Revamp a plain cup and saucer with floral motifs, following our china painting techniques

What you need...

• China paints: yellow, blue, turquoise, fuchsia, ivory, green
  Cotton wool balls
  Adhesive stencils, Martha Stewart, Blossoms
  Cup and saucer
  Cling film/plate
  Ceramic tile
  Stencil brushes
  
  

instructions

1. Wash the cup and saucer in hot soapy water. Randomly stencil different colour flowers all over the cup and put the saucer to one side. Don’t worry if only half of the motif sits on the china, this actually adds to the overall design of the project.
   

2. Pour a little green, fuchsia, Ming blue, yellow and white porcelain paint onto a plate covered with cling film. Carefully peel an adhesive stencil from the sheet and position the stencil on the saucer. Load the stencil brush up with ceramic paint, daub off the excess and ‘dry’ stencil the motifs onto the cup and saucer.
   

3. Carefully peel away the stencil. Lay it on a clean tile or plate and daub off excess paint from the surface of the stencil. Wipe off the remainder of the ceramic paint with a damp cotton wool ball and leave the stencil to dry for a minute or two, then it can be re-used. Clean off any paint from around the flower motifs with a scalpel blade.
   

4. Stencil different colour flowers all over the saucer. Mix a little turquoise with cream to create pale aqua and stencil on more flowers. Leave the paint to cure for 24 hours and bake the saucer in a domestic oven according to the manufacturer’s instructions.