Tutorial Tuesday: Lace Doily Bowls

By now, you probably all know of my fascination with doilies. I've stuck them to painted canvases, spread them around my mom's living room, draped them from my ceiling, and even tried one of those doily lamps (without much success, sadly!). Recently I discovered a new use for them: decorative bowls! Remember those doilies I bought at the antique store? Well, one of my friends has a birthday coming up next week, and I thought a nice gift would be a few pretty bowls to put around her new house. They make great catch-alls for car keys, tea bags, hair stuff, jewelry, or they can hold some chunky potpourri.

So here's what I did to make my own lace bowls!

Stuff I used:
Doilies (any size - mine were quite small, about 5 or 6" in diameter)
Mod Podge
Paper cup with a TINY bit of water in it, about a half-teaspoon.
Vaseline (petroleum jelly or nursery jelly)
Popsicle stick for mixing the glue (I just used the end of a paintbrush)
Newspaper
Balloons
Plastic bowls (or any bowls you don't mind getting glue dripped on)

What I did:
Blow up the balloons to your desired size. You want the doilies to wrap around the round part (top) of the balloon, with enough of a curve to make it a bowl. The doilies won't lie flat while they're dry, and they stretch out a lot once they're saturated with glue.

Pour a good amount of Mod Podge into the paper cup. I filled it a little less than halfway. Mix the glue and water together with the popsicle stick - you want the glue to be slightly diluted so it's not so thick, but not too thin that it's like gluey water.

Rub the balloons with Vaseline. This is pretty fun. Scoop out a good bit of Vaseline and make sure you cover the round part of the balloons (basically wherever the doily will lie). Don't leave clumps of Vaseline - spread it out. Put the balloon, knot-side down, in one of the plastic bowls.

Now fold up a doily into a small package and stuff it down into the paper cup. This is messy! Make sure the doily gets well-saturated with glue, and then squeeze it out a bit so it's not globby. Rub it between your fingers to make sure the glue gets in there, and then place it on a balloon. Flatten the doily, making sure it is smoothly spread out over the top of the balloon. It's okay if there are a few creases or bumps around the edges - this will create a ruffled edge which is quite pretty.

Now wait at least 24 hours until the doilies are completely dry, then pop the balloons! This was the best part, in my opinion. The Vaseline should have helped the doilies not to stick to the balloons, so when they pop they should come away easily. 

Lay out your bowls and admire! Note: this tutorial is definitely open for improvement. If you want to paint a second coat of Mod Podge on the doilies after the first one dries, go right ahead. Or if you know of an effective sealer, use that too. These bowls will flatten out slightly as time goes by, unfortunately, but not too drastically.

I would love to see pictures if you try this out!