Decorating a small plastic plant pot

Cover the pot with papier mache strips of newspaper and wallpaper glue; leave to dry; paint with matt paint,( those sample pots are ideal), then decoupage with wrapping paper/wallpaper/magazine collage; coat of clear varnish.
Used to do it regularly with a class of 32 Year 4s, for Mothering Sunday, insert spider plant shoot.
My only artistic crafty activity. They last for years and years and years, I am told.

I use matt emulsion and for the colours I use acrilyc paints.

Shysal, thanks for the Washi tape recommendation. I have now ordered a rainbow mix set for the grandchildren to decorate some old plastic pots and then plant up with nasturtium seeds. Thanks again for this cheap n cheerful idea.

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If you have a Hobbycraft near you, they sell Washi Tape which is a Japanese decorative masking tape which would serve the purpose. Job lots or single rolls can also be found cheaply on Ebay. They are great for decoupage or card making and also easy for children's crafts.

Craftycat do you do folk art type painting?

I've made lots using acrylic paints. I paint the whole pot in a neutral colour & then paint flowers, butterflies etc. on them.
They look very pretty. I tried to take a photo but it didn't come out too well. If DH can do a better job I'll post it.
Better at painting than photography.

Hello all,
Well, I said I would come back and let you know what I decided to do.
I decided to decoupage the pot, using a pretty paper napkin. Then I used some cream silky twine to put around the rim and the base of the pot to a depth of about 1cm. On this twine, I stuck some stick on cream rose buttons.
To give it an Easter theme, I then filled the pot with shredded green paper and added some mini decorated plastic eggs and a chick..
I’m pleased with the end result. If I knew how to upload a photo of it, I would, but I’m not that savvy with technology!
I had lots of fun doing it.
Thank you all for your suggestions.

Shells. Pebbles.
Use a stencil to paint
(Could us a paper doily)

When at school my son painted a lovely plant pot the way the canal bargers paint items on their boats,
I'm sure it would be on Pinterest.

Thank you all for your great ideas, and how to do them! I will come back once I’ve done it and let you know what I chose to do. ?

Paint a coat of pva glue all around the plant pot. Get a ball of string; "hairy" string is ideal. Starting just under the rim of the plant pot, start to bind the string around the pot until it's completely covered. The glue will hold the ends of the string in place. You could, if you're feeling very arty farty, leave a long length of string in a bowl of water with a few drops of food dye or ink in it. When the dye has "taken", do the same thing again around the rim of the plant pot so that you have a contrasting rim against the natural string. It looks pretty good when finished!

Mapleleaf
You don't need 'special' paints for your pot.
I have several pots (large) that I have painted with good old Dulux. Just make sure it's well cleaned and rubbed down.
I've decoupaged outdoor pots. Just make sure you use exterior varnish to finish.

You could try papier mache too.
You might be able to turn it into an animal, such as a cat face with woolly whiskers.
I feel like having a go myself now!

Thank you for the responses so far.
We were given a plastic plant pot at the last WI and asked to decorate it, and I am a bit flummoxed as to the best way to do it, then thought decoupage might be one of the best ways (though I've never decoupaged before). I'm open to any ideas though (and how to do them!)
Many thanks to you all. ?

I was just thinking, a watered down coat of pva would prime the pot for normal paints to stick, wouldn't it?

You could use any old beads, or buttons or necklaces to decorate it too.

You will need to sandpaper the pot first or the glue will separate from the pot, possibly not the effect you were after!

Decoupage is the way to go. Recently I found out that paper napkins come in layers and if you strip off the top printed layer it’s easy to use in decoupage. Lots of PVA layers on top.