a doily of a dish.........

As summer winds down and the kiddos are back in school....I thought I would continue with a few last tutorials. This one is something I have been wanting to do for awhile now and finally decided to just go for it. We all have vintage doilies that are cluttering up our spaces here and there....a few that possibly can be parted with. Today I am going to show you how to create doily dishes. You will need:

doilies (any size will work....preferably something shaped in a circle)

fabric stiffener or glue

paint (optional)

a sponge paint brush (optional)

clear wrap or foil

bowls (to use as molds for your dishes)

Now to get things started you will need to lay out your doilies to see what sizes and shapes you have. I found 4 bowls that looked to be about the right size to drape my doilies over. Turn your bowls upside down and cover with foil or plastic wrap to protect your bowls for future use. I also cover my work surface with a plastic trash bag or you could use an old drop cloth.

Next pour some of your fabric stiffener or glue into a plastic bowl (this is a great time for those empty plastic butter containers). Take your doilies one at a time and immerse into the fabric stiffener or glue. Squeeze any excess from the doily to ensure the doilies are wet but not dripping. Place the doilies over the bowls for the look you are wanting to achieve. The finished product bowls will be sturdier if the doilies are smooth all the way around the outside of each bowl. I wanted a rumpled look....so my smaller ones are scrunched up around the edges.

Now allow the bowl to dry for 24-48 hours until hardened. I then decided that I might like the bowls pink. So before I took the bowls off of each form I mixed more fabric stiffener and a bit of craft paint in my container and brushed the mixture over each bowl. Let dry for 24 more hours and take off of each form. The you will use the same mixture of fabric stiffener and paint and paint the insides of each bowl. Allow to dry for another 24 hours and viola'.....you have some cute little dishes for collecting jewelry, treasures and trinkets. The extra coats of fabric stiffener or glue will give your bowls extra strength an stability. Enjoy!