DIY Wifey Mug

Sooo… the wedding is over… what now?!? I will be the first to admit that I struggled with post wedding blues. Which is what inspired me to start more DIY projects. My new Hubby and I are big coffee drinkers. Some of our favorite times together is starting our day over a great cup of coffee, sharing some good QT-quality time  side note: quality time is my Love Language. Since I’m recently obsessing over the new title of “Wifey” what a better way to really embrace it!

Materials:

Porcelain/ ceramic mug –the inexpensive ones work the best
Sharpie PAINT pen (oil based)
Rubbing Alcohol
Cotton balls/ Q-tips
Oven

I did a lot of research on how to do a DIY Sharpie Mug before getting started. I have read that the cheap mugs work the best. Supposedly, the glaze on the cheap mugs are easier to penetrate with the paint pen, and I wasn’t about to experiment with one of the expensive mugs off our registry. Also, many people suggested using Sharpie paint pens over other ones, so I stuck with what I thought would be a sure success when it came to materials. Regular sharpies will not work!

First things first, you want to make sure your mug is clean! Use rubbing alcohol to wipe all of the sides and especially the surface area you’re going to be writing on. I can share with you some of my “blonde moments” as well… make sure you remove the price tag before you bake the mug. It makes for a nasty smell and it definitely burns. 😉
Fortunately for me, I have a really creative husband. I lucked out! Can you imagine how much of a surprise this was for me when he suggested we do a lot of the stuff for our wedding ourselves! Major win! So he graciously sketched out the design on scrap paper for me before trying it on the mug.

Now that your design is sketched out you’re ready to create your next mug masterpiece. Using your Sharpie paint pen create away! If you mess up don’t worry, it’s very easy to clean/erase your little mishap. Use the rubbing alcohol to remove all the excess paint, if you don’t get it COMPLETELY clean it will bake onto the mug and look smudgy. Also one of my blonde moment mishaps. This is also great for cleaning up your design with a Q-tip.

Most Sharpie paint pens all work the same. Some colors will change when they bake, they might get darker and not be as vibrant. I made mugs for my bridesmaids for the morning of our wedding. They were a tiffany blue mug and I used a white paint pen. The paint on the mug turned to a slightly yellow color after baking. Just some food for thought when choosing how to design your mugs.

Now this is the tricky part. Once you are happy with your design and your mug is clean and ready to bake… you have to wait. Yup, all that excitement and you have to wait 72 HOURS. The reason you have to wait three days is to let the paint dry completely before you bake it. This allows the design to be fully dry and set into your mug.

Following these steps will ensure that your mug will be ready to go and withstand washing. I wish I could say you can throw this bad boy in the dishwasher but I cannot confidently tell you it will be okay. My suggestion is to hand wash your mug always.

Read these instructions carefully:

Let your mug sit and dry completely for 72 hours
Place mug into non heated oven – That’s right no preheating!
Turn oven on to 425 degrees
Set your timer for 1 hour
Once the hour is up turn off the oven- Do not remove the mug
Let the mug cool completely inside the oven

The reason for doing it this way is to allow the mug to gradually heat up and cool down with the oven. This process will avoid the mug cracking and creating a major mess to clean up. I did mine in the evening so that I let the mug sit in the oven overnight to cool down. DO NOT TOUCH THE MUG, I promise you this mug will remain really REALLY hot for a long time. You also don’t want to ruin the paint before it fully cools down.

Once your mug is fully cooled, give it a quick rinse and you’re ready to go! DIY projects are a great way to get you out of the post-wedding slump or even just a great way to experiment with your creativity!