How to Make Texture Paint Using Baking Soda for Endless Decor Crafts

How to DIY texture paint using just leftover paint and baking soda to transform glass, ceramic, and wood thrift finds into home decor.

It’s very possible I’ve been living under a rock, but how in the world did I not know about making your own texture paint before?! My little thrift-loving heart is forever changed!

Whether it’s old hand-me-down vases, dollar store pottery, or thrift store sculptures, I will be using this junk on everything. Plus, it’s a great way to use up leftover paint from past projects.

I wanted to test it out on an unsuspecting thrift store find, so this slightly broken $3 pheasant figurine seemed like a decent first victim to attempt a faux sculpted stone look.

thrifted pheasant figurine

homemade stone sculpture using DIY texture paint with baking soda

It was totally free using things already in my pantry and old paint stash. Yaaaay free!

How to Make Texture Paint Using Baking Soda:

Supplies

  1. Latex or acrylic paint of your choice
  2. Baking soda
  3. A disposable bowl and spoon to mix it in
  4. Craft brush

Seriously, that’s it.

diy texture paint recipe using baking soda and leftover paint

The Steps

There’s really no need to measure or anything.

1. You can stir together several different paint colors if you’d like to play around with creating a different shade. Just be sure to mix up enough to cover your project since it will be impossible to mix another batch with an exact match.

I stirred together some leftover Fusion Mineral Paint Stirling light gray I had with some Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron charcoal color I had left from painting our interior doors.

diy texture paint using baking soda

2. Once you’re happy with your paint color, start by scooping a ratio of about a tablespoon of baking soda per cup of paint. Mix together until smooth.

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From there, you can start adding more baking soda until you reach the thickness you desire. The thicker the paint, the more texture it will have on whatever surface you choose. I mixed mine to about a cake frosting consistency.

diy texture paint using baking soda

3. Dab (don’t use smooth strokes) the newly mixed texture paint onto your item. If the paint isn’t “chunky” enough, you can add more baking soda.

To make the finish look more like stone, I dabbed on a medium gray coat of the texture paint first. Then, I mixed a little more of my light paint into the the bowl to dapple on the still wet medium gray surface for extra depth.

diy texture paint using baking soda

DIY sculpture using homemade texture paint from baking soda

The result looks more like real stone. (I fixed the broken beak a few days prior using some leftover air dry clay I had from my DIY decorative chain project.)

I asked y’all on Instagram what we should name this little guy, so meet Phred the Pheasant. Because we have to have alliteration and Fred is just not fancy enough, okay? Or should I say “phancy”? Haha!

You’re lookin’ so “phly”, Phred. (Wait do pheasants, fly? I should probably know this.)

Anyways, he’s made a home in our entryway.

modern traditional entryway

If you want to try out some other makeovers using common thrift store finds, here are a few fun and easy ones:

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17 Comments

  1. Phly Phred…OMG I could not stop laughing!!! Phantastic! Love this stone look- its great. Thanks as always. ❤️❤️ your blog.

  2. This is absolutely genius. I love it! All too then I throw away something like this that I love, all because it broke. Thanks to you, not so fast, it can be restored. Yeah!!!