This stuff could fool you… although, maybe not on plastic planters. But it sure fooled me. It fooled my husband, too. And he’s no fool! Or so he would tell you.
But I digress.
Trying to mimic real copper with paint, and have it look like real metal… not so easy. In my opinion anyway, so when I saw these copper mason jars from How Sweet It Is, I wanted to try the same spray paint on one of my own projects.
The label suggests that it resembles actual metal plating. But does it? The label also says it works on plastic, hmm…?
Well, I purchased a few Irishy plants, to get into the St Patrick’s Day spirit. The planters happened to be plastic, so I thought I’d try out the copper spray paint using the paint dipped technique and see how much it looked like real copper.
Here are the planters before I painted them. Also shown is a white and faux copper planter, found while thrifting.
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Make copper paint dipped planters:
Supplies I used:
Krylon Foil Metallic Copper Spray Paint (like this one that is labeled with the wording “resembles actual plating”).
Painters tape
Plastic planters, or any planter of your choice
To get the job done, I washed the containers with soapy water, dried them, then taped off the bottom portion with blue painters tape. I took them outside and applied several light layers of the spray paint until it was fully covered.
Tip: When applying tape to a cone shaped planter, make sure to keep the tape line straight along the top. The tape along the bottom will crinkle down. Smooth all the tape down well, so paint doesn’t spray through.
Does it really look like metal?
Well, what do you think?
I think it does, but I wasn’t sure it that was wishful thinking on my part or what. The biggest critic to fool in my household is my husband and he said, “that actually looks like real gold, honey!”
So, while he’s no fool for copper, he is apparently a fool for gold. What can I say?!
They sure are making a lot of these “all-around” spray paints these days. The spray paint label says the paint works on wood, metal, glass, ceramic, wicker, plastic and more. I was impressed with how it looked on plastic, but I’m excited to try it on some other surfaces, too.
ps: I was a little disappointed with the paint lines that show after I removed the painters tape, but I’m honestly not sure if it’s the inexpensive painters tape or the fact that the surface is plastic, or damper weather conditions when I applied the paint. But that would be the only issue I had with this trying out this paint.
Have some shamrock love on me.
When I took this plant outside to take photos, all of the shamrocks closed up, except this one.
Happy St Patrick’s Day.
Here’s hoping you find a pot o’ copper at the end of the rainbow. XOX
Kate says
These look great! Nice job! I’m going to try this on some of the cheap plastic planters that plants come in, but I’m going to try to tape off the copper when the paint is dry and do the bottoms white. It really pops on that one with the white. What do you think? Will the copper paint stick to the painter’s tape and peel it off, I wonder? Thank you for submitting!
Amy says
Hi Kate,
I think the white and copper look really nice together, too. Here’s a few tips that I would suggest: 1) Lightly sand the plastic planters with a fine grain sand paper (or any kind you have around the house), the label says it works best on duller surfaces. 2) Paint them white first, and then tape them off to paint the copper. That way you can touch up the white if needed (unless that is spray paint, too. 3) Paint the copper and then wait 48 hours before taping off for the white (or vise-versa. The labels says dry to handle in two hours, but I noticed that the finish seemed more set after about 2 days. And quite honestly, I have found most paint likes a few days to dry before it’s taped off.
I think they’re going to be really cute. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.
Feral Turtle says
These turned out great Amy! It looks like you actually sprayed paint on copper pots, not the other way around! I love shamrock plants.
Donna Harvey says
Hi Amy, The Pots are so pretty. I think they really do look like metal.
Painters tape is not so easy to work with. I used to paint, and if and when I had to use it, I would take something very flat (the edge of my Drywall Knife) and go over the edge a couple times. This would help it seal. I think you did a good job. It’s even harder to use when you have to put it around something. It’s hard enough on a flat wall.
I have a few pots that need to be “Beautified” I think I’ll try that. Thanks for sharing! Donna
Victoria @DazzleWhileFrazzled says
Great idea! I actually have a small pot that started copper and I painted the bottom. Great minds… Visiting from Merry Monday.
Kimberly says
What a creative idea! I’m always looking for easy ways to dress up cheap flower pots!
~Kim
Katherine says
These look great!! Thanks for the tip about running a painters knife along to seal the painters tape. I have a few pots that I’d like to repurpose so I’ll try this. Do you think they would survive outside on patio? Living in the elements from May thru September? I’d be happy if they lasted one summer…
Amy says
Hi Kathrine,
I can’t give any guarantees, but I do think they should last at least one summer, although they may start to look tarnished, believe it or not. Mine began to take on a slightly tarnished copper look after some time while indoors. Interestingly the tarnish looked very real. It still looked very much like copper, just more aged. Honestly, I think the copper would look gorgeous on planters and used on an outdoor porch or patio (great idea!!). I hope this info helps. Sorry, I cannot be totally sure since I have not tried it outdoors, but I can say the paint stayed on my plastic planters very nicely for several years indoors.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Thanks,
Amy