It is an undeniable fact that when the dinnerware and drinkware are beautiful, it takes the dining experience to a whole new level of satisfaction, almost nirvana. But not everyone has the foresight to match the dinnerware with the décor of the house, and we end up with plain glasses and everyday drinkware. 

However, it is always possible to use your everyday drinkware and turn it into something extraordinary using simple household hacks or tools from your stock of stationery. Here are a few tips offered by Ellementry:

• Colourful earthenware: Our ancestors have gone gaga over the benefits of consuming food from earthenware because they believe it brings us closer to Mother Nature and brings a different level of satisfaction. It is possible to imbibe the same in our homes by introducing an earthen pot to store water during the summer. Paint it with motifs of your choice to add a touch of beauty. 

While the water stored in a pot provides freshwater in the summer, the tea served in kulhads keeps us warm in the winters. Use your imagination to decorate the kulhads with motifs and designs of your liking. Nobody said that you must restrict yourself to just flowers and abstract design. Go wild, go geeky, and paint in the Marvels or trace your favourite Disney characters to get some innovative drinkware options. 

• Decorative Bottles: Plastic is nearly on its way out, and people are now noticing glass containers and bottles to store and serve water. Some fancy looking glass bottles may not be suitable for storing potable water, but they do make exceptional décor items in the form of vases. As for water bottles, a few splashes of glass paint can make a plain bottle stand out attractively and showcase itself as one of the most innovative drinkware options.

 Glasses/tumblers: Going along the same lines of decorating glass bottles, there is also now a trend of bringing a new touch to the dull and unattractive glassware. Emboss them, dip them in pastel paint, dab them with finger paints – let your imagination run wild with colours and patterns. Entice your family members and kids with pretty glass tumblers.

To avoid any breakage from glass tumblers, you can also include the plastic or melamine tumblers in your collection and decorate them with various motifs to encourage your children to drink milk or make a milkshake time fun. 

• Coasters: Extend your friendship with your furniture by protecting them using coasters. There are coasters in all materials, shapes, and sizes to suit your requirement. On a hot summer day, bring out some brightly coloured coasters in orange, green, and yellow to place under your tall glasses of chilled lemonade to catch the dripping water droplets. On a chilled or a rainy evening, place earth-coloured – ceramic or wooden – coasters on your table to hold the warm mugs of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. 

You can take help from Ellementry and get creative with old CDs and decorate them with glitter or pastel paint to be used as a coaster. 

• Mason Jars: The current rage in crockery and dinnerware, mason jars have evolved from being mere storage containers for pickling and preservation to becoming a stylish way of serving lemonade and shakes. Sometime along the way, mason jars started becoming used as a way to share family recipes of pickles and canned foods. 

The main advantage of mason jars is the neutral nature of glass. The metal containers react with the chemicals in the food and are likely to contaminate the food. Glass does not spoil the value of the food. That’s why a mason jar has come to symbolise wholesome luxury – not just wealth-wise, but also soul-wise. 

You can use mason jars to store snacks for your workstation, create a gift hamper, or even convert them into salt-shakers, or even toothbrush holders. Decorate the baskets with crochet or glitter and pastel shades to give them a fun look. 

• Mugs: Sitting with a steaming hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate and curled up reading your favourite book or watching your favourite movie is everyone’s favourite dream activity. Some of us are lucky enough to fulfil that dream as much as we like, but some of us would love to have at least a shot at it. But no harm in preparing for it. 

If you have a simple set of mugs or even one, use it to get creative and innovative drinkware using paints, glitters, metal or even calligraphy pens. You can create a set of mugs with an underlying theme of say Bollywood or maybe your favourite literary universe. Use decals to define your theme – Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Birthday – and gift those hand-decorated personalised mugs to create a particular impression on your loved ones. Employ unusual items like nail paints to decorate your cups with abstract designs. If nothing else works, use a sharpie pen and get doodling on the mugs and bake them to make the paint stick. 

If your mug is chipped or unsuitable in any other way to store consumables, you can redo it to store stationery items or toothbrushes. You can also create a mini garden in your apartment by growing herbs in them. 

Lonely Drinkware

Ever so often, we do not have a complete set of drinkware to work with. Sometimes, we end up with only one mug or wine glass (this happens when we lose one item after another of the set by breaking them. It happens and can’t be helped). And, deny as much as you can, everyone lands up with one unwanted set of mugs which you can’t find any use for. Get creative and take pity on these lonely pieces of drinkware and make them a part of your lifestyle. Maybe not as drinkware, but as a decorative item. You can redo the sets and gift them to your loved ones with your special touch. 

When it comes to innovative drinkware, a crucial aspect of serving includes a tray. A sturdy plate made of wood and embellished creatively makes a great impression on the friends and family you are entertaining. Like other dinnerware, there are times when you land up with the plain simple trays but don’t know how to use them. In such situations, amp up your creativity, set out your paints, and craft item and get redecorating. If you don’t find the tray suitable enough to use for serving, you can use the tray as a centrepiece or a bedside table item to store your glasses, pills, and so on. 

Conclusion

The idea behind redoing and “hacking” drinkware is to add your personal touch to them. This makes the utensils even more special and closer to your heart. When you pour your thoughts into creating an art form within a simple piece of crockery, you add a little soul to it. When you share this art with your loved ones by serving food in them or gifting them, you come closer to your loved ones. This act only adds to the harmony within your home and makes life a little more joyous to experience. When you feel you are out of ideas, visit ellementry.com for some amazing options.