How to Make Sublimation Mugs with Child's Art
How to make a sublimation cup with children's creativity!
Turn your child's artwork into the perfect keepsake mug! A great way to turn a plate hanging in the fridge into a useful treasure. These personalized sublimation mugs make great handmade gifts too! Get a DIY sublimation printer and make these fun mugs for Easter gifts, teacher gifts, Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays and more!
I'm sure you have a bunch of artwork to immortalize in a mug!
The best part these mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu shot
This is the best project I love! Maybe I like it a lot because I made these mugs for my kids for Christmas. But actually, I think I made it myself.
I found some old pictures that my kids used to draw when they were young. I asked my kids to open cups for their first Christmas presents. It started with the eldest son. Draw a character we call "Business Rabbit". He laughed when he opened it!
I repeated the business rabbit image 3 times on the mug to fill in the blank and make it more entertaining.
Then I asked my youngest son to open his cup. On his face are a small astronaut, an astronaut dog and a spaceship. I think this is the only drawing my son drew and colored. I am so happy to find it in a pile of paper!
I love how you can tell he drew it with a pencil and color it with a crayon!
Finally I asked my daughter to open the cup. He's a host on YouTube! He earns money from his YouTube channel Kazoo Does Art and has over 100,000 subscribers.
He's seen my kids open their cups, and in his repertoire of art projects over the years, he's wondering what's in his cup!?
whoops! The scary/emo version of Teletubbies! I love these guys! It's like a mug you pay $28 for a hot topic!
He painted each one individually, and I scanned them all and combined them into one picture for sublimation.
you do not like that! ?
Necessary accessories for kids creativity sublimation mugs:
Epson EcoTank ET-2760 Wireless Universal Color Printer Without Cartridge
sublimation paper
Hiipoo Sublimation Ink for EcoTank
Cricut mug press
Cricut heating tape
sublimation cup
Children's drawings (scanned, digital, or copied with post- sublimation printing )
Step 1: Prepare Your Sublimation Printer !
Start setting up your sublimation printer. This requires special ink and paper. It sounds complicated, but it's actually quite simple.
Here is the complete setup guide.
Step 2: Print your photo in reverse!
After setting up your sublimation printer , use sublimation paper and print your photo - reversed!
That's right, flip the image horizontally so it prints upside down. Then, when you roll the mug with ink, the text and images will be in the right direction.
*This corresponds to the use of Cricut Infusible ink on mugs, as in this post.
** Specialized, heat-activated sublimation ink, so prints will fade a lot. Don't worry!
Step 3: Stick the sublimation paper onto the mug!
Cut sublimation paper to cup size. The photo must be 8.5 x 4 inches for that 15 ounce. cup.
Then rotate the image so that the side of the ink is touching the ceramic cup. Then use heat-resistant tape to secure it around the edges from the top and bottom.
Step 4: Use the Cricut Cup Piston!
Plug the cricket cup into the mains and wait for it to really warm up and the green light comes on, it means it's ready. If it does not start to heat up, connect it to your computer and download the updated driver.
Now put the mug in the Cricut Mug Press and close the clamp. It takes about 5 minutes to fully heat the mug and sublimate the image. Wait until all five lights come on and the device beeps. Then unscrew the cup and carefully remove it from the plunger.
It's so hot! Set aside to cool naturally.
Repeat the heating process for a certain number of cups! This is actually a very quick project that can be completed between unloading and loading the dishwasher.
Again, allow the cup to cool completely before removing the tape and paper. It's hard to keep up, especially when you really want to make sure it works!
Show. Do one, then take a shower, clean the house, take a nap, watch a show or take a walk...then keep the paper and see how it goes. Then get busy with the rest of the sublimation cups!
Step 5: Grand Opening!
Honestly, this is the best part of the whole world! Watching this childish art come to life on a mug is incredibly satisfying. Remove the heat-resistant tape and peel off the sublimation paper.
Repeat the opening process for all sublimation cups!
Inspire you to try! ? This method is great, but there are many other things you can do with your sublimation printer , so don't be afraid to invest.
I will have more fun from sewing all year round, and by Christmas I will be resting a lot. The same technique works for any sublimation vacuum, see this post for a good list of sublimation vacuums. Make sure to mark it "sublimation" because it has a special coating that makes it work. Otherwise, the sky is the limit!
T-shirts, pillows, mugs, keychains, puzzles and more! Make the holidays more personal and "man-made" with photos, photos and special memories from the past.
Is your head full of amazing sublimation ideas?
for me too.
I have loads of fun ideas and workshops full of stuff...and limited time. fluff.
But I'm glad I made these keepsake mugs for my kids...or for myself.
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