OK, I know, Mother’s Day was soooooooo last month (actually in March) if you’re a Brit. Here in Canada, USA and many other countries, Mother’s Day happens in May. In 2020 it falls on May 10th. The mug planters below make the perfect gift for your Mother, Mam, Mum, Mom, Mama, Madre, Mere or Ma. They are also great as birthday presents, house warming gifts or a thank you to your favourite essential worker. The mug you use, the decorations you add and the plants you use all add a personal touch you cannot find in a store. The look great and fit nicely on a window sill or coffee table.
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The perfect mug
Step 1 is to choose your mug. A plain, solid colour mug is best. If you know what you want to plant in it, the size can be important too. I like to choose the mug and them fit the plants accordingly. You can use a mug with small logo or pattern if you can cover it or incorporate it with your decoration.
Materials
- Mug
- Acrylic paint, pressed flowers or other decorations
- Masking tape
- Glue – ideally decoupage glue or other glue that is water resistant when dry
- Potting soil
- plants
- Soil top decoration – stones, beads, shells etc.
- Soft brush or sponge
The decoration
This is step 2 and anything goes here. I would recommend keeping the decoration more simple if you are putting flowers in the planter but if you are putting herbs or a leafy green plant you can do more with the decoration. Also consider how well your decoration will hold up to being wiped down or getting wet. On my mugs I have used a sealer glue and finish from Mod Podge (follow this link to view on Amazon: Mod Podge Waterbase Sealer, Glue and Finish (4-Ounce), CS11305 Matte Finish ) which protects the decoration and allows it to be wiped down. White/PVA/School glue will provide some protection but may turn white and sticky if it gets too wet. Other options include clear varnish.
The daisy mug
The base for this is a black mug. Any darker colour will work. You need to press the daisies ahead of time. Snip the daisy heads off the stem and place them face down on piece of kitchen paper or smooth cloth. Place another piece of paper on top and then a book or other flat object. You then need to add weight. More weight gives better pressing. I usually use a big stack of books. Pressing will take 5-7 days for daisies. Other flowers may take longer. It’s important they are completely dry.
Dab glue onto the mug and stick the flowers on. Using plenty of glue on a soft brush or sponge, gently wipe over the flower from the centre outwards to ensure the petals are stuck to the mug. Once the petals are stuck and smoothed out, gently wipe off the excess glue.
On the first daisy mug I also added some other flowers but the blue flowers started to lose some colour when I glued them in place so I only used daisies on the second mug. A test of your flowers is recommended if you are using anything other than daisies.
After the flowers are dry, add any additional decoration you want to the mug. I chose to add silver dots in between the daisies but let your creative juices flow and see what you can come up with.
The last step is to add a clear top coat all over the mug to protect the decoration from dirt and water.
I’ll cover planting the mugs below but first let’s talk about the other mug.
The graphic mug
This mug uses acrylic paint to form the base pattern and is overlaid with cut outs to form the final design.It is a little more complicated to produce but still a quick project that can be completed in half a day or less.
To start, tape your mug to form the pattern using masking tape or any other low tack tape you have. I chose vertical stripes for both mugs but coloured in different sections to give a alternative look on the second one. You can put tape on however you wish to make a pattern.
Once your tape is in place, paint your block colours. I bought acrylic paint pens a while back and decided to try them on this project. Overall they worked well but I did find some variation in flow between pens. However, as I got used to the pens and honed my technique it got easier. If you are interested in trying these pens click here to see on amazon: Anpro 14 Color Acrylic Pen, Stone Painting Set, Used in Stone, Ceramic, Glass, Cloth, Wood, DIY Mug, DIY Photo Album, etc.
For both mug designs I used white paint to outline along the tape edge and the removed the tape. The solvent from the pens got under the tape but the marks were easy to remove with a cloth. In fact, until you have put your clear sealing coat on top of the paint it’s easy to remove it by scraping or wiping.
Paint the areas you want to add colour to and let dry thoroughly. To get a bolder effect, use black to outline the colour. Once the colour is dry, put a sealer coat over it. You can, if necessary, do a few more paint touch ups after this first sealer coat is dry because we will put one more coat on there after the final decoration.
Now I have to confess I got carried away with decorating the mug and forgot to photograph adding the final piece of decoration. On both the graphic mugs I used red hearts as the accent to the colours behind. On the first mug it’s a large heart with Mom written on it. This was a little tricky to stick on because the card was stiff and didn’t want to bend to the shape of the mug. The second mug has smaller hearts that I cut out using a punch. These went on easily. After the hearts were firmly stuck, the whole mug got a final coat of sealant.
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Adding the plants
Ensure everything is dry before adding plants or you might find your decoration includes a coating of soil!
Use a good potting soil or compost and fill the mug to about 1 cm below the rim. Make sure the soil is moist but not too wet.
Because this is a mug there is no drainage so if you add too much water it will collect in the bottom of the mug and could rot the roots. If you are using a big mug you could put a layer of pebbles on the bottom before adding the soil. The mugs I used weren’t really big enough to do this so they are just full of soil.
In one mug I put alfalfa seeds on top of the soil to sprout, they will form a carpet of green shoots across the top. In the second mug I put a fuchsia. I bought this recently and it won’t be able to stay in there long term as it will out grow the pot but it will be good for a couple of months past mother’s day. The third mug has some herbs I was growing, coriander and marjoram. You will notice the coriander is not looking it’s best in the photos but it will pick up with some good sunlight and a bit of plant food. The fourth mug has cuttings from various succulents I have in the apartment and at the garden.
Soil decoration
Finally, you can add finishing touches by decorating the soil. For two of the mugs I used coloured glass pebbles. The third has some shells. The mug with the seeds has to be left plain but the seedlings will fully cover the soil as they grow. Adding a cover over the soil not only looks good but it also helps prevent moisture loss through evaporation so your plants should need to be watered less frequently.
Wrapping up
If you want to gift wrap this you have a couple of options. The best is to sit the mug in the centre of a large square of cellophane, bring the corners up over the plant and tie them off with ribbon. This will avoid crushing the plant and allow it get light. The cellophane may get some condensation if the plant is in there too long. The second is to find a box that will comfortably fit the planter without squashing the plant. Put the planter inside, wrap it and then poke a few holes in for air flow. Be sure to clearly mark the top of the box so it doesn’t get tipped up by mistake.
Have fun making these planters. Your mum or other recipient will love it. Please share your creations with me by putting a photo in the comments.
Be safe, stay home and always be creative,
