#NUO2013 Faux Porcelain Ornaments


Once upon a time, I pinned a project, which I can’t find now, that showed how to make faux porcelain flowers that could be used as ornaments or pretty much whatever you wanted. The thing that set this tutorial apart was that it used plaster NOT spray paint to create both the look and feel of real porcelain.

Since I couldn’t find the link I decided to improvise and try out what I could. Here are the results!



Supplies
  • Plaster of Paris
  • water
  • spoon
  • large mouthed but deep jar or bowl to dip within
  • various objects to dip
  • string
  • paperclips
  • cookie cooling rack
#NUO2013 Faux Porcelain Ornaments
Directions

First things first you MUST prep everything before you start dipping anything! I dipped fake flowers, toy lizards, dollar store bird decorations, and paper umbrellas. Everything got tied up with string, some of them I even threaded it through with a needle. Next I pulled the paperclips together apart to create ways for me to hang the objects from the cooling rack that I had balanced on two milk jars.

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Next up I started making the mixture by adding water, a little at a time, to a few cups of the plaster. I thought the original post had said to make it the consistency of milk, but a little thicker. (In hindsight I realize my was too thick, it was more like yogurt.) There is no magic recipe, use your own judgment but remember it will set quickly and you may have to dip your items more than once.

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Once you’re done dipping hang up your stuff immediately, you really have to work fast on this project.

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It only took one dip for me to realize the paper umbrellas were a bad idea. Once one survived the dipping and once it dried all the plaster flaked off.

The lizards did great, as did the birds, BUT when I tried to dip the second time the birds got a couple clumps on them that distorted their shape. ( I may add feathers to salvage them somehow.) Since this was a learning experience I tried sealing one lizard and one bird with Mod Podge. That was a bad idea, while it gave them a nice gloss it also caused some of the plaster to come off of the lizards.

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The flowers went both ways, the roses turned icky and the mixture was just to thick to get into all the cracks and crevices. I tried to fill in with white spray paint but it just didn’t look that good compared to the others, see photo below. The white flowers, however, turned out beautiful. I sprayed them with a spray sealer just to keep them from flaking they were very delicate, see the top photo.

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All in all this was a fun craft to try, and I can promise you this isn’t the last time I’m giving it a go. Hopefully next time everything turns out perfect, I’ll keep ya posted.

Don’t forget to come back tonight for our daily wrap-up!

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