Happy Tuesday Everyone!
Today officially marks the first day of Spring for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, which means Spring flowers, Spring lambs and the countdown to the start of daylight savings, yippee, bring on those longer sun filled days!
With Father’s Day this coming Sunday I thought it was fitting to share with you this fun DIY Sebastian and I did for Steve (note: I have told him not to read the blog this week and banned him from the office while we were doing this project). When thinking about doing a Father’s Day craft this year I was after something that Sebastian could be involved with, but that had that sentimental touch to it. Something Steve could treasure and know was made just for him.
I had seen this idea for sharpie mugs many times over the last few years and had wanted to give it ago myself. So thought what better time than now and with Father’s Day – the perfect gift too.
What you will need for your DIY Sharpie Mugs:
- Plain white mugs / cups
- Sharpies, in a variety of colours
- Stickers – alphabet, stars etc…
First things first, I was getting Sebastian to do this craft so I covered our dining table with paper just in case the sharpies got away on him. And it was a good thing I did because a couple of times they did, and a coupe of times he was just enjoying having a BIG space to draw on.
Now you are all set to go…
Use the stickers to decorate your mugs however you want. I choose to use alphabet stickers and wrote ‘Daddy’ and ‘Mumma’ (I wanted a special mug from my boy too!) on the mugs. You could write something, add stars or hearts to it; decorate with stripes; draw a picture on with eyeliner and then cover with sharpie or even freehand draw. There is really so many variations you could do at this point. Bare in mind, the area under the stickers will be left white.
Next fill in the space around the stickers using your sharpies. Again the options at this point are endless, you could block colour; do dots; multiple colours; let your toddler go wild (scribble); trace over your pre drawn picture or freehand. As you can see, and I am sure you have guessed by now I let Sebastian go for it. He had a blast, scribbling, drawing and colouring in. After about 10 minutes of colouring my little Picasso had decided he’d had enough so we did three sessions to get enough coverage on the mugs and so you could see what was actually written on them.
We then left the mugs to dry completely for 24 hours, (possibly a little bit longer) before peeling the stickers off. They were pretty easy to remove, I thought they may have been a bit harder as all the colouring over them may have stuck them down even more but I had no trouble. Then I baked them. On a baking tray from cold (this is important, you don’t want to crack the mugs with a sudden temperature change) bring your oven to 175 degrees Celsius, once at the correct temperature bake for 30 minutes. Turn oven off and leave to completely cool. Then repeat the process (I ended up baking ours over a couple of days due to being in and out of the house etc).
There you have it! DIY Sharpie ‘Scribble’ Mugs – the perfect personalised gift and something your little ones can do without too much mess. Sebastian and I had heaps of fun doing this and I was really impressed with how they turned out.
Note: The colour does fade / darken when baked so you may want to use darker colours, I choose fluorescent Sharpies. Also, I am not 100% sure that these are dishwasher proof but the sharpie drawings DO NOT come off when hand washed (I have tested)
Have you done this or something similar before? When was the last time you had fun with ‘Sharpies’? I’d love to hear about it. Tell me in the comments below!
rons says
Love it. What a fabulous idea. This is perfect for any occasion. Sebastian is quite the little artist. Pinned and sharing on Facebook also. xx
lydiaritchie says
Haha.. thanks Maria. We had fun making them xx
Charlene says
I love personalised mugs! This is so cute! I am going to make these tomorrow with my Coffee Group! Thank for the inspiration! Pinned and will share on a Mummy page that I am on.
lydiaritchie says
Oh, exciting! Thanks for sharing xx
Charlene says
I made some personalised mugs for my Midwives (I had a team of four). I wrote a different māori proverb on each cup. Threw in a couple of cappuccino sachets and a choccy treat! They loved it! I also made sharpie mugs last year for mother’s day with my coffee group.
lydiaritchie says
What a lovely personal idea Charlene! It would have meant so much to your midwives as well. I think it is such a neat versatile idea, could be made for anyone xx
Bec @pinchmebeautiful says
This is wonderful! looks like a great idea for a present for Pop xx
lydiaritchie says
I love how they can be personalised for whomever you wish. I’m sure Pop will LOVE them xx
Kylie Purtell - A Study in Contradictions says
What a cool idea! I might have to get the girls to do this on Monday for my Mum’s birthday next week, she would love it! Thanks for sharing!
#teamIBOT
lydiaritchie says
Pretty cool, aren’t they? And they make the best gifts! I am planning on making them for all the grandparents for Christmas xx
Bron says
Hi there, these look great. Do you use the standard permanent markers or the oil based paint markers? The latter state they are for pottery, but they are harder to source and are more expensive. Thanks.
lydiaritchie says
Hi Bron, I just used the standard ‘sharpies’ and they worked fine. They faded a little after i baked them in the oven but I think that was more down to the fact I use fluro coloured ones. That being said I would only hand wash these so don’t know how they hold up under dishwasher pressure 🙂
Vicki says
Hi, planning on doing these for Poppa’s birthday coming up. Did you bake them twice? Thanks.