Add warmth and ambiance to your outdoor space with a simple DIY heater made from an upcycled terra-cotta flowerpot. These outdoor heaters are portable, easy to create, resourceful and low-cost. Use them as a heat source on your patio or lanai, at a fall picnic or when you’re out tailgating with friends.

As you consider the design of your piece, keep in mind:

• Do not paint. Painting the terra cotta may seem like an easy way to update the look, but it will produce a strong odor when the heater is used. The traditional unglazed, hard, fired-clay pots are the best option for this project.
• Protect surrounding surfaces. Bricks are used to protect the tabletop from heat and to raise the heater off the surface of the table. You can use other materials to support your heater, like ceramic tile, but be aware of the stability of the structure you make. Make sure it’s built to stand if the table gets bumped.
• It can burn you. The terra cotta will get very hot to the touch — hot enough to burn your skin — so use caution when setting up your heater. Don’t leave it unattended, especially around kids. Keep potholders nearby. Avoid placing it directly on a flammable surface and refrain from sliding or handling it while lit.

The traditional terra-cotta heater design is made simply using a few common materials.

Make a Tabletop Terra-Cotta Pot Heater

1. Place one brick flat on the table, topped with one of the terra-cotta saucers.

2. Lay two more bricks on their side on each side of the saucer and then place the terra-cotta pot upside-down on those two bricks. There should be 1" to 2” of airflow between the upside-down pot and the lower saucer. Oxygen will keep the candle burning and help distribute the warmth produced by the heater.

3. Cover the hole on the top (what is normally the pot's drainage hole) by capping it with an upside-down terra-cotta saucer. If you don’t have a second saucer, you can use a coin or even a piece of tin foil.

4. Place a few tea lights on the lower saucer and light them. One tea light will produce a little warmth, but four may create so much heat that it melts the candle wax in a matter of minutes. Choose your heat level.

5. Sit back and enjoy. The heater will be warm to the touch within a few minutes. It won’t take long for it to radiate warmth in the area.

Make a Hanging Terra-Cotta Pot Heater

No table? No problem. Take the concept to the next level and design a hanging heater for small outdoor spaces. Using a ceramic bowl as the base lets you add more color and pattern to your heater. Hook it to your patio ceiling, pergola or place it on a freestanding planter hook in an outdoor garden to add warmth and ambiance on a cool evening.

1. Use the drill bit to bore a hole through the middle of the bowl. Thread a nut and washer to the bottom of the 18” metal rod and place it in the bowl, edges up, on top of the washer.

2. Twist another nut down the rod and toward the bowl. Add a washer that fits well around the rod. The terra-cotta planter can then be lowered onto the rod so that it rests on top of the washer. Add another washer and nut to the top of the pot to cover the hole in the planter.

3. To the end of the rod, thread a connector and hook so that the heater can easily be hung.

4. Place candles inside the ceramic bowl and make any adjustments to the positioning of the terra-cotta pot. Allow for an inch of space between the ceramic bowl and the pot to promote airflow.

5. Hang the heater and light the candles. Within minutes, warmth will radiate!