Turn IKEA's Affordable Mini Teacups Into Cutesy Home Decor You'll Love

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If two things go together, it's the relaxing ambience of a flickering candle and the warm hug that is a good cup of tea. Finding a way to transform this feeling into decor isn't as difficult as you think, and IKEA has the perfect product to start making your tea party aesthetic dreams come true — the DUKTIG 8 piece cup and saucer playset. This isn't a "give an old teacup new life and turn it into a charming light feature" type of project. Rather, it's an entire mini-makeover that turns a child's playset into whimsical decor straight out of Alice's Wonderland.

The way this IKEA hack works is by first decorating the plain pastel cups and saucers, and then gluing them together into cute little stacks, into which candles can be added. You could use these to create a lovely tea party tablescape, or add a pop of color and charm to a reading corner, fireplace mantle, or even a bedroom. The best thing about this project is the cost and versatility. For the 4 cups and 4 saucers, you only pay $6.99, and if you're not a fan of pastels, the dishes can be covered in a wide range of paint and marker colors to create a new look.

To make this project work, you'll need your DUKTIG saucers and plates from IKEA, a removable adhesive that won't hurt your dishes like WOUSEDO Museum Putty, glass paint pens like ARTISTRO Acrylic Paint Markers, a clearcoat spray such as Krylon Acrylic Clear Finish, and candles of your choosing. One cool thing about this DIY is that you don't need to shell out money for unique candles that are too cool to light. You can use any type of candle, including simple tall tapers or tiny tealights, and the cute holders would make the entire setup look exceptional. Once all the supplies are gathered, it's time to bring your Wonderland vision to light.

Use the markers to sketch tiny beautiful designs on the dishware. These can be as simple as stripes or as intricate as roses with fully shaded petals. Once dry, bake for 60 minutes at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, spray with the clear coat to lock the pattern in and think about your cup stacking method. You can go cup-saucer-cup-saucer, with a taper candle in the top teacup, or simply stack two or three cups at alternating tilts for a tipsy turvy Wonderland look. Use the museum putty to stick the dishes together. Make this your own by painting the dishes black and adding gold flecks for an elegant vibe, dipping the rims in glitter to add even more shine, or going with flameless LEDs. Either way, you'll have a charming new collection of teatime candle decor that didn't cost so much.