How To Create a Faux Clay Look with Acrylic Paint
Have you ever browsed through a store and fallen in love at first sight with a beautiful clay vase or bowl – just to discover it costs as much as your rent? Or is that just us? Luckily, there’s a fabulous faux clay trend right now that has hearts in our eyes, and all you need to DIY it is simple glass vases, baking soda and COLORSHOT Premium Acrylic Paints! Mikyla Creates will show you how to turn a dollar store score into a chic faux-clay display that’ll have your friends thinking you hit the lotto jackpot.
What you need:
- COLORSHOT Premium Acrylic Paints in desired colors (Marshmallow, Skinny Dip and Summer Pedicure used here)
- Glass vases
- Baking soda
- Paintbrushes
- Disposable bowls or plates for paint mixing
- Aleene’s® Matte Spray Acrylic Sealer
Clean and dry vases before starting
It doesn’t matter what color your vases are, since you’ll be covering over them with paint. Just grab whatever budget vases you can find! Before getting started, make sure your vases are clean, dry and free of dust and prints.
Decide which paints to use or mix for custom colors
You can skip the color mixing step if you want to use the colors directly from your paint bottles, or you can experiment by mixing several colors together to create something custom to fit the color scheme you are going for. Mikyla chose to mix up her own muted tones with her paints. Mix a lighter and darker shade if you want to create two-tone faux clay vases like those shown in this post.
Mix baking soda into paints
After you have your paint colors mixed, sprinkle some baking soda into each color and mix thoroughly. The baking soda will make the paint look “fluffy,” but when it dries, you’ll achieve a texture that resembles clay.
Brush baking soda/paint mixture onto vase
Brush the baking soda/paint mixture onto the vase. If you’re doing the two-tone look, brush the first color about 2/3 of the way down.
Brush second color onto remainder of vase
Brush the second color on the remaining portion of vase. Once the vase is completely covered in paint, let it dry completely. Repeat with any other vases you are adding to your new faux clay collection! Remember that you don’t have to make them all match; you can vary the colors or simply the size of the color tone sections on each vase for added interest.
Mix water into paint
To create a speckled look on your faux clay vases after painting, water down one of the paint colors (Skinny Dip shown here). Add a small amount of water at a time, mixing and testing for the right consistency. You’ll want the paint to be just runny enough so you can splatter it.
Splatter watered down paint onto vases
On a covered work surface, load your paintbrush with the watered-down paint, and use your thumb to help flick the paint onto the vases for a fun speckled effect. Repeat until you are happy with how they look, then let dry.
Spray matte sealer over the vases
After the paint has completely dried on your vases, you’ll want to seal them with a matte sealer to protect the paint. Work in a well-ventilated area and spray several light coats over each vase – don’t forget the bottoms! Let the sealer cure for the time recommended on the label.
Faux Clay Vases with COLORSHOT
And now you have a fabulous set of faux clay vases that only LOOK expensive! It’s up to you whether you want to dish your DIY secret to your friends. What COLORSHOT Acrylic Paint colors would you use to create your own set of faux clay vases? Make sure to tag us on social @mycolorshot and share your chic creations with us!