These petit plates are about the size of a penny. They please me to no end. And I mean that: to no end. I have no idea why I made them, except I did. The instructions are from the delightful Ann Wood at annwoodhandmade.com, my new favorite place to visit to look at miniatures & antique French fabrics.

The central ingredient needed to make these is paper clay, which is a lightweight material you can mold and then it hardens with air exposure (but not to be confused with Model Magic, which is lesser stuff). You may or may not appreciate the help of a cat.

The little bottles and glue sticks are for pressing interesting patterns into the clay. When they dry, you can sand them smooth. My plates also kind of warped. Charmingly so?

I made these a couple of months ago but only recently painted them. The ridiculously small paintbrush was intimidating (especially to this near-sighted/far-sighted person) and I didn’t know what kind of pattern to make. I went with tiny fruit, of course.