When I got married, my in-laws presented my husband and I with a set of dessert plates that were hand-painted by my father-in-law’s mother in the early 1900s. Every time I entertain and display the vintage plates, someone is astonished that the plates were actually hand-painted AND each one is a different design!

A few years ago, I noticed a resurgence of hand-decorated pottery being created at storefront pottery studios. These studios popped up in malls and even my little town had one.

When I read over at Apartment Therapy that they had teamed up with Etsy for a February Jump Start Project contest, I was intrigued. Then I saw this project with instructions for decorating your own tea set and it reminded me of my vintage set of hand-painted dishes.

This provided the inspiration for the DIY Decorated Dish project. Find your inner artist, use your imagination and you can create one-of-a-kind hand-painted plates at home.

What you need:

• White Plates: Porcelain, china or glazed earthenware. These can be found at garage sales, on Craigslist, eBay or you can purchase some stylish ones from Wal-Mart or IKEA.

• Peblo Painting Set or paint that is specifically designed to use on glass surfaces and dishwasher safe. Peblo is a thermo-hardening, transparent, non-toxic, water-based paint.

• Water-based marker.

• Damp cloth.

• Oven.

What to do:

1. Prepare the dish for painting by washing it and drying it well.

2. Sketch the design out on paper first. If you don’t draw, try writing a poem or a quote. Here’s some plate design inspiration from Etsy.

3. With a water-based marker pen draw the design on the plate or just start painting.

4. The paint will dry fast, so if you make a mistake repair it quickly with a damp cloth.

5. Once you finished your masterpiece, leave it to dry for 24 hours.

6. Bake in a regular oven at 300 degrees.