Inside: Fall Leaf Sharpie Plate would make a perfect hostess gift or plate for appetizers. Full tutorial and tips to help you make one too!
I love this time of year because it means having lots of friends and family over to celebrate the season.
Every year I struggle with the idea of buying such season specific serving dishes because they can be pricey. But I saw a plate in a catalogue that I couldn’t get out of my head and had to come up with a way to avoid spending almost $60 on it. And so this fall leaf Sharpie plate was born and although it turned out a little bit differently than I had envisioned, I love the result. Plus my cost for this plate and bowl was about $15. Boo-ya!
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Fall leaf sharpie plate supplies:
- oven safe ceramic serving piece
- metallic Sharpies: silver seemed to work the best
- contact paper
- white paper
- a pencil
- scissors
- an oven
How to make a sharpie plate with fall leaves:
First you will need to decide on a design.
I chose fall leaves for a few reasons.
One, I can get by using the leaf motif for both fall and winter (remember my fear of too seasonally specific stuff.)
And two, they’re a simple silhouette without a lot of detail, which is perfect for this project.
Do a quick Google search for “fall leaf silhouette.” There are a ton to pick from.
Try to find ones you like that don’t have a lot of jagged edges. This will make your job easier later.
Make them the size you want (based on the size of your plate and bowl) by zooming in; then simply lay white paper over them and trace lightly with a pencil.
Tape each leaf to the white side of some contact paper and cut it out so that you now have a sticker in the shape of that leaf, which will be your stencil.
Decide where you want to place your leaves onto your plate and stick them there by peeling off the back side of the contact paper.
Be sure they are securely stuck with no air bubbles, especially around the edges.
Now you’re ready to get polka-dotting!
Important info about putting your ceramic plate in the oven and washing your sharpie plate.
So, before I started this project, I did some reading about how this whole Sharpie mug and plate thing really works.
From what I read, oil based Sharpies work best, black and metallic Sharpies come in second, and using a coating at the end is ideal.
All of it won’t last forever if you plan to wash it, and it should be hand washed. So for my seasonal use of this, I used metallic Sharpies with a clear coat, and I plan to hand wash it.
Putting the design on your leaf silhouette plate
You will be doing many layers of dots. I started with one color and did some larger dots all around my leaves, focusing on the edges. I added another layer of larger dots with each color: silver, gold, and copper.
Then I went back with each color and added dots by just dotting all over, making sure that lots of dots are at the edges of the leaves. So many in fact that you couldn’t see the white on the line where the contact paper and plate met. Think ombre here, people. The dots will be heavy at the edge of the leaves and fade out.
When you are satisfied with your dotting, let it dry and then peel off your contact paper leaves. (I repeated these steps for the bowl too).
Making the sharpie permanent on your ceramic plate
Place your plate into a cold oven and set it to 350 degrees.
Once it hits 350 degrees, bake for 30 minutes and then let it cool in the oven too. I opened my oven a little bit to help it cool.
I made two of these and sprayed one with Acrylic Sealing Spray after letting it sit overnight (I used Krylon moisture resistant clear spray**).
Because I was concerned that the spray is not food safe, I didn’t spray the second one and after washing both by hand, they looked exactly the same. So if you plan to use your dish for food, I would consider not spraying. If however it is purely decorative, spray away!
And here is the result! If you love it, be sure to pin it by hovering over the image!
When I said at the beginning of the post it didn’t turn out exactly as I had imagined, I was referring to the colors. The gold and copper didn’t look as shiny as I thought they would.
Still, I love the result and actually like how subtle the colors are. It makes it a bit more modern…and a bit more my style.
So now I’m ready to serve some appetizers with a little dip on the side all season long!
This is just one of 5 awesome projects for you today… so click through the list below to get inspired by some more great bloggers and don’t forget to pin the projects along the way!
1) Spiced French Toast with Caramel Maple Syrup by Whistle and Ivy
2) Pony Bead Indian Corn by Cutesy Crafts
3) Silk Leaf Table Runner by Cook and Craft Me Crazy
4) Fall Leaf Sharpie Plate by Hey There, Home
5) Chalkboard Vinyl Autumn Banner by Keeping it Simple
