For the past several years I’ve been giving my Mom silhouettes of the boys for Mother’s Day! It’s been a fun tradition that I hope to continue as the boys get older. I think it will be fun to look back on how much they’ve changed.

This year I decided to do something a little different, but I still wanted to stick with the tradition. I had recently seen a seller on etsy who was selling silhouettes on plates. I thought it was a great idea, but wasn’t sure how to do it.

I hate painting ceramic. I hate it because I’m a total perfectionist. I can’t draw at all. So, free handing anything would never produce a result that I would be happy with. After doing a little research, I discovered a secret that has forever changed my feelings about painting ceramics. Do you want me to share the secret with you? Are you sure?

Okay, okay! You probably have all the tools necessary in your own home to create a beautiful ceramic piece. First, select an image, pattern, etc. that you’d like to paint. Print the image out. Now, find some tissue paper. Plain white tissue paper with no coating on it works best. Trace your image on the tissue paper with pencil. This is now your “stencil.” Take your stencil and lay it over your ceramic piece. Dig through your junk drawer and find a thin Sharpie marker and trace over your stencil! The ink will bleed through your tissue paper and will now be on your ceramic piece. All you have to do is paint or fill in your image. Don’t worry, the Sharpie will burn off when they fire your piece. Isn’t that easy?

Here’s how mine turned out. I wish the boys were filled in a little more, but I don’t have a lot of experience with painting ceramics. So, I think with a few more coats and a little more practice these would be even better.

I’m sure my mother-in-laws are loving these and wishing they had these too. Well, the good news is that your stencil is reusable and can be used on other ceramic pieces. So, talk Lincoln into painting some of these for you. He even helped me with these. I know he would do a great job on yours too.

I thought it might be nice for my Mom to get plates from all of her kids. I have twin sisters’ who I also called to collaborate with me. My sister, Kellie, has been busy painting ceramic pieces while she is away at college. She is getting really good. Check out her plate. Isn’t it beautiful?

Super cute, huh? I let Kellie and Jamie in on the little secret too. They did such a great job. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a shot of Jamie’s plate. It was equally as adorable. I will do a follow up post once my Mom gets them up on the wall.

So, you might be wondering what I got for Mother’s Day. Do you wanna know? My amazing husband and boys bought me a new camera. Yippee, now I can take better pictures for my blog! I’m so excited to get my new camera. It should be here this week. Lincoln bought it on eBay used. Here is a photo to tide you over

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day hanging out with my family. I’d love to know what you did for Mother’s Day. Do you have any Mother’s Day traditions?