painting on ceramics

i found this beauty at the thrift store a while back.

although the coloring on this really isn't bad,

i wanted to have a different color than brown.

you will need rubbing alcohol

a paint brush

a lot of patience

and this paint:

americana gloss enamels by decoart

so this is very simple.

step one:

clean the ceramic with rubbing alcohol.

no need to sand or anything! 

just wet a cotton ball and wipe the surface clean!

step two:

get to work. be patient. this takes years.

(i never exaggerate.)

after one coat:

after a million coats: 

(i think i did four-but i let each dry so painted over a course of days)

i thought i had a pic, but can't find it.

you should have a thick enough paint load that no underlying ceramic paint shows at all.

it looks so pretty at this point! but you're not done yet.

step three:

let the paint dry for 48 hours.

step four: 

preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit

(i accidentally did mine at 350 and it worked fine)

step five:

load in the oven and bake for 30 minutes

and you're done!

isn't that cool.