painting terracotta

[Mog]

Can anyone give me some tips for painting terracotta plant pots - do I need to seal it first and what type of paints can I use after that?
TIA

I have done it before by coating first with house paint and then using acrylics to decorate. I'm sure there are sealers about.

I have a question for you though (because I've planned to do this as an activity at our halloween party) - where have you found terracotta pots?? I have found loads of terracotta coloured plastic pots but not the real thing. Tx

bump... can anyone advise a good place to buy a bulk lot of terracotta pots? Tx

B&Q sell them from tiny sizes to enormous "grow a tree in" sizes. Cheap too.

cool... I have just been through their website looking for them. I will go out to a store and see what I can get.

What do you think of painting and gluing onto a glazed pot? Ikea have simple white ones (40p!) and I was wondering if the children would still be able to decorate these.

Our garden centre sold little pots for 49p (would be ideal for littlies) and I think it was from a national company. Go to your nearest independant garden centre and you might find them.

Mog - I don't have a garden centre near me, unfortunately. In fact, since discovering loads of fantastic stores through the many suggestions on here, I'm beginning to understand why Canary Wharf is sometimes referred to as being 'soul-less'!!! I need to venture out further more often.

I am thinking more about the glazed ones at ikea . I am going to try painting and gluing on a glazed pot I have. Hopefully it will work so it will save me the job of sealing them.

How did you get on with your pots Mog?

I got the glazed ones for 40p and gave them a test run on the weekend. They look fab! Such a bargain... and likely to use again.