Gift Idea: Hand Painted Mug

Chris & I were in Starbucks yesterday and saw this two-tone, gold and white mug while we were waiting for our fancy coffee drinks. I needed to re-create it.

Mugs are a great holiday gift - you can put hot chocolate mix, tea or coffee inside to make the gift more fun and festive. Also, you can never have too many mugs. Well, you can, but it takes a while to reach that point.

Here's the inspiration...

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Another idea is to try out patterns, like polka dots! Or stipes! I went with a two-toned look like the original inspiration but am thinking of heading to the thrift store after work to find more white mugs to paint polka dots on. Aren't these adorable?

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I love this idea too, which you'd use a similar technique for. I'm actually raid the thrift stores home goods section and paint everything gold!

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You will need: white mugs (we got them from IKEA for $2.99 each, but you can also try a thrift store), enamel paint and masking tape.

 

 

Use maksing tape to create a curved line at the middle of the mug. I then used an exacto knife to touch it up.

Then, paint! It took several coats, but they dried fast. I removed the tape carefully and reused the same piece for the second mug so that they would look the same. Also, the line was not perfect from the tape in some areas so I went through and touched it up after.

So the paint doesn't come off after you wash your mugs, bake it for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. You can also just let it sit for 20 or so days before using.

I love this set of mugs so much! And each was less than $5, rather than the $9.95 each that Starbucks was charging. Since I have so much paint left over, I will be making more tonight. This time, like I said earlier in this post, polka dots!

Happy Monday, friends!