Sublimating Mugs

About year ago, my friend and I decided to make our own sublimation mugs. Sublimation is a type of printing in which the ink turns into teeny tiny particles and embeds itself into the surface of an object, creating a seamless and beautifully vibrant design that never peels or cracks. We wanted to make our own sublimated mugs because we needed some mugs for our apartment. So we thought, why not make our own with the designs we want on them. First we chose what designs we wanted on the mugs. We decided to have some of the mugs have some scenes from a couple Studio Ghibli movies. Afterwards, we went to our public library that has a makerspace and printed out our designs on sublimation paper using the sublimation printer. Next we cut the designs apart and used heat resistant tape to attach the designs to the mugs. Finally, we used the tumbler press to transfer the designs onto the mug. The heat from the tumbler press makes the ink release from the paper and transfer to the mug. 

Material Needed:

• Sublimation Mugs
• Access to a mug/tumbler press
• Sublimation Press
• Heat Resistant Tape
• Sublimation Paper 
• Scissors

I have included the materials that are needed in order to make the sublimated mugs, in case anyone wants to try making them. Below I have attached some pictures of how our mugs turned out.