food face plate

(the above picture is from Amazon.com)

I saw these plates in a magazine a while ago and thought they were so clever and cute. Plus I LOVED that they were actually ceramic instead of the very fun and cool but chemical-laden melamine. I knew I that I had to have one for the kids and that I wanted to buy them for all my friends’ kids too! But, then I looked them up and saw the price tag – $24. YIKES. No way that I would be buying those. So, I decided to figure out how to make my own.

what you need…

plain white ceramic plate
Pebeo ceramic markers – I got them here
graphite transfer paper…. or just be really good at drawing. (I used the transfer paper) 🙂
a printer and an oven!

First I printed a picture of the face as large as I could.
Next, I put a piece of transfer paper between the picture and the plate and traced.
Then, I used the ceramic marker and went over the light graphite tracing on the plate. You have to be careful to fix any mistakes before it dries.
Then you let it sit and cure for 24 hours and then bake it for 30 minutes….and WHALAA! Done and done. I think they turned out pretty darn cute.
The original plate is in color – but I like my version just as well.

Everything that Fred and Friends makes is really interesting and neat. I wish I could afford it all. I love the Matroyshka doll measuring cups! The zip lock bag candy dish and the circular saw pizza cutter are funny too. So clever. Oh yeah and the glass cream container that looks like a milk carton from the school cafeteria. And the booster seat that looks like a phonebook! I want it all! What’s your favorite?

The bird really loves hers. She makes hats and beards and earrings mostly. I should take a picture of some her creations. I gave them away as gifts paired with a few sandwich cutter shapes. I wanted to sew some reusable snack bags to go along with the gift – but never got to that project this summer. Maybe in time for Christmas. 🙂 Some kids are more literal than others. My friend Tracy will make a beard with Cheerios on her son’s plate and say “look, it’s a beard” and he wipes them away and says “no, it’s just Cheerios” heehee. funny.