With Father’s Day right around the corner (in conjunction with my brother-in-laws birthday, my dad’s birthday and Grandparent’s day…I know, it’s a lot!), I thought I’d try to make things a little cheaper on myself and try some DIY’s for the upcoming special day(s). Plus, I’m learning that everyone enjoys handmade gifts from the kids (bonus for me!). These two DIY projects were fairly inexpensive to make and the kids enjoyed doing them. I’m really excited to see how happy they are giving them as gifts this year.
First up are these DIY mugs. Now I’ve seen these all over Pinterest and I never was sure how to do them. Sure, a sharpie and a mug seems simple enough, but do you know how hard to find a white mug it is? I mean, I probably spent half an afternoon on that part alone! Honestly, when I think about it I should have just spent the $3.99 at Target on their mugs but I was hopeful that I would find something cheaper. I didn’t, everywhere was a bust, Ross, Marshall’s, but I did find a set of two at Kohl’s for $10 on clearance from $34.50. My next stop was over to Home Depot. I’d done enough research through the Pinterest world to figure out regular Sharpies weren’t going to cut it. You need the oil-paint based kind. I found mine again at my local Home Depot (I chose the super colored ones but they also had gold/silver/metallic colors as well). I then made a quick stop into Michael’s and picked up an alphabet pack of stickers, my set had both capital and lowercase letters in it (which was great because I made 4 of these mugs!).
Once I got everything home, it was time to get the toddlers excited, which didn’t take long or much coaxing. I quickly rinsed off the mugs and wiped them down with a little alcohol to get off any dirt or grit that might be on them. I then picked the appropriate letters to spell out “PAWPAW”, which is what the girls call my dad and “DAD” for my husband’s mug (obvi). I also had a giant sticker book with some stars in it that I placed on the mugs as well for added shaping. Next, I just let the kids go to town. I did have to shake up the markers and press down on the tips until the paint started to come out but once they are set up, you are good to go. Each girl rotated colors until the job was complete.
The markers don’t take long to dry to the touch, so once they were easy to handle I just took a pair of tweezers and peeled off the stickers. When the stickers are off you put your mugs in a COLD oven. I say cold because you want the mugs to “cure”. It’s like how you bake bacon in the oven, you want a cold over and let it heat up with the mug inside. I did our mugs at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes total and it seemed to work perfect. I then turned off the oven and let everything cool down. All in all the process takes about two hours but it’s worth it.
I ended up using some old white mugs I had in my cabinets to make another two mugs for my father-in-law and brother-in-law who just became a dad in April. The great thing about these mugs is that they can be used to house other gifts as well. I’m sticking a Starbucks gift card in the one for the BIL and a movie gift card in my FIL’s mug. I found these dope golf socks at Kohl’s and stuffed them inside my dad’s mug as well. You could put candy, little airplane bottles of alcohol, assorted K-Cups, literally anything and they make a great and thoughtful gift!
*Note* I did also take a regular black sharpie and write the kids names on the mugs. I noticed when I baked the mug that the black sharpie sort of became a “vintage/distressed” look so it’s obvious you need the oil-paint based Sharpies to do the mugs. Now the second part of this DIY is these super cool and decorated golf balls. I saw this one on Pinterest as well and thought to myself “Self, your dad is a huge golfer and how cool would it be if when he was golfing he had customized golf balls from his grandkids”? Ummm…pretty damn dope if you ask me! So it was the same thing as the mugs, I gave the kids the golf balls and let them go to town. Now the most expensive part of this was in fact the golf balls (like the mugs). I thought they still sold sets of three golf balls, apparently not. You can only get packs of 12, well at least my dad will have a crap ton of decorated balls to play golf with!
Supplies & Cost
Box of White Golf Balls - $9.99 (Target)
Oil-Paint Based Sharpies - $0 (I had a HD GC but they were $12.97)
I decided not to bake the golf balls, I was worried they might turn brown or burn up because they obviously aren’t made of the same stuff as a ceramic mug. Plus, I figure over time he will lose them so it’s not that big of a deal. I did take a regular black sharpie and mark with an “H” or “S” which golf balls each girl decorated. However, I thought this was a super fun and creative gift for the golf player in your life; whether it’s Father’s Day, a birthday or any holiday.
So there you go! As you can see these were two fairly cheap and fairly easy to make DIY gifts for the dad(s) in your life. I think the most stressful part was when the kids figured out that I had to take the mugs or golf balls away so they could dry or bake in the oven. But once I showed them the finished product they really enjoyed helping me package them up in gift bags. Let me know if you give these a shot or if you do, post a picture below so I can check out your creations! Happy (soon to be) Father’s Day and DIYing!
