I did a lot more handmade gifts this year than I have in the past. Since my son is four now, he is a great helper with little projects which made for some special, sentimental gifts.
With some inexpensive mugs and Martha Stewart’s new craft paints we made a few varieties of mug gifts for family and friends. These are the same paints Plaid sent me to try and that I used for my Baker’s Rack Revamp and my Snarky Christmas Canisters (disclosure HERE). I use these paints all the time!
Since the new Martha paints from Plaid are top-rack dishwasher safe, these are actually usable mugs. The directions say to first wipe the surface of the dishware with rubbing alcohol and then to let the paint cure for a few weeks before using. No baking or heat-setting necessary!
We used the same technique that we used for the Finger Painted Lyric Art on the mugs we made for my parents. My son calls my parents “Guy” and “Gi,” so I applied those names on the mugs with dollar store wall decal letters. Then I let my son go to town on the mugs with the paints. The MS paints are also non-toxic, so they are safe for little ones to use.
After he was finished I peeled the wall decals off to reveal the names in the negative space! I should have peeled the stickers off a bit sooner. The paint had already begun to dry, so some of the paint peeled off around the edges. Live and learn.
He also painted a mug for his preschool teacher. Her whole name wouldn’t fit on the mug, so he just painted freestyle. We packaged the mug up with some chocolates and instant Starbucks coffee (which is the best instant I have ever had – and nobody’s paying me to say that!).
While he was busy painting those mugs, I made up a special mug for my cousin’s husband Mathew (yes, only one “t”). He is a mustache-enthusiast, so I painted him a “Matstache” mug. Silly, and fairly simple.
I made versions of these Christmas ornaments for the ladies in family and packaged them up with some easy t-shirt circle scarves. I completely forgot to take pictures of any of them though. Oops.
Are you a handmade gift maker or a store-bought gift giver?
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