DIY || yarn-wrapped porcelain painting!

Ah blue.... the colour of summery blue skies, calm seas, tranquility, and probably the most loved colour in the world.
And ironically.... also the name of a mood that pictures none of the above.

And boy, I was feeling it.  Might be autumn, might be stress, I don't know, but I just couldn't get myself to be creative. But as the saying goes: if you're feeling blue, paint yourself a different colour.. or just put that blue onto something else and make good use of it ;)

So, I made these painted mugs. Except that they weren't actually painted: I did something far easier: I wrapped them with paint-dipped yarn. So no painting skills needed at all!


Want to try it yourself? Here's what you'll need:

- porcelain paint (available in craft and toy stores)
- a few mugs or bowls you'd like to paint
- household gloves
-some cotton yarn.(50 cm should be enough)
- bit of water
- something you mix the paint in ( a small plastic container or something alike)
- some tissue or cotton swabs to remove mistakes

It is a slightly messy craft, so you best begin by putting on gloves and an apron. Give your mugs a good scrub to remove all grease and stains.

Then, mix a bit of paint with a bit of water (1/1) in your container.

Next, cut of a piece of yarn ( i used about 50 cm) and soak it in the paint:

just like that!

If the yarn doesn't really soak up the paint, add a bit more water.
Once the yarn is completely covered in paint, the fun starts!

first, to make the wrapping part easier, and less messy, wrap the yarn around your fingers, to create a sort of spool ( from now on: "spool-hand")

like so! I'm a leftie, so you might want to use your right hand if that's easier. 

By this time, my other glove was completely covered in paint, so I took that one off, so I could hold the cup without completely staining it.

Then, I held the end bit of the yarn with my "clean" hand to the cup, and wrapped the rest of the yarn around it by simply unwinding my spool-hand around the cup ( yeah it sounds weird, but it's really easy!)

ps: as you might be able to see: I folded the yarn double to create thicker lines, but that's totally up to you.

like so!

If you have a tapered mug like I did, the yarn will probably move a bit here and there, and the lines won't be entirely clean, but for me that was part of the effect I was going for.

Once the mug is completely wrapped, you can immediately and carefully remove the yarn again.

If the first try is not to your liking, just scrub the mug clean with some soap and hot water, and try again!

So, I tried some different patterns...

different kind of wraps, don't worry too much about the smudges, you can clean it up a bit!

the bowl also got some decoration!

If there are any stains, you can remove them with your cotton swab and some water and soap.

Once you're happy with the results, fire up your oven and bake the mugs according to the instructions on your porcelain paint. ( in my case it was 180 degrees Celcius, for about 30 minutes)

And these were the results!



I'm fairly happy with it!

Since all my tableware is thrifted, creating unity is always a bit of a challenge. So I decided only to buy whites, powdery blues and greens, and accents of indigo blue.
By adding some touches of blue to my plain white mugs, It's way more easy to combine them with the rest of my blue-ish porcelain. So I think it's quite a good method!

Would also love to try it with black, for a more graphic effect.

the blurry areas is where the yarn moved a bit. 

Just a small line also works quite nicely

looks fancy to me;)

bowl!

Oh, and next to getting my fingers blue with paint, I spend the weekend with the family on Vlieland, on of the Dutch islands, letting the wind in our hair, the sun on our faces, and the sand between our toes. Was lovely!

Hugs!