Holland Craft (Week 3) DIY Delft Dutch Mugs

I decided to call this craft DIY Delft Dutch Mugs after the traditional white china painted with blue designs that Holland is known for. Delft is actually a name of a city and municipality in Holland, or The Netherlands. The pottery, also called Delftware, comes from this region and can be dated back to the 16th century (F.Y.I. The 1500’s).

The idea for this craft was inspired by a post over at 30 minute crafts. Carolina, who is from Holland, suggested googling Delft Blue images to get ideas of how to design your own traditional looking mug.

This is where my daughters and I got down to work. We hauled out some paper and the gray bin where our markers are supposed to hang out, pulled out all the blues and started practicing. It took me the longest to decide how to decorate my mug, but I eventually came up with a plan and earned the right to use the special marker we bought for this craft.

It is called a DecoArt Glass Paint Marker. We found ours at Michael’s for $3.99. They come in a variety of colors, but the whole point of this craft is to recreate Delft blue, so you better rule out all the other options if you intend on sticking to tradition.

This is what the marker looks like. I know it’s tiny, but if you click on it you’ll get a larger view**.

The girls and I each picked out a plain white mug as well. Again, I am showing you a link just so you can get an idea of the materials needed for this craft, but you can use any plain white mug that you like. We actually bought our mugs from a local dollar store and they worked just fine.

The last thing I’ll mention before giving you the list of instructions, is how we chose the words to write on our mugs. Carolina, whom I mentioned above, explained that the word lekker in Dutch means yummy. I liked that idea and used it for my mug.

Lekker means Yummy in Dutch

The girls wanted to write their names. So we looked up what their names would be in Dutch over at Behind the Name, and they wrote their names in Dutch on their mugs.

Materials

• plain white mug(s)
• blue DecoArt glass paint marker
• glass cleaner or rubbing alcohol

Instructions

• wipe the outside of the mug with glass cleaner or rubbing alcohol so the paint will stick to the mug better
• Google delft blue designs to brainstorm ideas for your own creation
• practice drawing the design on paper
• when you are ready to take the plunge, draw your design on your mug
• let the mug sit out for 8 hours
• bake the mug in a non-preheated oven at 375° for 40 minutes
• allow the mug to cool with the oven door open

The instructions on the back of the marker say that your project is dishwasher safe. Our mugs get their first bath tonight. I’ll let you know if we have any malfunctions.

I hope you enjoy this craft. I’ll be filling these mugs with hot chocolate with a side of windmill cookies when the fall weather arrives! Leave me a comment to let me know how your mugs turn out!

Link Parties…