Let’s Paint Coasters! {Learn 4 motifs!}

Hello Friends! Firstly I want to wish all the moms out there a very happy mother’s day. I spent the afternoon with my mom and sister and it was wonderful. Our kids played outside all afternoon and my brother-in-law grilled a yummy dinner! It was in the 70’s and sunny and I think I might have gotten a bit of a tan! I hope your day was great as well. Since mothers day was this week I had the children in my library craft class make these for their moms:

We painted with Folk Art Enamels on 4″ glazed white tiles from the home improvement store. There are other nice oven bake paints on the market such as Pebeo and Lefranc & Bougouis but Folk art Enamels are half the price and easier to find, I think you can even get them at Wal*Mart. This is a beginner acrylic tutorial. You can paint any of these designs with regular acrylic paints on any surface you want and it will be lovely. I recommend using an enamel for glass or ceramic though and only paint areas of your ceramic that will not come in contact with food. For instance you can paint the outside of a coffee mug below the rim where you sip but not the inside of the mug. Get my drift? Now, grab a brush and let’s paint!

That was pretty easy eh? If you are wondering what my dog was barking at during the video there was a neighbors cat in the woods behind my house, he visits often and is very interested in the chickens. I do not think he can harm them since the chickens are as big as he is but he drives my dog nuts! In case you were wondering below are a list of the colors I used in the tutorial. They came in a kit. I would prefer more vivid basic colors so I would mix a variety of shades (I think I will pick up some primaries the next time I am at the store) but these colors do coordinate well together.

The colors I am using are:
#4001 Wicker white
#4032 Licorice
#4026 Midnight
#4029 Violet Pansy
#4019 Fresh Foliage
#4022 Thicket
#4007 Berry Wine
#4015 Yellow Ocher
#4016 School Bus
#4013 Coffee Bean
#4014 Burnt Sienna

After the coasters were dry I put felt pads on the bottom so they would not scratch the furniture. Remember to let your ceramics dry for 21 days or dry 24 hours and bake at 350F or 177C (in your home oven) for 30 minutes to fully cure the enamel. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

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!