How to Make Personalized Coffee Mugs

I think a personalized gift is always better than a store-bought option. In this article, I’ll show you how to use the Fiskars® Curved Vinyl Alignment Tool to personalize a set of coffee mugs to give as a house-warming gift or holiday Christmas present.

1. Following manufacturer's directions, use your die cutting machine to cut your desired word or phrase from vinyl. If you don’t have a die-cutting machine, you can still create this project by purchasing pre-made vinyl decals.

2. Once your decals are ready, use the Fiskars® Non-Stick Scissors (8”) to trim the lettering. These scissors are perfect for this step as the non-stick coating helps keep the vinyl output in tact without ripping or having it stick to your blades. Next, weed the excess vinyl. You can use a Fiskars® Craft Knife to help with this step.

3. Using the same scissors, trim a piece of transfer tape and then transfer the lettering to your cut-out piece of tape.

4. Now that your decal is ready for application, prepare the surface of the coffee mug by cleaning it with rubbing alcohol. Allow to dry.

5. Position the Fiskars® Curved Vinyl Alignment Tool on the coffee mug by following the below steps.

   1. To clamp and secure the tool onto your mug, squeeze the tabs to adjust the distance be-tween the feet. All feet should be on either the inside or outside of the project – the important part is that all feet appear the same on the mug.

   2. Rotate the arm into a horizontal position.

   3. Load the transfer tape onto the fingers. Adjust the fingers to support the width of the decal and weave in between, ensuring that the adhesive side is affixed to the two outer fingers.

   4. Lower the arm down to a near vertical position and adjust to the desired vertical placement on your mug by pushing or pulling the arm up or down. Make sure the decal is not yet touch-ing the mug.

   5. Once your decal is in the desired location, apply pressure to the middle of the decal to se-cure to your mug.

   6. Without adjusting the arm or fingers, carefully lift the entire tool off your mug.

   7. Finally, peel back the transfer tape to reveal your personalization.

6. To create multiple mugs for a complete set, place the tool in the same position onto your next project and repeat parts C – G in Step 5.