Making Coffee Mugs for Profit and Fun

Coffee mugs have become the ubiquitous item in every office and household. People have mugs that show off their favorite sentiments, that display their vacation preferences, political views and parental status. The range of decor that a small mug can sport is mind blowing!

Deciding what to put on mugs that will sell can be the first hurdle. Since we have the "Mermaid's Chest", I wanted to focus on sea worthy themes. My requirements for the art include high resolutions and copyright. A lot of older artwork has come into public use by right of public domain and they are posted online on university and historical collection websites, and this is my treasure trove. So, looking in Public Domain art archives, here are some great seaworthy pictures:






Now, of course, you need to adapt your art for your coffee mug. Conde Systems now offers pre-cut mug paper to print on, sublimation paper that is already the perfect size for standard 11 or 15 ounce coffee mugs. I use the dye sublimation process to make all my items. If this is your first read of this blog, I can tell you briefly that you require sublimation ink to produce the transfers you will use to make these mugs.





So, getting out my handy software, PhotoShop Elements, I create a blank picture that is 3.5" x 9.125", the same as my mug paper. Then I import my first picture and position it where it will look right, then add the second one. Then, since it's just a line drawing, I flipped it horizontally, added color and my shop name. Then it looks like this:




So, now I'm ready to make my mug. Now, they make a heat press just for mugs, the George Knight DK3 mug press, but I do not have the funds for one, yet, so I got what they call a dye wrap, or mugwrap. You take the imaged transfer and wrap it around the mug, then wrap it tight with the dyewrap, pop it into your oven for 6 minutes, then dump it in room temperature water to stop the sublimation process. Here's the wrap I use:




I use this with my little toaster oven. It is not a good idea to do mugs in the oven you cook food with, so a small toaster oven is very handy, just look for one that the mugs fit into. Here's a video showing the whole process:


Here's my finished mug:




I hope you enjoyed this little blog tutorial. By the way, I get my equipment from the lovely folks at Conde Systems.