Saw It, Pinned It, Did It: Sharpie Mugs

I have seen these sharpie mugs done on Pinterest and have pinned a few ways that different people have attempted to create them. I loved this state idea so much {inspired by Stephanie over at A Beautiful Mess!} NY is for my sister who is away at school in NYC and PA is, well, is for... guess who.

 

 These were what I ended up with:

love them!

I was not nearly as pleased with the results as I had hoped, but I was still excited to give my sister her mug so that she'll be able to drink her hot tea and think of me! Also, I'm happy to share my pros and cons of attempting this Pinterest project in case anyone has been wanting to try it as well!

 

 

So, here goes:

 Step 1: Purchase yourselves some porcelain mugs. Of course I got mine from "the Pier." :)

Step 2: Gather the rest of your supplies: Sharpies and an eyeliner.

 

Step 3: Interrupt craft time with a delicious breakfast made by your wonderful boyfriend.

Step 4: Practice drawing your states! I honestly had no idea that NY state looked like that... or that NYC is literally in the worst place to put a "heart" on that whole state, haha.

 

Step 5: Use the eyeliner to pre-draw your states onto your mugs (in case you mess up, like i did).

**I wasn't a huge fan of this step and that is probably because 1- I didn't gently wipe my eyeliner off after I went over it with the sharpie like I was supposed to, and 2- because I probably should have used an actual pencil eyeliner instead.**

Step 6: Use your sharpies to draw on your states and any extra doodles you so wish.

 

Steps 7 & 8: Allow your super creative {and extremely independent} daughter to draw her own little design... and write her name all. by. herself! And just sit back in awe of how much she's grown up already and semi-freak-out when you realize she'll be FOUR years old tomorrow!!... OR if you don't have children, you can clearly skip this whole section.

Step 9: Put the mugs right on the rack of your oven and then turn your oven on to 425* and let it heat up with the mugs inside. Let them bake for 45 minutes. **Some instructions say to only let them bake at 350* for 30 minutes but I was hoping the 425* for 45 mins. would help to keep it more permanent.** Then, when they are done, let them cool down in the oven before removing them.

Results:

- I found that the colored sharpies did NOT work well at all with this project. They faded like crazy {see the above before and after pictures of Peyton's mug}. The red hearts on the other two mugs also faded to a weird pale orange color as well. I ended up going back over them with the orange sharpie (which seemed to turn more of a red-orange in the baking process). So, if you're going to do this project, I would recommend using only black!

- Peyton absolutely loves using hers for milk or water simply because she "made it all by herself". :)

- I am not sure if my baking them for longer and at a higher temperature was what affected the fading, but I would recommend starting at just 350* for 30 minutes and then if they haven't faded but aren't quite staying permanent, I would maybe try to bump up the temp. and time.

- My sister loved her mug! Even if it washes off over time, the sentiment is still there :)

 

Linking up with Katie and Stephanie!: