Terra Cotta Transformation

I have a thing for serving dishes: round, oval, deep shallow, large, small, tiered...you name it. And I think it's awesome that there are so many different mediums out there that can be used to create some incredible pieces that can be customized any way you wish.

I was at Michael's over the weekend and picked up a terra cotta pot and saucer to try my hand at making a tiered serving dish and am loving the results! I'm sure you've seen several examples of these on other blogs and I really want to encourage you to make one for yourself or as a gift for a dear friend. Plus, you can seriously make one for pennies on the dollar and when you consider the high price tags on tableware; well....it just makes sense to whip something up.

Here's what I used:

terra cotta pot and saucer (whichever size appeals to you)
two colors of acrylic paint (I used craft smart aqua and robins egg blue)
valspar decorative effects weathered crackle glaze (not necessary, I just wanted the look)
three fabric roses (fabric and sheer silver ribbon mixed together)
snow flake cookie cutter covered with Mod Podge and silver glitter
satin varnish
liquid fusion
double stick tape

I new that I was going to be using the crackle glaze on this so I first painted the pot and saucer in my base color (aqua) and gave it a chance to dry.




Next I covered both pieces with a single coat of the crackle glaze medium. The directions say to let it dry for 1-5 hours before putting on the second color. I waited an hour (a word of caution here, when applying the second color, don't go over sections as the top color will start to clump).




Once both pieces were dry, I covered them with a coat of interior satin varnish (you could use a gloss or matte finish, whichever you like) then used the liquid fusion to adhere the base of the pot to the base of the saucer. E600 probably would have been best but I didn't have any and didn't want to wait to get some. I know you know what I mean!

Let that sit overnight with a big fat dictionary weighting it down.



This morning, it was a matter of embellishing which is what it's all about, right? So I made a few fabric roses using what I learned from this tutorial and adding shear silver ribbon as part of my fabric. I also thought it needed something glittery so I put a snowflake on it that I'd made using an old cookie cutter, Mod Podge and silver glitter. Actually, this was the first embellishment I put on then realized it needed something more so I added the flowers...


Then, because I have LOTS of that silver ribbon, I added some to the base of the saucer using double stick tape...


Obviously, this little treasure can't get wet so be sure to keep this in mind when you're thinking of how it's going to be used.

I really love the way it turned out though. I can picture it holding creamy white pillared candles, coarse sugar-dusted shortbread cookies, or as a base for some vintage looking glass-domed decor! Love love love how one gift can be used so many ways!