Learn to decorate mugs! These DIY mugs are perfect gifts for any time of year. Here are 25+ fantastic ideas with tips on how to make them fabulous.
Any other coffee drinkers out there? Basically, if you don’t know what to get me for a gift, a mug is the perfect thing. And even better if it’s handmade.
But mugs aren’t just a great gift for me – they are a great gift for a lot of occasions: hostess gifts, teacher gifts, Father’s Day . . . any holiday, really.
Tips for Decorating Mugs
Before we get into the project ideas, I want to give you some tips for personalized mugs. It’s not hard to do, but you’ll want the design you make to last, so there are several considerations!
Types of Mugs to Buy
If you are going to try a DIY mug, there are typically two surfaces you’ll want to consider: glass or ceramic. Both are relatively easy to work with.
Glass tends to look great with glitter and etching medium while ceramic is perfect for decorating with paint. In either case you are going to want to prepare the mug as instructed below.
Preparing Your Mug
If you’re going to decorate a mug, you’ll need to prepare it to receive the medium of your choice. That means washing with a mild soap and water to remove oils from fingers/dirt. You can also use rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball. Let the mug dry completely before decorating.
Ways to Decorate Mugs
Some of the most popular supplies used for decorating mugs are:
Acrylic Paint – if you use a paint make sure that it is suitable for glass and/or ceramic. This would be something with multi surface, porcelain, or enamel on the label.
Etching Medium – you’ll need a special medium for this process. You’ll also want to wear gloves as the product is an acid. It’s a very unique look and I love the results.
Mod Podge – they offer a Dishwasher Safe formula that is perfect for top rack washing. This formula of Mod Podge is frequently combined with glitter to decorate mugs.
Nail Polish – marbling with nail polish is very popular, easy, and inexpensive.
Sharpies – you’ll want the oil based paint pens. The regular Sharpies don’t provide consistency in terms of a permanent design.
Sublimation Ink – this uses special ink that is infused to a mug surface with heat and pressure. There are quite a few tools required for this type of process.
Note: the “official” recommendation on most products is to start your design at least 1/4″ down from the lip of the mug so that your lips are never touching the product.
While many craft supplies are non-toxic, and you should be fine if your lips do come in contact, it’s just something to keep in mind.
Will They Be Dishwasher Safe?
It really depends on the mug that you choose. Glass mugs don’t seem to have as many problems as ceramic. Without question, my research has revealed that when it comes to ceramic, cheaper mugs are better.
Many many people have noted that dollar store mugs/mugs purchased from overseas are best because they have a thinner coating. This allows the mug to take the medium better.
You’ll always want to follow the instructions on the product bottle, but one thing to note is that DIY mugs often need to be baked, especially when using Sharpies.
The recommendation is to bake a mug at 250º for 2 hours to make them dishwasher safe. This temperature and time also prevents the colors from being altered too much.
Tip: Do NOT use a spray sealer on your mug. Running a spray sealer coated mug through the dishwasher inevitably results in clumping of the sealer or fogging of the design in certain areas.
Now that are you are ready to decorate, here are some mug decorating ideas to try!
1
Marble Nail Polish
Learn how to make the coolest nail polish mugs ever – on a budget! Learn the dos and don'ts for making the mugs, and get tips for washing.
If you can draw a dot, you can make this mug! It is so easy. You can make this Dollar Tree hack within minutes, and they are great gifts for the holidays.
No need to get out the potter’s wheel to craft speckled ceramics from scratch – we used a variety of mugs from the dollar store and gave them this quick makeover using just paint!
These sports car inspired painted mugs make great gifts for guys! They are very easy to paint and very inexpensive to make – you just need a few supplies.
Personalize a simple mug for a unique, custom gift that anyone would love getting! Use Mod Podge Dishwasher Safe to preserve the beauty of your creations!
I’ve tried glass etching before and it’s REALLY easy to do. This mason jar mug was decorated by Erin and makes a perfect gift for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day!
Learn how to DIY personalized mugs and tea cups with vinyl – it's easy to do with professional results! Make your own cups easily with these free cut files.
Did you know that you can customize your own Harry Potter coffee mugs for just a few bucks-and you don't need to know how to draw?! This tutorial shows you how.
This idea doesn’t get much simpler – dip your mugs in your favorite colors of paint. You can make an entire collection that matches your kitchen. You can add speckles to the bottom with this other tutorial.
This Christmas thumbprint mug and saucer set is a great gift for the kids to make for the grandparents. Since it's multi surface paint, you can wash it if you follow the curing instructions.
Make a snowman mug using vinyl. No need for a cutting machine if you have a craft knife or scissors. This is a fun neighbor and teacher gift when paired with hot cocoa, candy canes, and marshmallows!
These ideas looked like the perfect thing for an craft class I have to give.
I experimented with painting a ceramic mug using alcohol based markers and regular Sharpies. After letting it settle for 24 hours, I tried washing the mug with plain warm water. All the color came right off. I then tried the oven idea for 2 hours, and the same thing happened.
Any ideas as to why it didn’t work, and what I could do to correct it? Its looks like too much fun to just give up on the whole idea.
These ideas looked like the perfect thing for an craft class I have to give.
I experimented with painting a ceramic mug using alcohol based markers and regular Sharpies. After letting it settle for 24 hours, I tried washing the mug with plain warm water. All the color came right off. I then tried the oven idea for 2 hours, and the same thing happened.
Any ideas as to why it didn’t work, and what I could do to correct it? Its looks like too much fun to just give up on the whole idea.