This little DIY project began as a spontaneous craft I put together on a few Monday nights in front of the TV at our old house. I kept it simple and quick, and what started as a throwaway idea turned into a charming little set of decorated mugs that make a great last-minute holiday gift or a sweet organizational touch for a desk or bathroom counter.
It feels a bit odd publishing this now because the photos show our old walls and shelves, and we’ve since moved, but the project still feels current—especially around the holidays when people are looking for simple DIY mug ideas and handmade gift inspiration. If you’re hunting for a fast, creative present or an easy way to personalize ordinary mugs, these Sharpie-decorated vessels are a fun place to start.
Before I get to the how-to, a practical note: I used a silver Sharpie for these, not a food-safe ceramic marker or oven-set paint. That means they’re decorative rather than functional for drinking. Treat them as pencil holders, small vases for faux stems, or containers for cotton balls and q-tips. They’re also ideal for holding wrapped candy canes during the holidays—because the candy is still sealed, there’s no contact with the marker ink.
The story behind the project is simple. We were packing up our floating shelves during our move and discovered three extra plain white mugs that had been missed for our moving sale. Instead of donating them immediately, I grabbed a silver Sharpie and doodled on them while watching TV. I expected to enjoy the sketching, mark them “not for food use,” and drop them in the donate pile. Instead, I loved how they turned out so much I packed them and brought them to our new house.
These DIY Sharpie mugs are perfect for a few uses around the home: a tidy pen and pencil cup in an office, a whimsical holder for small desk supplies, a decorative piece on a kitchen windowsill, or a bathroom organizer for cotton swabs and makeup brushes. If you want them to be drink-safe, a ceramic paint pen or an oven-curable marker would be a better choice than a regular permanent marker.
Design-wise, I kept things playful and simple. One mug got rows of small hearts encircling it—easy to scale up or down depending on how bold you want the pattern. Another mug received freeform wavy lines that look a bit like ribbon or scales; these irregular stripes are forgiving and great for beginners who want a handmade effect without worrying about perfection. The third mug features a tiny whimsical tea bag illustration, drawn both on the outside and hinted at on the inside for a cute peek-through surprise.
The tea bag concept came from a similar playful mug I spotted recently at Urban Outfitters (I mentioned it in an earlier post). It’s instantly recognizable and took only a few seconds to adapt with a Sharpie. The beauty of this kind of DIY mug craft is how fast you can go from blank to personalized: most designs are simple repeated motifs or small sketches that don’t require advanced drawing skills.
Tips for success: work on clean, dry mugs; test your marker on the bottom of one mug first; keep your hands steady and embrace imperfections for charm; and if you plan to use the mug for food or drink, invest in a label-proof ceramic paint pen or follow the manufacturer’s instructions for baking/curing the design to make it dishwasher-safe.
Whether you’re crafting last-minute homemade gifts, updating your desk accessories, or giving plain mugs a fresh twist, this quick Sharpie mug idea is an approachable DIY project with lots of personality. I loved these enough to bring them to our new home, and they’ll likely show up every holiday season holding bright, wrapped candy canes or serving as colorful pen holders in our office. Happy mug-drawing—and if you try it, enjoy the process more than the outcome. That’s where the real fun is.