hand-painted DIY porcelain jars...... as a gift for more self-esteem and flexibility

Unique DIY decoration, individually designed gifts to make yourself for your friends or for your kitchen :-)

As you've probably already noticed, I'm a fan of minimalism. I like simple and beautiful things, but it's not always easy to find them in stores (physical or online). When you do find them, they might cost a small fortune or have a detail you don't really like, or they don't match your taste or aren't unique enough. That's why (and also because I'm a decoration lover) when I needed tins for sugar, salt and coffee, I decided to make them myself DIY-style. If you also need new containers like these for coffee, salt, sugar or whatever you want to store in, you can find out how I made mine in this post. You can be inspired to create your own or simply read on out of curiosity or relax a little while reading and perhaps develop new ideas for yourself, for example for a gift for the next occasion. These are also mindfulness exercises. If you decide to create something hand-painted yourself, the result of your work can be "proof" of the time you have taken for yourself and for leisure. Having created something yourself can convey a sense of value - value of your time, result of your creativity - a satisfying result can therefore have a positive influence on your self-esteem. Not that you have to achieve anything for a healthy self-esteem... but achieving a pleasing result that perhaps also makes you feel a little proud can act as a small self-esteem booster. Of course, it helps to remain flexible, both while you are doing your work (it often turns out differently than you initially thought) and afterwards when you look at your work at the end - don't be too judgmental and strict with yourself, creativity develops and unfolds best without pressure :-)

What do you need for the hand-painted DIY porcelain boxes that can support your self-esteem and flexibility?

• Porcelain box (either white as in the photos or different colors as you can find here)

• Spirit for cleaning

• Black porcelain crayon, e.g. from Edding (also available as a multi-colored set)

• liquid porcelain paint

• Thin brush

• Toothpick for touching up

• stove

Before you start, make sure that you thoroughly wipe the porcelain surfaces that you want to paint, decorate and embellish with spirit to ensure that there is no dirt or fingerprints left on them.

I like a black pattern on a white background best, but of course any other color is also possible, both for the cans and for the pattern. You can sketch out your idea in pencil at the beginning or just start straight away and improvise. I drew everything you see in black with a porcelain crayon. Compared to liquid porcelain paint, I personally find it easier to work accurately and the paint doesn't run if the surface is curved. The liquid porcelain paint is good for adding colorful accents later when the black paint has dried (the color of the porcelain crayons dries very quickly). I left small recesses for the colored dots on the tree branches. In my experience, a toothpick is very useful for touching up: It's easy to scrape away some of the paint with the tip, making it good for touching up sharp edges, sharpening tips, straightening lines, adjusting curves or fixing mistakes. It is best to work on inaccuracies as soon as the paint has dried a little but is not yet completely dry. If the paint does not come off well enough in one area, it can help to moisten the toothpick with a little spirit.

Once you are happy with your decoration or drawing, you can bake the painted cans in the oven as indicated for the respective color so that it becomes hard and resistant and the cans can be washed without any problems.

A very simple technique for decorating is to draw geometric patterns such as triangles or dots, as you can see in the photos. Without being a drawing artist, the image of a tree - as also shown in the pictures - is also not difficult to implement. The colorful accents evoke the idea of blossoms, fruit or lights in the branches. Since these projects turned out quite well, I ventured into more complex shapes like the two little birds on the rope that you can see on the other tin: I assure you that these are also much easier to recreate than they might seem at first glance.

PS. Of course, not only porcelain tins can be decorated in the same way, but also small bowls, small dessert plates, serving plates or espresso cups (see also the article "Espresso cups & sugar bowl").

If you need a moka espresso pot to match your sugar bowl and coffee cups, you can find one like the one originally used in Italy here - highly recommended :-). Making espresso with the moka is a special daily ritual in Italy, an exercise in wisdom, relaxation and hospitality, a bit like the tea ceremony in Japan. If you don't know how to make coffee with a moka, you can look it up here.

In short, what are you waiting for to try it out? Have fun being creative with your porcelain pieces! If you need any help or tips, don't hesitate to contact me... I look forward to hearing from you!