I love decorating a dinner table. I always go the full nine yards when putting together a dinner party… place settings, seating cards, napkin rings, centerpieces, you name it. I have fun mixing and matching my collection of pieces to bring a table’s theme or mood to life. I own charger plates in virtually every color, because I love the added dimension and the pop of color a charger can bring to a place setting. The unfortunate thing about a charger plate is that it is really only appreciated for it’s outer edge… because that’s all you see. But what a shame, because that’s a lot of wasted real estate. I decided I would try a little something different and create a charger that is meant to be seen and appreciated. And these DIY Moon Phase Charger Plates could even be a bit of a conversation piece as well!
These chargers plates are part of a series of projects I’ve been working on to create and design a dinner party theme honoring the craft of witches. For witches, working within the phases of the moon, is one of the key elements to success in spell casting and rituals. While I have long believed in the power of the moon, not only in spell casting, but also in its effect on our daily lives… many consider the moon, as well as the craft, to be a piece of Halloween folklore. So, whether you live with a bit of magic in your life year round, or you think witches are only for Halloween… this seemed like a good time of year to share this project.
To create these Moon Phase Charger Plates, I applied an image transfer method to create a charger for each of eight phases of the moon. Coincidentally, eight seemed like a perfect number for a dinner party. I bought glass dishes to sit atop the chargers, allowing each guest to peer through their dinner plate and appreciate the design below. I’m so pleased with how the glass dish sitting on a decorated charger looks…. I imagine I’ll be thinking up more of these in the near future, so I can have an excuse to use the glass dishes!
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Here’s what I used and how I created the chargers:
- Wooden Disks
- Sander
- Foam Brushes
- Printable Full Moon Image
- Liquitex Matte Gel
- Sand paper
- Black Paint
- Stippling Brush
- Spar Urethane
- Glass Dinner Plates
I started with flat wooden disks. I wanted a flat surface to apply the image to, so a standard wooden charger would not work. The ones I used were pretty thin, but you could buy disks in any thickness. If you order the same disks as I used, they have very rough edges. As is, I’d be giving my guests splinters!! Luckily, a light sanding with an electric sander completely does the trick. In no time, the edges are smooth as can be!!
Choose or create an image of a full moon.
Technically, when you apply the image, it will be reversed. So, if you are a stickler about the way your image appears, save it as a Mirror Image. For me, it didn’t matter too much. I’m not having any astronomers over for dinner, so no one will be over analyzing my moon!
Since these disks are wider than a standard printer width, you’ll likely need to have copies of your image made from a print shop or office supply store. Tip… Most of these stores can resize the image for you. Just save your image to an external drive, and bring it in to them with the measurements you need.
I printed my moons with a 10″ diameter to allow for a boarder all around the disk.
Print on regular paper, not poster paper.
You will need 7 total printed moons for this project, but I have a tendency to be over prepared for the worse when working on projects like this, so I got a few extra copies… 12 to be exact. They are cheap. And it saves you a trip back to the office supply if you make a mistake.
Trim equally around the image – leaving as large of an allowance as your print out allows.
Apply a heavy coat of Liquitex to the front side of the image.
Lay the image, face side down, onto the center of the disk.
You have a very small amount of time to adjust the paper if necessary, but be careful… once it’s wet from the liquitex it can tear.
Very carefully, smooth the image out. DO NOT leave any air bubbles.
Repeat on a total of 7 disks.
Let dry. Completely. I like to allow it to sit overnight… but I’m overly cautious. Everyone out there who uses this product seems to have a different opinion about how long they allow it to sit, so if you choose to allow less time, just be sure to spot check.
Once the waiting is over, the fun but tedious part begins. Everything you do from this point forward should be done with care and extreme patience.
Pour a cup of water, and using your finger, GENTLY begin rubbing the water into the paper. You will quickly start to notice the image appearing through the paper. The goal of what you are doing in this step is to start breaking down the fibers of the white paper. You DO NOT want the paper to tear, so again, rub slowly and gently. Feel free to work in one area at a time.
You’ll start to notice bits of the white paper beginning to shred off. Continue to gently move your finger back and forth across the paper until the fiber begins rolling off. Note – the paper needs to be very wet for this to work. As you see some success, there is going to be a temptation to go crazy rubbing the paper off, but you can accidentally rub the black ink off as well… so be patient! This process takes a bit of time, so get comfortable.
Don’t get fooled by how great it looks while it’s wet. You’ll be disappointed when it dries, and a white film of paper reappears over your image. Don’t fret.. we’ll fix that later! Allow the disks to dry entirely. Once dry, the fiber from the paper will reappear, and you’ll be able to see what areas still have fibers to rub away. Repeat the process of wetting and rubbing the fibers away.
Once you feel confident that you’ve done all you can, allow the board to dry completely.
Remove any loose debris from the paper fibers. Use the sandpaper to clean up any edges of peeling paper.
Paint the back of 8 boards black.
Once dry, paint the front of the one plain board solid black (the board you did not apply a moon image to). This is the New Moon Charger.
With a stippling brush, begin stippling the black paint around the outer edge of the moon. you will basically be creating a black frame around the moon, so the moon appears to be floating on the disk.
Once the boarders are painted on the 7 disks, I like to lay them out, and assess which boards will work best for each of the moon phases.
Make sure to lay the disks so that the moon image is upright in the same direction on all seven. This will help to give a more accurate appearance of the phases. As you paint them, the right and left side of the image should be the same on all seven.
No matter how careful you were when removing all of the paper fiber from the moon image, ultimately, some portions of the moon will look better than others. You’ll want to keep the best one as your full moon. Set that aside.
For the other 6, you will be painting a waxing and waning gibbous moon, a waxing and waning crescent moon, and the first and third quarter moons. This means that you will be covering a half, a quarter, or three quarters of the moon with black paint, on both the right and left side.
Choose the next 2 disks that have the best looking moons. Those will be the waxing and waning gibbous. Use the stippling brush to paint a crescent shape over roughly one quarter of the moon. Paint one crescent on the right side, and one on the left.
The next 2 disks will be the first and third quarter moons. Use the stippling brush to paint half of the moon. On one, paint the left half, and the right on the other.
Lastly, use your least favorite disks to create the waxing and waning crescent moon. Use the stippling brush to cover most of the moon, leaving only a crescent (roughly one quarter of the moon) exposed. Expose one crescent on the right side, and one on the left.
I went back over with a second coat of paint on all 8 disks.
Once the paint is dry, gently brush a layer of Spar Urethane over the entire image. Make sure you are using an oil based product. The oils will dissolve the white film, and allow the image to have that beautiful “wet look” even when dry.
Once the Urethane dries, use the sandpaper to rough up the surface, and brush another layer of urethane onto the surface. Repeat until there is at least 3 layers of urethane.
Allow to dry for at least 24 hours or more. A general rule of thumb for full curing is about 30 days at room temperature, but once the board is dry to the touch, you should be able to begin using it.
Top the charger plates with a glass dish, set the table, and get ready for a magical dinner!
Don’t forget to make the Rune Stone Wine Charms for your glasses or these Crystal Balls for your centerpieces!
As always, a stunning project my lovely! If I had to choose, I think I prefer the crescents most of all and with my patience levels, I’d be thoroughly satisfied with a full set of those.
Absolutely stunning !! Can you tell me or forward me the link to where you found the full moon image ? I just found your blog. I am mesmerized !
Thanks Marley!! No problem. Let me find it and I’ll email you!