The Sharpie mug DIYs have been done several times, and I always see them and love the idea, but don’t believe they actually hold up. So I put them to the test!

I picked up some inexpensive mugs & bowls, and some Sharpie permanent markers. I grabbed the typical black, a couple metallics, and a pack of silver & gold oil based markers.

I doodled away, popped them all in the oven at 350 for 30 min, let them cool fully, then soaped up a sponge and got to washing. Here are the results….

Typical black marker: Fail

Mix of typical black and metallic: No good

Oil based metallics: ding ding!

We have a winner!

One little tip, if you’re nervous to try this out because you might make a mistake… have no fear! Just put a little rubbing alcohol on a cloth and wipe away your booboos. As long as you fix it before baking, it’s all good! I found this to work for both the regular and oil based sharpies.

** I would never recommend using the markers on any surface that will come in contact with food or your mouth. I was sure to keep my designs away from the lip of my mugs, and I highly suggest you do the same!

** With washing I thoroughly scrubbed my mugs, but was sure to be more on the gentle side when washing over top of my designs.