A DIY tutorial for a dishwasher safe coffee mug project using DecoArt Dishwasher-Safe Decou-Page
Hello! I'm now part of the DecoArt Americana Helping Artists Program and I want to share my first project with you.

I have a drawing my daughter made for me on January, 2015 and it is one of my favorite. It's a small cat head with a bow she made for me because she knows I love Tuxedo Cats. She drew it, cut it and gave it to me and I pasted it on one side of the computer.
It's been there for a year now and I'm getting worried about loosing it, and I started looking for ways to preserve it and keep looking at it without framing it, and I came up with an idea: I'll make a coffee mug with it!
Did you know there's a product that you can use to paste any paper or fabric to ceramic? I didn't! There are so many new products out there that is almost impossible to know them all. But searching for new products on the DecoArt website I came across this:
Ok, I said, let's give it a try. So I prepared my materials and started working on it.

You will need:
- Ceramic Mugs
- Rubbing Alcohol and a paper towel
- Fabric Scraps
- Scissors
- A brush
- Dishwasher-Safe Decou-Page™

Start by cleaning your mug with rubbing alcohol and a paper towel.
Make sure you remove all dirt and grease from it, so that you get a nice clean surface to work with.

Cut your fabric scraps in any design you want. I kept it simple and made stripes to go on the top and bottom parts.

Apply Dishwasher-Safe Decou-Page™ to the mug and add the fabric. Make sure your fabric is completely soaked and remove the excess working from the center to the sides.
Add the fabric to the bottom too.

The drawing I wanted to showcase is very small, so I added some more fabric.

Make sure you get Decou-page in every corner and use the excess to cover the fabric.

I added two stripes of fabric to the sides of the cat and put some Decou-page on the drawing to make it easier to handle while positioning and gluing it to the mug.

Put your drawing in place and add more Decou-page on top.
Let it dry for about 2 hours and give it another coat, wait for about 2 or 3 hours and then give it a last coat, making sure there is no fabric or paper not soaked by the glue.
Now all you have to do is wait for 14 days for it to fully cure and you will have a coffee mug ready to enjoy for years to come.
My daughter got so excited to see her artwork in my mug!
It was so easy that I got carried away and made another one.

This time I used paper from an old book and some Alice In Wonderland cards I had.

In this one I even covered the handle.

And here's the final result.
I can't wait to go to the dollar store and buy more mugs. I have to try this technique with some of my work. Maybe a big sugar or flour container? I'll share it with you when I make it.
7 comments
Will try it and will keep you posted. Thanks so much for the inspiration.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! Can’t wait to see what you do.
Martha, the mug is still looking good! Give it a try :)
Your work looks fantastic! thanks so much for sharing.
Curious how does the mugs look now?
Just want to know how effective is the product.
Martha
This is so interesting! I love it! Both came out so well.
Awesome suggestion! My mind is flipping with ideas to share with grandkids! ?