Sharpie Mug...Fail or Success?

If you're anywhere on pinterest I'm sure you may have seen the many "draw on your dish, mug, etc. and then bake it" pin.  If you haven't, there's definitely a lot of them out there.  But I have an undying love for Sharpies and wanted to give it a shot.  Upon further research of how to best go about this crafty diy, I realized that there were both positive and negative reviews (aka successes and failures).

So, I gave it my own go just to see what the outcome would be :)

I decided to design a mug for a close friend and cat-lovin' lady, thus the cat.  I just drew it up with Sharpies and decorated it with fun colors.  Then I baked it in the oven.  Word has it that 30 minutes at 350 degrees will do, but I read that it wasn't always a success (aka would wash off easily).  Others were saying try 30 minutes at 425 degrees.  Still others said you need to put it in a cold oven, let it heat up, wait the 30 minutes, and then let it cool down all in the oven.

So here's what I did:  1) placed it in a cool oven, 2) turned the heat on to 425 and let it heat up about 10 minutes (with the mug still in there obviously), 3) then left it in there to bake for 30 minutes, and finally, 4) let it cool down in the oven.

When I took it out the colors were faded, but that's supposed to happen (kind of like what happens in a kiln).  I'm not going to try it in the dishwasher, but hand-washing is fine (and you know, no scrubbing with washing)!  So when I give the gift I'm just going to give a hand-wash disclaimer.  And it's not technically food safe, but hopefully she won't lick the outside of the mug, ya know?

I want to try my hand at some more because it was way fun designing it.

And one last side note, if nothing else, she can use it as a pencil holder, or even to scoop out cat food...that's an idea, huh!?

Have you ever drawn on your dishes/mugs/etc. with Sharpie?  Success or failure?