Clay Pot Serving Platter – Clay Pot Crafts

This craft is a cheap and fun way to fancy up an old plate! Take a sturdy plate, a sturdy clay pot, paint, and glue to create a fancy serving platter on a stand for parties! You can use it for desserts, appetizers, or just as a table centerpiece. And it is easy enough to make multiple for weddings.

Materials:

Clay pot – about 6 inches tall and 6 inches wide
Plate – sturdy, anywhere from 6-18 inches around
Paint
Varnish/Sealer – Clear and waterproof
Glue – sturdy, as in super glue, gorilla glue or hot glue

Instructions:

1. Find an old plate you want to make fancy. Wash and dry it.

If the plate is scratched or faded, think about giving it a coat of paint. Be careful what kind of plate and what kind of paint you use though. A metal or pottery plate will look and work better than a glass or plastic plate.

Also remember that if the plate is extremely heavy, it may tip over the pot. So judge the plate weight accordingly. If you want to paint the plate, get the paint you need, decorate it, let it dry, and always remember to seal it with a clear, waterproof varnish.

2. Turn you clay pot upside down and paint a matching color to the plate. I have a “Greek” plate that is white, black and gold with bits of red. So I could use white, black, gold, or red to decorate the pot.

I chose to make my pot gold with a black rim at the bottom. I added a thin white line between the black and gold. If you have a blue plate with yellow flowers, then obviously, you want to use blue, yellow, and/or flowers to decorate the pot. Let dry.

3. Cover the clay pot in a clear, waterproof sealer and let dry. If you painted the plate, make sure you cover it in waterproof sealer as well and let dry.

This will make the platter easy to wipe down for cleaning. You’ll probably want to do two coats. This serving platter will never be dishwasher safe though. You will need to wipe it with a damp rag to clean, then a soft towel to dry.

4. Place the plate on the “top” of the clay pot (actually the bottom, since the pot is upside down) and center it. Once you figure out where the plate should go, very, very, very securely glue the plate to the pot. Let dry.

Remember, if you put a huge cake on the plate, the bond needs to be strong enough to keep the plate steady and connected to the pot. If not,…ooooops, there goes the cake! I strongly suggest using something like gorilla glue or ample amounts if logically placed, high-quality, superglue.

5. Display your work! Your fancy serving platter should now be done and ready to use. Set it on the kitchen counter and pile it up with fruit. Use it at your next dinner party to present your indulgent cake. If you like how things turned out, think about making a smaller serving platter to match the large one you’ve created.

Notes:

If you hate the plate you’re using, there’s still a lot you can do with it. If you have a quirky sense of humor, try painting the plate and pot pure white. Take some black paint and make some cow spots. Let dry and seal. Poof, you have a “Moo Cow” serving platter on a stand! Perfect for people who love cheese!

Paint the plate and pot pure green. Paint a bright sunflower on the plate. Seal the plate and pot. Take some happy-looking fake sunflowers and glue them along the bottom of the pot as decoration. Voila, you have a happy sunflower serving platter on a stand.

The key is to play off the basic colors in the plate. This makes the clay pot look like a matching stand instead of a clay pot. If you have an artistic touch, you can always paint the same exact designs onto the pot as are on the plate.

by Aysha Schurman