How to Make a Cricut Mug with the Mug Press

YAY! You are now the proud owner of the Cricut Mug Press. How exciting! I know I squealed when mine arrived because I have been wanting to do mug projects and I just love new craft supplies.

Once you’ve followed the on-screen prompts to set up your mug press you’re ready to start creating mugs. You’ll want your mug press on a heat-resistant surface. I have a sturdy old office cabinet that works well for me. It has caster wheels so that I can move it and there is storage below. But one of the nice things about the mug press is that it is very lightweight and has a small footprint for easy storage.

Once you’ve followed the on-screen prompts to set up your mug press you’re ready to start creating mugs. You’ll want your mug press on a heat-resistant surface. I have a sturdy old office cabinet that works well for me. It has caster wheels so that I can move it and there is storage below. But one of the nice things about the mug press is that it is very lightweight and has a small footprint for easy storage

While your mug press is heating up let’s head to design space and pick out a design for your mug.

Click on New Project, and let’s get pressing!

From here, you can make one of the pre-made Cricut designs, or you can upload your own design SVGs. To upload your own, click on Mug Design Setup

Once happy with the placement of your design, select everything. Choose Attach. Press Make It. Since we’re going to be using Infusible Ink, be sure to select Mirror. Press Continue.

Cutting out your design:

Choose Infusible Ink for your material setting. Place your Infusible Ink sheet on your cutting mat. We like to start in one corner and carefully lay it down from there, using our brayer to ensure that it is laying down properly on the mat without touching it too much with our fingers. The oils from your fingers can dilute the ink and prevent you from getting results that are as vibrant or bold as you expect.

Some Tips

• As always, it’s best to lay the design face-down on the table and peel back the mat. This prevents the Infusible Ink transfer sheet from folding and possibly cracking the ink.
• The mugs are pretty clean out of the box, but they’ll still benefit from a little more TLC. Infusible Ink is a lot of awesome things, but forgiving is not one of them. You don’t want any dust or grease on the mug
• Get your design on straight and centered every time by wrapping the design around the mug from the back center and around to the front.
• Make sure your liners are pressed tightly against your mug for the best result. You can use heat resistant tape to keep things in place, though I find I rarely need it.
• Nudge your handle a smidge to the left after you place it in your mug press and before you push down on the handle, as this will allow your left design edge to be fully covered by the heat plate.

Jennifer Maker has a great You Tube video “Cricut Mug Press: Setup & First Mug Press * Customize a Mug in Design Space”