Introduction: Make Your Own Ceramic Glaze

By Joeke van der Veen

Glaze your ceramic project with your own made glaze! It dries without baking and you only need a couple of simple ingredients. A fun and cheap way to create a clear or colored glossy finish.

Step 1: The Ingredients

- Elmer's Clear School Glue

- Spoon

- Acrylic paint (optional)

- Clear nail polish

- Cups

- Wooden sticks

- Dry ceramic project (I used air dry clay)

Step 2: Mix Ingredients

Empty the bottle of clear nail polish into the cup. Then add three tablespoons of water and two tablespoons of clear glue and mix it all together until it's a smooth liquid.

Step 3: Apply Clear Glaze

If you want a clear glossy finish, apply this mixture layer by layer on your dry ceramic project with a brush. Do you want a colored glossy finish? Skip to step five!

Step 4: Apply Layer for Layer

Before adding another layer, wait until the previous layer is dry. Air dry clay will absorb the first two or three layers, this is because of the porosity of the clay. Keep adding layers until it leaves a glossy finish.

Step 5: Adding Color

To add color to the glaze, you can add acrylic paint. Add a little amount of paint and test it on a piece of dry ceramic to determine if you have to add more paint. It depends per color how much paint you have to add, so be careful with adding too much at once.

Step 6: Apply Colored Glaze

Apply the colored mixture, wait until it's fully dry and apply another layer if this is necessary. For this tile I used four layers of glaze.

Step 7: Enjoy Your Glazed Project

This glaze can be used for many purposes, but it can't be used to make your ceramic project food safe. I don't recommend to use this glaze for projects that come in contact with food.