DIY Gift Idea: Stenciled Mugs

Aside from receiving gifts, I enjoy curating gifts for the holidays. I usually end up spending days coming up with inventive ways to wrap presents, and putting either handmade or hand-picked gifts together into what I hope would be the ultimate gift to suit that person. 

This year is my first "independent" Christmas, away from family. I'm not even sure if I'm celebrating Christmas with anyone at all this year! Nevertheless, I'm determined not to let that stop me from having an awesome holiday season. To emulate this child-like excitement and anticipation, I've started preparing for the holiday season a little bit too early (bought the first few gifts early last month and have been working on gift wrapping ideas the past couple of weeks). 

DIY Gift Mugs || Soon: A DIY Tutorial on Faux Wooden Boxes for Gift wrapping 

DIY Stenciled Mugs: 

I've seen many variations of this project on pinterest and many DIY blogs--from the simple Sharpie technique to ceramic paint pens. I was tempted to seriously look for ceramic paint pens for this project because I wanted to make sure the designs would last. However, living in a relatively small developing city, it's really difficult to get any specialty craft supplies. So for this project, I gave in to using Martha Stewart Crafts' Multi-Surface Acrylic Craft Paint, which can supposedly work with ceramics.

TIPS: 
+ Most instructions and forums say to prepare/ clean the surface to be painted with alcohol. I never do it because I haven't painted (or etched) on any used glass or ceramic surface, so I figured it's clean enough. Haven't encountered problems yet.
+ I don't have a formal work area, meaning I usually work in the bedroom. If you're like me, just make sure you cover your work surface so you don't get paint everywhere. I just used scrap craft paper that came with a package.
+ Don't let paint completely dry on your stencil. Dip it in a tray of water as soon as you peel it off. This removes most of the paint.
+ The instructions from Plaid says it takes 21 days for the paint to cure via air-dry. This means leave it alone for 21 days. Don't wash it. Don't use it. Don't mess with it. Give the paint time to dry completely and settle.
+ I've read from multiple DIY forums that you can bake your cups instead of air-drying. This speeds up the process. I tried looking up any baking instructions for the multi-surface paint I used, but I didn't find any so I followed these instructions instead:

"Allow item to dry for one hour to be sure all layers of paint have dried. Place project in a cool oven. Set oven temperature to 350ºF and bake for 30 minutes. Glass must heat gradually with the oven to avoid breakage. Do not place glass in a hot oven.  After 30 minutes, turn the oven off. Let glass cool completely in oven. Do not use for 72 hours."  -- michaels.com 

Have you tried the Martha Stewart Multi-Surface Paints on ceramics or glass? Their site says it should work (and it's supposedly "top rack dishwash" if you use it on glass) but I have my reservations. Share your tips, tricks, experiences or opinions with this or a similar project! 

*Official instructions and project ideas for the Martha Stewart paint and stencil products are also available on their website.