Handmade Mother’s Day – Decorated Mug

22nd February 2018 Kids

This really is as simple as it sounds. However, just because it’s simple does not mean it doesn’t make for a unique and personal gift. Perfect for Mums, Dads and Grandparents alike.

WHAT YOU NEED

• A Mug: any mug will do. I tend to get mine from Wilkos as they have a great basics range where you can pick up plain white cups and plates for less than £1 each. I tend to buy a few at a time and keep them ready for when a pottery gift can work.
• Porcelain Paints: if you look on Pinterest you will see page and pages pottery hacks using sharpies to decorate cups and plates. These do work to a certain extent but not for very long. I learnt the hard way that after a couple of washes anything decorated with a sharpie will flake and wear away. That’s why it’s better to do it right and do it once with porcelain paints. This set from Pebeo were sent to us from Baker Ross and worked perfectly.
• Brushes: unless you use porcelain pens, then you need brushes. I find the separate brushes and paint pots work best for little ones at although they’re a little more messy, they are a lot more fun for them to use.
• A Tablecloth: this can get a little messy so it’s best to have a tablecloth. We literally just use a metre of oilcloth from Messy Me which works perfectly as a little tablecloth on their craft table. It keeps things neat and packs away nicely afterwards. We also have a set of their aprons which we use in all our messy crafts.

WHAT WE DID

To be honest I didn’t do a lot other than try and contain the mess. I literally just passed the mug over to the Bear and let her enjoy decorating it. At some points I tried to make decoration or colour suggestions and was very quickly shot down by a 3-year-old who very much knew her own mind and what she wanted to do.

That included both sparkles and pink!!

It took her around 15 minutes to finish her masterpiece but during that time she was utterly absorbed in what she was doing. It took a little convincing to stop her laying just more and more paint inside the cup so keep that in mind if you don’t want to end up with a cup that is little more than a container for a puddle of paint inside. She had a great time though and is already asking to paint more cups.

The next step was to let it dry and then bake at 150°C/300°F for 35 minutes to fix.

What you are then left with is a unique piece of art that is not only personal, but also practical. Perfect for the mum in your life.

For more handmade gift ideas, check out our post: A Handmade Mother’s Day.

As an added extra, anyone looking to build up their craft stash, then Tippytupps followers can get a whopping 25% off your basket on the Baker Ross website. Just by use discount code VICKI25 at the checkout. Enjoy!!

DISCLOSURE: this post is written with special thanks to both Messy Me and Baker Ross. for supplying some materials for us to play with.