Check out this one of a kind sugar skull DIY painted mug that I made and paired with a package of coffee to gift to a coffee lover in my life. Not to brag on myself, but I think it’s the cutest and my daughters and I can’t wait to make more to give to a bunch of other people we love. In fact, they are already hard at work decorating more mugs.
Gift giving is kind of a big deal in our family because I love giving gifts to others and I want my daughters to grow up feeling the same way. As kids, of course, they are thrilled to receive gifts, but I want them to exercise and grow their whole “giving is better than receiving” muscle and one way to do that is to get them excited about giving unique gifts that have a DIY touch to them because kids love to create.
This project was so easy and I highly recommend it.
DIY Painted Mug Tutorial
Supplies:
- Plain white ceramic mug
- Sharpie oil-based paint pens (affiliate link – meaning that if you buy from this link I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you)
- An oven
Note: I did a lot of research before doing this project and although many people choose to use regular Sharpie pens instead of the oil-based paint pens, I would not recommend that method because too many people report that the designs wash off either immediately or after a few washes. You can buy the oil based paint pens at a craft store or order them online via Amazon.
Directions:
Make sure your mugs have been thoroughly washed and dried and are free of any gunkiness (yes, I totally made up that word). Follow the directions on the paint pens which involve a lot of shaking and depressing of the point to get the paint flowing. Design away on the mug. Once you are done designing, let the mug dry for 24 hours.
Follow up after 24 hours by putting your lovingly painted mug into a cold oven and setting it to 425 degrees. Once the oven reaches 425 degrees, set the timer for 30 minutes and let the mug bake. When the timer goes off, turn off the oven, but leave the mug in the oven until it is cool. Once it’s cool, wash it and it’s ready to go! Woo to the hoo!
More notes: It should be noted that the colors I used changed while baking. I used a blue that turned to green and a bright red that ended up being more of a burgundy red. I’m happy with the results, but it’s good to know that you might end up with different colors than you started off with as you can see from the photos below.
Before:
After:
I’m so thrilled with the finished results that I am going to make myself a whole set of sugar skull mugs because I can’t live without this cuteness in my life.
I love that both the front and back of the mug are decorated.
It looks cute no matter what direction it is facing.
You do a good number of DIY projects. It is great way to keep kids busy with some fun. “Plain white mug” – hmm obviously a ceramic mug (duh). However I was wondering if there are mugs made especially for DIY projects that you can later use for drinking/eating. Oh good to point out the colors changing. I recall that surprise back in ceramics/hobby shop class. I guess most things change more than color when baked at that high temp.
I just got these mugs at the dollar store and they can most definitely be used for drinking and eating afterwards. The paint pens are non toxic so you don’t have to worry about poisoning anyone. Thanks for mentioning that I didn’t put in “ceramic” in the mug description because although it is obvious, I better go back in and add it because surely someone will miss that detail.
Really cute mug! I love making handmade mugs like this. I did several last year and they turned out so cute. #client
What a great gift idea.
Your design is adorably awesome. What a great DIY project for my kids. I would like to do this for a Fathers Day gift.