How to Stencil a Plate

Written by: Cathy Carroll

I am taking advantage of this latest winter blast 

and

getting a few projects done.

I know, you are probably asking what winter blast - 

you live on the Southern East Coast.

Well, for us it has been cold.

We have been seeing temps in the 20's and 30's

which are quite cold when those damp sea breezes start blowing.

But, 

I have to say I am glad we are not in the temps 

with all the snow some of you are seeing.

Anyway lets get on to the project for the day:

I have been wanting to stencil a plate for a while now

and I decided there is no better time than now.

What do you think?

I love it.

It turned out even better than I had hoped

and

it was so simple to do.

I am thinking there may be more to come - it was that easy.

You will need : 

a plate

a stencil of your choice

( I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 - sometime ago)

an alcohol swab or alcohol and a cotton ball

a paint pen of color choice

( I used a black Sharpie paint pen I had lying around)

some tape

( I used scotch tape- it was closest to me )

a few q-tips (for cleaning up any mistakes)

First I cleaned the plate with alcohol.

Just a good wiping is all that's necessary to remove any oils or residue.

Then tape your stencil down in the desired position.

I basically centered the bird on the limb in the center of the plate.

(See that little black dot on the birds body - that was my center marker)

Now just start filling in the areas you want to be on your plate.

I first outlined the areas, then filled them in.

Do not press on your pen so hard  that a lot of paint comes out of it.

It takes very little and if you use a lot it will puddle under your stencil.

Ask me how I know....

Thus the need for Q-tips and alcohol....

When you have filled in all the desired areas 

remove the stencil and tape.

Now I did have a few lines that I felt needed to be straightened a little.

So I went over some of them with the pen.

After looking at it I felt it was just a little plain 

and

needed a border of some kind.

This took me forever to decide on what I wanted.

I tried a few that just were not to my satisfaction.

I just removed them with some alcohol and a cotton ball - 

very simple at this stage.

Easy, peasy....

I finally decided on this design.

I think its a cross between a leaf and a lily - I don't know 

but,

I really liked how it looked when I did it.

I started by stenciling the emblem at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions.

Then I went back and centered one between each one of these.

When those were done I free-handed some wavy lines

between each emblem.

Here it is all finished.

 When you are done you need to do a couple more steps to make it last.

I let it set overnight to dry completely -

even though it is dry to the touch within a couple of minutes.

Then I placed it in a cold oven 

and

 turned the oven to 425 degrees.

I baked it for 30 minutes

then let it cool in the oven.

I actually left it in there a good 6 hours.

When you bake it - it supposedly melts the glaze so the paint

can mingle with it and become permanent.

I don't really know what the process is just that it needs to be done.

I don't know if it is going to be dishwasher safe or not.

I plan on washing mine by hand if need be - it is simply for display only.

I am not sure about using them for food either as the paint is not food safe.

However I do want to make more -

mugs, glasses, platters.....

I can see this getting out of hand.

I love to paint 

and 

this was such a simple, fun and relaxing process for me.

Here's another look - I love it.

What are you working on during all this cold weather?

Think some painting of  "china" is in your future?

NOTE: This plate or any other painted with Sharpie or paint markers are intended strictly for decorative use and not meant to be used to hold any food  for consumption.

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Until next time

have fun creating something you love....

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Please visit them and see all the great projects and inspiration found there....