Dare to Deck the Halls

It's already the 4th week of Dare to DIY and this week is the Dare to Deck the Halls challenge hosted by Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newly Woodwards, and Two Twenty One!

Although by Deck the Halls will look a bit like entertaining...I still think it works!

We have a lot of decorations and homemade ornaments here.  I have a tree full of all kinds of unique and craft ornaments.  Nothing matches and I love it that way.  What I did not have was some cute holiday dishware.

For the first time, my husband and I will be hosting Christmas dinner with my in laws.  I'm super excited to be cooking a big meal and sharing the day with my family....while in slippers.  Now, I love my fiestaware dishes - they are pretty much my favorite. But they are blue, yellow, and turquoise and I really wanted to do a traditional Christmas color table this year.  Plus I found some cute napkins and tablecloth at Kohl's for a suuuuuper discount, so I wanted to work around them.

So what to do?  I turned to pinterest for some inspiration.  I found these Halloween plates a while ago and loved them.  While searchng for Christmas ideas, I thought maybe I could come up with something that would be a similar approach to drawing on dishes.

With an idea in mind, I set off to Christmas Tree Shops to find some cheap white plates.  I found the ones I ended up using for like a buck a piece.  Then I found some paints that would work on the plates.  I know people have used Sharpie and had success, but I got nervous and ended up going with something that said it was non-toxic and would 'hopefully' go through the dishwasher.  I found these Martha Stewart Glass Paints at Michaels:

I ended up doing the writing freehand, but I did search through some fonts online and tried to copy one I liked as best I could.  I decided on using Christmas word 'pairs' to decorate the dinner plate and the salad plate.  I was going to add a border, but I decided against it.  I think the simple words spoke for themselves.  The pairs I chose were: Merry & Bright, Silver & Gold, Holly & Jolly, and Comfort & Joy.  I made enough for 8 settings, so each pair was used twice.

After you write on the plates, they need to sit about an hour.  Then you put them in a COLD oven and turn it on to 350.  They 'bake' for 30 minutes and then you turn the heat off and let the plates cool in the oven.

The plates then need to sit for a few days before washing, which was perfect since I got busy and kind of forgot about them for a few days.  From there they got a quick wash and they were ready to be set on the table.

 I really like how the plates came out.  In the future I could use other decorations around them in different colors, but for now I am loving them with the classic red and green.

Do you see the candle holders as the centerpiece?  My step dad made them forever ago and they are my favorite.  I think they added the prefect finishing touch to the table.

 

Jack really wanted to be a part of the photoshoot :)

I have had so much fun being a part of these DIY challenges.  They kept me crafting and gave me a lot of inspiration for projects!  Thank you Decor and the Dog, Maybe Matilda, Newly Woodwards, and Two Twenty One!