Monday, December 19, 2011

DIY Faux Porcelain Bowl

*** WARNING! If you are one of my sisters STOP READING THIS NOW!!! ***


Every Christmas I try to make something hand made to give to friends and family. This Christmas I am giving each of my sisters a unique piece of jewelry I found on Etsy and I thought it would be fun to give them a little jewelry holder to go with it.


Do you remember that clay you used to play with as a kid? The big giant hunk you get at the craft store? Well it's still useful today in a more grown up sense. I used it to make a Faux (sounds better than fake!) Porcelain Bowl. It was a cute idea I saw on Curbly the other day and had to try it out! It mixes the hot trend for the season- metallic and it's hand made!



If you want to make one of these yourself all you need it:

1. Air Dry Clay
2. Rolling Pin
3. Round Bowl or Cookie Cutter
4. Flat White Spray Paint
5. Gold Metallic Paint
6. Paint Brush

Start by chopping off a hunk of clay from your block.


Then roll it into a ball and flatten it a little. Next you'll use your rolling pin to flatten it out further; just like cookie dough! I placed it in between 2 pieces of saran wrap to it would stick to the counter or rolling pin. Roll it to its the width you want; I flattened it to about 1/4" thick.



Peel off the saran wrap and use your bowl or cookie cutter to cut a circular shape out of the clay. Really twist it in there good. Use a knife to cut around the edges if need be.


I used my same bowl as a mold for my clay. I lay the clay on the top of the bowl and formed it to fit. I let it dry like that for about 30- 45 minutes before I tried to take it off. You can place your clay on the inside or the outside of the bowl; depending on the shape of bowl you want to end up with.


I placed my bowls on a wire rack for even drying. Then let air dry over night, try to sleep even though you are really excited to see how your bowl turns out!


Once your bowl is dry its time to sand down any rough edges or wrinkles you don't want to show. Or just let it be- it depends on the look your going for- modern or natural.




Now it's time to paint! If you going for a faux porcelain look make sure to use FLAT spray paint. Do a few coats making sure the paint is dry in between each coat.


Now bust out your metallic paint- it's time to dress this baby up! Paint it however you want- I wanted to go for a dipped metallic look so I painted one edge of my bowl gold. It took about 3 coats to achieve the look I wanted.


Then your done! Stand back and admire your handi-work. Then internally debate if you want to make one for yourself. :)




4 comments:

Courtney said...

What a fantastic idea Rachelle!! I so wanna make one, or two!!
Thanks for sharing this!!
Have a wonderful Christmas!!

Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication said...

How creative! I love them! Where on earth did you buy that gigantic block of clay?!?!

Mel Lawrence said...

I just tried this, but I couldn't easily get the bowl off after 45mins, I left it there for hours, it ended up cracking, I'm guessing from uneven drying. Was it hard for you to get the clay off the bowl? Do you think using a metal bowl makes it harder??

Thanks

Tanya from Dans le Lakehouse said...

That looks fabulous! Thanks for sending me the link!!