DIY Decal Coffee Cups for Valentine’s Day + free printable

Make these DIY Decal Coffee Cups for Valentine’s Day and you’ll have an amazing gift ready in just 5 minutes ! The ‘You make me happy’ & ‘You make me smile” printable can be downloaded for free!

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’m sure you are already thinking about THAT special gift for THAT special someone in your life. I believe more in inexpensive, meaningful gifts, ones that bring pure joy when gifted … and when received. I also believe in useful gifts, ones that you can actually use on a regular basis and not just for Valentine.

But finding these gifts is not always an easy task, so why not make them yourself this year? :)

You will only need a few ‘ingredients’ to make these DIY Decal Coffee Cups for Valentine’s Day and about 5 minutes of your time. Then you’ll be able to enjoy your morning coffee together, in a chic way, all year long!

I’ve used again waterslide decal paper for this project, because I just LOVE how quickly you can actually finish a beautifully decorated object.

My DIY 5 Minute decal transfer on a coffee mug is still one of the most loved and viewed article, along with my All about waterslide decal paper article, so I’m assuming you already know a thing or two about this type of paper.

But just in case you are not familiar with the whole process, I still have quite a few images to show you today.

Obviously you will need some good looking coffee cups for this project :)

I bought the two beautiful coffee cups and the saucers online (I live in Romania, Europe) but I couldn’t find this exact model on Amazon.com so I can share the link with you. I did tracked them down for you though, they are made by a Belgian company called J-line (that I now absolutely adore), you can check their website and see if they have some store near where you live. That is if you want the same coffee cups I used! :)

If not, you can use two cups or mugs that you already have around or check my new shop on Amazon (where I will be constantly adding my favorites) maybe you’ll find something that you love there. Just make sure you go for flat simple cups / mugs and not too curvy or textured ones, so you don’t have a hard time actually applying the decals.

I created this simple but beautiful design using Mozart Script, one of my (many) favorite fonts from Creative Market and Caviar Dreams from dafont.com.

You can click below and download the printable, but please only use it for personal projects.
You will need to size it down to match your coffee cups / mugs.

So it all started with this …

I just printed and cut the decals (I removed their black borders, but you can keep them if you wish), I applied them using water (how cool is that?!!), slid the white paper underneath, removed the excess water and the air bubbles using a paper towel and after 5 minutes … BAM! … ALL DONE! :)

Make sure you read the instructions found on YOUR waterslide decal paper package, different brands might have different instructions!

Don’t forget to check the related articles I mentioned earlier for more details on applying the decals:
DIY 5 Minute decal transfer on a coffee mug
All about waterslide decal paper

I just loved their final chic and romantic look and I think the ‘You make me happy’ & ‘You make me smile’ messages will make such great reminders of what’s really important when drinking your daily coffee … together.

And on a more behind the scene and technical side of things …  this was my first time using artificial lights for taking photos! I shoot this whole project only with artificial lighting … and I kind of loved it! :) I’m not 100% happy with it, but I’m getting there.

Last summer I took a photography class where I learned many new great things and somehow managed to understand better some of the things I already knew until that moment. I’ve been using my DSLR on auto-mode for a long long time and I somehow felt it was the time to learn the basics so I can move to manual settings. I wanted to be more in control and not to solely rely on my camera to make all the settings for me.

I initially thought (and hoped) our teacher would give us some sort of a magical formula so we could shoot all those perfect magazine worthy pictures every time. Of course that was not the case :) I learned that if you wanted to make those amazing pictures you will have to find a perfect balance between aperture, ISO and shutter speed … and practice A LOT with light, focus, depth of field and many others. And I was willing to do that so I can improve my photography. I really wanted to!

But then winter settled in and I realized the house we recently moved in had the worst lighting ever during this season!!! :)) And ever since that moment  I’ve been constantly struggling with finding … and literally chasing a little bit of light for taking photos. Does this happens to you too?

So I bought an artificial lighting kit with 2 softboxes – with a total of 8 x 135W light bulbs (similar to this one) a few weeks ago and I’m learning and discovering things … as I go :) I’m not at all familiar with artificial lighting  (remember … I’m still trying to figure things out with natural lighting) so if you have any tips for me about positioning the 2 softboxes, redirecting light or any other tricks or tutorials that you found useful…please do share! :)

Now go make some beautiful DIY Decal Coffee Cups for Valentine’s Day! :)
And for a more romantic feel, you can also use edible rose petals (like I did) and maybe some rose gold (or silver) small flower spoons – check my Amazon shop for more inspiration.

Related articles:
DIY 5 Minute decal transfer on a coffee mug
All about waterslide decal paper

32 Handmade Valentine’s Day Ideas

Earl Grey Tea Latte (with a secret ingredient)
Golden Milk Turmeric Latte

Don’t forget to pin for later and share ↷

Peace and love,
Diana