Painted Santa Terra Cotta Pot

By: Mary Murphy

Using acrylic paints and terra cotta pots you can create this cute painted Santa terra cotta pot. It makes for a great Christmas craft to use for yourself as a decoration or to give as a gift.

Materials:

PALETTE
DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paints
Hauser Dark Green
Country Red
Blush Flesh
Cadmium Orange
Burnt Orange
Antique Gold
Light Buttermilk
Hauser Light Green
Deep Burgundy
Tangelo Orange
Medium Flesh
Raw Sienna
Golden Straw
Black
4 or 4 1/2" terra cotta pot, 4 or 4 1/2" terra cotta saucer, wooden ball with flat bottom, W'
Checkerboard stencil

Instructions:

BASECOAT AS FOLLOWS:
Pot: Black. Hat: Hauser Dark Green. Hatbrim: Country Red. Face and nose: Medium Flesh. Hair, mustache and beard: Lt. Buttermilk.
HAT: Stipple the hat with Hauser Light Green. Float shading on hat with Hauser Dark Green and a tad of Black. Using a #2 round brush, pull the fringe on the hat with Antique Gold, overstroke the fringe with Golden Straw. Stipple the hatbrim with Cadmium Orange and Tangelo Orange. Float shading along the top of the brim with Deep Burgundy and a tad of Black. Line the stripes on the brim with Antique Gold, overstroke the stripes with Golden Straw. Float shading at the ends of the stirpes with Raw Sienna.
FACE: Float the cheeks and nose with Blush Flesh and a tad of Country Red. Dot highlights on the cheeks and the nose with Lt. Buttermilk. Dot the eyes and line the eye lashes with Black. Dot tiny highlights in the eyes with Lt. Buttermilk.
MUSTACHE & BEARD: Float shading on the mustache, beard and the hair with Raw Sienna.
FINISHING: Stencil the W' checkerboard on the lip of the pot with Hauser Light Green.
Dot the pot around the Santa with Lt. Buttermilk. Paint 4" or 4 W' (same size you use for pot) terra cotta saucer with Country Red. Dry brush the bottom of the saucer with Cadmium Orange and Tangelo Orange. Paint the lip of the saucer with Hauser Light Green. Dot the saucer with Lt. Buttermilk. Glue a wooden ball to the bottom of the saucer and use as a lid. If your pot has a hole in the bottom, simple place a cork in the hole.