DIY hand painted plate decor.

I still haven't figured out what to hang in our dining room, 

or I can't find where the previous decor went.

Both.

I was at the dollar store picking up things I refuse to pay more than a dollar for,

I came across these heavy duty ceramic square plate.

Perfect!

I have some clearance paint from Joanns that is specifically for glass and ceramics.

Ceramcoat, Bobby Blue and Aqua cool pearl.

I mixed it with some dark navy acrylic paint.

If you wanted to you could simply bake them to use them but considering I want to hang on the wall I'm not too worried about how durable the paint is going to be.

I knew I wanted to do some round designs and I've pinned a few million mandalas on pinterest.

I printed out some of the designs I thought would work,

I was running out of ink and I didn't really want to waste ink on this.

 It also helped when I had to transfer the design to the plate.

I cleaned the surface with rubbing alcohol to at least make sure I got the dirt off.

On the first plate I just used carbon paper and pencil to transfer the design.

The red ink made it really easy to see where I've been.

however I learned you need to scuff off the gloss on the plate for the carbon paper to transfer.

I did try the wax paper transfer but it was a total disaster!

After painting the design with a brush I thought it looked like poo.

So I went back with a "dotter" tool that I use for nail art to define the design.

Here is the first one I did, way too much detail that didn't transfer so I made it up as I went along.

It's not perfect, but if you came into my house this isn't the first thing you would notice anyway.

A better picture of the first plate.

The second plate I prepped with acetone, I let it soak for a few minutes and then took some 

sandpaper to knock the gloss off.

Then cleaned it with the rubbing alcohol so the acetone wouldn't mess with the paint.

The transfer worked much better with the proper prep. 

Although I should have centered the design...

oops.

So I did some brush circles around the main design to mask the fact that it is way off center!!

But I love how it makes the design stand out.

Third plate was easier after I figured out how to transfer the design.

I also added dots to everything, because I like it.

The fourth was a simple flower design,

Easy peasy!

Due to the paint Ceramcoat Pearl colors it was hard to get a good photo.

Again with the dots...

It's really hard to get a good photo of these!!

Finally all three of them are left to dry!

I plan on putting on a clear coat to seal them before I hang them!

Thanks for stopping by!

W