Party Mugs at Decorate To Celebrate

MY STORY

      It's challenge time at Decorate To Celebrate!  Check out their page for great ideas for your party and gift giving projects.  DECORATE TO CELEBRATE Blog.

    I was asked again to come up with a fun party idea for a friend's daughter who is too old for a FROZEN party.  I came up with some ideas on decorating mugs which I thought was easy for any age to do and just by changing up some of the elements, there are many ways to dress up basic dollar store mugs.  NOTE:  These examples are using the Sharpie brand permanent markers.  They can only be washed by hand.  For mugs that can be put into the dishwasher, use ceramic paint or oil based paint and bake in an oven for permanence.  There are many YouTube videos or google info on these paints for the best results.

YOUR TURN

   Keep your eye out for sales at any retailer that sells plain mugs.  I found these at my reliable neighborhood dollar store.  Before applying any ink, wash the mugs and then wipe with rubbing alcohol.  I got rubbing alcohol wipes at the drugstore and they are perfect.

   For this first example, pick two shades  of pen and stickers.  I like these chunky stickers I bought at Michaels.  You can choose whatever stickers you like, but these work well because they sit above the surface.

   Place your stickers as desired and then simply create dots around the letters with your Sharpie.  Concentrate the most dots by the sticker edges and lessen as you go out.  Remove the stickers and you have your first, party monogrammed mug.

   Using the same concept, I was playing around with a different color and stickers and thought this would make a cute mug to keep out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

   I am getting obsessed with gilding.  Martha Stewart has a line of products at Michaels that make it so easy to use this gold leafing process on many surfaces -- more on this application in future blogs!

   For this example, place your stickers as desired.  I used "l o v e" as I thought, if this worked out well, it might be a fun use for a wedding shower, wedding party, etc.

   Apply a thin layer of gilding adhesive on the surface, including the stickers.  Let sit for 1/2 hour or so.  The adhesive will be clear but sticky.

   Remove a gold leaf sheet from the package and place gently over your mug.  Rub it into the surface with your fingers.  Depending on the surface, you may need more than one sheet.  Let dry and then rub with a brush and the tiny bits that didn't stick will fall off.  HINT:  Do this over a garbage pan.  I learned the hard way, trust me!

  You can leave as is

  Or remove the letters for a different look.  Might look nice on a table to do a combination of these effects.

   I also tried just gold leafing the letters, using the same steps as above.  I liked the way this looked too.  And then I combined with the dots process in black ink and I loved this color combination.

  And then I removed the letters again for another different look.

  There are so many combinations and ways to experiment.  You can do this for baby showers, any holiday and they can be either whimsical or dramatic.  It all comes down to your ink color, type of stickers, etc.  Have fun crafting!!