Dollar Store DIY: Pumpkin Platter

Hello, October! My favorite time of the year (outside of the holidays) is here and I'm loving all of the seasonal fun.

I don't know about you, but when I wander retail stores this time of year, I am drawn to all of the fun platters and festive plates. But, buying new serving platters each season can get expensive! This year, I set out to make my own fun seasonal serving dish with a Dollar Tree plate! Budget friendly and pretty easy!

What You Need

• Orange Dinner Plate ($1 - Dollar Tree)

• Sharpie Marker ($1- Dollar Tree)

• Sharpie Oil Based Paint Marker (Michaels $3.99 without coupon)

• Jack O' Lantern Face Stencil (or free hand it!)

Start by removing any price stickers on the plate and wash and dry it. 

To create the pumpkin stencil, I used my Cricut Explore Air and found a free downloadable cut file. I've found that plastic binder report covers make excellent material for stencils. You can also use official Cricut materials or contact paper as well.

I secured the stencil with some double-sided tape in a few spots. Then, I traced the outline of the stencil with a regular Sharpie. In playing around with another "Trick or Treat" stencil on another plate, I realized that my thicker Sharpie paint pen was bleeding under the stencil. This likely could be avoiding by using the contact paper option, but I was already down this road. So, I decided to trace first and then fill in using the paint marker. Worked like a charm. You can tell I am still learning how to best leverage my Cricut!

While you are filling in your Jack O' Lantern design, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Once you have it all filled in, place your plate in the oven for 30 minutes. This will allow the design to become permanent. 

Then you can put your plate to serving use!

It's perfect for serving up some Halloween treats. I dressed up these store bought cookies with some dollar store spiders and instantly had some spooky sweet treats.