Ceramic repair demonstration, decorative plate

PLEASE NOTE: I do not offer ceramic repair services. I hope this post gives you enough information to try doing your own repairs. Also, you can search for someone who offers ceramic repair services in your area.


A good friend brought this sad collection of shards to me wrapped in brown paper. It wasn't a valuable item, but it was part of a 4 plate set that was a gift from her mother, could I repair it? Yes, yes I could

But first I needed a plastic tub, and a bag of sand.

I learned when I was trained to repair ceramics professionally that the best way to repair a plate, or even the handle on a mug, is to anchor part of the broken item in sand, then balance the part you are gluing on top of it.


I try a dry run, seeing if the piece balances without my holding it, then I apply two part 5 minute epoxy glue.


I test all the pieces for fit first like I discussed in my previous ceramic repair post. I want to be sure to assemble the pieces in the correct order to prevent the sad experience of not being able to fit the last piece because it is "locked out". Sometimes that entails gluing smaller pieces to each other first, thereby making fewer larger pieces to fit together.


I only glue two pieces together at a time. I wipe any glue from areas where I will need to fit another piece using a Q-tip dipped in acetone.


While the glue is still uncured, I run my fingers across the crack line compulsively, seeing if I can detect a ridge that would indicate a poor fit. If there's a ridge, I nudge, delicately, the part that is slightly off so it aligns more accurately, then I check the crack again with my fingertips, sometimes my fingernails, making sure the join is smooth along its entire length.


I do that quickly, before the 5 minute glue sets up, using acetone to clean any excess glue off my fingertips.

Once the epoxy is cured, I fill the cracks and chips with vinyl spackling compound, the kind you would use on drywall. When that dries, I use specialty glass paper (sand paper that won't scratch glass or ceramic) to sand it flat for painting.


Then I mix acrylic paints to match the missing spots, when that dries, I use water based glossy polyurethane to make the painted areas match the shine of the glaze.


The repairs aren't invisible, but from a reasonable distance, no-one would notice!

Find me online

I'm always online, either here, on Twitter, checking email, posting pictures to Flickr.

But being on someone else's blog is a special thrill so here are two other places you can find me today:


No Big Dill is hosting a pincushion ring giveaway on her blog! Be sure and leave a comment to enter.

And on Scoutie Girl, which is a wonderful resource for crafters and craft lovers. Dannielle Cresp interviewed me for a little feature on where craftiness comes from.

Yay! Thank you Internets!!

Ceramic Repair

PLEASE NOTE: I do not offer ceramic repair services. I hope this post gives you information for doing your own repairs. Also, you can search for someone who offers ceramic repair services in your area.

Me, circa 2002

So one of the hundreds of interesting jobs I've done is ceramic repair for a restoration company. It was difficult, painstaking work but somewhat satisfying to put broken things back together again and then hide the evidence of the breakage with paint as best as we could.

When work got slow, I would go to the front office and talk to walk-in customers about what we could do to repair their broken treasures and what that would cost (a LOT). A few weeks later, I would present them with repaired pieces when they came to pick them up.


As optimistic as I had felt in the work room, mending objects and setting things to rights, I became disillusioned in the front office when I came to understand that no matter how brilliant the repair, we couldn't un-break the item. We couldn't take away the anger toward a clumsy family member, or dog, or friend, the sadness of a treasure shattered. It turned out we weren't really setting things to rights at all. Once I learned this, I couldn't un-learn it and repair lost its appeal. I moved on to another job, managing a pottery and dishware store.

But I learned repair skills that stay with me even today. And once in a while I say yes to a project for a friend as a favor. A few summers ago I repaired a yard sale find for a friend and documented it a bit. It was in many pieces and had intact old repairs that needed to be taken apart, cleaned and re-repaired.

It's important to take apart an old repair before trying to put new broken pieces back in because as each piece is fit a little wrong into the puzzle, that bad fit is compounded as more and more pieces get put in a little wrong until you can't even fit the last piece in because everything is so off.

Here is what my friend gave me to repair:

Here I have started taking apart the old repair, which fortunately had been done with something like super glue. With a glue like that, or epoxy, you can use a heat gun to warm the joins and make the glue soft, then you can gently separate the pieces.

NOTE: Silicone glue (like E6000) has no solvent, does not react to heat, therefore cannot be taken apart easily. And if you do manage to get it apart, you can never fully remove the silicone residue from the surface of the break, and therefore can never get a perfect fit again. I don't recommend it for repairs.


Once I got all the pieces apart, I carefully cleaned all the old glue off. I used a lot of X-acto blades and acetone with Q-tips, trying to get every tiny crumb.






When I felt I'd gotten the pieces as clean as possible, I did a dry run, fitting the pieces back together and holding them in place with masking tape. This does two things for me; it lets me see if I have all the pieces, and it helps me figure out the order in which I should glue the pieces. Nothing would be worse than getting to the last piece only to find I've done it out of order and I am "locked out" from inserting it!


I used a two part, 5-minute epoxy. Here are some close ups of the finished repair. I didn't fill and paint the cracks on this piece, it would have taken too long, also, I think the visible repair adds to its character.





Done! My friend was very pleased.

Shop crush: Gather Here

Here's the honest truth: I have a crush on a shop, and it isn't some ethereal virtual shop either, it's a brick-and-mortar, in-real-life location you can go to and visit to fondle fabrics and yarns. And MAKE things!




Virginia and Noah have opened an oasis of beauty, creativity and how-to in Cambridge, Massachusetts called Gather Here. And I have! I have totally gathered there and I plan to do so again in the nearest future possible. The place is gorgeous, filled with high-quality fabrics and notions as well as yarns.



I got to see and purchase DaisyJanie and Cloud 9 fabrics that I have been admiring online forever!!


I'm not much of a sewer, as you know, but Gather Here can help me, they teach classes.


If you like to make things, if you like to be surrounded by attractive textiles and friendly folk, please go check out Gather Here pronto!!

New find -The Orange Owl skincare products

On April 30th I went to The Sheepshearing Festival at Gore Place in Waltham Mass.


The festival is a big deal, draws hundreds of families who come to watch herding and shearing and eat fair food. There are reenactors walking around in period costume sometimes playing instruments and dancing. Also you can buy yarns and fibers (big draw for me!) and there's a craft show. I've vended at that show, the year I did it it was 90 degrees, no exaggeration.


This year the weather was warm but cloudy, perfect for attending as a customer. I was pretty much the only person without a stroller LOL!

While wandering through the craft booths I discovered The Orange Owl who it turned out was doing her very first show! I was immediately attracted to the lovely way she set up her all-natural skincare products. And also by her friendly and open demeanor. I love being greeted kindly by a vendor, it really makes a difference.


Her packaging is so modern and cute I was drawn to sniff the soaps. You know what a handmade soap addict I am :) I loved how each scent had a story about the melding of her Indian culture with local favorites. For example, her lemon scent has a hint of cardamom, what a great idea!


But Akshata's products go far deeper than just cute packaging and appealing scents. I found out that her life experiences and education led her to create skincare items in a thoughtful as well as scientific way:

"I always wanted to be involved in scientific research in some way or the other and that led to my first MS degree in biochemistry. While that opened avenues for research, it still seemed a bit incomplete. While working at the Emergency Department at the University of Rochester and studying brain injuries, I had the opportunity to get my second MS in applied clinical nutrition (while my husband was getting the same degree and his doctor of chiropractic degree as well). This just made 7 years of biochemistry in my head all click together perfectly. The research I had done on the immune system, toxins, injuries was all tied together by what we put in and on our body. So came about Alternative Roots Wellness Center in VT and The Orange Owl :)"


I couldn't resist bringing home a bag full of handmade goodness:


Now I smell great and my skin is super soft! So please check out The Orange Owl and welcome her to the crafting community. She'll be vending at Boston Bazaar Bizarre's Summer Fair on June 19th in Union Square, Somerville, MA. I also talked her into starting a Twitter account so now you can follow her there :)

More Not Buttons

Four more images to add to my ongoing project: Not Buttons

Not Buttons

Some of you may know about and indeed share my passion for, OK obsession with vintage buttons. I have a fantastic and extensive collection of old buttons that I sorted by color, material, number of holes. Yeah, it's serious.


I buy jars of mixed buttons at thrift shops and yard sales. When I need some meditative time, I'll pour a jar out on the table and spend a few hours sorting the buttons.


Along with the buttons there are often other objects mixed in. I keep these items too, I think of them as "not buttons". I recently snapped a picture of them which sparked interest among my Flickr friends.


My friend, JunkCulture suggested I do a photo series called Not Buttons and I loved the idea so here is the beginning of that project! All images taken with iPod Touch and the Hipstamatic App.