Conversation Plate DIY
As a wedding planning and designer, I'm constantly trying out new ideas for making a table scape personal or custom for my clients. It can be the table numbers, the menus, anything! The other day, I thought it would be fun to customize the actual plates! A lofty goal, in my opinion. It's hard because, you have to actually be able to eat off the plates. I feel like there are tons of spray paint inspired tutorials on Pinterest right now for cute plates... but you can't eat food off of that! I'm all about practicality, function, and of course style.So, I teamed up with Ikea to bring you guys this incredibly functional, and quite honestly, beautiful DIY that ANYONE can do! I am lucky enough to have a sister-in-law who is quite crafty when it comes to those Cricut machines, so she made these custom vinyl stickers for me. If you have one, you can easily make your own. But if you don't, no worries! There are plenty of Etsy shops out there that can make them for you at a reasonable price.What you'll need:
Step 1: Make sure your plate is clean! You definitely don't want weird smudgy spots. Next, you'll want to cut your transfer tape to the same size as your vinyl sticker. (SIDE NOTE: if you're making your own stickers - make sure you make the orientation facing the right direction to be placed on the back of the plate but reading normal! Also, if you're ordering online, super important to request this)Step 2: Once you have your transfer tape cut to size, you want to peel off the blue backing and then place on your vinyl sticker. I use a popsicle stick or end of a knife to swipe across a few times to make sure it's really on there. Then, you can peel up the vinyl and should be stuck to the transfer tape (the clear with the blue lines you see here)Step 3: Next line up your transfer taped vinyl to where you want to stick it and place it on the back of your plate. I typically start with one side and then slowly press down to the other side. Once it's placed, I like to press & scrape the same way we did with the transfer tape making sure that each little edge has stuck.Once it's for sure on there, you can start peeling back the transfer tape - and voila! Flip your plate over and your have a custom word plate! We used dining words like Celebrate, Gather, and Let's Eat since I'll totally be using these for dinner parties at my house. But for weddings you put your guests names on each one or you put your wedding hashtag as a fun surprise for your guests... omg, how stinkin cute would that be if you had a hashtag that had something to do with food haha.If you want to really use these, I recommend using a sealant for the back to keep your vinyl protected. Just spray like spray paint on the back - definitely do a few layers and let dry. And when you're washing - try to keep the water to a minimum and mostly on the top. These adorable plates look best with a pop of color underneath or a cool wooden table - the possibilities are endless on how to style them. I feel like I'm addicted and can't stop making them!HUGE shoutout to my new friend Adriana of Simply Adri Photography who photographed all of these amazing images and actually crafted along with me! You MUST check out her work - she's amazing. Obvi