Pinteresting Summer

Challenge 30- Sharpie + Ceramic dishware= Endless Possibilities

Forever ago (meaning one of my first pins back in November) I pinned the instructions to designing your own ceramic dishes with just a Sharpie and an oven. Sadly, checking out the pin only led me to pictures with no other instructions than to draw on the ceramic dish, put it  in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, and the Sharpie will magically be baked on the dish forever. I searched other pins but sadly I didn't see any other links to websites that showed whether or not it really worked, so obviously I had to try it. Yesterday, the husband, toddler, and I did a sojourn to our not so local IKEA and I found (among many other things) some cool ceramic mugs for only 99 cents a piece. I bought two for this specific project and tried to think of what I could drawn on my skillfully crafted Swedish dishware. I had seen a mug recently that had a mustache drawn on it to comically look like the drinker was rocking said mustache. I figured what better opportunity to try and make one myself. I found a picture of one online (simple Google image search) and printed it out.

I carefully cut out the mustache and used a few very small pieces of double sided tape to stick in to the mug. I used my black Sharpie to trace the outline and then carefully fill in the color. I noticed quickly that the marker left some lighter areas where I was coloring it and the more I tried to fill it in the more marks it made.

I decided that I might be able to color over these after it had time to bake and cool and I would just try a second round (if it worked at all). Now I was also cooking corn in the oven (great way to cook corn on the cob, check out http://pinterestingsummer2012.blogspot.com/2012/06/challenge-6-and-7-crockpot-stuffed.html) and the corn just happened to need to be cooked at the exact same temperature and amount of time as the mug. Ever the multitasker, I decided I could kill two birds with one stone.

I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes, took it out of the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes. I put it to the dish soap and sponge test and this is how it came out.

I wanted to fix the lighter areas as well as even out the stache so I used a regular standard Sharpie as well as a super fine Sharpie to fix it. The second layer of Sharpie went on very easily and covered over the light areas and mistakes very well. Back in the oven for another 30 minutes and a 15 minute cool down. It again passed the soapy sponge test and our final product looked like this.

I know I usually rag on pins that are only pictures, but occasionally they do work out. This would be a fun project for kids, teens, and anybody who wants to design their own ceramic ware. I suggest two coats if you are coloring in anything and only put it on the part of the dish your mouth isn't going to be touching. I don't know how this will hold up in a dishwasher yet (I plan on checking that out soon) but it does hold up to a hand washing. If you don't have an IKEA near by, Dollar Tree carries lots of ceramic dishware you could try this out on. I'm excited to try this out again very soon.