Decor & DIY

DIY Valentine’s Sharpie Mugs

There’s a new trend in town! Sharpies! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t feel out… My dear friendy Liezel introduced me to this new crafty trend and I am in LOVE! Whilst pinning Sharpie projects to Pinterest I stumbled across a blog called ‘Your Homebased Mom‘. The blog is owned and run by Leigh Anne Wilkes and features lovilee recipes, party, craft and home décor ideas.


Leigh Anne gave us permission to re-post this lovilee DIY Valentine’s Sharpie Mugs project in time for you lovilees to get crafty for Valentines’! You are able to find these Sharpie pens from various suppliers on-line, but they are also available at most Game Stores, although not in all colours. As with all craft projects, it is VERY IMPORTANT to read the instructions to do a craft project sucessfully.


DIY SHarpie Mugs

Over Thanksgiving I did a fun little craft project with a few of  my nieces & nephews.  We decorated mugs with gold and silver sharpies.  An idea I saw on Pinterest of course!  They loved it.  Then for Christmas a cute friend gave me a mug decorated with gold polka dots done with a Sharpie. The mug was filled with hot chocolate mix and a candy cane.  So cute.


It got my brain thinking and I decided that it would be fun to make some Valentine mugs. Mugs that could be filled with candy or other fun treats. It would make a great gift for a teacher, a friend, neighbour etc. I experimented on various mugs with various pens.


The pens:


Sharpie Mug

I tried three different types of pens in my experiment + here’s what I found:

  • A red Sharpie – it works but it will fade some during the baking process, the red gets lighter. From what I read it is the red/pink colours that fade.  The black I
  • A red oil based Sharpie – do not use if you plan on putting the item in the dishwasher.  I put my cute mug in the dishwasher and the mug came out totally white again – the design disappeared.
  • A red permanent Bic Pen – it did not fade but the color did change somewhat to a little more burgundy color.


I decided that the red Sharpie was the best choice if I wanted a more true red color, even if it did fade a bit. If you want a more burgundy red go with the Bic pen.  They both held up well in the dishwasher too.


The decorating process:
If you have cute handwriting you can write directly on the mug.  I don’t so I printed out the words I wanted in a nice font.


Sharpie Mug

On the back of the words use a pencil and colour over the area to be traced.


Sharpie Mug

Tape the words onto the mug where you want them.


Sharpie Mug

Using a pen trace the words onto the mug.  The design will transfer, it will be very light but still readable.


Sharpie Mug

Use your Sharpie to trace over words and allow the mug to dry 12-24 hours.


I cleaned off the mug with some rubbing alcohol, inside and around the areas where the writing is to remove any residual dirt and marker that may have gotten on it.


Sharpie Mug

The baking process:
Place mugs into a cold oven.  Turn oven onto 425 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.  Most of the directions I found on line had you bake your mug only 30 minutes but this blog found that 425, starting in a cold oven worked the best. So that’s what I did.


Sharpie Mug

Remove from oven and allow to cool.  If there are some dark marks on the mug, after it has cooled you should be able to remove them with a cloth or a mildly abrasive sponge.


Sharpie Mug

The next step is to fill them with goodies!


Sharpie Mug

Some hot chocolate mix or a gift card would be fun to put inside too.


Sharpie Mug

Leigh Anne is part of a group of talented bloggers that does a blog hop every now and then. The Jnnuary theme this year was hearts. Here with what projects her fellow bloggers brought to the table:


January-Blog-Hop-Collage-e1389209934393

Project credits:

  1. Landeelu sharing an Easy Valentine’s Day Wire Heart Garland
  2. Little Miss Momma sharing an Easy Heart Envelope Pillow
  3. Lolly Jane sharing Glitter Heart Valentine Decor
  4. Or So She Says shares Origami Heart Love Notes
  5. Simply Kierste sharing Heart Bunting Countdown
  6. Six Sisters Stuff sharing Peanut Butter Chocolate Hearts
  7. Thirty Handmade Days sharing Printable Valentine’s Day Bookmarks
  8. Your Homebased Mom sharing DIY Valentine’s Sharpie Mugs
  9. Capturing Joy sharing a Heart Carved Tree Stump
  10. eighteen25 sharing Heart Gift Tags


We would love to hear what you think of this lovilee project! Visit Your Homebased Mom for more lovilee craft ideas!


Follow our Sharpie board on Pinterest here.


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Karen Kelly is the founder and editor of lovilee.co.za. She is a creative at heart and passionate about all things DIY. Learn more about her here and connect with her on social media on the links below.

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