Make Your Own: Belle’s Chipped Cup from Once Upon a Time

Belle's chipped cup on display

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:


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.

An unpainted tea cup and saucer

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.

Teacup, painted white

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.

Inside of teacup with "chip" detailing painted on

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. :)

Teacup with painted blue floral design and base

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.)


Belle's Chipped Cup from OUAT

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