Dishwasher Safe Sharpie Dishes

My nephew, Mickey, is very dear to me. I seldom get to spend time with him, so when I do, I try to find a really fun project to do with him, and I think this was a winner.

But first, a backstory: Many moons ago (or just last year) I tried my hand at decorating a mug with a sharpie - something I, of course, discovered thanks to Pinterest. I later had my nephew, Gabe, decorate a black plate with gold & silver sharpies. He gave them to grandma, but after they were washed the sharpie had rubbed off! Tragedy!! I later found out that the mug I had decorated for a friend had also washed off. I rue the day I used a sharpie on any dishes!! This was, indeed, a Pinterest FAIL! However, I recently discovered something new on Pinterest; there are Dishwasher-Safe Sharpie Dishes you can make! What?! Can it be??? Indeed, my friends, it can. To check out more info on this, go to this blog.

These are the super fantastic, awesome, amazing sharpie pens you'll need to get if you want this project to work.

I let Mickey come up with whatever design he wanted. He decided he wanted to make this plate for his dad. We followed the instructions for getting the sharpies primed and ready for working, which didn't take too long and they still had a rather fine point to them, though not as fine as a normal sharpie pen would.

He decided he wanted to do a pattern. Mickey is really good at patterns, so that's what he worked on.

Getting started

Mickey probably spent a good 15-20 minutes designing and drawing on this plate and he did an excellent job. The squiggly lines were lightning (if I remember correctly) and the little circles were rain drops.

Also, I just have to gloat on my nephew for a moment. He can read and write and just turned 6 in June and hasn't started school yet. He wrote "Dad" and "Mickey" on the plate. I am way impressed with his smarts.

Now, for the test. I followed ScribblesfromEmily's blog as closely as possible and waited the 24 hours before putting the plate in the oven. After taking it out of the oven, I washed it in the dishwasher, just to see how it would hold up.

The colors changed ever so slightly to a lighter color, but otherwise it was as good as gold! Will I use this method again? Most certainly. I'm looking forward to trying it on my own and posting about that sometime. But, I am a sucker for involving my nieces and nephews because they enjoy crafting (or "projects") just about as much as I do. I think the only thing I would do differently is not put the sharpie dishes in the dishwasher. Obviously it works, but to maintain it's quality of color, I'd say it's best to just call these not dishwasher safe. That's my two cents on the matter. You can take it or leave it.

Either way, absolutely a fun project and ScribblesbyEmily's blog has an extensive post about making a far fancier mug than I may ever be able to attempt to do. Ok...I'll probably attempt it, but it's highly probable that it will not look nearly as adorable as the example she has on her blog.

I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to do this with my nephew. He amazes me with his creativity and his smarts. I'd recommend sharpie-ing a cup, a bowl, a plate, a whathaveyou, with your child if you'd like as well. They'll enjoy it and what a special keepsake for them to have or give to someone else.