I've been wanting to try drawing on ceramics for a while now, and the other day when I was at Spotlight (huge, rather hideous craft store found in NZ and Australia) I discovered that they stocked the pebeo range of ceramic ink and paint. I bought a black fine-tipped pen to start off with, but will no doubt return for more colours- it was such fun. I used a piece of old crochet for inspiration, and just drew free-hand onto the cups and plate.
I found the plain white ceramic pieces at the local second-hand store. After baking the ink on (which is done in a home oven, for half an hour), I discovered that older ceramics stain somewhat (you can see some darker marks on the vintage plate I used, above) but newer pieces worked really well. After baking, the ceramics are food and dishwasher-safe. And now the children are in on it, too- they've decorated their own little plates. Will show those once they've been cooked.