Craft Lightning: Thumbprint Valentine Mug

You asked for it, friends!  Last week on Facebook, bunches of you told me to bring on the Valentine’s Day crafts, so here’s my first new one for you this year!  And not only do I have one for you today, I’m participating in Craft Lightning, so there are other bloggers who are sharing their projects this week too that might inspire you…and all of them take 15 minutes or less to make!  That’s my kind of craft!

 Here’s my quick, cheap, and super-duper-easy idea:

Valentine Thumbprint Mug

Materials:
– blank white mug
– glass or multi-surface paint {I used multi-surface ones from Plaid Crafts}
– your thumbs {or your kiddos’ thumbs}
– paper plate

You can use any style or shape of mug you prefer.  I like this design from Walmart because it’s really inexpensive and has that defined section that works great for a border.

Squeeze a small amount of paint onto a paper plate.  Press your thumb into the paint, then apply to the mug at a diagonal.  Repeat to form a heart.

To make sure my hearts got spaced out appropriately, I started by putting one on either side of the handle.

Then, I turned the handle away from myself and made one more red heart in the center of the mug’s front.

I finished up by repeating those first few steps with other colors of paint.

 It took about five minutes, then I just had to let the paint dry.  Cute, right?  But I thought it would be even cuter with Little Crafter’s thumbs instead of mine, so I let him give it a try.  I was right.  Even more adorable.  The final step is to cure the paint, which you can do by letting it air-dry for 21 days or by heating it in the oven according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  That will make it durable and washable.  Also, always remember that you don’t want food or liquid actually coming in contact with the paint, because although it’s non-toxic, it’s not food safe.

I think this would make an adorable gift for just about anyone!  Just fill it with some candies, and you have a special keepsake for the ones you love!  I do have to admit that these caramel creams are my absolute favorite candy on the planet.  I had an entire bag of them in my Christmas stocking, and now I only have enough to fill this mug part way {there’s a clump of paper towels down in the bottom…shhhhh!}  Yum!

This project cost me less than $2, because the mugs are really inexpensive and I already had the paint in my stash!  Hooray for a gift idea that’s inexpensive, doesn’t take forever to make, and easy enough LC can do it!

Hugs & Glitter,