Over the past few months I’ve been trying to stock up on garden items while out thrifting and I’ve managed to put together a nice little pile of things.

OK, wait a minute … the ‘Eat’ sign isn’t really garden related is it?  But I’m going to give some of the garden items a patina finish, and I’m doing the same with the ‘Eat’ sign so it got thrown into this mix.

Now that it’s April and gardening season is nearly here, it was time to pull these items out and get them ready for the shop.

If you aren’t familiar, Dixie Belle has a line of products called The Patina Collection.  It includes patina paint that has real metal flakes in it that react with the patina sprays creating a genuine aged finish.  If you want to learn more about how to use the patina paint and spray, click on the image below to see my how-to post.

Pairing the Iron paint with the Green Spray will create a rusty finish, and that is my favorite of the looks.

First up for a makeover is this stone pot that someone had painted in a flat black paint before I picked it up at the thrift store.

The flat black wasn’t really adding much to the pot, but it saved me the step of painting on a base coat before starting with the patina paint and spray.

I simply added one coat of Iron paint, let it dry, followed up with a 2nd coat of Iron paint and while that was still wet, I sprayed it with the Green spray.  Don’t expect your patina to develop immediately.  I usually give my pieces about 24 hours and then check back, but even after 24 hours the rust will continue to develop.

But if you feel like you didn’t get enough patina, you can always add more paint and spray again.

I hadn’t even noticed the cool details on either end of the pot until after I started painting, and a little bit of rustiness really brought them out.

Next up are these two items.

Both of these are things that could be used inside, but I also think they would be nice just popped into the garden somewhere.  So I gave both of them the rusty treatment too.

I didn’t bother with a base coat on either one of these pieces, although it is recommended for metal pieces that might continue to react over time with the spray.

Somehow the rusty look makes these pieces look more authentic to me.

Although I originally planned to give this next piece a patina finish, I ended up deciding it looked good ‘as is’.

I think the manufacturer did a pretty good job of giving it a faux mossy sort of look.

I have patinated a similar item before using the Green spray over the Bronze paint and it looked pretty fab though …

I don’t know … should I have done it again?  I guess we’ll see if it sells first, and if not, I’ll take it back and give it some patina.

And that brings me to that ‘Eat’ sign.  I really just wanted to play around a bit with adding some patina on this one.

I started with the Iron paint and Green spray.  Then I dabbed a little of the Bronze paint here and there and added more Green spray.  And then I went back and added more Iron paint and Green spray again.  That’s one of the fun things about this product, you can just keep playing around and dabbing more paint here and there and re-spraying.

This would be fun to hang near your outdoor kitchen or dining space.

I have found that exposing these patina paints to the elements just allows them continue to develop and look even better over time.  I did not top coat the rusty planters that I painted back in July 2019, they sit out year round including during our Minnesota winters, and they still look great.

However, if you would prefer to protect your patina paint job you can add the Patina Guard that Dixie Belle sells.

I have to say that I personally did not like the way that the Patina Guard changed the look of the garden pedestal I used it on though.

It adds a bit of shine, and takes away some of the textured look of the rusty finish.

But if you like that look, go for it.  I also think the Patina Guard is a good idea if anyone is going to be sitting or leaning on your rusty piece.  Much like any authentically rusty item, the rust may rub off on clothing if it doesn’t have a top coat.

Another option for a top coat would be any sort of matte spray sealer.  That would retain a bit more of the matte look of authentic patinas.

Have you used any of the patina paints and sprays?  If so, I’d love to hear how they worked for you.  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know.

Thank you to Dixie Belle for providing me with their Patina Paint products!