The Water Cup Tree

Everyone is at home and thirsty in the summer. Don't you hate a stack of water cups to wash at the end of each day? I have a new solution for that!

My mother-in-law is remodeling her kitchen. And this bright white set of Corelle ware mugs no longer had a home among her newly-painted, cream-colored cabinets. 

So they became mine, but frankly looked a little bright white for my kitchen, as well.

So I came up with an idea to make them blend in with my fruity kitchen a bit better, AND solve that drinking cup dilemma.

Do you remember the mugs we made for teacher gifts at Christmas time? I pulled out the Porcelaine pens and went to work on these mugs. I must disclose that the pens were difficult to work with 6 mos. later. I'm not sure if they had just become too dry or what the problem was. They had been fairly easy to use at Christmas time. It took a bit of patience to paint my designs on here.

I free-handed each fruit and the name of the family member, using the fruit art in the kitchen as a guide. There are only 4 colors of pens in the set I used, so I had to mix colors and try and blend them a bit.

I followed the instructions on the pens and baked them in the oven to set the paint. I did test them in the dishwasher and there was only one spot on one of the mugs that had any issues.

Mainly because I had it on hand, I painted the stand orange for now. I might go red at some point if I want it to blend in better, but for now, it's a fun punch of color over near my cereal station and by the water dispenser in the fridge! The kids LOVE having their own special cup, and I love less dishes piled around at the end of the day. Win! Win!