Coloring Nails (and other things) at Color Me Mine

A big part of why I created the 101 in 1001 list was so that every now and then Andrew and I would try our hands at something we haven't done before. So when Andrew had off during Christmas and New Years we decided to give pottery painting a try (AKA #84 on my 101 in 1001 list). Here's a recap of our pottery painting adventure. Oh but first, here is my nail design for today since we picked the pottery up yesterday:

I used OPI What's With the Cattitude, Art Deco Black, and Sally Hansen Camelflage.

So now that we have the nails out of the way, let's get back to painting other things. When you first walk in the store you notice shelves and shelves of possibilities to choose from. The place we went to had over 400 possible ceramic pieces for us to look at (according to their site)!

The pieces were a variety of sizes, uses, and prices. We looked at a couple mugs, salt and pepper shakers, vases, bowls, canisters, and plates but we decided to try our painting skills on two large dinner plates, an owl ornament, and a spoon holder. Then came the hard part, painting! If I can paint my nails does that mean I can paint other things?? Spoiler alert: No, it doesn't.

So focused!

The paint dried very chalk-like and you had to be careful to do multiple coats so it would be opaque post-kiln. I was in charge of the owl ornament and my dinner plate, while Andrew focused on his dinner plate and our spoon holder. Here is our pre-kiln ornament. I can't believe I forgot to take a true before photo of all our pieces!

And a pre-kiln photo of my plate. I forgot to photograph the actual front of the plate but this is the bottom of it. The top is just like the center (it's leopard on a "vanilla bean" background). The paint dries really chalky but she assured us that the post-kiln product would be nicely opaque and glossy.

After you paint them you have to leave them with the store so that the item can be properly dried, glazed, and fired in the kiln. Then you pick them up about a week later and you're good to go. I couldn't wait to see how they turned out! Here are our glazed and completed pieces:

The colors of Andrew's plate didn't come too well in my photo. The outer is more teal and the middle ring is more salmon-pink-orange than neon orange. Mine is of course the one on the right...you know how I feel about animal print. And our little owl Christmas ornament turned out so cute! I'm a bit obsessed with it and hung it in our apartment despite it no longer being Christmas and despite us no longer having a tree for ornaments.

Did you notice the difference between pre- and post-kiln?? The spoon holder will be added in a bit because apparently there was a little problem with the glazing and firing....we didn't get to pick it up yet. Of course we couldn't wait to eat dinner on the plates:

Speaking of dinner oh my god I made the biggest black bean burger yesterday with Mediterranean couscous (although I barely ate the couscous since the burger was TOO big). Props to Andrew for piling so little french fries on his plate! I wouldn't have had that restraint.

What do you think? Have you ever gone pottery painting? I so enjoyed it and can't wait to go back to do a pink and black zebra plate!