Painted Mugs

If you're a coffee or tea lover like me, you probably also have a favorite mug to drink said coffee or tea out of. My favorite mug is this one because not only is it awesome, I also painted it myself.

A few years ago, I spotted this adorable DIY painted mug on Pinterest and knew I had to try my hand at making myself a set. This is a perfect, inexpensive DIY project because you only need two things: mugs and paint. A bottle of paint is $2-3 and you can find plain mugs at most dollar or thrift stores for $1 or less, so you really can't go wrong here. We used black Americana Gloss Enamels paint and plain white mugs that we picked up at Salvation Army for 99 cents apiece.


Here's what you do!
- Wash and dry your mugs thoroughly before painting.
- Paint your mug in any pattern you want! I applied my paint directly from the bottle, using the fine tip bottle cap. (Note: I've had this bottle of paint for awhile and if I recall correctly, it didn't have a fine tip bottle cap when I purchased it, so I swapped the cap out with a different bottle of paint I had on hand. JSYK.)


- I painted my mugs pretty slowly, taking a lot of breaks to watch Gilmore Girls. I find that between trying to hold the mug still with one hand and squeeze the paint bottle with the other, my hands start to get shaky if I try to paint too much at once. Slow and steady.
- Once your mugs are painted, let them dry for 48 hours.
- Place your dried mugs in a cold oven, then set the temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn off the oven and let the mugs cool inside with the oven door open.
- Once your mugs are completely cooled, you're ready to use 'em!

The directions on the paint bottle say that baking your mugs will make them dishwasher safe, however, that's a risk I'm not personally willing to take. I prefer to hand wash my mugs, just in case.


Anyone else have fun with Gloss Enamels paint before? I love it... I've also used it to decorate votives. The possibilities are endless!

Sarah & Nick