Friends! I’m so pleased to
share our first gift DIY of the season. Maude made these fantastic monogrammed
mugs over the weekend. Don’t they look terrific? The idea came when we saw these
fun initial cups at Anthropologie and remembered our kitchen
was lacking in hot cocoa mugs. We decided to create a whole set.
It’s a very
doable project. Inexpensive. Eco-friendly. And family-friendly too — these mugs
are dishwasher safe. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
1)
We started with a trip to Goodwill, where we collected 8 plain white mugs.
Enough for the entire family. There was even a little one without a handle that
we thought would be perfect for baby food for June. Mugs were 50 cents each and
we had dozens and dozens to choose from.
2) Then we gathered
supplies. Scissors, pen, tape, graphite transfer paper, Black Pebeo Porcelaine
Pen in Fine Point ($4 at Michaels,
also available here) and a print out with the family’s
initials.
For the font, I had something very specific in mind. I love the
look of this
Sketch Block Font and had it mentally filed away as the sort
of thing a kid could replicate well — because it’s inherently imperfect. For
this project, it worked like a charm! Since we were adding our own sketchiness,
I started with a similar, but non-sketchy Rockwell font. Look for any slab-serif
font (with names like Egyptian or Glypha) and they should work equally
well.
3) Cut out an initial and a
piece of transfer paper. Tape the initial and the transfer paper (dark side
down) to the mug.
4) Trace the initial. Any
pen or pencil will work and you’ll want to experiment with different pressures
to see what’s best. You’ll just need a light outline. If you want, you can make
your own transfer paper by rubbing a graphite pencil all over a sheet of plain
paper.
5) Take your Porcelaine pen
and trace over the lines of the initial. Get the edges nice and thick then fill
in with diagonal sketchy strokes. A few notes:
- The sketchy strokes look
best if they’re all one direction.
- The pen didn’t produce very smooth lines
for us — which was fine because of the sketchy nature of the lettering. But
later, I tried a red Porcelaine pen and produced very smooth strokes. So, I’m
thinking my black pen was an old, dried out one. Who knows? This was my first
experience with Porcelaine, so I’m not sure.
- It helped to have a blank
paper handy where we could test the paint pen.
- We definitely got better at
it as we practiced. So plan on it. Until it’s baked, the paint will scrub right
off in soap and water. We redid mugs at least 4 times.
6) Once the lettering is
done, let the mugs sit for 24 hours. Then bake them at 300 degrees for 35
minutes. It’s fine to bake them with graphite residue. The graphite will wipe
right off even after they’re done baking.
7) And that’s it! Once
they’re baked, they’re done. We pulled them from the oven, wiped them up and
they were ready to go. For fun, we filled cellophane bags with hot cocoa mix and
marshmallows and put them in the mugs.
The project turned out so
well that it has my mind spinning with other possibilities. Maybe we’ll make a
monogrammed mug for their teachers with a Starbucks card inside. Or a matching
2-cup set for Grandma and Grandpa. Fun for Christmas, but equally fun for other
events too.
What do you think? Is this a project your kids would enjoy? Are
the mugs cool enough that you would buy one in the store if you saw it for
sale?
P.S. — You can find links to
gifts we’ve
made in past years here.
Thanks Design MOM
Heck, I’d love to receive this! 
This no calorie gift is practical and fun to receive. Attach tag “We wash you a Merry Christmas, We Wash you a Merry Christmas, We Wash you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” Use any type of soap {hand soap, dish washing soap, bar soap, WHATEVER!}
