This post and photos may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through any link I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
It rarely gets cold here but on the first day that it did I found myself with a mug of something warm almost all day long. And if you wonder what I mean by cold that’s a rainy 45-ish here in South Texas which would be considered quite pleasant in some of the areas where you’re reading from right now :)
I have found myself truly missing the cold weather and occasional snow. It sure didn’t hurt that I worked from home and I just watched the snow fall and pile up from the comfort of my office desk situated perfectly on top of a heat vent. Now my Mimmie tried to remind me, when I said I wished I had the snow that she had that I needed to remember all of the times my electricity went out and how miserable that business was.
But, as I write this the chilly weather has passed and it’s currently 74° but I’m still sipping on my wonderful, amazing coffee, or as I like to think of it, my daily hug in a mug :)
Know a lover of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa? This is a lovely little gift that you can easily add to. Perhaps a sleeve of fancy hot cocoa or tasty, homemade stirring spoons, yum! Let’s get after it, shall we?
For this project you will need:
- Solid color mugs
- Metallic gold heat transfer vinyl
- Craft/mini iron or regular iron
- Towel
- Silhouette cutting machine
- Cut file
Appropriately size and cut your “Hug in a Mug” file out of glitter or foil HTV and weed the design. I went with Siser Easyweed Metallic from Expressions Vinyl. p.s. with a little bit of testing I found that plain ol’ smooth HTV doesn’t stay on after running through the dishwasher.
Wash your mug with hot, soapy water, dry it super well and then go over it with rubbing alcohol to make sure it is especially clean.
Depending on the curve of your mug you might be able to smack down the vinyl straight onto the mug. Mine was very, very curved so I had to cut the top and bottom text apart, and then trim my bottom piece between the “u” and the “g” so that it would appropriately follow the shape of the mug.
Using a mini iron, or a regular iron apply high heat with significant pressure to the HTV. The mini iron takes a bit longer but it is easier to see how and where you’re applying the heat. A large iron, like you use on clothes, can get hotter and therefore work faster but it’s more difficult with the curve of the mug to tell exactly where you’re applying the heat.
Working with a hand towel is advisable as the mug can and will get very, very hot. Use the towel, when necessary, to protect your hands from the heat. And please, please be smart about this… hot things burn and that means you need to pay close attention to what you are doing.
As you go you’ll need to peel up the plastic to be able to tell where the HTV has successfully bonded. Be very careful to not pull with too much force or you might mess up your design. Easy does it, Margaret.
Even when an area has successfully adhered do NOT completely remove the clear plastic sheet from the HTV. If you do and accidentally touch that uncovered area with your iron it’s gonna be a real mess when the vinyl melts onto your iron (trust me).
And in case you’re wondering who my cat craft assistant was for this project, it was Maybelline :)
Once the vinyl properly bonds to the mug in all places you can remove the clear plastic and bask in the glory that is your new, amazing coffee mug. What? Was it supposed to be a gift? No worries, you can always make another! :)
Hi there! Love your mug! Is it dishwasher safe?
It is dishwasher safe but over time the heat and moisture it will degrade the adhesive. If you want it to last a really long time I’d suggest hand washing.
Love it . I have an older Cricut and would love to have a new one but can’t get it right now. I got a used one to start with.
Cracking up because my name is Margaret :)
Just got my first cricut today and I’m totally doing this!
Can you use any HTV or does it have to be metallic
Glitter and metallic work best!
Just curious…is it microwave safe? I really want to try this!
So I got the prettiest mug from the store and it had gold flecks on it from paint and that sucker sparked up like you wouldn’t even believe. Since you have to use glitter or metallic HTV for this to work I’d be so freaked out about putting it in the microwave after that. The glitter might be okay but if you went metallic like I did I’d not chance it!
Do you know how this htv would hold up on a glass that would get cold instead of hot? (Iced tea instead of coffee)
It works just fine! I always break my glasses and so I use this mug for everything hot or cold!
Love the font! Which one did you use?
It’s called Zooky Squash. It’s a pay font but a fun one!
How has it held up a year later? I have someone asking me to make them for a gift but I’m afraid to do it and it come off as soon as they wash it.
It’s done really well with hand washing, though you do have to pay attention to not get too harsh when scrubbing. I had a guest use it and start picking at it and and then actually peeling the vinyl away on those little starburst shapes on the other side of the word “in”, so it is possible but when I mentioned it wasn’t supposed to come off I got a “well it really didn’t want to.” The areas that are still there are still there and still holding up to hand washing.
Oh my gosh, who does that?? LOL
A little kid :) I probably would have wanted to see if I could have made it come off when I was a kid, too!
Is there a specific type of mug you need to use? What I mean is, do you have to buy from a craft store or can I use a mug right out of my cupboard or one I found at a thrift store?
Any mug should work as well as any other. I buy the cheapest white ones from Walmart, Target or the Dollar Tree!
Did you use a telfo sheet or a cloth under the iron?
I did but I took it away to make the photos easier to understand.
Is this HTV the same as what you would use on fabric?
Yes, the very same! :)
Has anyone tried this with the popular Rtic type metal tumbler?
I have not. If you give it a go be sure to be really careful. I’m sure that metal will heat up something wicked! Let us know how it goes if you experiment?
Hi!, I loved your mug!!! I must try some ideas and i will share them to you, thanks for the tip!…I only have a question. I´m just starting knowing that theres some kind of vinyl. I also brought some glitter vinyl heat transfer but I´m not sure if these textil vinyl works for other surfaces or i must buy the easy weed so i can get that finish on my mug. Would you let me know if any kind of heat transfer like mine works too?
Thank you!!!!
(hope you undertood, haha my english sometimes is a little bit confuse hahaha!)
Love that mug. Where did that come from
I’m just curious where you got that cute mini iron?!!
I got mine right here!
Iv tried htv on a mug , with a mug heat press and the writing came straight of after one wash in dishwasher
What did I do wrong
I love this so much! My husband wants me to make some mugs for his employees. How does the heat transfer vinyl hold up on a mug? Is it dishwasher safe?
I have been told it is definitely dishwasher safe but I don’t actually have a dishwasher to test it. It will be heading to my parents’ house on Sunday where I’m going to run it through a few times so I can tell you for sure! :)
How’d it go?!!
It did really well! In some spots it looks like a bit of adhesive tried to come out from behind the HTV but it’s hardly noticeable and, the main thing is, it totally sticks!
So now that it’s been over a year…is the vinyl still on the mug after numerous washes?
No, it isn’t but it was doing well before a kid picked it off. I gave one to a friend and it’s doing well with hand washing, but I’m not sure how often she uses it. Wish I could be of more help!
Oh my goodness, I love this mug – it looks amazing. That vinyl is just so reflective and that mini iron is just too cute!
Hello from the challenge.. Hug in a mug is right! I love your project. Have a great week – Marni
Love this idea! Hug in a mug, so cute! And HTV on a mug? What’s not to love about that! Thanks for the inspiration!
Aw, thanks!
So That’s how one does HTV on mugs! I would have never thought of the mini iron! And there’s that metallic vinyl I am head over heels for this year! Great project!
I know, right? I bought some of the metallic on a whim. I really didn’t know what I was going to do with it and I didn’t know how “metallic” it would actually be. I LOVE IT! I will have to be careful because I want to add gold to all the things now :)