DIY Illustrated Coffee Cup

Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap  —  April 9, 2013 — 5 Comments

Good morning, friends! I’m sitting with a sleeping baby at the Baton Rouge airport waiting for our flight to Dallas, where we’ll connect to Amarillo and meet up with my parents to celebrate my Pawpaw’s 90th birthday! So far so good on the travel front, although our flight is delayed but that just gives me extra time to blog and a shorter layover in Dallas.

I only work one day a week, but when I’m there I share an office with a sweet lady named Robin. Robin got an offer for a fabulous new job so tomorrow is her last day! She was so helpful in helping me learn the ropes when I first started and has always been super nice to me so I thought it’d be nice to make her a little going-away gift. One of the things she mentioned about her new job was that they’re all big coffee drinkers there, so I thought a special mug was in order. I picked up this plain white one for under $4 at Target.

I’ve seen a couple of pins and blog posts about decorating porcelain mugs or dishes with sharpie and then baking to make it extra permanent. I know the whole “keep calm and ______” thing is everywhere these days and lots of people are, like, so over it, but this is actually my first time using it and I thought she’d get a kick out of it. So I practiced different fonts and spacing on some scrap paper until I felt comfortable writing on the real thing.

Then I just scrawled it on there with my sharpie! I kind of like the handwritten look.

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I put it in a cool oven and heated it up to 375, then baked for 30 minutes before turning off the oven and letting it cool. I hope it stays!

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I filled the mug with a special little soap and some hand lotion I had in my gift stash and wrapped it up in some pretty tissue paper, then brought Jack by the office with me to give it to her yesterday. I’m pretty sure she was waaaaay more excited about seeing Jack than the gift, but I could tell she liked it and was touched.

I just found out that our flight isn’t leaving for another hour, but as long as Jack is still peacefully sleeping I’m cool. Hopefully he’ll be well-rested, calm, and cheerful on the flight. Fingers crossed!

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Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap

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5 responses to DIY Illustrated Coffee Cup

  1. Love your idea! Simple, thoughtful and from the heart! I am sure she will think of you every time she drinks coffee!

  2. I love handwritten things :)
    If you have any issues with the Sharpie, I’d recommend a Porcelaine pen. It’s what I’ve used and the cups are still perfect almost two years later.

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap April 11, 2013 at 3:44 pm

      I read about porcelain pens, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever use it again. I’m sure I could find a few projects though!

Trackbacks and Pingbacks:

  1. Seven Handmade Gift Ideas That Don’t Suck | Living Well on the Cheap - October 17, 2013

    […] mug-for the friend who loves coffee or tea. You can freehand it with a sharpie like I did here, or use a stencil to apply a monogram or some other design, or paint a rectangle on the side with […]

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