Pout. I've tried converting indoor only art, for outside use, and it never works. Unless you do something dramatic, like have the piece dipped in resin, a mere coating won't last through the elements. Water will get in the porous features of the item and it will eventually crumble. Rain will wear it away.

That has been my experience. Of course maybe someone else will have a solution.

Well, my first response is, why not? Use a good primer - go during the week to HD or Lowes to get the experienced painters, see if you should use oil or latex primer to seal the pores, paint with an exterior paint or spray paint intended for the elements, and coat with 2-3 coats of polyurethane. Be sure to do the bottom as well as the rest of the piece to reduce areas wet can seep in. And don't sit it directly on dirt, put a concrete stepping stone underneath. Freezes are usually predictable, pull the piece into the garage if you are concerned. Accept up front that it may only look good for 3-4 years, and you may have to replace it or redo it at that time. If you can live with that, then I say go for it. It doesn't sound like you really want it inside....

terry

If you want to keep it the current color you can use just a clear sealer but look for one that states it is a waterproof sealer. I've sealed clay items using clear concrete sealer and even turned one into a small fountain. It works really well!
If you want a different color and want it more 'natural' consider using a stain instead of paint. When you seal it be sure to seal all the surfaces, including the bottom.

I suggest you also place it on something solid so that it's not in direct contact with soil/moisture.

The worst that could happen is that it ages. Before it starts to age too much, take it in. At least it will look authentic.

My mother has had a plaster column outside for years in the elements. Yes it has worn, but not as bad as you would think. If anything, the weather has made it more beautiful.

Great advice on the sealing!

I have done it. I have a little statue (about 3 feet tall) from Wal-Mart of a little boy adjacent to the $500 statue from a garden shop of the little girl. I used an enamel black paint (what I had at the time) as a base. I used several layers of latex and acrylic of aquas and beiges over that and wiped it over the top here and there with the black. Like I say, I use what I have. They look aged, they look fine. I have had them in the garden since 1997.

If it is sealed properly with paint products or sealers for outside I think it will be fine. As is it would probably weather faster than you would like.
I painted a couple of indoor only resin pieces and they have been outdoors now for years and still look the same.

I've had this pineapple and another on an opposite wall, sitting outside for two years. Our temperatures get down to the teens in the winter and high 90's in the summer. So far, the pieces have held up well considering they were labled for indoors only, and are made of resin. They have even aged some.
{{!gwi}}

Have you thought about rubbing a dark stain on them, instead of painting. I know that my sister once painted some concrete vases, and they started to peel a few months later.

Try painting it with a waterproofing product called DryLok. You get it at HD or Lowes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drylok

Thank you one and all for your ideas. Number one is definitely to get it off of the ground! I'm going to look into all of these suggestions and make a decision. It wasn't expensive, so I would probably be ok with it deteriorating to some degree!

Daisy, I do admit I have both on pedestals which I got at a cheap garden shop sale for about $25 each. Maybe that helped, but they have been fine for years.

Hmmmm ....not sure what happened to my photo above, but here it is again.

If it's the same as the one I bought three years ago (and it sounds like it - hollow underneath, heavy plastic) I have mine sitting on a stone column on my porch. I have two colums on each side of the porch with pillars and one in the middle that is flat on top and that's where that thing sits. It is covered slightly but sits out there all year round. I have not painted it. It gets slightly wet. No problems. I scrubbed it with bleach and pressure washed it down this summer and put it back out and good as new. Mine was not listed as indoor only for some reason. Mine also has a little inscription on the lower edge of some sort. That might help to tell you if it is the same as mine. Also, it think I paid about $100 for that darm thing, but I wanted something like that and cement was soo heavy and expensive in that size. I get so many compliments. People think it's cement and part of the platform it sits on.