DIY HAND-PAINTED TEACUP PINCUSHIONS

These hand-painted teacup pincushions will add a little cute to your sewing supplies. I found a set of four plain white teacups at Goodwill for two dollars. Hand painting them is a fun idea because the brushstrokes add a nice touch, and you can easily personalize them in any way. Of course you can make a pincushion with a teacup without painting it, but isn't this more fun? Here's what you'll need:

teacup
glass paint (I used Martha Stewart multi-surface satin paint)
paint brush
fabric
stuffing
embroidery floss
needle
something circular to trace (I used a pyrex container)
hot glue gun + sticks
scissors
*a note on circle size: I was unsure of how big to make the fabric circle at first so I just had to expirement; a bigger circle makes a puffier pincushion like the cloud cup*

1. Paint your teacup and let dry. I'm bad at painting free hand so I sketched my design first with pencil, then painted over it. Any pencil marks left showing will wipe off.

2. Trace your circle onto fabric and cut out.

3. With the needle and embroidery floss, stitch around the edge of the circle with stitches about a centimeter long. When you're done the stitches won't show at all.

4. Pull the embroidery floss and cinch up the circle so it's like a bowl. Fill with stuffing until round and firm. Finish cinching the circle closed and tie off the floss so it stays tight. 

5. Apply hot glue around the whole inside of the tea cup, about half an inch down from the top. Push cushion down into the cup and hold until glue dries.