Nail Polish Mugs {An Easy Craft Project}
Nail polish mugs are an easy and quick craft project!
Make them for yourself and your own home, or make a batch to give as gifts!
As the weather gets cooler, a great cup of coffee or tea is my fairly constant companion throughout the day. It warms me, energizes me, and helps me tackle my to-do list.
In short, it helps me live my very best life!!
Another essential aspect of living my best life is, for me, is crafting!
Looking through my collection of cute, but non-coordinating mugs, I decided an easy mug craft needed to move to the top of my to-do list, so I tried my hand at the DIY mug trend...with nail polish!
I've seen nail polish marbling done before, and I've always loved the organic and free form feel of the end result.
These nail polish mugs are perfect for gifting. Just add a small bag or coffee or tea bags inside the mug for an easy and inexpensive gift.
Before we get to the how-to, though, let me re-introduce you to my favorite thing to put inside of one of these marbled cuties...
Want to learn to make your own nail polish mugs? For coffee, tea, hot chocolate or whatever else you'd like?
Let's get started...
How to Make Nail Polish Mugs
Materials:
Nail Polish (here's a cheap set of 12 nail polishes--a little more than $1 a piece)
Plain White Mugs (Washed and Dried-I found mine from World Market, but you can also get some for a bit cheaper here!!)
Disposable Tub (Old tuppeware works great here)
Skewer or Toothpick
Parchment Paper
The best tips I can give you for marbling with nail polish are these: 1) use hot water, and, 2) work very, very quickly.
The nail polish is going to want to harden pretty quickly upon hitting the surface of the water, and hot water will delay this process a bit.
This is probably the biggest mistake people make and the one thing I get the most complaints about. You definitely have to work quickly (and use HOT water) to get the best results.
Fill your tub (use one that you don't mind throwing away afterwards) with hot water, and carefully drip your nail polish onto the surface of the water.
Pour as close to the surface as you can, as this will keep the nail polish from sinking down into your water.
If desired, use your toothpick or skewer to swirl the polish around so that it covers the surface of the water.
Immediately dip your mug into the water, and let it sit for a second or two to help the polish adhere to the mug.
Remove mug, and place upside down on parchment paper to dry.
Switch out water between mugs, and repeat!
Once you begin, you'll be amazed at how quickly the process goes. I marbled all five of these mugs in less than 10 minutes.
If desired, you can seal with a couple of coats of Dishwasher Safe Mod Podge.
I'm not sure if I'd necessarily stick them in the dishwasher, but it'll give them a bit more protection from day-to-day hand washing.
Quick note: You will want to be careful not to get any nail polish near the top of the mugs (where your mouth would touch).
As I said above, I'd recommend hand washing only.
Can You Use Nail Polish On Ceramics?
I get asked this a lot and the answer is YES!
The mugs I used here are ceramic mugs.
You could also decorate ceramic vases, dishes and more with this technique.
Again, I would recommend hand washing and not decorating portions of your ceramics that will touch food.
Does Nail Polish Stay on Mugs?
This is another question I hear a lot.
If you hand wash these mugs, the nail polish will absolutely stay on longer.
Long term, I am not sure how long the nail polish will stay on mugs. If you've done this project and have an idea, please leave a comment and let us know!
I LOVE giving these as gifts, and they also make great items to make and sell at craft fairs or online!
Not only that, I use them often for my morning cup of coffee 🙂
Want more coffee inspiration? These "but first, coffee" printables are perfect to add to your kitchen or coffee bar.
Thanks for reading all about my marbled nail polish mugs!
Have a crafty day!
Those are beautiful and so easy!
Thank you so much!
Definitely am going to do this! Cups from boring to colorful!!!
So great!
They look very beautiful I believe I’m going to have to try it
these would make a great Christmas Gift. Paint the persons name in the middle with the nail polish, fill with candies and there you go! A beautiful had crafted cup.
Thanks, Deb! Filling with candy is a great idea!
Thanks for the hot water tip.Also I wondered about the nail polish sinking. Will try it again
Such a cute idea for a handmade Christmas gift. My family always s exchanges hand made inexpensive items as part of our Christmas Eve gatherings. Thanks for the how to!
You're welcome, Jina!!
It is mart and very creative idea I will do it, but I like hot coffee and tea. Would them damage the painting?
I have had coffee out of mine, without damaging it:) Just be sure to handwash afterwards.
It is a wonderful gift to receive knowing that someone made it especially for you, in your favorite colors, with possibly words of inspiration, name or special date, etc & functional. And it brings great satisfaction to the person giving it.
I would love to try the Vanilla Blend! Love the cups. So pretty!
These are beautiful. I would love to try the hazelnut and vanilla flavors.
Thank you for posting this idea. Money is running low this year and these will enable me to give gifts to everyone that doesn't look cheap. They can be personalized to each person's favorite color scheme and filled with favorite candy, coffee samples or just little odds and ends!
THIS IS A TITALLY AWESOME AND CUTE IDEA FOR THE XMAS SEASON!!!
The mugs look awesome!! I love to collect coffee mugs so I am definitely going to have to try this. Thanks!!
Def gonna mafe mugs to match my kitchen. Want to try french roast
Finally a great way to "dress up" those old plain coffee mugs!!! GREAT idea. I've got to try it!
What a cute idea and they would also make nice gifts. I will be trying this. A great cup of Hazelnut coffee would be awesome as well.
What a great craft - fun and useful!!
I'd love to try the Hazelnut & vanilla flavors. I love tye-dye, & that's just what this looks like. I do tye-dye tees, & used to do tye-dye nails yrs ago; this made me think of it. Really nice idea; Love it! Great gift idea.
This is s great idea, thank you for your inspiration
I already use the sricks, don't even use my K coffee pot, only for company. Can only seem to get the Classic here in Littleton, CO at the Family Dollar ,so I will ordered every flavor in the boxes. Was just telling a friend yesterday, I need to get the glass jar and have more on hand . And want to try the Café Con Leche. Yum.
I'm making some this weekend!! I can't wait!!! Such a great idea!!! Beautiful!!! Thanks! Great gift idea!
I absoloutley LOVE this idea , so simple but so easy to personalise to your own taste and style. I'm going to make everyone in their family personalised hot chocolate mugs for Christmas Day and may try this on wine glasses!
Hermosas las tazas!!! 🥰 Voy a intentar hacer la mías. 😘
Love these I'm going to make Christmas ones red and green. Love think thank you for sharing your ideas.
so cute
I just got the dishes to do this for 3 grandkids getting married this next year, I'm matching their wedding colors. I fell in love with this the first time I saw it, thanks for the tips. I'm so excited about it!
Wonder if this will work on wine glasses too...can't see why not...?? Definitely would need to use the mod podge on them... thoughts?
Hi and thank you for the clever way to make such pretty coffee mugs. My husband has been drinking Nescafe Taster's Choice for a very long time. I never knew that there were flavored versions. In Pittsburgh it is sometimes a two or three day search to find Nescafe Decaf for him. Now that I know there are flavors, I'm joining the group of coffee drinkers. I would really enjoy having vanilla flavored coffee. But. . . will they make it available here. Please let me know. Thank you.
Love these mugs! Hubby tells me I am picky because I won't drink my coffee out of a plain mug. I look for pretty ones and once I find a favorite I am very possessive of it. NOBODY is allowed to use MY mug under threat of death (maybe just a kick in the butt). These mugs would certainly dress up some plain mugs that we have so that they can be used too! Thanks for the inspiration! I am going to go and enjoy a cup of Nescafe Taster's Choice French Roast coffee now!
Great idea of coloring mugs. I would like to try 100% Colombian.
This is the best tasting giveaway. I would love to try the NESCAFÉ Taster’s Choice French Roast.
I'd like to try the NESCAFÉ Taster’s Choice Hazelnut Single Serve Packets.
❤️❤️❤️❤️This idea for ????????????!
GORGEOUS! Have you tried 2 colors at the same time?
HI Sydney! Yes! I have tried multiple colors. Just add both colors to the same bowl of hot water (remembering to work quickly!) Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
Thanks! This looks like clean-up would be quite easier than the same process which is done with spray paint. (That is a messy project and can go wrong with bubbles between glass and paint.) I'm going to try this with my daughter, she will love it!
I was curious if this would work on a glass mug.
Hi Bobbie! I would think so, but I've never tried it. If you do try it, let us know if it works! 🙂
Love this idea! Making some for gifts and some for myself! Thank you!
Colombian
Can you apply a topcoat of something to make them dishwasher safe?
What a fresh and simple craft idea! I've got to try this!
Will be trying this project on some wine bottles...love this idea thanks...
Oh how clever! I'm going to try this with my kids next week. We're always looking for fun & easy project to make for friends & family! I figure we'll add spoons with ribbons, coffee & peppermint sticks to make this an awesome homemade gift!
My grandson and I will be making these mugs this weekend. They are so coll. Thanks for sharing this.
Hugs and Merry Christmas!!!!.
Very cute. Does te polish chip off?
This is a cool idea!!! I would love to try the pumpkin favor!!!
I am thinking of trying this with the children I do crafts with in the summer at my church. It's something different that I'm sure they'll like.
This is so pretty, I am going to do this today, great job , thanks
Wow! these are so easy to do and can be made either elegant or whimsy. Would make a beautiful gift for a tea, coffee or cocoa drinker. thanks for sharing. Looking for gifting ideas.
Can't wait to try this!
Love this idea! Def going to give this a try, just beautiful !
Looks like a new idea for Christmas gifts for the Seniors at church.
Just wondering if you could use a ceramic sealer on it.
Thank you
Beautiful will have to try this as a craft project for my grandkids
Wonderful idea and it would make a great project for a child to do for a parent.
Love these!!! I tried this and it turned out great. Thank you so much for the craft ideal.
Your text thru messenger is the first thing I see every morning thanks
I'm so glad, Vickii! 🙂
My husband on IV 16 hours a day your text projects starts my day. Thank you
This is a beautiful idea! Fill them with candy & they would make a great gift!!
Can't wait to try this!
Great way to dress up garage sale or thrift store finds. I like the idea of different mugs with the marbelizing to tie the together. Thanks for the inspiration!
I was looking for a craft for vacation bible school this is will be a cool ideal I am on it
Excited to try this with my Grandbaby
How cool! I see a mug craft day in the near future with my grandkids!
Brilliant idea! You can match your tableware to your decor.
Ohhh! I love this idea! Thank you for solving my boring mug problem and being a coffee lover like I am!
Lovely and easy and inexpensive! What more could you ask for? I like to put air plants in pretty cups o dishes. They grow slowly and are easy and look great, like this project! 😊
I'm so impressed with this project! The first thing I'm going to do is surprise my sister with my new talent.
Great idea! I would like to try it with the base of wine glasses. It will be a great way to tell the glasses apart through color! Thank you for the idea.
FANTASTIC IDEA!! I can’t wait to do this!!
I tried it for the first time today. Thought it was a great and simple idea. It turned out terrible. I followed your instructions, but the nail polish gelled up on a lot of areas. I had to quickly clean up the cup using nail polish remover and a SOS pad. I cleaned up both cups and put them both in the dishwasher.
I can’t wait to try these mugs, but I will have to wait until the lockdown is over.
They r beautiful and they would make an excellent Christmas gift. A set of 6 with some fancy coffee or tea.
I can’t wait to start.
Would it work on plain glass? I paint plain glass and as long as it’s kept out of the dishwasher they r fine. I might try cuz I have lots of plain glass.
Thank u for sharing.
Regards Lynda
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The Blue Bunny ad covers all your photos.
Thanks so much for this. Going to do this th is summer.
2I always loved to do DIY projects. This one is Great!! Plus a Great GIFT idea!! Thanks for Sharing, Will definitely use your idea...Way to go....
I like this idea