You can see the trend in the DIY world to paint with soda to create a terracotta effect on nearly anything. You didn't have to ask me twice to jump on this wagon. I tried painting vases with DIY chalk paint (baking soda and acrylic paint) and going to share with you my experience of what happened.

The trend started by Geneva Vanderzeil who tried to add soda to paint and came out with some gorgeous creations. She created a tag #trashtoterracta that you can check to find inspiration.

The execution is quite simple - you need to mix paint with baking soda. Geneva recommends adding a spoon of baking soda to one cup of paint. I think the proportions depend on the look you are trying to archive. I did a few samples where I added just a bit of soda, some more and the last one had a lot of soda in it.

When soda added, it creates this paste which when applied makes an effect of ceramic.

If you want to make the same gorgeous, bohemian moon phases chain, you can find a full tutorial here.

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Choosing a vase

The best place to find jars for this transformation would be Goodwill or some sort of thrift store where for a couple of bucks you could find some really amazing shapes of vases.

So here are the main criteria for the jar you'll be working with - the shape. Don't sweat too much about the color - you can transform any ugly vase with this craft.

Although, I'd like to add that clear glass jars worked the best. In the case of colored vases, you'd need to add extra paint to make sure it doesn't see through when it dries.

So when you are in a thrift store, look for the clear glass jars. Those work the best. Or go straight to Dollar store and stock up there on different kinds of vases.

These two I got from Dollar store. I think they look gorgeous! When you choose a clear vase you shouldn't worry if it's see-through or not because it won't be very visible.

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Get creative

I got so excited about this technique that literally wanted to paint everything that I could get my hand on with DIY chalk paint 😄

That's how I took out the baby food jars (that I kept since last year (lol talking about hoarding here but I knew that their moment will come😊). They turned out so lovely! I'm not sure what I'll use them for yet but one of the ideas is to put something inside and give it away as a party favors. You could put a nice jute twine on it.

When I was done with the baby food jars, I laid my eyes on the beer bottle. I tried it too but I think you can still see that it's a beer bottle so probably not the best option.

And then I thought about sparkling water green bottles. I'm a bit of a sparkling water junkie and when it goes on sale in Costco we buy a lot of boxes to keep us going for months 😄 and guess what? I think they look gorgeous with this mix of paint and soda. Don't you agree?

And THEN... I found an empty jug from Tito's vodka and I was ecstatic!! I had such high expectations for it and let me tell you.. I was so not disappointed!! It turned out divine!! I think it looks like an old clay jug that you found in some thrift store😍

Search around the house and find some bottles, vases with interesting shapes, and anything that might look good in a clay coat, and then paint your soul away! I promise you, it's such a satisfying process, you'll fall in love right away!

Color

To paint the first vase I used the "Creme de caramel" color sample from Behr. While I liked it, I wanted to have more of a clay color, so I started slowly adding the "Kalahari sunset" paint sample. That's how I gradually got to the more intense clay color.

I absolutely love the combination of Kalahari sunset color mixed with a bit of "Creme de caramel".

See for yourself!

But I think this technique could look amazing in all sorts of colors! I think my next try will be with shades of gray and blue 🙂

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The texture of DIY chalk paint

If you are like me and like a lot of texture, then you'd need to add a lot of baking soda to the paint. I think my most favorite vases that I painted were the ones with a proportion of 2:1 of paint and soda.

I've seen people doing the same technique using corn starch and even salt.

Corn starch would make a texture smoother while still having a clay effect. Salt would add some crystals and honestly doesn't look like clay at all.

What do you think about this thrift flip? The better question is... what color would you paint it? 😀

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Follow me on Instagram @ifonlyapril. I try to post in stories my progress and behind the scenes for all my projects.

xoxo,

April