Something for the Jolly Old Elf

   Happy Holidays!

We are approaching that time of the season when our waists get a little larger. That's right, the baking and consuming of all things ooey, gooey, scrumptious, delectable, sugar-coated wonderment. In the midst of this tradition lets not forget the cookies for the jolly old elf, Santa Claus.

 Before the baking begins, I wanted to make a special plate for my grandson to put his cookies on for Santa.

I started with a clear plate from the dollar store. I cleaned the plate with alcohol and set it aside to dry. I began drawing my idea on paper that I wanted to put on the plate.  

TIP:If your drawing skills are not what you would like them to be, or to save time, you can use coloring book pages. These are great for simple outline drawings.

The next step is transferring the image onto the plate. The way that I like to do this is to put the plate, top side up on top of the image. Then I use a dry erase marker and outline the image. If you like what you see then go on to the next step, if not you can now easily change it. Dry erase wipes off very easy. I decided to change the buttons, leave out the wording and added more snow flakes.

Before my changes

The next step is important. You need to decide what needs to be painted next. If you are doing Santa's face, for example, you will want to add his rosy cheeks first and then the face color. If you add the face color first when you turn the plate over the cheeks will not show because it will be under the face color. Continue adding layers of paint till your piece is finished.

For this project I used Americana Satin muti-surface acrylic paint.You do not need a sealer. These paints have superior adhesion on all surfaces, including glass, which is bakeable for a dishwasher safe finish. Here are the colors I used. 

Black Tie
Red Barn
Buff Beige
Green Beret
Pink Cadillac
Cotton Ball

TIP: You can carefully pick up your piece and look under to see that everything is how you want it. If not, NOW is the time to wipe or scrap off something that you are not happy with. Repaint the areas you changed and leave to dry completely. You now can bake if you choose. Instructions are at the DecoArt website.

Bottom of plate

 I chose to give a little sparkle look to my finished piece. To achieve that look I used Mod Podge Sparkle on the bottom of the plate. It will look cloudy when wet but will dry clear.When applying use a large soft brush.

Bottom of plate dried

Top of plate dried

I can't wait to see the excitement of my grandson as he puts his treats on Santa's very special plate.

Enjoy!

Shari