Over the last few years, I have made quite a few faux hot cocoa mugs for my Christmas decor. They are quick & easy to make. Not to mention adorable!
Do I need more? NO! Do I have room for more? NO!
This should be a project that I retire. But, when I saw these miniature Santa mugs at Hobby Lobby, I couldn't resist. They're the perfect size for an ornament. And, there's always room on the tree for another Christmas ornament.
To start this project, I first filled the mug with paper.
Then I cut a circle out of cardboard & glued it into the top of the mug. I do this because I use spackle to make the "whipped cream" & it's best to have a base for it.
For the faux whipped cream, I place a plastic sandwich bag over a glass & spoon the spackle into the bag. This makes it much easier than trying to hold the bag open while also spooning in the spackle.
I cut the corner of the bag & then pipe it in just like icing.
I made sure the spackle came over the edge of the mug to not only hide the cardboard, but also look more realistic.
I cut a paper straw to about 3 inches & inserted it into the spackle.
Then I inserted a bottlebrush tree, some faux candy, & an ornament hook. Make sure you keep reading to learn the problem with the hook... & the solution.
I added red seed beads to look like sprinkles.
Adorable!
I let the spackle cure overnight before hanging the ornament on my tree. After an hour or so, the ornament fell to the ground. I was afraid this might happen! The spackle acts like a glue when dry, but it wasn't enough to hold the wire hook in place.
So, what did I do? I went to Hobby Lobby & bought 4 more mugs. I was determined to make this work as an ornament.
So, I started over. I filled the mugs with paper & cut cardboard circles for a base for the spackle. But this time, I used a nail to punch 2 holes in the cardboard. I put wire through the holes, & twisted it on both sides of the cardboard to secure it.
I glued the cardboard into the mug using a combination of E6000 & super glue. I probably only needed the E6000, but better safe than sorry.
When I added the spackle, I made sure a tiny bit of the wire loop was still exposed so I could thread another ornament hook through it.
Threading the wire through the cardboard worked. The ornament has hung on the tree for days with no issues. The other 3 will be cute gifts.
Linking To:
