Busy Being Jennifer

What doesn't kill you make you blonder

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Recipes
  • DIY Projects
  • Crafts
  • Essential Oils
  • Every Day Boss

November 21, 2014 by Jennifer

Handmade Gifts for Guys: Hand Painted Mug

This post may contain affiliate or brand partner links. Read our full disclosure here.

One thing that I think makes a handmade gift special is how personalized it can be. This is what I love about the hand painted mug craft seen all over the Internet. Customizing a mug for any man in your life is pretty simple. Just think of some sort of inside joke or shared interest that the two of you have. It’s pretty easy to think of a shared interest or joke for brothers, fathers, friends, grandparents, and boyfriends/husbands.

I’m doing these tutorials from a husband prospective, so the mug I made is for him. I chose the phrase “ditto” because it has special meaning to us. We dated in high school, but our parents didn’t want us to have a relationship so young, so we tried to hide it from people for a while. We thought we were so clever by switching out the words “I love you,” with “ditto.” I’m not sure if anyone was fooled by our clever code, though. 🙂

Here is how you make a hand painted mug with the most success:

gifts for guys hand painted mug

Handmade Gifts for Guys: Hand Painted Mug

  • Inexpensive mug: the cheaper the better. You want one that has a cheap glaze because the more the paint is able to seep through the glaze, the longer the design will last. My mug was under $2 from Target.
  • Oil-based paint markers: do not use regular Sharpie markers! Regular markers will not soak into the glaze properly. Use markers like these for the best results.
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Masking tape

Step 1:

Clean the mug with soap and water, then once the mug is dry, rub the surface that you want to paint with rubbing alcohol. This will help remove anything that makes the paint not stick to the mug.

Step 2:

taped mug
Block out the area that you want to paint with masking tape. I used it to mark the height of my letters and where I wanted the paint to go. The picture can give you more of an idea of how I did it. I have trouble with letter spacing, so I marked on the tape the placement for each letter.

Step 3:
Mark your design with masking tape. I started with a general outline and then filled in the letters as the whim took me.

Step 4:

blocked mug

Let the mug dry for 24-48 hours. I read that this was one of the biggest keys to whether your design would stick or not. Do not skip!

Step 5:

Place the mug in a cold oven. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Once the oven reaches temperature, allow the mug to cook for 30-45 minutes. Turn off the oven, and allow the mug to cool inside the oven to room temperature. If you do not gradually bring the temperature up and down while heating the mug, it could crack and destroy your hard work.

Step 6:

Some users report that after this, the mugs are dishwasher safe. Others say the design will still wear and chip. There are probably a lot of factors that go into whether or not the design will actually be dishwasher safe (like the brand of paint or the thickness of the original glaze), but for best results, hand wash the mugs. Or, if you don’t care a whole lot, stick it in the dishwasher and see what happens!

gifts for guys hand painted mug

Check out these other awesome handmade gifts for guys!

flannel scarf tutorial Home Roasted Coffee - DIY Gifts for Men - BusyBeingJennifer.com Make your own DIY quote canvas- the perfect handmade gift for guys! - busybeingjennifer.com simple rib rub recipe

Filed Under: Crafts + DIY's, DIY Projects Tagged With: Gifts for guys, Gifts for Men, hand painted mug, handmade gifts for guys, handmade gifts for men

❮❮ Previous Post
Next Post ❯ ❯

Comments

  1. princessmousey says

    November 21, 2014 at 7:47 am

    So fantastic! We are always looking for men gifts! I have shared. From your fellow TXWB, Lots of love, Lisa

    Reply
  2. Diana says

    November 21, 2014 at 7:53 am

    Love the mug in the home roasted coffee pic!

    Reply
    • Brenda @DailyMayo says

      November 25, 2014 at 9:48 pm

      I think that was a Starbucks find last year. You may find something similar there this year.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Me
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search

Categories

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Places I Party...

[instagram-feed]

© 2022 · Busy Being Jennifer · Privacy Policy

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Busy Being Jennifer
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Read our complete privacy policy here.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.