Fun and Unique DIY Oriental Vase Flower Pots
Growing up in I was surrounded by blue and white oriental pottery. My mother was and is a big collector of it. We lived in Hong Kong then, and blue and white porcelain has been very popular in Chinese culture since the 14th century. That's where I got the idea for my latest tin can upcycle with these oriental pottery-style DIY flower pots.
One of my favourite ways to upcycle old tin cans is into planters. I have a stack of tin cans in various sizes in my craft cupboard, just waiting to be turned into a fun planter.
This upcycled craft is a fun way to give larger tin cans a faux Ming vase makeover. I have created some blue and white Ming vase images for this project, which you can download below. There is blue and white Chinese vases artwork on the Paintedhive blog that you could also use.
I originally made these vases for the garden, but I'm considering bringing them inside as they will match my Chinoise patchwork cushions.
Blue and White Style Upcycled Tin Can Planters
Blue is my favourite colour, hence the name of this blog! I spotted some blue bedding flowers in a local garden store and thought they would look lovely in these faux Ming DIY flower pots.
The flowers I potted were blue Gentiana scabra and deep purple Senetti.
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What you need to make upcycled tin can blue and white Ming vases
- Large empty food tin cans in various sizes
- Blue spray paint - I used Montanna Gold paint in the colour blue note
- Mod Podge decoupage glue
- Foam brush
- Acrylic Varnish Spray
- Ming vase printouts (see below)
How to make Ming DIY Flower Pots
Step 1: First, remove the labels from the tin cans and spray paint them blue. I used Montana gold blue note spray paint.
Step 2: Download and print out the blue and white vase templates below. These templates were designed to fit my DIY flower pots. However, you might need to adjust the printout size to fit the tin cans you are using. It is best to use lightweight paper for this decoupage.
- Small blue and white vase template
- Medium blue and white vase template
- Large blue and white vase template
Step 3: Next, carefully cut out each of the Chinese blue and white vases from the printouts.
Step 4: Using a foam brush, liberally cover the back of the small vase template with decoupage glue. Then stick the picture to the front of the small tin can. Repeat with the other two templates and tin cans.
Step 5: Next, seal the images on the tin cans. I printed my images on my home computer, an inject printer, so I used an acrylic spray varnish to seal the tin cans. If you use a laser printer to print the images, use the same spray or cover the tin cans in another layer of mod podge (waterproof mod podge for outdoors).
Mod podge on top of inkjet printed images can smudge them. That is why I use an acrylic varnish spray to seal.
Step 6: Finally, all that is left is to plant the flowers. Blue flowers look fabulous in these faux Ming vase DIY flower pots. To help with drainage, I add a good layer of pebbles and broken pots before planting the flowers. As I did with my colourful tin can planters.
Another fun way to make faux vases is to use wallpaper samples like these stitched paper vase sleeves.
If you like these DIY flower pots, try some of my other fun tin can crafts and upcycles.
- Marimekko Decorative Tin Can Planters
- Upcycled Velvet Planters
- Recycled Jeans Planter
- Leather Boho DIY Vase
Also, you can make another fun craft for your garden using three tin cans of various sizes with this songbird tin can wind chime.
There are more fabulous garden craft ideas here and decoupage ideas here.
Super unique, Claire... I haven't seen anything like this before! Don't you love when that happens? Thanks for sharing at Homestyle Gathering! We are always blessed when you link-up!
Aww, thank you that's very kind of you so say so.
What a creative idea! The blue and white really caught my eye...love them! Thanks for linking up to Best of the Weekend. You were one of my features this week!
Shelley
Thank you, I love blue and white together. I really look forward to seeing the feature.
These are beyond cute. I love them. Thank you for sharing at Best of the Weekend. I will be featuring you tomorrow! I have a gallon can waiting to be used--- maybe I will do this with it-- but I suppose a small soup can would work, too, for a small one.
Thanks again!
Liberty at http://www.B4andAfters.com
Thank you so much. They were so easy to do. I look forward to seeing the feature.
What a beautiful way to recycle some old cans! This will be one of my features this Saturday at the Snickerdoodle link party!
Thank you, I look forward to seeing it!
Food cans have never looked better! Wow, now this is a unique and creative idea for flower pots. Pinned 🙂
Thank you, Marie. It's amazing what you can make from a humble food can.
This is such a fun project and a great way to spend an afternoon making them. Thanks for sharing your project with us at #HomeMattersParty
Thank you, they were so easy!
Wow, Claire, this is BRILLIANT! Now I'm thinking about Grecian vase planters on a black can........thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling sunday!
Thank you, Sara. That sounds like a cool idea two Grecian or Roman would work.
They are really lovely! A great idea to recycling.
Thank you, I recycle whenever possible.
These are really fun! I love the juxtaposition of the fancy vase and simple tin can. 🙂
Thank you, that was the fun look I was going for.
Really fools the eye. Original. Well done
Thank you, I think it’s the blue paint that does it.
How fun! When I first saw these I thought that you had attached broken vases to the tin cans.
Thank you, no this is a lot easier than mosaic.
This is a really fun idea. It's like the tin cans are all dressed up in their party clothes. Well done!
Thank you Mary. I did enjoy making them.
Even though the photos look amazing, having seen them in person Claire, the photos don’t do them justice, they are even better and look fantastic. Well done as always x
Thank you, Wendy. And thank you for all your support.
Good morning. Rather than printing pictures, might you be able to cut out a picture from a magazine or a book and use that instead? If so, would you mod podge the top of that to seal it? I love this idea, thanks for sharing it!
Yes, you could use a picture from a magazine instead. If it's printed in a magazine it should be fine to seal with mod podge.