7 creative ideas to DIY mugs with colors

These DIY mugs with colors make a perfect personalized gift to offer to your beloved ones on any occasion. Learn how to do them with some homemade home decoration tips.

Are you a lover of hot or cold drinks? How much time do you spend picking up your cups or mugs? Not anymore. The reason is that today, we will learn together how to DIY mugs with colors to further enjoy your drinks every day.

DIYing mugs and cups with colors is not hard. You will only need to follow some easy techniques as listed in this article, and you will be done. Don’t worry, you will not go out of this page without some homemade home decoration tips to excel in decorating your mugs and turn them into masterpieces.

These DIY mugs with colors make a perfect personalized gift to offer to your beloved ones on any occasion. Although you may like to invest in a luxurious gift with elegant gift wrapping, adding your special touch with a handmade colored mug is a plus. Whether it is Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, graduation day, or a farewell occasion, think about coloring a mug and putting out all your emotions and creativity within!

What type of mugs and cups you can use to DIY with colors?

When picking up your mugs, you will find mugs with ceramic and mugs with glass. If you desire to use paint, then it is best to apply it on mugs made with ceramic. While glitter and other materials tend to work better with mugs made with glass.

Now let’s talk about the preparation process for DIY mugs with colors 

There are several ways to prepare the mugs to DIY to remove any stains, dirt, oils, or fingerprints.

You can either rub the mug with alcohol with the help of cotton or simply wash it with soap and water. Just make sure to let the mug dry completely before starting the DIY process.

How to DIY mugs with colors?

Coloring mugs with nail polish

This mug decoration style will lend you amazing results if you work quickly. You will need a mug, a nail polish that does not dry quickly, hot water, a toothpick, and a bowl to dig in the mug. After preparing your mug, pour into the bowl the hot water. The water needs to be hot, otherwise, the nail polish will dry immediately. Next pour a few drops of nail polish and with the toothpick, swirl a bit right away. Then, dip the mug in the water and remove it. Finally, just wait until the mug dries out. You can place it safely on a kitchen towel.

*Tips about how to DIY mugs with nail polish:

• Use one color at a time. Don’t mix colors in the same bowl.
• Feel free to clean the bottom of the mug with nail polish remover.

DIY mugs with watercolor paint

Photo credit: Working Mom Magic

With this coloring style, you can make different designs of any mug ranging from plain colors to drawing and marble effects.

To decorate mugs with watercolor paint, you will need aside from the mug and the paint, a brush, alcohol, and dishwasher safe decoupage glue.

First, start by applying the alcohol to the mug where you want to paint. Then immediately use the ink to paint the design you want. Next, cover the paint with the decoupage glue and let the paint dry before washing the mug.

Decorate mugs with sharpies

Photo credit: Designer trapped

If you are a good illustrator, then you can easily draw a nice illustration on your mug with sharpies. But, if that is not the case, then stencils maybe your best friend. Place the stencil design on your mug, then use your sharpie to draw. Make sure you fill in all the blanks. 

Finally, to make these drawings permanent, you need to bake the mugs for 30 minutes at 180°C.

Top your mugs with glitters

Photo credit: Creative green living

Glitter is another way to decorate your mugs. You will need a glass or ceramic mug, masking tape, dishwasher-safe mod podge, a paintbrush, and glitter. First, stick the masking tape over the space where you do not need to place glitter. Then, using a brush, apply mod podge then generously dip the mug in glitter. Let the glitter stick to the cup overnight. Then apply mod podge on the top and let it dry well.

Finally, let your mug sit at room temperature for 25 to 30 days to cure completely and be ready to go into the dishwasher at any time.

Apply napkin decoupage on your mug

Just like any decoupage with napkins, you can apply the same trick to mugs. I highly recommend using a glass mug as the result will be much nicer than decoupage on a ceramic mug. To apply this technique, you need a paintbrush, napkin, and mod podge.

Start by applying a layer of mod podge. Next, stick the cut-out of a napkin, using the painted side only. Then apply another layer of mod podge. Finally, let the mug sit aside to cool before washing and using it.

Stick air-dry-clay shapes to DIY your mug

Nothing fancy here. All you need to do is to prepare first your air-dry clay. If you haven’t yet done it, then you must check out my article on how to prepare it at home. Next, you need to model the shapes you want with the clay and let them dry and harden completely. Finally, with a glue gun, stick them to the mug. You can use as well watercolor ink to draw around the shapes and create the design that you want.

Dress your mug in crochet

Look at these cups. How elegant they are? If you know how to do crochet then these designs will be very easy to accomplish. If not, you can check many tutorials for beginners on how to do crochet. Once you learn the crochet techniques, you will be able to create these nice pockets and put your cups inside.

Now that your cups are well decorated, you need to find suitable coasters to place on the table upon serving drinks to your guests. Why not DIY these coasters at home? Want to get some ideas? Check out my article and read more about 12 creative & chic ideas for DIY coasters.

If you are running on a budget, and have a small garden to upscale, then check these 11 outdoor ideas for small spaces.

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