Painting Plates at the Library

Everyone kept telling me I needed to check out the new Kaukauna Library. It turns out that Kaukauna library is just as far as Neenah library or even the Little Chute Library. I thought it was more than 15 minutes from home. With the Kaukauna Library being relatively close, it gives me another library to enjoy adult programs at.

The first program that caught my eye was a spring canvas painting but that wasn't until April. then I saw plate painting.. Oh wait.. dang.. Like many adult programs it is during the day... HELLO.. I work.. I can't just take off because I want to paint plates. Weelll, it turns out I could take off to plate paints. The hubby and I wanted to go to the train museum in Green Bay and it wasn't open on Mondays, my preferred day off when working Saturday, so I planned on taking Wednesday off instead.

Since Danielle was off too, I registered both of us. It's always more fun with someone you know even though I suppose I could use opportunity to meet new people. She wanted to know the cost and I was like "Free... the best kind.. and since when do I library programs that aren't free??"

After entering the library from the basement and followed the signs upstairs, we attempted to find the plate painting. The sign said the board room but the board room was dark. While we were standing around figuring out our next move another lady showed up for plate painting. Danielle went to find out where plate painting was. The lady at the front desk directed us to a "back" corner of the library. Without signs or directions, I would never have guessed that it would have been in a corner... a very bright and sunny corner with high tables. It was actually a great place to meet. The set-up reminded me of a coffee shop.

I actually planned ahead and made a stencil of the Wisconsin "W" so my plate would go in my kitchen. I knew I couldn't freehand the "W". I just printed the "W" onto cardstock and cut it out with an Exacto Knife. The librarian was impressed.

Plate painting was really misleading. We didn't paint our plates. We used oil-based Sharpies to draw and color our plates. However, plate coloring doesn't sound all that interesting.

The process was quite simple.
1. Buy a plate at the Dollar Store
2. Clean the plate with an alcohol wipe
3. Draw a design on it with Oil-Based Sharpies
4. Bake your plate at 150 degrees for 30 minutes

If you make a mistake just wipe it off with the alcohol wipe. We were provide a packet with various designs it for inspiration but I already knew what I wanted to do.

After cleaning my plate, I used a thin black Sharpie to trace the "W".

Then I used a fat red sharpie and colored in the W. I really just kept tracing the "W" around and around until my lines started to meet and then I color the remaining parts.

The last step was to use a fat black to add the black shading on the W.

I think it took me 30 minutes or so to do.

Danielle made Gavin a "healthy" dinner plate that she found in the guide.

Once I got home I baked my plate at 170 degrees because that is the lowest my oven went for 30 minutes.

I really enjoyed this program. I like the crafty-type programs. It looks like Kaukauna offers a weekly crafting session for adults that kids are welcomed for. Once a month it looks like they offer a kid free event with some of them during the evening. I guess I will be adding Kaukauna Library to my bookmarks so I can stalk their calendar too.