Final Favors

We had the twins birthday tea party yesterday-what fun, we made fancy hats and bracelets and had an absolute ball-and I thought you might like to see the hand painted tea cups I made for the guests:

I picked up 21 (why 21 and not 20 you ask? Well, I was feeling superstitious so I got an odd number for good measure:) white tea cups from the dollar store and painted 4 of each of the following designs on them-the odd one had rosebuds because it was my favorite! I painted 21 tea cups in about 2 hours. Wanna try making some? Here’s how:

1. Select white ceramic tea cups to paint, make sure they are not chipped and have no imperfections in the glaze, try dollar stores first and be choosy when picking them out because the dollar stores get irregulars sometimes.
2. Wash the cups in hot soapy water and rinse/dry. Then wipe the outsides down with rubbing alcohol. Be sure to wash your hands well before painting them and do not apply lotion, any oil from your fingers can make the cup resist the paint.
3. I used Folk Art Enamels for this project. Paint your designs and let air dry at least 30 minutes then place the cups in a cold oven then turn on the oven to 350, bake for 30 minutes after it reaches 350 (a little longer won’t hurt) then tun off the oven and leave the cups in to cool.

for the raspberries I dipped a pencil’s eraser in wine color paint and made a bunch of dabs, so easy!

The blueberries can be dabbed on with your finger, then smooth the paint with a brush. add a vine with a skinny liner brush and some leaves and you are done!

Use a flat brush that is double loaded with color to make roses and rosebuds. *Double loading is when you put two colors on a brush-such as dark pink on one corner and light pink on the other-and work the brush back and forth on you palette until the color blends.

To make sure there was no fighting over cups I used a Painters brand acrylic paint pen to write the girl’s names on their cup. I got my pen at Joanns in the glass paint aisle, it is acrylic based. I don’t know it will survive the dishwasher so I told the girls to hand wash only. I washes in the sink just fine! Let it dry for 15 minutes after you write with it so it doesn’t smear.

Other ideas:

• buy a large ceramic plate at the dollar store and paint pumpkins, Christmas trees, stars or whatever you like on the edge of the plate-bake as above and givt homemade goodies on it for the holidays.
• Paint a set of wine glasses for a wedding gift.
• paint large mugs and fill with cocoa packets and bags of mini marshmallows for a Christmas gift.
• Let kids make their own place setting-you could buy a set of white dishes and every family member can have their own. Keep the painted design on the edge of the plates and outside of the cups so the paint is not in contact with the food itself. I reckon a steak knife might scratch it, it is super durable though.
• this would be great fun as  a party or scouts project too!

Enjoy your Sunday folks and if you feel like shopping the 25% off customer Appreciation sale is happening until midnight at Lindsay’s stamp Stuff {shameless plug} Till next time happy crafting!