Painting pots at home.

As a crafty mum, I just love it when Maisie wants to get creative. So, when she asked if she could 'paint a pot' I was well prepared.

We've been to a local ceramics cafe before to paint pots, and she really loved it, but those places are a little on the pricey side. This is my 4 year old's (slap it on!) version of a day at the ceramics cafe.

(We've also tried the ubiquitous standard Sharpie method of painting on pots... trust me, this one actually lasts!)

I'd bought a stash of white mugs at the local market for an occasion like this and gave one a good wipe down with some glass cleaner. I then handed her a Porcelaine 150 ceramic black pen and told her to draw the outline of her design. I knew her brushwork wasn't going to be perfect and so the black marker gave definition to her design. I needed to pump the nib a little to get the ink flowing for her, but she easily started using it like a pencil to create her design.

Once she'd completely finished the outline, the section that she'd started with was dry enough to start filling in with paint.

We used Pebeo Porcelaine 150, Discovery Collection of 6 colours. They're great for kids as, unlike ceramic glazes, the colour you see is the final colour. I've used them before and so I know that they come out quite thickly. To prevent her from ruining her mug entirely I just put a small amount of paint on a plastic palette, so that she couldn't put too much on, and the black marker would still show through.

We did have a few mistakes and blobs of paint where they shouldn't have been, but they quickly wiped off with some dry kitchen towel.

Of course, she had to sign it for posterity.

As the paint went on a little thicker than might be recommended, I left the mug about 3 days to completely dry and then baked it in the oven. The instructions say that it's safe to put it in the dishwasher, but I'll be hand washing this beautiful little pot just to be on the safe side.

I calculate that all the materials cost about the same as a session painting a mug at my local ceramics cafe, but we only used a tiny bit of paint. We could have ourselves a pottery painting party and it would only cost us a few pounds more in cheap pots...

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