Kintsugi Mug

The art of turning scars into gold

Kintsugi is one of my most favorite crafts. This time I used this technique to repair a mug but you can use it for a vase or a bowl too. It combines the calming process of creating and a beautiful message that whatever has been broken can be put back together, in fact made even more precious than before. ‘Turning scars into gold’ is the best expression. Can you hear how therapeutic and healing it sounds?

Taking the broken china you would normally throw away, you can not only enjoy a relaxing craft but visualize what the pieces represent for you. Perhaps there are some wounds that need healing. What kintsugi represents are slow steps of applying resin onto the edges of the broken pieces, connecting them together again one by one. You take your time. And in the end you apply some golden dust onto the repaired parts. What a precious technique!

Kintsugi Mug

Disclaimer: I believe that the materials used are not food compatible so my advice is once you repair a piece of china using the Kintsugi technique, use it for decoration only.

Tools:

• kintsugi kit - the resin and the golden dust
• a small bowl you wouldn’t mind throwing away
• an old brush
• a cotton bud stick
• broken china that needs mending
• smirk paper (optional)

Instructions

Some advice that before you begin to connect the pieces of the china together, you should use a smirk paper to polish all the sharp edges. I don’t always do this and the pieces connect just fine. What I do need to do sometimes is wash the pieces in hot water to remove any grease. Of course - if you don’t polish the sharp edges you need to be careful not to cut your fingers.

When the pieces are dry, I roughly organize them to make sure I have an idea where each of them belongs. Then I mix the resin with a small amount of the golden powder in an old bowl. I take a small old brush and begin applying the mixture gently on the edges I am about to put together. It is a slow process. You want to make sure that you apply enough mixture, however not so much so it runs down the sides. You will also need to hold the pieces together for a little while until the resin dries a little bit so you can continue connecting another piece.

Repeat this process until you have all pieces connected and the china restored. Do make sure not to touch any of the connected places because now it will take several hours to several days for the resin to fully dry. If you begin applying the dust now, it will only stick to the resin and make ugly marks. Once your china piece is fully dry, take a cotton bud or another small brush and begin applying the golden dust to the resin.