DIY: Easy Personalized Mugs with Sharpie Oil-Based Markers

Hello! This past week I have been relaxing and enjoying my Winter break so I decided to mix it up a bit and do a DIY for these adorable mugs that were inspired by a few posts I saw on Pinterest.

Now, let's go ahead and jump into it and I will explain step by step how to re-create these adorable mugs.

Here are the supplies you will need:

1. Any mug- I actually decided to get a Starbucks porcelain mug and personalize it for my a friend for Christmas.  I have heard that some dollar stores carry plain mugs. The mug on the right came from Target and was only $2

2. Sharpie Oil-Based Markers which can be found here for $13.99

3. Scrapbooking Letter Stickers of your preferred font/size! I bought mine from Hobby Lobby, but any crafting store like JoAnn or Michaels will have them as well.

I have read from numerous pins on Pinterest that regular Sharpies can be used to draw on these mugs as well, however, your mugs will not be dishwasher safe then. That is why I chose to buy the Oil-Based markers for my tutorial.

 PERSONALIZED MUG

First, you will need to take your mug and decide where you want to place the design. I chose to do mine on the opposite side of the Starbucks logo since there was a whole blank area on the back. To the left, you can see that I chose to do both my friend's first and last initial and to stagger the letters as so.  You can chose to do just one initial or all three! It's completely up to you. Feel free to make this mug your own :)

Second, I took the gold Sharpie Oil-Based Marker and simply began putting a bunch of dots all around the letters. I made the area around the letters very clustered and filled with dots so it was as if I colored all around the letters. The reason I did this was to make sure the letters would be visible.  Next, I began to branch out around the letters and made the dots more spaced out as I branched out away from the letters. This process is very tedious, but it is so worth it!

Next, after you are finished with your design, gently remove the stickers from the mug.  If for some reason the markers smeared or bled through your sticker like this....DON'T WORRY! I found a solution that works like magic.

You know, sometimes it's good to make mistakes because then you can warn others what to or what not to do so they do not repeat your mistakes! What you need to do if you have marks that you do not like or if your marker bled through your sticker is to find some acetone (nail polish remover will work just fine) and some q-tips.  Very carefully, dip the q-tip in the acetone and begin wiping away the stray marks. It's also important that you make sure the q-tip is not too drenched with acetone and cause it to bleed on the mug. While erasing the unwanted marks, I had to change to a new q-tip quite frequently because sometimes the marks I tried erasing would just smear the marker residue.  Now, once you are done working some magic with acetone and q-tips, your mugs should look something like this!

MUCH BETTER :)

KATE SPADE INSPIRED MUG

Now let's talk about the mug on the right.  I chose to buy a black mug from Target for only $2 because I was not having any luck finding a plain white mug at ANY store around my house. I checked Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Target, and a Deals in my area and they were all SOLD OUT. Apparently everyone is trying to make their own adorable mugs for the holidays!

Anyways, after putting a lot of effort in trying to clean up my first mug, I was exhausted! So I decided to do something simple yet adorable.  I decided to put gold polka dots all over the mug to create a Kate Spade inspired look.

It really is as simple as it sounds. All I did was draw large polka dots spaced out as evenly as I could just using my eye. I made my polka dots  about 2/3" to 3/4" in diameter. And that was it! Even though it was so simple, it might even be my favorite of the two because I love the gold on the black.

Lastly, once your mugs are complete and perfected to how you like it, you will put your mugs on a baking sheet and bake them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F to ensure the paint stays on the mug.

I would let the mugs cool down in the oven for about 15-20 minutes before taking them out.  Once your mugs are cooled down, take them out and there you have it! It's that easy :) Please let me know if you find anything else works easier or better while you try out this tutorial yourself! Also, please tag me in any pictures on instagram @KraftyKellzster if you decided to give this a try. I'd love to see what you guys come up with! Happy Holidays and thanks for reading!