Learn to make homemade house paint with mortar and kaolin clay for a natural and nontoxic substitute for petroleum-based paints.
Clay paints are an Earth-friendly, natural, and nontoxic substitute for petroleum-based paints, and are easy to source, make, and use. We’ve covered the interior walls of our home with clay paints, right over latex-paint-covered drywall. In addition to looking great, clay paints make dead walls feel alive. They attract attention and draw you to run your hand over them in a way oil-based coatings never could. Nowadays, you can even buy ready-to-use clay paints from stores online, but we make our own using a mix of locally harvested and store-bought materials.
It’s fun to use clay-rich soils that you’ve dug up from the ground or gathered near a road cut, but they can be tricky to work with, as they vary in so many ways: Some are powdery and fine and easy to use in paints, while others are compacted, clumpy, and can be “aggressive” in how much they expand and shrink. If you don’t know how to prep them properly, they might turn you off from using them. Start off buying fine clays and pigments online or from your local hardware or pottery store.

Kaolin Clay Paint Recipe
We mostly use mortar clay and sometimes kaolin clay (much more expensive) for clay paints and finish plasters. The mortar clay is a light tan and the kaolin a cool white. Both are fine powders, take pigments well, and make for great natural paints.
A basic clay-paint recipe includes equal parts flour paste and clay plus any added pigments to get the color you want. If using local materials, test different ratios because of the inherent variabilities of the clay soil. Very fine sand, chalk, or even mica are options and give a thicker, rougher, and stronger finish. The flour paste acts as a glue to keep everything together and prevents dusting once the clay paint is applied to the wall and dried. I normally use wheat paste and prepare it by mixing 1 cup of flour into 2 cups of tap water and then mixing that into 3 cups of boiling water. I stir until it bubbles once or twice, and then I turn off the heat. It’ll continue to thicken as it cools. We’ve also used gluten-free and rice flours with equal success.
Once you’ve made your paste, pour it into a bucket, add your clay and pigments, and then blend it all with a paint-mixing bit on an electric drill. Add water as needed to get the desired paint-like consistency. The paint will dry a lot lighter than it looks when it’s wet in the bucket. Paint some swatches, let them dry, and adjust your pigments as needed.
We apply the paint with diagonal strokes from different directions using a 3- or 4-inch brush. Two coats is normal, and sometimes even three might be required for full coverage.

One of our favorite sources for unique and colorful pigments for smaller areas is Natural Earth Paint. For larger quantities using a couple of pounds or more of basic ochres or reds, I can generally find what I want from local hardware and pottery stores.
Kyle Isacksen
Reno, Nevada
Free Straw for Gardening
Each year during the last week of June, I mulch my vegetable and flower garden with a 3-to-4-inch layer of straw to help suppress weeds and keep moisture in the soil. I’ve been able to get free straw for many years simply by asking. Many businesses, places of worship, and residents of our city make displays for fall, Halloween, or Thanksgiving and use straw. I ask at the beginning of every October if I can have the straw. I’ve not had anyone say “no” yet – in fact, they’re very thankful someone will take the straw away for them! I stack and store the straw next to the garden until it’s time to use it. When I clean out the garden after the last frost, I rake off the old straw. Next, I place four layers of newspaper on the bed followed by 4 inches of straw, top it off with 3 inches of compost, and the garden bed is ready for the next growing season.
The old idiom “Those who ask, get” is appropriate in this situation!
Deanna White
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Upcycled Seed-Starting Containers
I find it difficult at best to slow down and sit still during gardening season. As soon as the weather allows me to spend time outdoors, I’m out playing in the soil. Whether I’m weeding, prepping beds, planting, harvesting, or doing larger projects, such as creating beds or redoing established areas, I can often be found in or around my garden.
However, there are (thankfully) rainy days or (not-so-thankfully) hot days that drive me indoors. During those times, when my indoor chores are at a lull, I take to moving forward some of the necessary preparation steps for next year’s garden. The following chore is one such step, assuming you’ve already been saving the things you need. If not, consider starting. This is a great way to repurpose some of the trash you may be creating each week.
- Scissors (not for fabric!)
- Steak knife (don’t use your good ones, get a cheapie at your local thrift store)
- Awl, or another similar sharp tool
- Empty cat-litter jugs
- Empty four-sided cardboard beverage containers
- Toilet-paper and paper-towel tubes
- Interfolded dry waxed paper (optional)
Remove the outer flimsy plastic sleeve around the cat-litter jug. Measure up from the bottom 41⁄2 inches, and cut around the container to create a basin. I use both scissors and steak knife to do this. The measurement doesn’t need to be exact, and you may find that you prefer yours shorter or taller than I do. I like to be able to access my toilet-paper tubes easily, because I normally start my corn in them. Corn is picky about having its roots disturbed – the less I jostle and jerk my toilet-paper tubes, the happier the corn.
Recycle the top of the cat-litter jug after removing the lid; the lid by itself isn’t recyclable, though it’s handy for temporarily holding seeds or other small items. You could turn the jug top upside down and use it as a funnel, or drill holes in the lid and use it to strain things, such as homemade fish fertilizer.
Cut your beverage containers in half to create two “pots,” and remove the plastic pour spout where necessary. I usually do this right after we empty them so I can clean them before they get ripe and stinky. Using something sharp, poke drainage holes in the bottom of each half. I use an awl. (The pour spout isn’t recyclable, so unless you have another use for it, throw it away.) You can use other cardboard beverage containers that aren’t four-sided, though different shapes may pose geometric challenges. I find a container with four sides tucks perfectly into one basin.
Wrap the toilet-paper (or cut-to-size paper-towel) tubes with interfolded dry waxed paper (if using). I do this step because it’s surprising how quickly these containers break down and roots begin growing through them. This isn’t a bad thing at all when you’re seeking a biodegradable pot for your seedlings. However, as I stated, I start my corn indoors, and it doesn’t like its roots being disturbed too much. Other plants, such as tomatoes, would easily start growing through each other’s neighboring tubes. Line up the folded edge with the top of the tube and fold under the excess. I find that by simply wrapping each tube in one interfolded piece, I get the desired barrier for my 3-week-old corn. As you wrap each one, place it in the cat-litter basin. Continue until the basin is full of upright tubes.
That’s it. Two hours of work filled half a shelf of my guest room “greenhouse” with readied containers for next spring. All I’ll need to do is fill them with soil, plant my seeds, and label the containers, and I’ll be ready to cheer on each seedling as it emerges victoriously.
Blythe Pelham
Leesburg, Ohio
Clever Coop Creation
From Fruit Bin to Chicken Coop
I love to utilize materials that are past their normal life span. If you live in an area with orchards, keep your eyes open for old fruit bins. With the addition of other bits of wood we had laying around, this former fruit bin became a sturdy and functional chicken coop (see photos above). An old cabinet turned into the coop doors, and a wooden filing cabinet drawer became the nesting boxes.
Andrew Miles
The Dalles, Oregon
Old Crib Turned Chicken Door
Like so many who have barns and sheds, I tend to keep things in them that I may need in the future. One of the things in my shed were railings from an old crib I originally thought I could use as a trellis. Instead, I used one to replace broken, rusted wire in the chicken-coop door. It didn’t take long to install, and it’s worked great for about five years so far. I just cut between the rails for the width I needed and nailed it in place.
Marilyn Gill
Rogue River, Oregon
Year-Round Compost System
I have raised, no-till vegetable gardens. In late fall, I add compost from our compost pile and mix it in the garden beds. I cover each bed with a generous layer of mulched leaves. Then, I cover the leaves with a sheet of bird netting held down at the edges with bricks. This keeps the leaves from blowing away over winter. When planting time arrives the following spring, I remove the netting and plant my seedlings. No tilling, no weeding. I roll the netting around a 4-foot-long 2×4 and will use it again in fall.
Maureen Green
Rice, Virginia
Make a Simple Tomato Hammock
Heirloom tomatoes, such as these ‘Cherokee Purples,’ will often put fruit on a single branch. That increases the chance the branch will break off, ruining your harvest. Supporting the fruit with a hammock made of cloth will keep the stem from breaking and ensure your tomatoes will stay on the plant until ripe. The hammock in this picture was made from pantyhose, which is easy to find at thrift stores and is also a perfect material for tying tomatoes to stakes and cages.
Brian and Cristi Day
Winona, Minnesota
Crafty Tags
In order to consume less and spend less, I’m always on the lookout for ways I can repurpose what otherwise might be trash. I recently purchased a few items of clothing and noticed the tags were good-quality cardboard. I sewed a fabric heart over the logo on the front of the tag and used scrapbook-paper scraps to cover the information on the back. Now, these tags can be used many more times. Each time I do something like this, it motivates me to keep looking for other ways to reuse.
Karen Dawson
Santa Rosa, California
Back-Saving Wood Splitter
When hand-splitting firewood for hours on end, I came to realize I was doing a lot of unnecessary bending over to pick up the split pieces of wood and tools that fell to the ground from the chopping block. I created a wall around three sides of my cutting block by attaching pieces of old wood planking, using TimberLOK screws (or similar durable long screws). The planking keeps the split wood from falling to the ground. I also hang or place wedges and tools I commonly use for the splitting process inside the planking. Leaning the maul against the planking avoids the need to pick it up from the ground each time I move a log into place. This simple setup has saved me from bending over countless times, which is much appreciated by my back!
Phil Getty
Solebury, Pennsylvania
Homegrown Garden Fencing
While helping a friend clear new young sapling growth from a past forestry-management job, I couldn’t bear to just cut and dispose of the young saplings. I cut the extended limbs from the 6-to-8-footers, saving the main stems, bundled them, and kept them cold in the snow. When the ground was workable this spring, I made a simple wattle fence to keep my new puppy out of my herb and onion patch. With a small removable gate, I have access to filling the birdbath for the honeybees in addition to cutting and collecting thyme, oregano, sage, onions, and chives. It’s a nice relief knowing animals will leave my herb patch alone because of my simple, rustic-looking fence. I’m very pleased with the outcome.
Debra McNally
Leominster, Massachusetts
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