I thought these DIY mugs turned out so cute… that’s right, I said cute…because while Murder by Poison is certainly a potentially disturbing topic… I assume no one would be obvious enough to label your coffee or tea with the instrument of death they plan to use…. hmmm, or would they?… which makes these mugs have a bit of dark whimsy. Who doesn’t love dark whimsy!?
I am wildly fascinated by the Victorian era, and Murder by Poison happened to be wildly popular during that era, so it should come as no surprise that I find those old poisons intriguing. Yeah, yeah.. call the authorities… I have no doubt that I am already on some watch list somewhere thanks to all of the macabre research I do!!
Ever since I created that DIY Arsenic Pitcher, I have had my eyes peeled waiting for a bit of inspiration to do some more Poison inspired projects. I happened to be walking through a thrift store when I came upon this set of matching white coffee mugs. I remembered back to the DIY Deaths Head Moth Book Stand I made. While I really liked working with the waterslide decal to transfer an image, it had it’s limitations. The image transferred best to a white surface. Since most of my projects are black, these decals are hard for me to use…. and then I saw the coffee mugs! A light bulb went off.
White coffee mugs are a dime a dozen in thrift stores… and they are cheap – mine were 55 cents a piece!… so you have absolutely no excuse to not try out this DIY! I chose these particular mugs because of their wide flat surface… the flatter the surface, the easier it is to apply the decal. I am an avid tea drinker, and my husband is an avid coffee drinker, so I wanted something we’d both be able to use.
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Here’s what you’ll need:
- Light colored Tea Cup or Coffee Mug
- Waterslide Decal Paper
- Printer
- Polycrylic Clear Spray
or Acrylic Coating Spray
Tweezers or Micro Pliers
- Bowl of Water
or 
Tweezers or 1. Select a word for your project. Obviously, I used the names of Poisons, but you could choose just about anything.
2. Type the word into whatever editing program you are comfortable with and resize the image to fit the surface of your project.
3. Print the image on the glossy side of the decal paper. I have an ink jet printer, so the following steps are specific to ink jet. If you have a laser printer, you can follow the directions on the waterslide decal package, and skip a few steps.
4. Let dry completely. This is critical. Do not touch it… just let it dry. The ink easily comes off of the paper if it’s not dry… just a fingerprint will lift the ink. In fact, I printed several of the same image on one page, just in case one got damaged accidentally.
5. Using the polycrylic or acrylic, spray the image.
6. Let dry completely! You may use a hair dryer for this step if you need to speed up the process.
7. Repeat with the spray two-three more times, letting the paper dry completely between each spray.
8. Once the decal has at least 3 layers of polycrylic or acrylic, and is completely dry, you are ready to make the transfer.
9. Cut the decal out of the paper, trimming 1/8″ or less around the image.
10. Place in a bowl of lukewarm water for up to 20 seconds. Pay close attention to this step, and have your pliers ready. If you leave the decal in the water for too long, it will begin to curl, and become difficult to manage. Watch for the decal to begin to become separated from the backing. As soon as you see this happen, remove the entire image.
11. Immediately place on your cup, and slide the backing off. You may need to smooth out some bubbles… but be very gentle…. the ink will still come off if not handled carefully.
12. Allow to dry completely. In fact, as days pass these decals become more & more permanent. But please note… these are still decals, so I would not run the mugs through a dish washer, and take special care when hand washing… you wouldn’t want to rub the ink right off!
Now that the cups are complete… go make this DIY Gothic Tea Pot.. and serve up your own poisonous concoction! Enjoy!!
LOVE these. I really like used waterslide decal paper, used it for my Ouija tray. Loving the blog, by the way; so glad to have found you via Instagram. Sue ~ @SuzyHomemakerUK
Thanks so much Sue!! I love image transfer projects! Always looking for new methods…. I’m working on something new right now I’m hoping will be up on the blog in the next week or two. Time to work overtime with Halloween around the corner! 🙂
So glad you found me too!