Paint Your Own China

Me (left, with the cast) and Norah on Christmas Day many, many years ago.

The "You Are Here" custom photograph isn't the only treasure I have contributed to my sister Norah's powder room. Today we look at the "prohibited" plate series that hangs above her bathroom door. I made these plates at least 20 years ago, back when those china painting places were popular. Maybe they are still popular and I just haven't been to one in 20 years because my daughter Lawler finally outgrew the china painting parties that caused us to return a week later to pick up the treasure and, of course, sit down to paint another, in a seemingly endless cycle. When I did a web search I couldn't find one in my town, so maybe they really have gone out of style. But another option is to paint plain white china and then bake it in your own oven. I have tried that before and my experience is that it doesn't last very long, but I found this blogger who says she has the answer to that dilemma so, if I were you, I would read this DIY Painted Mugs post which explains how to paint and bake your own china so that it lasts. While you're at the gluedtomycraftsblog, look around because she has a lot of good craft ideas and she posts something new every single day and doesn't ever use foul language or launch into tangential hyperbolic rants like some bloggers do. 

If you are a member of the Florida landed gentry you will probably recognize these iconic symbols of the Palm Beach Bath and Tennis Club (left) and the Jupiter Island Club (right). Just out of curiosity, I did a web search on palm beach bath and tennis club and the first link that appeared was this article entitled 25 Outrageously Expensive Social Clubs in America, and Palm Beach Bath and Tennis Club was second on the list. So there ya go. While the Jupiter Island Club didn't make the cut as one of the 25 most expensive social clubs in America, it is certainly no slouch in the fancy schmancy department. At any rate, Norah and her husband Tom left the Florida social life behind when they moved to Virginia in the early 1990's, prompting the creation of these plates. The design was Tom's idea and, of course, one could apply the prohibited symbol to absolutely anything, particularly that thing that might have gone out of favor with your loved one. Ideas for this holiday season might include:

And who can forget my Lie v. Lay grammar post prohibited sign, which begs the question, in which direction is the darned red slash supposed to go anyway? From top left to bottom right, or from top right to bottom left? According to that tome of world knowledge, wikipedia, it goes from top left to bottom right. But I am pleading artistic license in defense of my LAY DOWN prohibited illustration, and think you should make the red slash go in the direction that best suits whatever you are trying to prohibit.

The only advice I will give about the actual execution of these projects is that you have to apply multiple layers of the paint for it to look good. Otherwise it will look dim and washed out. If you don't want to paint china, make the prohibited signs into stickers. Create them using something like Photoshop or Paint or Powerpoint, then print them on full page sticker paper and stick them to whatever - coasters, books, your golf bag or your car. Only you know what pushes your people's buttons, so the content will have to be up to you. Get clever.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE PLATE

Here is another china plate idea for the family with lots of pets. And when I say lots of pets, I don't mean a couple of dogs, a cat, a fish and a rabbit. I mean 30 or more pets. My sister Norah, God bless her, is involved in such a family. Tom and their daughter Mary Clark have been in cahoots for years, sneaking a menagerie of animals into the house, not telling Norah about it until it is too late for her to do anything. At any given time, they will have multiple cats, dogs, pigs, horses, ducks, chickens, goats, rabbits, lizards, turtles, squirrels, guinea pigs, hamsters and mice. That was the inspiration for this commemorative Christmas cookie plate:

I made that plate for them so many years ago that all of the animals referenced on it have long since gone to their rewards, so I know it serves as a loving reminder. 

This year I might have made a plate commemorating the two pigs Mary Clark brought home last year, named Piggly and Wiggly. But apparently Piggly got just a little too fat and a little too aggressive and thus found his reward in Norah's and my freezers, and now appears nightly on our dinner tables. Norah did not actually slaughter the hog, but she did sprinkle the marshmallows in a path to entice the porcine beast into the van. Anyone who enjoyed my video on how to install a swim spa, would surely have enjoyed that too, and I'm just sorry I missed it. I'm guessing that Wiggly might be suspicious of marshmallows in the future. Home-butchered meat, by the way, is always a great idea for a Christmas gift, if you have a knack for that sort of thing.

Do you paint your own china or butcher your own animals? If you do, tell us all about it below.