How to Do All Over 20 Oz Skinny Tumbler Sublimation in Mug Press!

You can sublimate a 20 oz skinny tumbler in a mug press...and get amazing results IF you know a few  secrets. 

Contrary to popular belief you do not need a convection oven to do a full wrap sublimation on a 20 oz tumbler! 

How to Sublimate Frosted Glass Tumblers with a Mug Press

If you're wondering "Can I sublimate on frosted glass?" the answer is yes...but. 

It's possible to do sublimation on frosted glass tumblers, as long as they are sublimation ready tumblers and you have the right equipment, time, and temperature.  This sublimation tutorial will walk you through step by step how to sublimate a frosted glass tumbler for the best results.

How to Add Glitter to Sublimation Tumblers (No Epoxy Needed!)

A few weeks ago I shared a few skinny tumblers I had been working on...and immediately the questions on how to add glitter to sublimation tumblers started pouring in. 

I'm sure there's some way to add actual glitter to skinny tumblers, but you guys...the illusion of glitter is even better and FAR faster and easier! That's the beauty of sublimation - the results are high resolution, bright, and vibrant. 

How to Sublimate a Mug with a Mug Press

If you have a mug press and a sublimation printer, sublimation mugs are very fast and easy to make. 

You can get really high quality, long lasting color on mugs when sublimating because the ink is infused into the mug's surface. It can't be scratched off and it won't fade with heating or washing.  Check out how to sublimate a mug with a mug press in this video for beginners...and if you like bloopers this video is a classic. 

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!

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How to Sublimate on Shot Glasses Using a Shot Glass Attachment

A shot glass attachment makes it easy and fast to sublimate on shot glasses. 

Sublimating means you can quickly make custom shot glasses with whatever design you want. Read on for the perfect time and temperature to sublimate on shot glasses. 

How to Use iColor Hard Surface Paper with Uninet iColor 560

If you're new to using the Uninet iColor 560 you probably started with the 2 Step Paper for making full color transfers for shirts. But the iColor 560 can do a lot more than just white toner transfers for shirts. You can also print full color transfers for hard surfaces as well...such as making full color custom mug transfers.

The iColor Hard Surface paper is a great alternative to sublimation because you don't need sublimation blanks and it works on all color surfaces!  This tutorial will walk you through how to use iColor Hard Surface Paper with the Uninet iColor 560 to make a custom mug

Best Mug Press Machine with Attachments for Various Size Mugs and Tumblers

If you're comparing mug press machines it's not always easy to know which mug press attachments will work with various size and shape mugs and tumblers. 

Mug press attachments vary by height and pad thickness which impacts what diameter mugs and tumblers will fit...and each manufacture is different. Because of the number of questions I have been getting about what mugs and tumblers can fit in the mug press that's part of the Swing Design 8 in 1 heat press I have put together a chart to help. 

The same four attachments are included in the Swing Design 4 in 1 mug press - so it can accommodate all the same drinkware.

Sublimation onto Wine Tumblers with a Mug Press Tutorial

If you ever tried sublimating onto stemless wine tumblers with a mug press you probably quickly realized the shape of most standard mug press attachments isn't ideal for wine tumblers. 

For this reason it's usually recommended to sublimate wine tumblers in a convection oven. But...I've found a work around that will allow you to sublimate onto a stainless steel wine tumbler.  

Cricut Mug Press Beginner Tutorial: Set Up to First Press

The Cricut Mug Press has arrived -albeit somewhat overshadowed by the bombshell announcement Cricut dropped just two days later about the 20 upload per month limit.

The Cricut Mug Press is my third mug press. I shelled out the $200 for the sole purpose of showing you how to use it, comparing it to other mug press options available to you and so I could offer an honest Cricut mug press review and to answer your burning questions like: Can I use the Cricut Mug Press with a Silhouette? (Yes!). Read on for how to set up the mug press and create your first mug.

How to Vinyl Wrap a Coffee Mug (Without Wrinkled Vinyl)

If you love the look of animal print, but don't have a sublimation printer and mug press, you can still add striking animal print patterns to your coffee mugs - just use adhesive vinyl and your Silhouette Cameo!

So, for all you animal lovers out there, here's how to do it.

Measure Your Mug & Trace the Pattern

First, wrap a tape measure around the widest part of the mug to measure how wide your vinyl needs to be. Then, measure how tall the mug is to get the height measurement of your vinyl. To give yourself a little leeway, add an inch or so to the measurements just to make sure you cut enough vinyl to cover the mug.

Next, open the animal print file in Silhouette Studio and resize it to the appropriate measurements you just took of your mug. For this coffee mug, I used one of the tiger stripe animal print patterns from the Mug and Tumbler Designs Bundle.

You can find a total of 19 animal print patterns (and so many more designs) in the Mug and Tumbler Designs Bundle over at SoFontsy.

This tiger stripe animal print pattern is a PNG file, which is an image file because it really meant to be a fill pattern and the perfect file format for printing this design on sublimation paper for pressing.

However, a PNG file is not a cut file. See what happens when you go to the Send panel? The only cut lines (red outlines) that appear is a big rectangle around the edge of the whole design (which is not what we want). We want the individual tiger stripes to be cut out.

So, to create cut lines around the tiger stripes, you need to trace this image.

Open the Trace Panel from the right tool bar. Click Select Trace Area and drag a box around the entire animal print pattern.

Since this image file has very high contrast, the trace is very easy, and you shouldn't need to make any adjustments. Just click the Trace button and then red lines will appear around the black stripes. Click into the black part of one of the stripes, then drag it down and away from the red lines.

When you click one of the red lines, you can change the fill and outline color of them to black. While the traced tiger stripes may now look exactly the same as the original file, when you go to the Send Panel, you'll see that now a red outline (cut lines) appears around each of the stripes. 

Be sure to delete the original PNG file (or move it off your mat) before sending this design to your Silhouette Cameo for cutting.

I'm using patterned permanent adhesive vinyl, but you can use any color of permanent vinyl that you like. Load your mat, then send to cut.

After cutting, do not weed the vinyl. If your printed vinyl has a white border around the edge, just use a paper trimmer to trim that part off so that all that remains is the colorful pattern.

Prepare Your Mug for Vinyl

Now, take your mug and line either side of the handle with a 1/8-inch-wide strip of tape like Scor Tape. Then, line the top and bottom edge with 1/4-inch-wide Scor Tape. These strips of tape will create guidelines for trimming off the excess vinyl later.

Usually you would use transfer tape to move the vinyl onto the mug, but we are going to hand place each of the stripes.

Peel up one of the stripes from your cut vinyl and begin wrapping it around the mug. Start applying it at one of the 1/8-inch Scor Tape strips and be sure to overlap the vinyl over the tape a little.

Press the vinyl stripe down firmly as you wrap it around the mug. The vinyl is pliable so you can slightly stretch it around the mug to make it lay completely flat. If you’re using printed vinyl, then don’t scrape the vinyl down too hard so you don’t scratch the pattern. If you didn't get the placing quite right at first, you can lift the vinyl stripe and re-place it.

Next, pick up another vinyl stripe and lay it across the mug just like the previous one, but leave a little gap between the two pieces. Repeat this process until you've covered the mug with the striped pattern, leaving a gap between each of the vinyl stripes.

If you find one of the vinyl stripes is too long and difficult to work with, you can always trim it with scissors first before laying it down. Just don’t leave any hard-cut lines in the vinyl, round them off with the scissors, and no one will even know you trimmed them down.

Burnish and Trim the Excess Vinyl

When the vinyl animal print has been applied to the mug, burnish the vinyl to the mug very, very well. Also, burnish the vinyl where it overlaps the pieces of Scor Tape. When you burnish this area well, you will see an impression of the Scor Tape in the vinyl where it overlaps underneath it.

Take a sharp craft knife and run the blade along this impression in the vinyl. Because Scor Tape has a little bit of "thickness" to it, you can gently rest the side of the blade against the Scor Tape as you run it along the tape's edge to cut off the excess vinyl.

Use a sharp blade, work slowly, and be careful. Cut off the excess vinyl along either edge of the handle and around the top and bottom as well. Remove the excess pieces of vinyl and then remove the pieces of Scor Tape.

Then, burnish the edges of the vinyl along where you trimmed them and then admire your handy work! What a gorgeous custom animal print pattern on this coffee mug.

You will want to be sure to let the vinyl cure for about 72 hours before using or gently hand washing (only) the mug!

Why lay the vinyl stripes one at a time?

At first, I tried to apply the vinyl stripes to the mug all at once with a piece of transfer tape - just like a regular vinyl decal. It was a big mess! The problem is the mug is slightly tapered which makes it almost impossible to get the transfer tape and vinyl stripes to lay down smoothly. The transfer tape buckled, and the vinyl stripes started to overlap and stick to each other. I spent more time pulling up and re-placing the transfer tape, than I did when I just applied each stripe individually. 

Additionally, when you try to apply the stripes all at once with transfer tape, you have to weed out the excess vinyl between the stripes. When you place each stripe individually, you don't need to weed, and you can actually use the vinyl between the stripes as stripes on another mug - so no waste!

Surprisingly, after making the second mug I had even more vinyl leftover than I thought so I had enough to make a third mug!

There are many more animal print patterns in the Mug and Tumbler Designs Bundle, plus so much more that they really isn't a reason to drink out of plain boring mugs and tumblers again. This bundle is sure to make all your mugs and tumblers look fabulous. Check out the bundle over at So Fontsy before it ends on July 13.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!

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How to Change Mug Press Attachments on a 3-in-1 Press

I told you guys a few weeks ago that I got a new Trans Pro Mug Press from Pro World and it's so cool because it's a 3-in-1! 

The 3 in 1 mug press means it has three different attachments so you can press different size and shape mugs.  

How to Sublimate onto Ceramic Mugs Using Silhouette Studio (Free Mug Wrap Size Template)

Silhouette Studio has become such a powerful editing and design software, it's become useful for sublimating, as well as cutting.

This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own

This means you can use the designs in your Silhouette Studio library for both cutting and sublimating. While vinyl is very popular for coffee mug designs, sublimation is preferred by many.

Putting HTV on Mugs with a Mug Press: Beginner Tutorial

Ahhh you guys I finally got myself a mug press...and not just any mug press but a 3-in-1 mug press!

This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own.

This TransPro 3-in-1 Mug Press allows you to press onto various size and shape mugs all from one machine by switching out the attachments.  AND hello...I am pressing HTV onto these bad boys!