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Learn how to DIY personalized mugs and tea cups with vinyl – it’s easy to do with professional results! You can make these adorable cups easily with my free cut files and be sipping your favorite drink in no time. Thanks to Tazo Tea for sponsoring this post, which also contains affiliate links that help to support this blog.
Life has been busy lately, and I have been trying to find ways to get everything done (or at least most of it – does anyone ever finish their to-do list??) while maintaining my sanity. It is no easy task, but I have found that adding in little breaks throughout the day to be really helpful.
I mean, we all need a little happy in our day, right? Spending some time playing with my son, doing some stretching, taking a dance break (totally recommend!), or making myself a little cup of tea helps me to find the energy to keep checking items off my list.
And the only thing to make this whole situation better are some cute DIY personalized mugs, right? I definitely think they up the happy factor. Those little “hot stuff” mugs make me smile every time I see them.
These mugs are easy to make if you have an electronic cutting machine like my Silhouette. Even if you don’t, you can absolutely cut designs from vinyl with scissors or a craft knife and apply it the same way. I will walk you through all the steps to making your own custom, professional-looking mugs. Ready? Let’s do this!
Of course there are different ways to personalize mugs or tea cups, but I am going with vinyl for this project because it makes it really easy to get professional-looking results.
Adhesive vinyl may be a bit intimidating or scary if you haven’t ever used it before, but it really is not that difficult to work with. Just think of it as a sheet of sticker paper! Stickers aren’t scary right? Haha… okay, let’s make some awesome DIY personalized mugs!
For a full, step-by-step guide to working with adhesive vinyl, check out my beginner’s guide to adhesive vinyl HERE.
The first step to decorating your cups is to cutting out the design from the vinyl. Download the SVG file of your choice from the supply list above and open it in your software. Then send it to the machine and let it cut for you. If you don’t have a Silhouette or Cricut, this design might be a bit too complicated to cut by hand, but you can absolutely cut out other designs using scissors or a craft knife.
When your design is done cutting, it’s time to remove the excess vinyl (the stuff around your design that you don’t want transferred to the mug). This process is often referred to as weeding.
Because this design is a delicate (some of those lines are a little thin), I decided to do reverse weeding, which makes things a bit easier. Don’t worry! I will walk you through each step!
All done with the weeding! Not too bad right? Now we are ready to move that vinyl design over to our cup.
You could just peel up your design at this point and stick it straight on your mug, but it is pretty difficult to get it on straight and wrinkle free that way. Instead, I recommend using the “hinge method,” which has a few more steps but usually gets you a really great application.
Start by putting the vinyl backing back onto your design, shiny side down. This will make it easier to carefully position the design on the mug.
Let the adhesive cure for at least 24 hours before washing. I recommend hand washing to keep your cups looking pretty as long as possible.
And that’s it! Your cup is all done! Pretty simple for such a professional look, right?
Finally, fill your cute cup with your favorite tea, coffee or hot cocoa, and sip joyfully, hot stuff! You deserve it! ?
I hope this post has showed you that vinyl projects don’t have to be intimidating! If you want to learn more tips and techniques for working with vinyl, I have a great new resource! My new Craftsy course, Silhouette Saavy: Venture into Vinyl. It’s an online video course that will teach you everything you need to know to make vinyl projects with your Silhouette. We make everything from large wall decals to t-shirts to an etched mirror, and I walk you through each step.
That’s it for today! Happy Making!
Check out more Vinyl Projects here:
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