How to Customize Coffee Mugs

Customizing coffee mugs is a great craft project and a fun way to make something affordable and personal for coworkers, friends or even yourself. When you begin with a plain mug your only limit is your imagination. Customizing coffee mugs is also a great craft project to do with children as you can use nontoxic materials and allow their imagination to run wild.

Things You'll Need

• Newspaper
• Table or flat surface
• Ceramic mugs
• Acrylic enamel paint
• Paintbrushes for craft paints
• Rubbing alcohol
• Paper towels
• Oven

Instructions

1. Spread a layer of newsprint over the table or flat surface that you're working on. This is especially a good idea when you are working with small children.

2. Take your paintbrush and dip it into the enamel paint.

3. Paint the mug with any color you choose, in any design that you want. You may wish to create a mug with stripes, dots, images, words or any other thing that you can come up with. Painting a mug with someone's name on it and a special joke or word about them makes a great gift.

4. Clean up any spills immediately with rubbing alcohol.

5. Place the mugs in the oven when you have finished painting them. Make sure the oven is not preheated, as the heat from the oven can cause the mugs to crack.

6. Turn the oven to 300 degrees. Once it has reached that temperature, allow the mugs to bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

7. Turn the oven off after 30 minutes and allow the oven temperature to come down. When the mug is cool enough to touch, remove it.

8. Use Super Glue to glue any beads, shapes or other small objects that you want to the sides of your mug. Take care not to glue anything to the inside of the mug or the area that you will be drinking from.

Tips & Warnings

• If you decide to glue objects to the exterior of your mugs you should wash them delicately and only by hand, as the heat of the washing machine may cause the objects to break off.

References

• Craftster: Custom Ceramic Mugs
• Home Made Simple: Paint Your Own Pottery at Home