May 23rd 2022
DIY Charger Plates for Every Outdoor Celebration!
DIY Charger Plates for Every Outdoor Celebration!
Spring is flourishing and the warmth of the summer sun is upon us, which means outdoor celebrations are in abundance. When you’re looking to throw the ultimate outdoor party, there are a lot of things to account for. Not least of all, how do you plan on livening up your tablescape for each specific get-together?
Whatever party you’re throwing, set the best seats by decorating your tabletop with custom accessories like DIY charger plates. One of the great things about decorating your own charger plates using resin is that you can have a completely customizable experience and end result.
Today, we’re going to talk about spiffying up some plastic charger plates for a variety of celebrations including a tea party, graduations, and birthday parties! So, let’s get started by talking about what you need.
Additionally, don’t forget the review our information about our Table Top resin’s FDA-compliance beforehand.
Supplies Needed
- Safety glasses
- Gloves
- Clear plastic charger plates
- ProMarine Supplies Table Top Epoxy Resin
- Measuring and mixing cups
- Stir sticks
- Décor
- Graduation cap stickers, letter stickers, pressed and dried flowers, confetti, glitter in different colors
- Tweezers
Gather all of your supplies in your workspace—we’ll be starting with the graduation plate first.
Depending on how many of these you’d like to make, you’ll measure out your resin accordingly. Since we’re currently working on one, just a little will do. You can definitely mix up a larger batch ahead of time, but keep in mind that you do have a time limit to work under once the resin is poured out of the bottle.
For the size of plate we are working with, roughly 4 ounces of resin total is enough for one plate. That measures to 2 ounces of part A and 2 ounces of part B (since ProMarine Supplies Table Top is measured and mixed in a 1:1 ratio by volume). The plates in question are 10.25 inches long.
When you combine the resin, stir slowly to get a proper mixture with limited bubbles and no swirls.
Graduation Plate
Although the graduation caps are stickers, we decided to rely mostly on the adhesion from a thin layer of resin to keep them in place. Start out by pouring a thin layer in the center of the plate. The resin does start to self-level on its own, but it always helps to use a popsicle stick to spread it around the bottom of the plate like so.
Take the grad cap stickers and place them in a triangle at the top center part of the plate (or you can freestyle your design). You can use your gloved hands to place them; however, we found that a pair of tweezers is much easier. We also recommend wiping your tweezers with paper towel if they get any resin on them.
You can use those same tweezers and your letter stickers to spell out ‘Congrats’ like we did along the bottom.
Now, we tackle the edges. Use a popsicle stick to spread a thin layer of resin along the top edges of the plate. Then, sprinkle glitter representing school colors on top. We use gold and blue!
Once that’s done, pour another thin layer of resin overtop your work in the center to make sure it’s covered.
At this point, you only need to let it cure! If you plan on using it around food, you’ll need to allow a full cure of one week.
Next, we’re decorating for a birthday!
Birthday Plate
This one is extra simple! Let’s take a look.
Measure and mix the Table Top resin as discussed above and pour a super thin layer in the center of the plate. Level with a popsicle stick accordingly.
(You can also choose to put your confetti down the on the plate before doing any pouring. Since the confetti is so light, it may float a bit in the resin. Pouring the resin on top, allowing it to cure, and then doing an additional layer on top may help create a smoother surface.)
We purchased some bright-colored confetti online, so we’ll be using that as the focal point for this specific plate!
On top of the initial layer of resin, we sprinkle some of the colorful confetti. While waiting for it to cure, we can move onto the edges.
Like with the last plate, we’re going to spread some resin around the edges using a popsicle stick.
Then, we’re going to take glitter of a variety of colors (for example, we chose gold and pink to highlight those colors in the confetti) and sprinkle it on top of the resin on the edges.
Once that’s through, allow the resin in the center to cure for a few hours and then apply a second layer on top.
Let everything cure for a week, as this formula is considered food safe if measured, mixed, and cured properly for 7 days, before using it in a tablescape.
And this is how ours turned out!
Spring Floral Plate
Finally, for the ultimate spring tablescape, we’ll talk through the process of decorating a charger plate with dried and pressed flowers.
You know the drill! First, we’ll be measuring and mixing out a small amount of resin for that thin bottom layer.
We ordered a variety of dried flowers online that really showed off some spring colors. You can use any flowers or foliage you like, as long as they’re dried out and relatively thin. If you’d like to dry your own flowers, we have a guide for you!
Place flowers in the center of the plate in whatever pattern speaks to you! Again, we used all of the colors we had available.
Also, our flowers actually came with some greenery, but we decided to save those for the edges of the plate.
Like with the other two projects, you’ll smooth a thin layer of resin around the edges of your plate.
Then, take the greenery (or other flowers) and place them in a pattern you like on top of the resin.
Before we do a top coat, we’ll want to let the resin dry for a period of time to help the additives stay in place..
Once a few hours have passed, you can mix up and pour your top coat on the center of your plate. You can use your popsicle stick to spread the resin around if need be!
Then, mix up and apply your top coat on the edges. These flowers are relatively thin, but we actually ended up needing to apply an additional layer of resin around the edges of the plate to be sure the surface was smooth.
Allow the plates to dry for roughly a week before being used in proximity with food items and voila! Gorgeous custom charger plates with an arrangement of flowers for, say, a tea party in the garden?
Once everything has cured, feel free to plate it up!
Decorate Your Table for Any Occasion!
Regardless of what party you’re planning for, decorating plastic charger plates to create custom table décor can be an affordable and exciting way to celebrate. What are some other celebrations that you’d make custom plating for? Comment below to let us know!
If you have any questions about this article or our products, feel free to contact us or visit our FAQs. And don’t forget to check out our social media for more fun DIY crafts for every day of the year!
Happy crafting, everyone!