Glass plates are my secret weapon when it comes to DIY crafting. It’s no surprise that I love home decor and crafting my own versions of things, and plates are no exception. I love being able to create my own designs on plates, but I have yet to find a food safe consumer paint that I can use for my creations. But with glass plates I can paint the back of the plates so that they are still food safe but I can create any pattern I want! Perfect, right?! For these DIY abstract art plates I used this technique of painting the underside of the plates to create a super fun dinner plate with a brushstroke pattern. 

Materials:

–Oven curing acrylic paint
-Glass plates (these are $1 plates from IKEA)
-Paintbrushes

The process is really straight forward. Begin by removing the sticker and cleaning the back of the plate with alcohol to prep the surface. The biggest thing to note when painting the underside of a plate is that you have to layer the paint backwards. For example, the first brushstrokes you make will be on the top of the print when you flip the plate over. For my plates I wanted to have black details on the top of the print, so I started with those and then layered on the brush strokes of paint.

The only other thing to keep in mind is to let one layer dry before going over it with another layer to avoid smearing. This paint is really thick so it has fairly good coverage for the most part, but a few colors like the dark pink need a few coats. Once your paint is on and dry, you will need to place your plates upside down into a cool oven. Turn on the oven to 300F and let bake for 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven and let the plates cool inside. Once cool the paint will be permanent and withstand hand washing.

I love these abstract art plates so much I can’t even tell you! But this technique can easily be used to create other designs as well, so use your imagination and create your own DIY abstract art plates with any pattern you want!