Holiday Joy Plate

This post is part of a sponsored campaign in partnership with Plaid and Blueprint Social.

Whether you are a hostess for your family’s holiday get-togethers, or just like to have fun and festive decor in your home, today’s simple DIY project is for you!  One of the things I love around the holidays is sparkle, so I used the supplies I received from Martha Stewart Crafts to create a Holiday Joy Plate that really shines!  As a side note, many of you are well aware of my feelings regarding some comments and issues surrounding Martha Stewart last month.  I had signed on for this campaign and actually even received my supplies prior to those events, and as a person who honors her contracts and commitments, I am still sharing this post with you.  Regardless of my personal feelings about Martha Stewart herself, I do like the products I received and I like what I was able to create with them.  Moving on…

JOY Plate #MSHoliday

Here’s how I did it.
Materials:
– white serving plate {mine was $5 at Walmart}
– stencil/paint brushes
– Durable Gloss Multi-Surface Finish Decoupage Formula
– Decoupage Metallic Trim
– alphabet stencils
– scissors
– permanent marker
– silver metallic multi-surface paint

You can find all of the materials I used {except for the plate!} at Michaels craft stores or the Plaid online store.

Step 1: Choose, punch out, and align your stencils.  I didn’t like the shape of the capital ‘J,’ so I went with all lowercase letters for my word, ‘joy.’  I trimmed around the letters and placed them in the bottom right section of my serving platter.

Joy Plate

Step 2: Stencil your word.  I carefully used a stencil brush to apply my multi-surface metallic silver paint.  Apparently, I wan’t careful enough.  My letters came out a little on the messy side.  I actually wanted to fill in the broken lines on the ‘o’ and ‘y’ stencils, so I went back and did that with my brush after I had removed the stencils themselves.  Then it was cleanup time.

joyplatestep3b

Step 3: Clean up your letters.  Sometimes a q-tip and a little rubbing alcohol can be a crafter’s best friend.

joyplatestep5b

Step 4: Apply your decorative decoupage materials.  So.  I had this great plan.  I really liked these sequin-y strips in gold and copper.  I thought it would look really elegant to have two stripes running across the top half of the plate like this.  I put a ton of glossy decoupage on the plate and pressed them down.  But they didn’t want to stay down.  I tried adding more decoupage on top right away, hoping it would help them stick.  Nope.  They just kept wanting to pop up and be generally ill-behaved, particularly the sections where they’d been folded around the card in the package.  Perhaps I would have had better luck if I were an “expert” like Martha herself, but alas, I’m just a blogger who was covered in decoupage and muttering things I won’t repeat here.  I was clinging to my original idea rather stubbornly, so I fought with the metallic strips for a good five minutes, until finally thinking, “What am I doing?  There’s got to be something else I can do.”

joyplatefail2

Then inspiration struck.  If they didn’t want to behave in strips, those suckers were getting cut apart.  I chose a mixture of gold and copper as well as sizes and styles and started snipping.  I applied decoupage media directly to the plate, then stuck the individual sequins on randomly.  I actually loved the look; fun and a lot like confetti!  Once they had dried, I painted a coat of Gloss Decoupage on top.  When that had dried, I gave it a good second coat.

Joy Plate

Step 5 {but maybe it should be step 4…}: Outline your word.  Originally, I didn’t intend to do this, but once I had all the sparkly sequins in place, my “joy” was kind of blending in and getting lost in the midst of everything instead of being the focal point.  So, I pulled out Old Faithful, my black permanent marker, and carefully outlined the word.  Much better.

Joy Plate

That’s all there is to it!  Once it’s dry, it’s ready to display!  I plan on using mine as a decorative piece.  If you want to use it as a serving platter, just make sure that you cover it with a napkin or doily so the food doesn’t actually come in contact with the plate.  The supplies are non-toxic, but not necessarily considered ‘food safe’.  Believe it or not, though, the decoupage is actually dishwasher safe!

JOY Plate

Despite my best efforts, it was impossible to get a photo that truly conveys how pretty this plate is.  The photos don’t give you the effect of how sparkly and shiny the circles are, especially when they reflect the light.  So, you’ll just have to take my word for it, or else make one yourself!  It was a really simple project, and I think it’s the perfect mixture of fun and elegance for the holiday season.  I also like that since it only uses metallics rather than reds, greens, or other holiday colors, it can still be appropriate for New Year’s and other festive occasions.

JOY Plate

What do you say?  Quick, easy, and inexpensive; that’s my kind of DIY decor!  Come on back tomorrow for my tips on taking your holiday photos {and ordering your cards}!  And be sure to check out some of these other great holiday projects:

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Hugs & Glitter,

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22 Comments

  1. Wow, that looks great! I never would have thought looking at the first picture that those were sequins.

    Martha may have annoyed me with her comments but the woman’s company does make good products!

  2. I was cracking up as I was reading your blog. The quips about Martha Stewart had me laughing because its exactly what I would do. You did an awesome job!! Great idea on cutting them individually. It looks fabulous!! Love it!!

  3. I love it, Amy! Great use of ingenuity with the cantankerous strips of golden circles – I love how you turned them into confetti – so awesome!

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