DIY Custom Bowl and Mugs for our Christmas Eve Tradition

The Dare to DIY link party is hosted by Kim at Newlywoodwards, Cassie at Primitive and Proper, Michelle at Decor and the Dog and Rachel at Maybe Matilda. Thanks Ladies!

The theme of today's "Dare to DIY" is entertain. For this project, I created some customized tableware for my family. Although they could be used as bowls and mugs for everyday life, these have actually been created for a special event in our home - the opening of our Christmas Eve Box.

On Christmas eve the boys open a box that includes everything we need to have a cozy Christmas Eve movie night, cuddled around the fire. Last year the box included pajamas and slippers, a new movie, hot chocolate, and popcorn. This year, there will be comfy pants, a new movie, a new popcorn bowl (pictured below) with popcorn, and hot cocoa mugs (I plan on using a fancy crock pot recipe for our Christmas Eve cocoa).

Okay, enough back story. Here is how I created the goods.

Actually, it was really easy. First I went to Target and found white bowls and mugs. I was extra psyched because there was an extra 10% off with Cartwheel for the white dinnerware. (Wahoo, bonus savings!)  Then I bought some Sharpie paint pens that are specifically for ceramics. (I have previously made the mistake of using the regular Sharpies and baking the mugs which Pinterest said would work. Pinterest lied!)

Fair warning: I am about as far from an artist as you can get so I typically rely on stick figures and bubble letters.

I started with the mugs. I wanted each of the boys to have their own, so I made sure to put their name on their mugs and then a little bit about the things they love and are great at. Here is what I came up with:

Obviously I free-handed it all. I did not really have much of a plan, I just added as I went and tried not to over do it. (I think I overdid it.)

Then I tackled the bowl. Again I relied on stick figures and bubble letters. For the holiday addition I searched for a clip art that I liked and then tried my best to recreate it. Yes, this is my best work. Sad! Or, perfectly imperfect? (Oh, and obviously the black mark is my attempt at privacy, added to the picture not to the bowl itself.)

So, there you have it. Customized mugs and popcorn bowl. The paint pens are really easy to use and went on pretty smoothly. The black was fine tip and the red and green were medium. I actually think the medium were easier to use, but the fine tip was better at details (obviously) so it might be a good idea to have a combination of both. 

Although tableware will be used for our Christmas Eve box, the same idea could be used to make mugs or plates for Christmas dinner. Your guests could take them home at the end of the dinner, maybe you could even fill them with leftovers? Or you could create a platter to use with whatever your contribution is to the dinner and leave it with the host/hostess as a thank you. So many options. What other ideas do you have?