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Kids Craft Ideas

How to Bake a Painted Mug

How to Bake a Painted Mug to Make it Dishwasher Safe

One of my daughter’s favorite things to do when she was about 4 years old was to make my coffee in the morning before I go downstairs.  She started this routine on her own and it is the best. What a sweetie.  She told me the other day that she wanted to make me a coffee mug. I, of course, obliged and we bought some supplies so I could show her how to bake a painted mug after she was done. Just recently, not only has she made my coffee, she places it on the kitchen table along side of my notebook and pen and my laptop. She even plugs it in! Anyway, here is how we did it!

Here’s What You Need

Time: A few hours

Materials:

This list and instructions contain affiliate links to my recommended products for paint.

  • Ceramic Mug
  • Enamel or Oil Based Paint
  • Paintbrush

 

Equipment:

  • Oven
  • Timer

Watch the YouTube Video

Selecting the Paint

The main reason for baking a painted mug is to make the paint permanent and the mug dishwasher safe.  This tutorial is for ceramic mugs. Consider going to a thrift store for a large and inexpensive selection. You can use oil based paint markers (affiliate link) or oil based paints, or any paint recommended for glass or ceramics. This is also called enamel paint. Enamel paint is oil based and is usually glossy. You can find a great selection of colors at any craft store. If you have doubts, read the label and description. It will usually say, “dishwasher safe”.

Instructions

I laid out some paper and let my daughter unleash her creativity! She is 6 years old and thought this was the coolest craft because of her special morning routine. When she was finished, I followed these easy steps:

  1. Do not preheat the oven because the mug may crack or shatter if it does not gradually heat. Place the freshly painted mug in a cold oven.
  2. Turn the oven onto bake at 360°.
  3. Bake for 30 minutes.
  4. When the 30 minutes is up, turn off the oven, but leave the mug inside. Allow the oven and mug to cool together completely.

As I mentioned, you can now wash the mug in the dishwasher.  So far, we have washed this mug four times and so far so good! Please note that we did not scrub the mug, rather rinsed it and then washed it in the dishwasher.  Avoid using abrasive sponges on the paint.

Is it microwave safe?

The answer is, it depends on your mug. The mug I chose was microwave safe. The paint has been fine in the microwave as well.

Make these with the kids for:

  • Kid’s birthday parties
  • Gift for Mother’s or Father’s Day
  • Library Crafts
  • Christmas gift for Grandparents
  • Church or Girl Scout Troop project

Update: This post was originally published on 07/11/2017 but has since been updated and improved. This mug is still my favorite (5 years later) and has lasted many many dishwasher cycles!

You May Also Like

You may also like these fun kids craft ideas:

  • How to Tie Dye Shirts
  • DIY Doll School Supplies Pencils and Homework
  • DIY Pug Bookmark
  • Airplane Clothespin Craft Video

Like it? Pin it!

I’d love it if you shared this on Pinterest. Thank you in advance!

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18 Comments

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Comments

  1. T Berokoff says

    July 11, 2017 at 3:10 pm

    This is darling beyond words! If this mug doesn’t get broken over the years, I can guarantee you it will be one of
    your price possessions! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      July 11, 2017 at 4:00 pm

      Thank you so much T!! I hope one day she’ll take it to college with her 😉

      Reply
  2. Kelly says

    April 18, 2019 at 6:28 am

    Love the mug! Thanks for the blog!
    I’m just looking at my big solid red coffee mug with one line of white writing (a website address that i don’t care about) wondering if I could paint it 🙂

    Did the paint continue to be permanent or did it come off?
    Is there something you’d do differently if you were to do it again?
    What was the paint that you used (if you recommend it)?

    Thanks again!!

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      April 22, 2019 at 9:21 am

      Hi Kelly! We still have the mug and it has lasted many many washes! The paint still looks the same. Any acrylic paint will work.

      Reply
  3. Cassie says

    May 14, 2019 at 12:51 pm

    What would happen if you bake the mug with dried paint?

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      May 14, 2019 at 6:27 pm

      I think it will be fine.

      Reply
  4. Kayla Woods says

    December 10, 2019 at 11:29 am

    Before baking, did you use a seal on the painted mug? Or would you recommend doing that after baking

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      December 15, 2019 at 10:10 am

      Hi Kayla! There is no need to seal it after painting or after baking. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Tricia says

    June 15, 2020 at 5:29 pm

    Hi! Is the mug a glossy normal
    one before? Or like the plain ceramic ones you would do at a paint your pottery place?

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      June 16, 2020 at 4:21 pm

      It was a glossy mug before and I still have it and it’s lasted many many washes! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Katie says

    August 30, 2020 at 6:45 pm

    Do you bake it for 30 minutes after it reaches 360 or preheat time included?

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      August 31, 2020 at 5:43 am

      Hi Katie! I did it time included. I imagine you can keep it in there for 30 minutes after it is preheated, though. I think both would work.

      Reply
  7. Geri says

    December 8, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    I baked mine as directed and some of the oil paint is still wet. How do I cure it completely?

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      December 15, 2020 at 6:40 am

      That is very strange! Paint shouldn’t take that long to dry. Perhaps the paint is defective?

      Reply
  8. Dina Saccomano says

    January 8, 2021 at 12:33 am

    Is it microwave safe?

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      January 8, 2021 at 5:57 am

      Yes

      Reply
  9. Kelsey says

    April 29, 2021 at 10:25 am

    Would this be able to be done on a glass mug and stay?

    Reply
    • Dinah Wulf says

      May 3, 2021 at 5:38 am

      I haven’t personally tested this, however it should also work on glass.

      Reply

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