Making decorated coffee mugs is easy and fun. You can make them for yourself, or they can be great gifts for others.

You’ll need: A plain coffee mug in a size and color you like – a few yards of 26 or 30 gauge wire – wire snips and round nose pliers – some beads and/or charms – a hot glue gun with glue sticks

Before you start working, make sure that your mug is clean and dry with no grease or residue on it. If there’s a price tag or sticker on the bottom, use some rubbing alcohol or vegetable oil to loosen and remove it, then clean and dry the mug.

Use the round nose pliers to form a coil in one end of the wire. This will keep your beads from falling off. Keep the coil as small as possible while still making it bigger than the holes in the beads.

String your beads and charms onto the wire. You can hold the wire up to the mug to check and make sure you have enough to go around the whole mug.

Now for the tricky part: Hold the coiled end of your wire under the handle of the mug. Wrap the beaded wire around the mug and bring the free end up through the coil. If you’re having trouble, you can get someone to hold one end of the wire for you. Pull the wire gently to make it snug.

You can stop here, or you can string more beads and go around the mug more times. It’s up to you. When you’re finished, bring the free end up through that first coil.

If the rings of beads are slipping or not hanging the way you like, add a drop or two of hot glue to the surface of the mug and press the beads into it. This will hold them in place.

Now, you’re still holding onto the free end of your wire, and we’re going to move on to the handle. Wrap the wire around the handle, add a bead to it. Put a drop of glue in the center of the handle and press the bead into it, then quickly wrap the wire down and back around the handle again. Keep doing this until you have covered the handle or have as many rows of beads as you want.

When you’re done, snip the wire to have a 1″ tail, then coil it like you did at the beginning. Set a drop of hot glue and press the ending coil into it. That’s it!

These mugs are great for decoration and also make really cute plant pots. You can get all kinds of mugs at the dollar store or flea market and make them into something really nice. Play around with different kinds of beads and charms to get different looks. Just remember that these mugs can’t go in the dishwasher. It’s best to clean them with a damp paper towel or just dust them.

Briana Blair

Briana Blair is an author and artisan. She has published more then 30 books and thousands of articles across multiple sites. After practicing Paganism and witchcraft for 25 years, she's now on a journey as an atheist and skeptic. She's eclectic, unpredictable, and always evolving. Facebook - Twitter