Baby Announcement Gifts

I am back today with a post on the gifts that I gave to my family to announce my pregnancy.  I told my parents pretty much right away but I waited until Christmas to announce it to my brother and sisters. I was 10 weeks at the time.  I thought it would be a cool idea to announce it through Christmas gifts so I scoured Pinterest for ideas.  First, I found these great necklaces from an Etsy shop: JennsHandmadeJewelry.  

You can choose the bead and chain that you want so I chose a pearl bead for each of the necklaces that I purchased.  I love the simplicity of the design.  And the bonus was a great price and fast shipping.

It was a little bit harder to figure out a gift for my brother but I finally decided to make a stenciled ceramic mug.  I also made one for my dad.  I designed the stencils in the Silhouette software.

It took some experimenting to figure out what size would be right for mugs.  I made a little stencil so I could do a little test with the paint first.  I used adhesive vinyl for the stencils.

I found the mugs at Michaels.  They came with cute little ceramic spoons but I broke one of them :(. I used the broken spoon to test the paint with the stencil.

I had considered using sharpies for the mugs but I found mixed reviews on the durability of sharpies on ceramic mugs so I decided to use Martha Stewart glass paint instead.  I purchased the paint at Michaels as well.

I placed the stencils on the mugs.  I made sure that their weren't any bubbles or wrinkles in the stencil.  It takes some time to get it on there perfectly because of the curve of the mugs.  I did end up with a tiny wrinkle in the Grandpa mug but it didn't affect the design at all.

I then used a small stencil brush to apply the paint.

I didn't let the design dry completely before I removed the stencil because in my test I found that the paint would peel off with the vinyl if it was too dry.

I then followed the online directions for curing the paint in the oven.  I am not completely sure that the paint is dishwasher safe so I would hand wash the mugs.

I love the way that they turned out.  The gifts were such a fun way to announce our pregnancy to my family.  My brother and sisters are all teenagers so their reactions were pretty muted (typical teenagers) but it was still fun.  I have started on the glider chair this weekend and I can't wait to share but unfortunately it will probably be a while because it is a complicated project.  Hopefully it won't take me too long!