This is a quirky little DIY project I put together three Monday nights ago in front of the TV in our old house.
It feels odd to publish this now because we no longer live there, so the photos show our previous walls and shelves. The timing is close to the holidays, and I thought this could still be a fun last-minute gift idea. Better late than never, right?
The other reason I call this project weird is that I didn’t use food-safe materials. I grabbed a silver Sharpie I had on hand — the same one I used to decorate these ornaments — so these mugs aren’t safe for hot drinks or regular dishwashing. They’re ideal as decorative vases for flowers on a windowsill, pen holders in an office, or containers for cotton balls or q-tips in a bathroom. When we were packing up shelves before our move, I found three extra mugs that had been overlooked. Instead of donating them, I doodled on them for fun before deciding what to do with them.
My original plan was to sketch on the mugs, label the bottoms “not for food use,” and let them go to charity. But I liked the results so much I brought them to our new house. They’ll work nicely in our office holding pens, pencils, and paperclips, and I can use them seasonally to hold wrapped candy canes — the wrappers make this safe despite the marker.
How I made them: there wasn’t any complicated process — I simply drew on the mugs. One features rows of hearts wrapped around the surface, another has playful scale-like wiggles that resemble ribbon strips, and the third has a whimsical tea bag motif drawn on both the outside and the inside.
The tea bag idea came from a similar mug I saw recently at Urban Outfitters and decided to recreate in my own style. The design itself took only a few seconds to draw. If you want to replicate this project and make the mugs safe for food and washing, choose a food-safe ceramic marker or paint pen and follow the manufacturer’s curing instructions — that will make these quick, handmade designs far more functional as drinkware.
All in all, this was a spur-of-the-moment craft that turned into a small, charming set of mugs. They’re imperfect, personal, and cheerful — perfect for brightening a desk or gifting to someone who appreciates handmade things (with a note that they’re decorative unless made with food-safe supplies). Happy mug-drawing!