DIY Personalized Mugs!

Sharpie + random plain mug = easy personalization. This project is so easy I almost feel guilty posting it. Almost. There are several references on Pinterest but I have to give credit to this crafty lady at DIYopolis. She went through a lot of trial and error to provide some helpful tips.

I started with this random cobolt blue mug I found in my cupboard.

Who doesn't have a random mug lying around? This mug is nothing fancy, in fact, the less fancy (think Walmart or $1 store), the better. The marker will take best to a ceramic mug without too much glaze to fight with.

Make sure your mug is clean! Not just washed but wiped down with rubbing alcohol and dry.

I've noticed recently that I hardly use cursive anymore, so I'm trying to get better about that. I decided to write one of my favorite quotes on the mug.

Once done writing, I turned my oven to 425, placed my mug on a cookie sheet, and baked for 30 minutes.

Once I realized how easy it was, I kept going with other random mugs.

The orange one is my happy mug that I drink my tea from (when I'm trying to be good about not drinking as much coffee).

The back has our anniversary date and a line that is inscribed in our wedding bands. Clearly I was in a sentimental mood today.

I am so impressed with myself that I stopped at 3.

I tend to hand wash my mugs as it's usually the only thing in/near the sink and it takes 20 seconds (see my Decorative Dish Soap post to see my craziness regarding dishes left in the sink). Although the high temperature and low glaze, helped the mugs pass the initial dishwasher test, after several washes the writing did begin to come off. It really depends on your mug. If the mug you create has sentimental value I would hand wash, it only takes a minute.

You can draw pictures, write inspirational quotes, the possibilities are endless.

This is an easy and fun project you can do to motivate yourself and inspire your kids to be creative as well. 

~ B