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You are here: Home / christmas / How To Upcycle China Plates With A Ryobi Rotary Tool

How To Upcycle China Plates With A Ryobi Rotary Tool

30th October 2019 by Claire Armstrong 18 Comments

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I was very excited when Ryobi gifted me with a cordless rotary tool as I was genuinely thinking of buying one. The tool hasn’t disappointed and I used to upcycle China plates into mini trees.

This handy rotary tool is great for hobby crafts. There are so many things you can do with it from drilling, sawing, grinding, engraving and polishing, etc.

What I was interested in was using the tool to cut and grind ceramics with. I love to upcycle china plates and in the past, I have made a stunning wall planter with them.

This time though I wanted to cut the China plates into a specific shape for a fun Christmas decoration. The Ryobi rotary tool certainly delivered with this upcycle, it was surprisingly easy to cut and upcycle china plates with it.

I used the cut china plate shapes to make some mini Christmas trees. The china plates weren’t the only thing I upcycled for this decoration I also used some old cotton reels and fabric scraps.

#gifted

Even though Ryobi gifted me the tool I was under no obligation to post about it. The craft is completely my own creation and Ryobi had no control over the content.

Ryobi multi tool

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What You Need To Upcycle China Plates

  • Old China Plate – Thin porcelain plates work best.
  • Ryobi Cordless Rotary Tool
  • Diamond cutting discs suitable for ceramics
  • Grinding attachment
  • Woodcutting Discs
  • Wooden cotton reels
  • Safety glasses
  • Fabric Scraps
  • Glue
what you need to upcycle china plate

How To Upcycle China Plates Into Trees

1. Turn the China plate over and draw on it a simple triangle tree shape with a sharpie. This will be the guide to use for cutting. Next, attach a diamond cutting disc to the end of the Ryobi rotary tool.

Please make sure that you wear safety glasses when using the Rotary tool. Tiny bits of ceramic will fly off when working with the China plate and you don’t want to get any of those in your eyes!

cutting china plate

2. Next, using the pen marks as a guide with the rotary tool saw the triangle from the plate. You will be surprised how easily the rotary tool will cut through the China plates to be upcycled. It is really easy to handle too.

how to upcycle china plates

3. The cut piece of China will be sharp and needs to be smoothed. To do this simply change the attachment on the end of the Ryobi rotary tool from a cutting disc to a grinding wheel.

Then simply smooth off all the cut edges of the plate by running the grinding tool over the edges.

Grinding the ceramic plate edges

4. Next, change the Ryobi rotary tool attached to a wood cutting disc. Then use this to cut a groove into the top of the cotton wheel. Make sure it is wide enough to fit the edge of the plate.

cutting cotton reel

5. Next, using glue stick the bottom of the cut China plate into the cotton reel groove.

gluing in China trees

6. Finally, to finish of these upcycle China plates tree decorations cover the wooden spools with some scrap fabric.

I simply cut the fabric into strips about 1 cm in width and wound it around the spool. The fabric was kept in place with a small blob of glue.

adding fabric to cotton reel
upcycle China Plate Christmas tree

The Magic of Three

I made three of these cute little China plate Christmas trees, to display together. Objects and ornaments always look better when displayed in groups of threes.

“The rule guideline of threes say that things arranged in odd numbers are more appealing, memorable, and effective than even-numbered groupings”. 

However, as you can see I would be able to make a lot more than three China Christmas tree decorations out of one plate!

rotary tool cut plate
upcycle china plate Christmas trees

If you want a more traditional Christmas tree display than you can use a China plate in more festive colours of green and red.

Or perhaps you could use a plain white plate and then paint a tree onto the cut ceramic with paints or a sharpie. I like a variety of colours with my Christmas decorations and not just stick to the usual colours of red, green and white.

A hole can be drilled into the China plate trees with the rotary tool if you want to turn this into a hanging ornament.

china christmas trees
Upcycle china plate trees

I have recently received more Ryobi tools as a Christmas gift, this time I used them to repurpose old tin cans into ornaments.

If you liked these upcycled China plate trees should check out some of my other Christmas upcycles.

  • Glamorous Oyster Shell Ornament
  • Scandi Felt Christmas Trees
  • Wooden Thread Spool Ornament
  • Nordic Christmas Decorations
  • Paper Stars Hanging Decorations

This tutorial featured under the letter C for China in the alphabetical list of clever upcycling ideas and resources.

For more recycled craft ideas visit favecrafts.com.

Filed Under: christmas, DIY Upcycling Tagged With: ceramics, china, china plate, Christmas tree, cotton ree, ryobi

Previous Post: « A Simple Cute Scandi Felt Christmas Craft For Your Home
Next Post: How To Make A Fun Wood Slice Christmas Tree »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. pattie

    2nd December 2019 at 2:34 pm

    Cute~~what a way to use broken pieces.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      3rd December 2019 at 8:00 pm

      Thank you, I love to repurpose whenever I can.

      Reply
  2. Anita holland

    13th November 2019 at 10:01 pm

    What a clevet and creative project.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      14th November 2019 at 10:46 am

      Aww, thank you so much. They do look lovely on the mantle.

      Reply
  3. Ann

    12th November 2019 at 12:44 am

    Very clever. Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ’s!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      12th November 2019 at 2:13 pm

      Thank you so much and thanks for hosting.

      Reply
  4. Cecilia

    11th November 2019 at 1:48 am

    I adore this idea, Claire! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm! Pinned!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      11th November 2019 at 11:36 am

      Thank you so much, Cecilia.

      Reply
  5. Liberty

    8th November 2019 at 12:55 am

    These are so cute and pretty!

    Liberty @ B4andAfters.com

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      8th November 2019 at 6:07 am

      Thank you so much.

      Reply
  6. Maria

    7th November 2019 at 7:49 pm

    Lovely way to create a tree

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      8th November 2019 at 6:07 am

      Thank you, they were fun to make.

      Reply
  7. Linda at Mixed Kreations

    3rd November 2019 at 2:48 pm

    How creative and very cute! I sure need to learn how to use my rotary tool.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      3rd November 2019 at 8:30 pm

      Thank you, it is really easy to use and there are so many fun things to make with it.

      Reply
  8. Michele Michael

    2nd November 2019 at 1:34 pm

    I’m smitten. I need to break out my tools. I can see them wrapped with wire too. Maybe even wire and beads. So clever. Thanks for posting at Funtastic Friday.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      3rd November 2019 at 8:23 am

      Thank you, yes with wire and beads you could easily turn them into angels.

      Reply
  9. Marie

    31st October 2019 at 12:31 pm

    These little china plate trees are a clever idea and so adorable! Pinned

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      31st October 2019 at 3:37 pm

      Thank you Marie. Now that I found out how easy it is to cut up plates there will be more ceramic crafts coming.

      Reply

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