Easy Spray Paint Marbling Tutorial

Do you have old terracotta flower pots that need updating? We hate paying the price for cool, larger and modern pots! Learn how to get a marble effect using spray paint on flower pots with our tutorial.

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We had been searching for fun DIY planter ideas for our new deck that wouldn’t break the bank. Creating DIY marble flower pots is the perfect budget-friendly DIY project.

What is hydro dipping?

Technically this technique I am sharing has a name called hydro dipping or watermarbling. Hydro dipping is when you transfer paint from the surface of water onto an object.

In this case, we are spraying spray paint on the water to create a fun design and dipping our flower pot into it to print on the surface.

The fun part about spray paint marbling is that you can do this technique on more than just painted flower pots. We really hope to try this soon on large plastic planters and think it will really work.

Before You Begin

Before you begin, spray paint your terracotta pots with a base color. We used white gloss spray paint with primer built-in. I did this the day before and let them dry overnight.  The terracotta pots do soak up a lot of spray paint, so be prepared for this.

Your first white coat does not have to be perfect because the marble design will cover any imperfections.

Create A Paint Dipping Station

Other DIY bloggers, will tell you to use a large plastic bin. I don’t know about you, but plastic bins can be expensive. I didn’t want to ruin a bin that would cost more than my whole project.

I came up with a better DIY solution.

1. Tape a large garbage bag inside a diaper box.
2. Add water from a hose outside.

Now you have a waterproof dipping and marbling station ready to go.

Step 1: Fill With Water

Fill a container or homemade marbelizing station with water.

Step 2: Spray First Color In

Spray gray spray paint in water.

Step 3: Spray Second Color (Optional Third Color)

Spray black and then gold spray paint. If you feel comfortable spraying two cans at once, go for it.

Again, work quickly!

Step 4: Move Paint Around

As fast as you can, take a skewer and just move the paint around.

If the paint starts to stick to the skewer, you are moving too slowly! I used gray spray paint, but my guess is that black and gold would still give you the awesome marble design on your pots.

Different Design Idea

You could also just dip half of the pot for a cool flower pot idea. We did a similar technique but used nail polish to marble mugs. This would probably be easier than trying to quickly rotate the pot to get the marbling effect on all sides.

If you love this painting technique, then you have to check out how we made an awesome DIY fall decoration with easy painted faux pumpkins.

How To Reuse Dipping Station

If you want to dump the water in between each dunk, go right ahead. However, I am all for not being wasteful and I am a little lazy.

If not dumping water, use a wooden skewer and a small cup to scrape off the top layer of spray paint in between each pot. As you can see, if you do not work quickly, you will be left with a not-so-great spray paint film stuck to everything.