Full credit goes to Art Space Studio in Charlotte, NC for the design and creation of this beautiful plate!

Get started…

1. Paint three coats of White glaze all over the plate, so the background will really pop.

2. With a pencil, sketch out the basic curved lines of a baseball’s stitches and then mark (with an X or a dot) where each heart should go for even placement.

3. Paint your child’s hand with Scarlet paint and carefully place it on the center of the plate. Repeat with the other hand so that just the thumbs overlap. (Hint: If the handprints smudge, no problem! You can always wipe away the glaze with a damp sponge and try again.)

4. If you’re not totally comfortable with a paint pen, feel free to pencil in your Father’s Day saying above/below the handprints. Then you can go back in with a paint pen and trace your own handwriting!

5. Add the emphasis of the heart on the overlapping thumbprints.

6. Go back and use a Scarlet paint pen to paint in your hearts for the “stitches” of the baseball.

That’s it! You’re done! Now sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself as we take care of the rest!

This project is great for the whole family – layer handprints in the bottom of our large tray with handles, add a design around the border, and a sweet message for Mom on top! Our staff will help walk you through each step to make sure it comes out perfect! (We’ll even do the lettering on top if you don’t trust your own handwriting.)

This tray will be PERFECT to serve Mom breakfast in bed on the morning of Mother’s Day!

Best of all, it’s the perfect shape for holding onto Mom’s keys by the door, trinkets on a bedside table, or fresh fruit in the kitchen. It’s so versatile, Mom can use it anywhere, all year round!

So don’t forget to come in on May 3rd, from 6-8pm! Make a gift for Mother’s Day she’ll keep forever and never forget!

And remember, we have to-go kits available at every All Fired Up location! You just pay $6.50 + the price of the piece and we’ll give you a palette full of glazes and a paint pen (for those names and details)!

Photo Credit – Chesapeake Ceramics

Thanks to Mary Munford for all of these next five great thumbprint project ideas:

Photo credit – AedrielOriginals

Replace those buttons with thumbprints and you’ve got an adorable thumbprint rainbow!
Photo credit – Funky Polkadot Giraffe

1. Coat the inside of the flower pot with White Foundations. (Because you will be using a specialty glaze, we cannot dip the flower pot in a clear glaze like we normally would, so we need to use the foundations glaze as an alternative.)

2. Coat the top outer rim of the flower pot with three layers of Butter, and the bottom half with our Chalkboard Specialty Glaze.

3. Use a Black paint pen to draw the ruler design around the top edge.

4. Paint the bottom piece of the flower pot Hot Tamale red.

Bonus Step: If you’d like to add more detail, you can paint an apple on the inside of the bottom piece of the flower pot, or add a pencil around the edge!

Once the piece is fired, you’ll be able to use the portion you painted with Chalkboard Specialty Glaze like a real chalkboard! You can always change the message to something encouraging or fun or inspirational!

Time to Enter:  April 1-May 15
Voting: May 21-31
Winner Announced: June 1!

• Contest Details »

Both local businesses have been in Carytown for over a decade. Both have a clear vision

for the city. Both promote practical ways to cut down on waste by offering reusable products. Now these two businesses, only a few blocks away from one another, are joining together to save YOU money. What’s not to love?

In February, All Fired Up invited Ellwood Thompson employees to come paint their own travel mug at our Carytown location. Employees at the time were using disposable products, which is atypical of this very environmentally-friendly company. Rather than remedying this problem by purchasing standard travel mugs for all of thei

r employees, they offered them this unique opportunity to come and design their own!

Since then, dozens of amazing, unique, and creative mugs have come out of our kilns! Here are just a few:

But, we decided that wasn’t enough. We wanted to pass the benefits of this relationship on to our customers, so we came up with a plan!

Now, if you spend $20.00 at Ellwood Thompson’s, you’ll receive 20% off all mugs at All Fired Up! Now you won’t have to go through countless paper cups, sleeves, and lids each time you visit your favorite coffee shop. Instead, go green and make your own personalized travel mug at All Fired Up!

Just bring in your receipt from Ellwood Thompson’s with a purchase of $20 or more and you’ll get 20% off our entire selection of mugs, now through Earth Day, April 22nd!

So, when you decide to do you grocery shopping this week, stop by Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market and pick up some great fresh and locally grown fruits and veggies, and so much more!

Bisque: Deviled Egg Platter

Colors: Black, Lilac, Butter, Melon-choly, Lima Bean, and Blue Yonder

Tools: Brush, Sponges, Paint Pens, Pencil

Get Started…

Lightly sponge your Lilac glaze onto the middle section of the egg-shaped plate. Then sponge Butter onto every fourth egg shaped divot, followed by Lima Bean, Melon-choly, and Blue Yonder. Paint 2-3 solid coats of black around the edges of the plate, as shown in the picture. Use a white paint pen to outline the shapes of the eggs (with either solid lines, or polka-dots would be cute too!) and finish with a big Happy Easter in the center!

10 Steps to a Perfect Snowflake:

1. Use a small sponge to apply your lightest colors – white, robin egg, and blue yonder – randomly across the tile. Use a generous amount of paint and keep the sponge moving, twisting it so that you don’t continue using the same sponge shape over and over. Feel free to layer the colors on top of each other (this will add depth) but don’t mix so much that it all becomes one color.
   
2. While this layer dries, use your scrap paper to cut out a square slightly smaller than your tile.
   
3. Then, fold your paper corner to corner. Repeat two more times.
   
4. Use your scissors to cut shapes out of all three sides of your paper. Remember to leave spaces along the edges in tact so the snowflake can hold itself together. If you need more information on how to cut out a snowflake, go here.
   
5. Unfold your snowflake to see how you did! If you don’t like it, just try again
   
6. Dip your snowflake carefully in a bowl of water. Try and shake off most of the excess water, but be careful not to let it rip. This makes your snowflake “sticky”.
   
7. Carefully lay out your snowflake over the tile. It will be hard to do it perfectly, but you can pat down the bumps for the most part. Again, if you don’t like how it’s sitting, just pull it up and try again.
   
8. Carefully apply your galaxy paint overtop of the snowflake. The weight of the paint will help it lay down better – you just don’t want to accidentally pull up the paper with your paintbrush. It helps if you move from painting the middle, outward.
   
9. Paint three solid coats, and let it dry somewhat. Not completely dry – just let it set for a minute or two. If you get impatient, go grab a snack – you’ve earned it for getting this far. (Hint: You may notice the Galaxy paint has little beads in it – those are crystals that will explode in the kiln and leave you with a beautiful snowy/starry look.)
   
10. Use a pair of tweezers to pinch up a piece of paper and start pulling it up. At the point, the paper will probably tear. Don’t freak out, you can just pick it up in pieces. Slowly, your snowflake will reveal itself!
    

Bonus step: You’ll notice your snowflake is not, in fact, perfect. There may be spots where the dark paint seeped in under the paper, but this is easy to remedy. Just get a straight needle, a small tool, or the end of your paint brush (which is what I used) and lightly scrap away at the top layer of paint. It will come right up. If you go too deep, it’s no big deal because you have an organic texture underneath. No one will notice if you dig down all the way to the tile… just don’t make a habit of it!

Bonus *bonus* step: If you decide that you hate this project and want to scrap it completely, don’t throw away the tile! The paint washes off with just water. Take your tile to the nearest sink and wash it off with a wet sponge. You’ll end up with the tile just like it started – clean and ready for painting.

Now, wasn’t that easy?

Bisque:

• Coupe Dinner Plate
• Coupe Salad Plate

Pattern:

• Download pattern [PDF]

Colors:

• Candy Apple
• Spruce
• White (optional)

At Your Table:

• Pencil
• Brushes
• Sponge

Accessories (Our staff will be happy to bring these to your table):

• Carbon Paper
• Paint Pen

Directions

1. Trace pattern onto the coupe salad plate using the carbon paper.
2. Using a brush at your table, apply three coats of Candy Apple Red to the areas that say “R” on the pattern.  (As an alternative to Candy Apple Red, you could use Hot Tamale or Scarlet).
3. Clean edges either:
1. By scraping using the opposite side of the brush (look for a brush that has a sloped, hard pointed edge in your brush caddy at your table).
2. By using a paint pen in the same color red along the edges (easier method)
4. The white stripe can either be left unpainted or painted with three coats of White. 
5. Using a paint pen in the same color red, apply a line in the center of each stripe as shown in the photo.
6. For the coordinating dinner plate, apply three coats of Spruce to the entire plate.