Thursday, June 30, 2016

Mug Shot Drinkware



Mary Putnam, wife of author David Putnam, is here being crafty with quite a conundrum. Mary has been our guest here on Crafty Thursday before making book bracelets. Today she tackles a new project. 

Is it a shot glass… or a glass that's been shot? Perhaps both!

I've been having way too much fun making little promo item's for my husband's thrillers (which also include a good shot fun and romance), and mixing up drink pairings, so I figured, why not combine the two! I also favor crafts that are quick and easy and fun. 



These glasses just required a couple of glass pens and an oven to decorate; the mugs were a bonus find.  


My detective-turned-writer husband was not fooled, but I had a little chuckle.  

While shopping for drinkware craft supplies at the local dollar store, I was thrilled to find that windshield prank thing and some design-your-own mug kits, for $1! Score! 

I had a few leftover mini-books from my last craft adventure making earrings and bracelets


and found some extra mini-books fit perfectly (great gifts for my guy-writer pals)! 



A first I started to attach them to the paper template that came with the mug but found they looked better without the paper -- just attached directly to the mug lining. Don't forget the bottom!



For decorating directly on glass, I tried a few methods. I'm not the most talented freehand artist or Dremel tool wielder -- also not a fan of the sound of glass being scratched. My handwriting is not that lovely either.

I favored a combination of pens with paint ink you bake to make permanent. 

Directions on the DecoArtglass paint marker(™) pen



Shake well. Allow painted project to air cure approximately 8 hours, then bake at 375°F for 40 min (at temp) in non-preheated over. Dishwasher safe. 

I considered trying chemical glass etching, recommended by a friend, but those were some very expensive, nasty chemicals. Perhaps next time. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that method. (Some of the chemicals also specifically mentioned they shouldn't be used on glass that would touch food.)

Also, since I usually have to do some experimenting before I come up with my final answer, I started my shopping at the dollar store where they usually have several kinds of glassware that don't break the bank as I "practice" for the final answer.  

My gun-tottin', word-slingin' writer hubby "Deputy Dave" Putnam favors a large caliber (.40 or .45) weapon for fighting crime, so I drew some large bullet holes to surround with spider-like cracks. I darkened the hole part in one experiment, but the deputy and I agreed it looked better without the "hole" filled in. Luckily this ink is easy to "erase" with a fingernail (before you bake it -- after baking it's pretty well stuck on there).

I also liked the gray/silver color for the majority of the spider lines, accented with just a little bit of black depending on how subtle you want your design to be. (The Giant Mug pictured above had a little less black for a more subtle look.)

Also, I put the two "holes" (entry and exit?) slightly vertically shifted from each other as though the shooter shot the glass at slight angle.


One step fancier: epoxy, plastic transparency + inkjet printer.  

Since I planned to give these away as promo items, figured out a way to add: DavidPutnamBooks.com in a small but legible format at the bottom of the glass in the little divot. I printed the words in a small font on some transparency plastic using my InkJet printer, cut them out with the help of this little hole punch tool I found in the scrapbooking section at the craft store (scissors work too), then attached them to the "finished" glass using some epoxy resin.



Note that not all divots are created equal: these more expensive glasses at smaller divots and my epoxy efforts made them a little like Weebles that wobble… (if you're old enough to remember that 70s toy). 

These less expensive "dessert glasses" (3 for $1!) had nice deep divots for easier "decorating."





One final note: I tried adding some color -- a red "bloody" thumb print -- but that made it look to me like the glass was dirty so I opted to keep it simple with just the black & gray; which also just happens to pair well with the cover my husband's latest thriller: THE SQUANDERED.

While "testing" this mug, I accidentally caught The Author Himself in the "backdrop" of this photo shoot.



Happy crafting!


-Mary

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