His'n'Her doe and stag plates - Sharpie craft

This is a craft which allows you to be really creative and is a great way of displaying your skills if you're good at drawing freehand. When it comes to drawing, I am truly terrible, but it seems even I can turn a few permanent-marker lines into a woodland scene when I put my mind to it.

What you'll need:

• A pair of plates - mine are from a cheap Ikea set, the rest of which was lost or broken at university.
• A permanent marker pen - Sharpies are great!
• Stencil (if you're using one)
• Oven pre-heated pretty much as high as it will go (mine was at 250 degrees C)

Step 1. Decided on your design. I wanted my plates to work as a pair, so I decided on a stag and doe standing on either side of a tree in a romantic moonlight meeting. Equally, you could choose an abstract design, writing (a favourite poem perhaps?) or a pretty stencil.

Step 2. Sketch out design onto the plate with a pencil. It's a bit tricky trying to drawing on a plate because they're not flat, but at least with a pencil you can rub out any mistakes!

Step 3. Draw over your pencil lines with a permanent marker. Test out the best angle on a piece of paper first. It's a bit daunting drawing with something described as "permanent", but if you do make a mistake you can scrub it off with a damp tissue whilst it's drying.

Step 4. Put your plates into your pre-heated oven and leave for half an hour. This bakes on the permanent marker, making it even more permanent. Other bloggers say they've tried scrubbing theirs off after baking and it hasn't budged. I'm not sure I'd trust them in the dishwasher, but they'd be lovely for eating cakes, starters or cheese courses!