MISCELLANEOUS DECORATING TIPS

1. Save old phone books for practicing brush strokes.

2. Put coffee grounds or sawdust in your decorating slip. The coffee grounds burn out leaving a brown color behind. The sawdust leaves a fine texture which can be stained for enhancement.

3. To enhance textured surfaces, brush glaze on so it gets in all the cracks, then wipe off the top surface.

4. Cotton lace, burlap, cheesecloth or other cotton, absorbent materials can be soaked in slip and added to pieces for interesting textures. Soak fabric in slip, squeeze out lightly, brush on leatherhard clay surface, dry slowly, and bisque. The fabric will burn out leaving the slip texture behind.

5. To remove oxide from bisque (mistakes or for designs) use a rubber pencil eraser. It won't smear like trying to wash the oxide off.

6. When applying oxide over dry glaze, the glaze sucks the water out of your brush making it difficult to paint clean lines. Lightly mist the glaze first with water, and the oxide will flow smoothly.

7. A few drops of glycerin (from the drugstore) added to engobes, stains, oxides and slips slows drying time and increases workability.

8. To remove unwanted wax from a piece, rebisque it or microwave it on high for 5 minutes.

9. When glazing a thin piece, glaze the inside then wait for it to dry thoroughly before glazing the outside. Otherwise the clay may be saturated and glaze won't absorb and stick to the outside. Some people wait overnight.

10. Glaze pinholes often form in areas that have been trimmed, as trimming tends to open holes in the surface. To prevent, slightly burnish the trimmed area, or rub the slip from throwing over the area to fill the holes.