Crafts Beautiful - Quick & Crafty - Let's Make Cards Magazine

With entertaining high on the agenda over the festive period, you'll want something more decorative than the normal plastic tub when the butter is put on offer with the cheese board. We've taken a plain ceramic dish and painted it in traditional red and green, giving it a sumptuous feel with plenty of very easy to achieve detail.

Butter Dish

Wash the ceramic in warm soapy water, to remove any dust or grease which can prevent the paint laying flat on the ceramic. Dry with clean tissue or kitchen roll, taking care to not leave bits on the china.

Transfer the design provided onto the dish and lid. Handle with care; try holding it from inside the lid or the base of plate. You may find that hand drawing it with an ordinary pencil might be easier. Use masking tape seal off the edges of the area you are painting to achieve crisp straight lines.

First, apply the circles. Paint on the paler colours first as these will be behind the red. To create the lighter shades, mix each one with white. Keep all green tones on one and all pink on the others.

When the pale colours are dry, apply the red circle on each side, as shown. Make the paint quite thick in consistency to get a nice dark shape. Leave to dry. Mix a little green with white and paint the rim of the plate, plus the handle and a rectangle around it.

Carefully build up the detail on the circles, use white only on the red and a mixture on the other two colours. Paint the holly leaves and scrolls on the lid top and the two corners of the plate. You could put one in each corner if you wish.

Finally, add a tiny dot and dash line to the top of each circle in gold as shown, to create the effect of tree baubles. Bake according to the manufacturer's instructions. You can add more embellishment with outliners to create an even more ornate effect if you wish.