Decoupage Meets Decorative Painting: A Ceramic Plate Makeover
Have you ever tried using a furniture-painting technique on a smaller craft project?
In this tutorial, Donna from Mason Creations etc. takes a plain ceramic plate and combines decoupage, air-dry clay, antiquing, and a technique called ragging to create a soft, marbled background with plenty of texture and dimension.
Ragging is surprisingly simple. Thin paint is applied to the surface and then dabbed with a soft cloth, creating an irregular mottled pattern. By layering several colors, Donna creates a background that blends into the rice paper while giving the finished plate the appearance of aged stone or marble.
Watch the video below to see the complete transformation, then follow the steps to create your own decorative plate.
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Materials You Can Shop Here
You can shop the featured finishes and supplies below, then use the tutorial steps to bring the project together.
- Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish
- Polyvine Multi Surface Lacquer
- Mini Rice Paper Set
- Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint
- Pentart Acrylic Paint
- Air Dry Clay
- Silicone Molds
- Adhesives
- Antiquing & Metallic Wax Rub
- Brushes & Tools
Also Needed
Ceramic Plate, Nail Art Brushes.
Step 1: Clean the Ceramic Plate
Start with a plain ceramic plate.
Wipe the surface with alcohol to remove dust, oils, fingerprints, and other residue.
Ceramic is a slick, nonporous surface, so good preparation is important before adding paint or decoupage.
Step 2: Prime the Surface
Brush Polyvine Multi-Surface Lacquer over the front of the plate.
This creates a gripping layer that helps the paint and rice paper bond to the ceramic.
For best results, let the lacquer dry overnight.
Step 3: Test Fit the Rice Paper
Position your rice paper image on the plate and check how it conforms to the curved surface.
Where the paper buckles, make small relief tears. These little sections can overlap slightly as the paper follows the curve of the plate.
Once decoupaged, the overlapping tears become very difficult to see.
Step 4: Remove the Factory Edges
Use a water brush to soften and tear away the white factory edges around the rice paper.
If you plan to blend paint around an image, tearing is usually preferable to cutting. A torn edge creates soft paper fibers that merge more naturally into the painted surface.
Step 5: Decoupage the Rice Paper
Donna uses Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish as the decoupage adhesive.
Position the image, lift one section, and brush varnish onto the plate. Lay the paper down and brush additional varnish gently over the top.
Continue across the plate until the entire image is attached.
Let the small relief tears overlap naturally where necessary.
Step 6: Smooth the Image
Mist a piece of plastic cut from a storage bag with water.
Lay the damp plastic over the newly decoupaged rice paper and use a folded paper towel to gently press out bubbles.
Work from the center outward in all directions.
Lift the plastic carefully and let the plate dry for a couple of hours.
Step 7: Remove Excess Paper
If rice paper extends beyond the edge of the plate, let it dry completely before removing it.
Use medium-grit sandpaper and work carefully along the edge until the extra paper separates cleanly.
Wipe away the sanding dust.
Step 8: Seal the Paper Edges
Brush another coat of varnish over the rice paper, paying particular attention to the torn edges.
This is an important step before paint blending.
Raw paper fibers can absorb paint and become darker, making the edge of the paper obvious. Sealing them with satin or gloss varnish helps prevent that.
Let the varnish dry for about an hour.
Creating the Ragged Background
Step 9: Match the Base Color
Start by painting the exposed ceramic with a color that closely matches the background of the rice paper.
Donna uses Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint in Drop Cloth.
Apply the paint with a sponge dauber and bring some of it slightly over the rice paper edge.
Use a brush with a dabbing motion to soften the transition.
It does not have to look perfect yet because more colors will be layered over the base.
Step 10: Thin the First Ragging Color
Mix medium gray paint with water until it becomes fairly runny.
Brush the diluted gray over the background.
The watery consistency allows the paint to move and creates the irregular effect needed for ragging.
Step 11: Dab with a Soft Cloth
Take a dry, soft cloth—Donna uses a piece cut from a white T-shirt—and begin dabbing the wet paint.
Do not wipe it like a cleaning cloth.
Simply press and lift repeatedly.
The fabric removes and redistributes portions of the paint, leaving a mottled, marble-like pattern.
If you want more color in a particular area, add a little more paint and continue dabbing.
Bring some of the effect over the rice paper edge to help the image blend into the painted background.
Step 12: Layer a Darker Gray
Mix a darker gray with water.
Apply it selectively rather than covering the entire plate.
Dab the color with the cloth just as you did with the first layer.
Layering different tones creates more depth than using one flat background color.
Step 13: Add Deep Blue
Donna adds a dark blue as an extra accent.
Swipe a small amount across the gray background, mist it lightly with water, and tilt or move the plate so the color begins to swirl.
Dab the paint with the cloth to soften it.
If any lines look too strong, move the color around with a brush.
Step 14: Add Fine Marbled Lines
Use a fine nail-art brush to add a few thin, irregular blue lines.
Mist them lightly with water and dab again.
Continue adding water, paint, and dabbing until you're happy with the background.
There is no precise pattern to follow. The irregularity is what makes the ragging technique work.
Step 15: Protect the Painted Finish
Let the paint dry, then brush a coat of Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish over the entire front of the plate.
This protects the ragging effect before the dimensional embellishments are added.
Adding the Air-Dry Clay Frame
Step 16: Create the Clay Embellishments
Use DAS air-dry clay and silicone molds to create decorative pieces.
Donna arranges them around the rice paper image so they resemble an ornate frame.
She intentionally places the design slightly off center and adds smaller pieces on one side for a less formal composition.
Let the clay dry overnight.
Step 17: Paint the Clay Gold
Once dry, paint the molded embellishments with Pentart Delicate Gold.
Work across the larger areas first, then use a smaller brush to get close to the edges and into the detailed areas.
Let the paint dry.
Step 18: Seal Before Antiquing
Brush varnish over the clay and surrounding plate.
Be sure to get the varnish into the little cracks and crevices.
A satin or glossy surface is important before antiquing because it allows the antique to wipe away from the high areas instead of immediately soaking into the paint.
Let the varnish dry for about an hour.
Step 19: Antique the Clay
Thin FolkArt Antiquing Medium in Wooden Bucket Brown with a little water.
Brush it over the clay embellishments, working in manageable sections.
Immediately wipe the surface with a soft, dry cloth.
The antique will come away from the raised areas while remaining in the cracks and recessed details.
This creates shadows and makes the molded design appear much more dimensional.
The antique can also disguise tiny areas near the base of the clay where the gold paint may not have reached.
Let it dry for a couple of hours.
Step 20: Apply the Final Varnish
Brush a final coat of Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish over the entire front of the plate.
Donna uses a Polyvine varnish brush to spread the finish smoothly and reduce brush marks.
Let the varnish dry.
Step 21: Highlight the Raised Details with Gold Wax
Use Redesign Décor Wax in Eternal to brighten the high points of the clay.
Apply only a small amount and skim it lightly across the raised portions.
Try not to push the wax into the cracks and crevices. Those darker recessed areas provide the lowlights, while the bright wax creates highlights.
The contrast makes the clay details stand out.
Step 22: Add a Gold Rim
Use a sponge dauber to apply Eternal wax around the outer rim of the plate.
A narrow metallic edge adds a polished finishing touch and ties the rim into the gold clay embellishments.
Let the wax dry for a couple of hours.
Step 23: Buff the Wax
Use a soft, dry cloth to buff the metallic wax.
This increases the shine and gives the raised embellishments and rim a brighter gold appearance.
Because the wax is the final decorative finish, no additional sealer is needed over it.
Try Ragging Beyond Furniture
The most interesting part of this project is how easily a traditional furniture-finishing technique can be adapted to a smaller mixed-media piece.
Ragging requires little more than thin paint, water, and a soft cloth, but it produces a background with much more depth than a single painted color. Gray, blue, and cream tones create a soft marbled appearance while helping the rice paper image blend naturally into the ceramic plate.
The addition of gold air-dry clay, antiquing, metallic highlights, and a gold rim turns a simple inexpensive plate into an ornate decorative piece.
A special thank-you to Donna from Mason Creations etc. for sharing this creative project and demonstrating another fun way to combine decoupage with decorative painting techniques.
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