Pepper Design Blog

Handmade Gifts for the Coffee Lovers!

Here is an easy gift idea that was inspired by a friend of mine who makes personalized bride & groom sharpie mugs as wedding gifts (so creative). I had a few white mugs left over from this chalkboard project and a few sharpies in fun colors, so Liv and I drew out (and painted) some fun designs to play around.

My favorites ended up being Liv’s gold sharpie marker creations and my geometric painted mugs. So easy! A great handmade gift for teachers (filled with treats) on a student’s last day of school, or for dads this Father’s Day.

Here’s how we made it happen.

I preheated the oven to 200 degrees and set the sharpie mugs inside for a couple of hours. Then I turned off the oven and waited until the mugs were cool enough to remove with bare hands, this left me with a permanent design on the mug.

For the gold mugs, I turned to my favorite metallic paint and used painters tape to mark out a geometric shape. The mugs each received 3 or so coats.

To capture that seamless line, score the edge of the painter’s tape with a utility knife (just like we did here).

Boom, perfect line.

Repeat with any other favorite colors, I used a teal acrylic as well. Baking the painted mugs didn’t make the paint any more permanent so I wouldn’t put these guys in the dishwasher but would hand wash instead. Also, be sure to not paint inside the mug.

Coffee lovers unite!

PS More handmade gift ideas shared here. And more Father’s Day gifts right here!

Handmade Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: Chalk It Up

Yesterday I shared a few hand painted gift ideas for the lovely ladies in our lives (and last week a round up of non-handmade gifts), and today I have a DIY painted gift of a different variety. This time my gift is made by me rather than Liv (exacto knives and boring black paint are no fun for toddlers), but I know that she will totally adore covering the mug bases in various chalk formations.

I found the idea on Pinterest – you can find some of the inspiration on this board.

Materials include: white ceramic mugs (mine are from the dollar store), porcelain chalkboard paint, a sponge brush, painter’s tape, exacto/utility knife and chalk.

The process is so very simple: tape off your to-be-painted areas with painter’s tape, cover the non-taped areas of your coffee cup with three thin coats of chalkboard paint (but not on the inside – I’m guessing no on digesting this stuff), turn upside down and allow sufficient drying time in between each paint layer.

Super helpful hint: use an exacto knife to create a nice smooth break following the bottom edge of your painter’s tape before removing or else you will end up with flaky, rough edges.

I used this chalkboard pencil (originally designed for seamstresses but super for accurate and pretty lettering) for drawing on the base of my cups.

I wouldn’t necessarily trust the paint in the dishwasher but hand washing with soapy water should be just fine. You could always go the super safe route and make pretty little vases or planters with the same technique!

PS I tried this out with regular chalkboard paint since I have a ton on hand (even baking it as I’ve seen on Pinterest) but ended up with messy, flaky paint. That might be an okay solution for vases and whatnot that won’t be used on a regular basis though.

Oh, and do paint the bottom of the mug for secret messages!

Picture me trying not to show my laughing mug behind my little mug…

Here’s those links once again for a couple of Liv’s painted Mother’s Day gifts and for for the non-handmade gift ideas!

Handmade Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: Perty & Painted

Liv and I spent some time this weekend working on a few handmade Mother’s Day gifts. I thought I’d share the first round with you today!

Our theme for this year’s gifts is clearly leaning towards all things paint now that I’m looking back… painted candles and candle holders, mugs and glasses, vases and framed pictures, you name it. It’s been fun to take everyday objects and spice them up with a little handmade love. Especially Liv’s handmade love.

This first project was easy peasy but I LOVE how the candle holders came out. We used Ikea TINDRA candles in vanilla – which I absolutely adore and constantly have a back up supply on hand – to transform into mini canvases. Actually these burn through really quickly (way to quickly) but keeping the heavy duty glass cup around is a great way to turn this project into a unique vase, whiskey glass (just don’t put it through the dish washer with acrylic paint on it) or flower pot (how pretty with a succulent!).

The label comes off so easily making this a pretty candle to keep out all of the time, and an easy one to decorate.

We focused on mint green, raspberry pink and white as our paint colors of choice, and then Liv got busy!

A bristled paintbrush helped to create the splotched effect.

While we had our paints out, Liv also painted white pieces of construction paper for framing.

Love my abstract painting! Good thing she made a few so I’ll have a couple to give away… I’m having trouble parting with any of her gifts.

Since we already owned the acrylic paint, these gifts came in at about $2 for each candle and $5 for each framed print (the walnut RIBBA frame is also from Ikea).

More handmade ideas to come, and here’s a link to last week’s line up of store bought or *purchased* gift ideas.

All gift idea boards can be found right here and all posts tagged with ‘Mother’s Day’ right here!