Glow in the Dark Halloween Mug

I've been playing around with some glow in the dark acrylic paint and while wandering the aisles at a local Dollar Store I found a plain mug and knew it needed some glow in the dark flair! I decided to paint a face on it for Halloween, it looks quite a bit like Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas and I am just fine with that. I'm especially fine with the overall cost of this project (with coupons I spent about 4 dollars for all the supplies, and additional mugs would only cost an extra dollar each as there was plenty of paint left over.

To make your own glowing Halloween mug you will need:

1 plain mug in color of your choice
DecoArt Glow-in-the-Dark Paint
paintbrush
Extra acrylic paint colors of your choice for mixing (optional)


Start by making sure your mug is clean and dry. Next, mix your acrylic paint. I like the DecoArt glow in the dark paint because you can mix it with other colors in a 1:1 ratio. I wanted a really vibrant glow here, but decided to add in some glittery acrylic paint in gold for this mug. I've tried mixing in other solid colors and it still works, but dulls the glow a little. These glitter paints mix without dulling the glow in the dark paint, and they came in this sample pack for a dollar, great because I didn't need a lot of extra paints but it gives lots of color mixing options.

Next, I painted on my eyes. I did this first because I wanted to base the rest of my face on the size and distance of the eyes. After painting them on to my liking, I put in the nose holes and then the crooked grin.

I put on quite a bit of paint, so to aid in drying evenly I carefully laid the cup on its back, so the face I painted was pointed at the ceiling. If I hadn't done that the paint would have eventually pooled at the bottom of the eyes and possibly ran down the side of my mug. Another option would be to flip the cup every so often while drying so that it rests on the lip and then base of the mug.

*Note: While this paint works great on glass surfaces, I recommend hand washing to give your mug the longest life. I also recommend letting the paint sit out to dry for at least a week before you use and wash it at all.

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Painted Tiles: Alice in Wonderland

First I'm using paint chips, now I'm using tiles. I really never shut off my brain, so when I was wondering through the hardware store, naturally I thought I could find some awesome crafty finds. I really enjoy using my enamel paints, so I'm always looking for new ways to incorporate them into projects, and until I moseyed on down the tile aisle it had never crossed my mind. These tiles are a steal at 16 cents a piece, and come in a white and off white color.

"What are you going to do with a bunch of painted tiles?"

Well, obviously, you could still use it to tile something if you wanted. This little Alice in Wonderland would be great in a series of tiles, and you could definitely use it to tile a border in a child's room, or if you didn't already have the best playhouse ever, you quickly could. You could also attach a hook to the back with some epoxy and use it as wall art, or even frame it. Have a friend that really likes tea? Make some more Mad Hatter/Tea Party themed tiles and glue either cork or foam to the back and voila! Coasters.

My image is Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I made it by placing contact paper on my tile, cutting out the silhouette with an Xacto knife and applying my paint first in one direction (Left to Right) and then the other (up and down). I let it dry in between coats to get full coverage. I forgot to go back with my Xacto knife and score the paint around the edges of my silhouette, so when I pulled off the contact paper, it removed some of the paint on one edge, leaving a rough edge. I actually think this looks better since she is "falling through space" so I didn't go back and touch up the edges. If you decide to try out using contact paper or other stencils, I would recommend either removing the paper while the paint is still wet to avoid this issue, or going back after the paint is dry and cutting around the edges again with your knife.

Then, do as you see fit with your tile. I will be posting another project I made for my husband with this method shortly. It can definitely fit any theme, and you don't need to be able to draw if you just use silhouettes that you can print out and fit onto a tile to trace around.

Glass Garden Markers

As promised, here is another idea for making your own garden markers. There will be a couple more fun ideas for more of these soon, as well. This garden marker is made from a glass tile (the same kind I use to make magnets). I used some of my favorite glass paint that you cure in the oven, and just painted on my herb name. If you get your glass paint in pen form, this would certainly look a little bit neater than mine, but I used what I already had on hand.

These are great for me, as I have my entire garden indoors on my windowsill. However, if you have a large outdoor garden I would suggest finding river rocks that are a bit larger and painting them with your veggie names and sticking them at the end of your rows. You could use regular paint if you do this, and just cover the entire rock with polyurethane (though many paints will be just fine if you skip that step).

Don't want to put all this effort into your garden markers? Later this afternoon I will have a super easy garden marker that uses only colorful paper, pens and contact paper coating!

Crafty Weekend

My friend, Olivia, came over today because she wanted to make some painted glasses like I had done in February. Since I can not sit idly by while other people are being crafty, I made these two new glasses. The favorite for me is definitely the squid, only heightened by the fact I used purple and yellow on it which makes it look way more awesome than I could have ever dreamed.

It took me a little while to finish due to all the curves, tentacles and whatnot. Also, I mixed some of the paints into a more varied tonal range this time around. For those wondering, yes these glass paints actually mix quite well. Not often do you get this much versatility out of a 4 dollar paint set. The paints really appear to have almost watercolor like qualities when you look at them through your finished glass. To add the tiny spots to my squid, I used a sewing pin and dipped it into the paint, then lightly tapped it on the glass where I wanted the spots.

This octopus is based on one from the front of a "thank you" note another friend had given me. Believe me, nothing says thank you like a watercolor Octopus (well done, Kim!). I can foresee myself adding to the underwater menagerie again soon, as I am a fan of using all of the brighter colors in my paint set (maybe a nice green and blue sea turtle is in my future?). Another super fun day of crafting was had, to be sure.

Hand Painted Glassware

These glasses were hand painted by me as a housewarming gift for a friend. I had never painted on glass before (I didn't realize special paint for just such a process was even made). However, I had a friend here in Portland make me a mug with a mustache painted on it and had to go looking for this amazing paint to try it myself. I decided to put those years of art school to good use and do some woodland creatures on my glasses.

The paint I found came in a little set of 8 colors from the company Folk Art(they make mostly acrylic paints). I was pleasantly surprised that the whole set was only about 4 dollars, so this is a project that anyone can try without having to invest a lot of money. Also, any glass will do. You could go to a yard sale or thrift store and pick up super cheap glasses, vases, old jars, etc. The important thing is that you clean the surface thoroughly with alcohol and allow it to dry before painting. If you are not sure where you can find the paint in your area, I found some online with a huge assortment of colors, including chalkboard paint, here.