DIY: Hand Painted Bubba Keg

Hi everyone!

Today, I’ll be sharing a Bubba Keg painting tutorial with you.

Bubba Kegs are very popular for college road trips and Woodser parties.  Some of my friends and I are going on a road trip to LSU in a few weeks, so I decided to paint my friend a Bubba Keg for her birthday.

I painted myself a Bubba Keg when I went on this same road trip two years ago, so I don’t have to worry about painting myself one for the trip this year!

Supplies:

• Bubba Keg (I got mine on Amazon)
• Acrylic Paint
• Painter’s Tape
• Modge Podge (I know it’s really called Mod Podge!)
• Paintbrushes (in various sizes)
• X-acto Knife

Martha Stewart Crafts:

• Wedding Cake
• Champagne (optional)

Buttercream:

• Sapphire
• Plum Polished
• Petunia (optional)
• Seaway
• Darling Teal

As you may have noticed, I only ever use Martha Stewart Crafts acrylic paint, but Jo-Ann’s just came out with this new Buttercream line!  I couldn’t resist giving it a try!

Start by applying painter’s tape around the edges of the metal.  The metal portion is the only part of the mug we will be painting.

I went ahead and covered the entire handle as well.  I didn’t realize until after I took this picture that it would need to be protected too!

We’re going to use the white paint as our base coat.

Add three or four coats of white paint.  You want to completely cover the “Bubba” logo that is printed on the metal.

The idea is to create an even layer of paint for your design to be drawn on top of.

Once the white paint has dried (give it an hour at least), begin painting with the light turquoise.  This project is all about building up the color, so we’ll need to add several coats of each paint.

Add three or four coats of paint, until you’re satisfied with the opaqueness.

I let the light turquoise paint dry overnight.  I wanted to make sure it was completely dry before I began painting on my design.

I chose Ikat for this project!  Ikat is so pretty and super easy to paint!  If you’re also a fan of Ikat, you can continue on to read about how I created my design.  If you don’t like Ikat and would prefer another pattern, go for it!  Feel free to skip ahead to the end where I go over how to seal off and finish the Bubba Keg!

I wanted the blue paint to be the star of the show, so I’m going to use it for the larger portions of the Ikat design.

Start with a decent amount of paint on your brush and paint a rough diamond shape.

Add a tiny bit more paint to your brush.  Hold the brush perpendicular to the mug and begin dragging out the paint.

It’s okay if the sides aren’t symmetrical!  They aren’t supposed to be!

To see a video of the Ikat painting technique, click here.

Continue painting the diamond shapes all around the mug.  I ended up with six of them.

It’s okay if the distance between each diamond isn’t the same.  None of mine are!

Now we’re going to add little half diamonds between the large ones.

Start with the dark turquoise and paint a triangle.

Just like before, hold your brush perpendicularly and drag out the paint.

I chose to alternate top and bottom with the dark turquoise!   I think it adds a little something to the design!

Do the same steps as above but use the purple paint now.

We’re going to go back later and paint over these to make them look better and more opaque!

Once you’ve painted all of the diamonds, let the mug sit and dry for an hour or so.

Once the mug has had time to dry, go back and paint over each diamond with a smaller brush.

The smaller brush allows you to repaint each “spike” without messing them up and painting “outside the lines.”

I went over each of my diamonds twice. I wanted them to be super opaque!

After repainting, let the mug dry for several hours.  We don’t want any wet paint when we go to seal it!

Now comes the Modge Podge!  I know I call it the wrong name, but just roll with it!  Modge Podge is way more fun to say than Mod Podge! 🙂

Use a larger brush to apply Modge Podge all over your design.  I like to paint horizontally in one direction.

You can see some small chunks of Modge Podge in the picture.  Try your best to get all of those off before the Modge Podge dries.

If you’ve never used Modge Podge before, don’t get too concerned over the streaky whiteness that appears after applying it!  That will go away as it begins to dry!

After a few minutes, most of the whiteness has disappeared!

Add two or three coats of Modge Podge to the mug.  Wait at least 30 minutes between coats.

Once the Modge Podge has dried, we’re ready to finish of the Bubba Keg!

As you can see, quite a bit of paint got in the little crevice between the painter’s tape and the metal we were painting on top of.  We want to make sure that the paint on the mug isn’t glued to the painter’s tape!  That could make for a serious disaster!  We do not want all of our hard work ripped off!

To avoid such a serious disaster, we’re gong to take an X-Acto knife and cut the paint away from the tape.

Take the knife (it fits perfectly in the little groove) and add a little pressure while running it around the entire mug.

Do the same with the tape on the bottom.

Once you’ve peeled off the tape, our project is complete!

I absolutely love this color palette and the way the mug turned out!

I’m sure my friend will love it too!

Happy Crafting!!