Even though our wedding is a year away, since I’m DIY-ing as much of it as I can, I’m getting started early. This weekend, I tackled our wedding tableware. To decrease costs and hassle, we’re using disposable plates. Despite this, I wanted them to be unique. I dressed them up a little with this easy DIY. I repeated the process with disposable cups as well. Check that DIY :: gilded disposable plastic cups.
How to Make Upcycled DIY Gold Disposable Plates for a Wedding
MATERIALS
- Clear plastic plates
- Protective gloves and mask
- Gold spray paint – I tried numerous types and the Krylon Short Cuts is the only one that really worked. Many others have something added to them to give a “gold leaf” texture. This doesn’t look as nice for some reason.
- Painter’s Tape – A thicker size, like 2 inches, will make your life easier
- Glade Press ‘n’ Seal Cling Wrap
INSTRUCTIONS
- Press painter’s tape firmly on the ***underside*** of your plate. (*Important – don’t spray paint the side of the plate that people will eat off of!)
- Cover the side you don’t want sprayed with press ‘n’ seal wrap. You can reuse one piece for many plates
- Spray exposed part of plate with an even coat of spray paint
- Remove cling wrap and let dry
- Gently remove painters tape
See more of our wedding photos & DIYs:
DIY Hanging Twine Balls
First Look Wedding Photos, Part I
First Look Wedding Photos, Part II
Wedding Dance Party Photos
Wedding Details – Dessert Table & Table Decorations
Wedding Updo – How to Chalk Your Hair
Wedding Ceremony Pictures
Wedding Getting Ready Pictures
Vintage Drawer Pulls as Placecard Holders DIY
DIY Wedding Photobooth Setup with Printable
DIY Gilded Upcycled Plastic Cups
DIY Glitter Upcycled Silverware
DIY Honey Jar Wedding Favors
Rustic Wedding Cake Frosting Technique
Stuffed S’mores Cupcakes Recipe
DIY Glitter Swizzle Sticks
DIY Embossed Envelopes
Engagement Photos, Part I
Engagement Photos, Part II
These are pretty but is it actually food safe?
They are! The important way to ensure this is to spray paint the *underside* of the plates so the gold shows through but there is no paint on any eating surfaces! Thanks for visiting!
I second Samantha’s question …. food safe? These look awesome.
Thanks for visiting! See above. 🙂
Wow! Love this!
What about the cutlery? Where is it from? I’ve never seen such beautiful disposable cutlery!
Isn’t it amazing! We’re using it for our wedding. I’m actually going to decorate it in a future project/post. It’s made by a company called Tablee and most sites have it for $5/set. I came across a site called Modern Lola where it is only $1/set. Their shipping is expensive (it would have been almost $20 for 90 sets), but I emailed them and they gave me a special shipping rate since the package was so light!
Thank you so much! Will definitely give these a try sometime soon!
I have been doing this method for a while, and I’m curious how your paint has held up through washing. A lot of my paint has flaked in random areas despite the fact that I sealed all of them with a finish. So how are yours holding up?
Good question. I did this on disposable plastic plates, so I have no plans to re-use them. So far they seem to be ok when they get scraped against each other stacked up. I can’t really speak towards reusable plates!
Where did you get your plates. I like the pattern around the edge better than any I have found. It makes them look more “real” I think.
I got them at Costco in a big pack about 6 months ago. I’m out of town right now but I’ll check the brand and get back to you.
The can you linked is a bit expensive. How many plates were you able to do per can? 250 to do this way then another 125 to do the 1-1.5 inch rim of.
So when you stacked the plates together the paint from the bottom of one didn’t come off on the top of the next at all? I just question how safe eating off of these would be?