretty affordable craft, as I had bought most of my supplies from the Dollar Tree* and already had them in my craft stash.

**I am not suggesting that you go out to the stores to buy your supplies for this or any craft during this stay at home time. Please stay safe!**

For this DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pot Craft you will need the following:

Terra-cotta pots– mine are from the Dollar Tree and came in packs of two. But you can get your pots from your favorite store- or upcycle pots that you may already have on hand.
Nail polish in at least two colors- I used one whole bottle of each black and white nail polish for this craft. The two bottles were enough to be able to complete five 4″ pots. The polish was also from Dollar Tree.
Large plastic bin or bucket for the water bath- I used an old plastic storage bin. But I have seen where you could use a trash bag as a liner in a cardboard box if you don’t have a bin or bucket handy.
Water- room temperature or warmer worked best for me
A wooden skewer or straw- to swirl the polish in the water
Paper towel- for spills and clean up
Nail polish remover (acetone)- also for spills and clean up
Parchment or wax paper– to place the pots on for drying time
Plastic gloves- this is an optional item. I like getting my hands dirty and don’t mind cleaning them while doing crafts. But if that is not your thing- please use plastic gloves to protect your hands.

Set up your craft space

While getting ready to work on this DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pot craft I knew it was going to get a bit messy. So, I set up a spot on the floor of the kitchen with a large piece of cardboard for me to work on. I then topped my workspace with wax paper and paper towels before getting my water bath ready.

Hydro Dip- sounds harder than it is

This method of marbleizing pots is called Hydro Dip– which is basically dipping an item (in the case- Terra-Cotta pots) into a water bath that has oil-based paint floating on the surface.

Using your plastic storage bin or bucket, you’re going to need to fill the container with a couple of inches of water. It should be just enough water to dip at least one side of your pot completely.

For these small 4″ pots I filled my storage bin with about 2 1/2″ of water.

Water: the warmer the better

For my first couple of terra-cotta pots, I felt like the cool or cold tap water that I was using made the nail polish clump up a bit in the water. I found on the first two to three pots the nail polish fell on the pot pretty heavy. And while I think that they look pretty cool- I was wanting that swirling marble effect on my pots.

To warm up the cold water I just added some hot water from the kettle and that seemed to help quite a bit. The nail polish had a much more fluid motion in the warmer water.

Learn from my mistake- use warm water to start!

Pour in your nail polish

Now that your water bath is ready on your workspace, it’s time to pour in the nail polish. I just opened the bottles and drew lines back and forth with the White nail polish and then the Black. Overlapping the colors the best that I could.

With the colder water bath- the polish just sat in the water kind of clumping, but once the water was warmer it flowed a bit better for the next step.

Swirl up the paint

To really get that swirled marble pattern– use a skewer or straw and drag it through the two colors of nail polish. This will help mix the nail polish and give that dreamy wavy Marble pattern that we all love.

As you can see with Pot #3 above- the warmer water gave the swirl pattern I wanted.

Now for the really FUN part

Now it’s time to get those terra-cotta pots in the water and bring it all together.

For my DIY Marble Terra-Cotta pots- I just dipped the pots in sideways, then dragged and rolled the pot through the water to grab all of the nail polish that would stick. This was the fun part, but also the fastest!

I found that I needed to work quickly- if the nail polish sat in the water too long, it would eventually sink to the bottom of the water bath.

Just pour and dip and drag! Easy-Peasy!

Each Marble Pot is just so Unique

Once you are finished pulling your pot through the water- set it aside on wax or parchment paper to dry.

My DIY Marble Terra-Cotta pots took less than 15 minutes before they were dry to the touch and were fully cured by the next day.

A Fun DIY craft that I will do again!

A couple final thought on my DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pots:

I really love the Black and White look over the natural Terra-Cotta pot color. But you could always paint a base coat over the Terra-Cotta color if you prefer. A white base with gold and black swirled on top would be so pretty!

I found that this was a super quick craft that took me longer to gather my supplies and set up than to do the craft it’s self. To complete these 5 DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pots took me less than 45 minutes in total start to finish. How’s that for instant gratification?

I also found this to be super affordable too! This craft cost me $4 since my supplies came from the Dollar Tree. $2 for two nail polishes and $2 for 2 two-pack of pots. But to keep costs down further you could always use whatever pots and nail polish you have on hand.

This would be such a fun craft to do on a ladies night or with the kids! Just a few supplies and a bit of time and everyone could have a complete project to enjoy!

Fill with plants and enjoy your new DIY Marble Terra-Cotta Pots!

Pot #5- the back side has that soft cloudy marble effect- just so pretty.

Now it’s time to enjoy those DIY Marble Terra-Cotta pots! I filled mine with a few small succulents and have placed them in the window sill for now. But when the weather warms up they will be making their way out to our patio for sure!