Friday, August 24, 2012

Make it: Hand painted serving platter

I wanted to show you this fun platter I made last week.  You know I love a good project, so when DecoArt sent over a whole box of their new glass paints I was excited to get out a paintbrush and make something!  It was a welcome distraction while I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of a certain little one.


The box was full of many different types of paint, all specially formalized for glass and ceramic surfaces.  I think every color you could think of was in that box, but of course, I was drawn to these:


I decided to paint a plain white platter I had picked up at Target a while ago.  I was inspired by various designs I've seen featuring feathers and leaves lately, especially with fall right around the corner.  I'm not sure if my finished product resembles leaves or feathers more (or neither? Ha!), but I had a lot of fun playing with the paint!



The back of the paint bottle suggested cleaning my platter with soap and water, and wiping it with a little rubbing alcohol to get rid of any fine dust.  I drew out my designs on sketch paper first and then used a mechanical pencil to lightly draw on the platter before using the paint.  The Opaque Gloss Writers I chose to use can be squeezed directly out of tube, but when I tried that on my paper it looked like a third-grader.  Apparently I don't have a steady hand while I'm squeezing a tube!  I opted to use a few different paint brushes instead.

The paint sets up fairly quickly, so I was able to outline my designs with the Gloss Writers, and fill them in with Frosted Glass Paint and later (after baking the platter), a bit of Glass Stain as well.


Once my designs were complete, I let my platter cure for four days, and then popped it into the oven for a while to set (instructions can be found on the backs of the paint bottles). 


The paint was fairly easy to use, and I can't wait to try out some of the brighter colors and glitters paints with my girls.  Thank you DecoArt for sending us our paint!  If you're interested in checking it out, Michael's now carries the full line of glass paints.  If you're looking for ideas, you can visit DecoArt's pinterest board right here.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!  We're moving into our new house in Washington and I can hardly wait!  Meet me here next week?

2 comments:

  1. That's a really great idea. I love it. It's simple but it works. I think this platter from here will work just as well with those leaf designs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful! Exactly what i have been looking for to make platters for my three daughters! Once you bake them, can they have food placed on them?

    ReplyDelete