DIY PLATE ART

I tried a fun little DIY project that I was wanting to do for a while (see here and here for my inspiration). I had seen some really cute plates sold in the UK a while back that were out of stock, and when I came across these DIY plates I figured I would give it a try to replicate some of the ones I had been eyeing for so long. 

So, a thing or two about this project. It's very simple. I bought a few plates from the dollar store and one or two were inexpensive ones from the thrift store. I want my girls to have a try at their own plates but I wanted to give it a try first and make sure it worked, as I had read a few reviews and some were saying it didn't work depending on the plate or the marker. So these were cheap plates and I gave it a try with a few different styles first. 

All went well for the most part. Black marker definitely worked the best. I used two other colored Sharpies to see how it would work and the colors mostly faded once being heated (which worked out ok for the pink on some). 

You want to clean and dry your plate fully. Then, draw whatever you like on the plate. Next, heat the plate in a 450 degree oven for about 45 minutes. After the 45 minutes, turn the oven off and let the plates remain in the oven until the oven cooks down. Once they have cooled some remove them from the oven and let them finish cooling completely. Then for the test. I washed all the plates and they did totally fine. However, I will say (for whatever reason) I choose to scrub a few of them a ton, just to see if at some point they would fade or it would rub off. After several attempts the marker did begin to wear off some on a few of the plates (as you can see in the last photo). But I would say this a fun, cheap little project that is good for a little craft. So, I will let the girls have a go at it and then post those later. 

For any moms that may be conscious of the marker being on the food, I think it bakes in pretty well. I really did scrub them several times. And I think for us, I feel ok about letting the kids use these plates as a special snack or party plate rather than an everyday dinner plate, which may have more tendency to wear off the marker.