I really enjoyed when ABC’s Once Upon a Time would do its own unique spin on classic and Disney fairytales. Instead of anthropomorphizing all of the objects in Rumpelstiltskin/The Beast’s castle as Disney originally did, OUAT decided to go a more symbolic route with Belle’s chipped teacup — a nod to the character Chip from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and a symbol of the blossoming romance (well, more like Stockholm syndrome-induced trainwreck) between the Dark One and Belle. Today, dearies, we’re going to recreate that iconic teacup, with a little magic and minimal breakage.

Materials Needed:

• Plain white teacup
• Acrylic paint (gold, blue, black, white)
• Dishwasher-safe Mod Podge
• Paint brushes (assorted)

Directions:

This project was completed during the Coronavirus pandemic, and my ability to obtain crafting supplies was significantly diminished. As such, I made do with the materials I already had around at the time, such as an off-white teacup with a floral design and a thin gold rim around the opening and base.

I gently brushed two layers of white acrylic paint over the design, leaving the gold as visible as possible. When I was confident that I could no longer see the floral design through the paint, I moved on to the next step, which is painting the accents.

Using a bit of black acrylic paint, I painted a small, triangular nib on the inside of the cup to imitate a chip. (No cups were chipped or otherwise harmed in the making of this costume accessory. See?) On the outside, I mixed the black and white to paint on a light gray chip shape.

Lastly, with some blue acrylic paint on a small, flat brush, I painted some happy little blue budded branches on both sides of the cup. Here is a mockup of the design that I recreated on Microsoft Paint, based on reference images from the TV show.

You may want to practice on a piece of paper (or a spare cup, if you’ve got one) before committing to painting the design on your cup. However, the cup in the show looks like it was hand-painted, so I was able to see beauty in my mistakes, however beastly they seemed at first glance. :)

You can use gold acrylic paint on the very top of the cup’s handle and around the rim and base of the cup to finish the look. I did not actually have gold paint with me, and I wasn’t about to make a life-altering deal with Rumplestiltskin to get more of it, so I made do with the gold accents my cup already had, and voila!

To ensure that this design lasts, after all of the paint dries, I would recommend brushing over it with a few layers of Mod Podge, preferably of the dishwasher-safe variety, to seal it in. (Dishwasher-safe Mod Podge is not officially labeled as food-grade, so even if you use it, I still wouldn’t recommend drinking out of this cup.)