DIY $1 Christmas Plates

I’ve got this set of bright blue Christmas plates with oversized childlike trees on them that I have had for years.  Actually, I believe that they were passed down to me by my mother when she grew tired of them.  They are absolutely adorable and my children love them, but they don’t scream “classy” or even “an adult uses this dish,” so I figured that this might be the year to upgrade…at least for Christmas dinner.  So I decided to try my hand with the Sharpie on a plate trick that we’ve all seen floating around the internet and mocking us at every page turn on Pinterest.  I was not interested in having marker flake off into my food while eating or having the colors run and bleed while baking which were some of the horror stories that I’d heard about this project, so I made sure to use an OIL based Sharpie.  That is the most important step.  Please don’t use your regular Sharpie because that’s what you have lying around and you figure that it must be just as good.  For this project, it’s not!  OIL BASED!  Still with me?  Okay, here is the super long shopping list of what you’ll need beyond that magical Sharpie:

Plate: $1 from Dollar Tree (only the best for my dinner guests!)

Yep, you basically need a plate and a marker.  Complicated, I know.  Okay, now that you’ve got your supplies either find a stencil that you like or have a picture in mind and a steady hand.  As usual, I used my Silhouette to cut out a stencil of this beautiful reindeer.  Then I just colored him in with my marker.  Throw the plate in a 350* oven for 30 minutes and viola!  A gorgeous, one of a kind Christmas plate made by you!  And you could really design it anyway you want and could very simply personalize each plate with a name and not need pace cards.  Or you could let the kids color their own plates.  Hand turkey for Thanksgiving?  My kids would love that!  Grandparents need a gift for Christmas?  Send them a set of 8 plates (it’s only $8, but they’ll never know that!) that your kids created just for them.

I hand washed my plate and had no issues whatsoever.  I even scrubbed it with a sponge and still nothing budged.  I don’t think that I would put these in the dishwasher though, just to be on the safe side.  But the great news is, that at $1 a piece, if they do smudge or you get bored with them, just make some more!