DIY Flower Pots: Painting Plastic Containers

Flower pots can be quite expensive – you can easily spend more than $100 on just a few cute pots. Luckily, flower pots are also one of the best candidate for a do-it-yourself design project. You can decorate your own flower pot for cheap using paint and plastic containers you have at home.

To make painted DIY flower pots, you can use any plastic container you have handy. Yogurt containers, dishwasher tablet boxes, or even plain, cheaper flower pots will work. I also used cat litter containers, as I had quite a few of these at home. Before you start, remove any labels from the container. If you are having a hard time removing labels glued to the container, soak it under water overnight and remove the label in the morning.

In addition to a plastic container or a pot, you will also need these materials:


Follow the 4 easy steps below to make painted DIY flower pots:

1. Prepare a well-ventilated space for painting (ideally outdoors)

When painting, you want to make sure that you floor, clothes, and skin are protected. Use a tarp, cardboard, or plastic bags to cover the floor of your work area. Ideally, you will be able to make the DIY flower pots in a patio or on a balcony. If this is not an option, make sure the place is well-ventilated. Use gloves to protect your skin from paint. And finally, make sure your hair is safely tied, so it is not constantly in your face and you don’t accidentally dye it (this last one unfortunately I learned from experience).

2. Make holes at the bottom of the plastic container

Draining is very important for growing healthy plants, so be sure to make holes at the bottom of the plastic container. I used a drill to do that, but you can also use scissors, screwdriver, or a knife.

3. Mix colors and paint

Now the fun part begins! Mix the basic colors of paint to get beautiful and more interesting hues! To mix the paint, use a plastic lid (in lieu of a palette) and plastic spoons (to scoop paint from each color).  When drawing, stick to abstract or geometric shapes – they are easier to draw and will give the pot a more unique and creative look. Use a small 1″ paint brush, because you will be able to paint more accurately with it. If you want to have clear shapes, it is important to avoid dripping paint. One way to do that is to remove any excess paint from the brush and apply only a thin layer of paint. Holding the container in a horizontal position also helps minimize paint dripping. Wait for the paint to dry before moving to the next step.

4. Highlight with black paint

Outline all the shapes with black paint using an even smaller brush (e.g. one of your regular brushes for drawing). If the black outline is not dark enough, wait for the paint to dry and apply a second coat of black. For better results, wait for the paint to dry and re-paint to get a darker color instead of using too much paint at once. Using the right amount of paint and preventing paint dripping is very important here, because otherwise the shapes you painted may get messy.

Below are the painted DIY flower pots I made following these 4 steps and using plastic containers I had at home. As a final note, I made 9 DIY flower pots using only about one-third of the paint, so you can easily outfit your entire patio with only 4 small containers of paint. You can use any leftover paint to make matching patio chairs. Check out this blog post for details on how to easily paint these matching chairs.