Best friend gifts, sculpted in clay

A best friend has seen you at your worst and stayed anyway. A gift for them should feel like the friendship: specific, a little silly, and impossible for anyone else to understand fully. A Polymer Hands mug can hold that. We shape tiny versions of the two of you, or the whole group, by hand from polymer clay in our Lahore studio, fix them onto a real mug and bake it so the clay sets. Nothing printed, nothing moulded, and no other mug in the world has your particular inside joke on it.

Two of you, the whole group, or just them?

The two of you

Two figures fit on a two-figure mug from Rs 2,400. It is listed as a couple mug, but it works just as well for two friends: arm in arm, back to back, or making heart hands.

The whole friend group

A family mug starts at Rs 2,700 for three figures. Extra figures are Rs 300 each, up to eight figures in total, which covers most hostel rooms, study groups and cousin gangs.

Just them, for their birthday

A single-figure mug (from Rs 2,100) is about one person: your friend doing what they love. One customer ordered a girl with a cake in one hand and balloons in the other for her best friend; read how that birthday mug arrived on time.

Turning your friendship into a scene

The best friend mugs we make are rarely just two figures standing still. Think about what you actually do together, and tell us in the figure details:

• Matching outfits from a wedding, a dholki or Eid.
• The usual spot, like chai at the dhaba, the university canteen or the back bench.
• A trip you took together, with backpacks or a suitcase.
• A shared hobby, like cricket, gaming, books, baking, the gym.
• The pose from your favourite photo together.

Upload up to five reference photos when you personalise the mug. The group photo from that trip is perfect. Our usual style is blank faces or figures seen from behind, which suits a group scene well. If you prefer cartoon faces with eyes and a smile, just ask.

Pick a mug colour that fits your friend: glossy white, black, yellow, dark green or brown, or matte black, red, royal blue or dark green for Rs 300 more.

What should you write on it?

Short and sharp works best in clay: "Besties", "Partners in crime", your initials, or the year you met. Urdu and English both work, and Roman Urdu inside jokes are welcome. Very long text is hard to keep tidy at this size, so we may suggest a shorter version.

The longer, soppier message goes in the gift note. Write it when you personalise the mug and we will put it in the box. They may pretend not to cry.

Sending it to a friend in another city

Friendships stretch across cities: university in one place, a job in another, a wedding that took them away. We deliver all over Pakistan for a flat Rs 250, so you can send the mug straight to their door with your gift note inside.

Two tips. First, with the Rs 500 advance option the rest is paid in cash on delivery, so if the parcel is going straight to your friend, pay in full by bank transfer so they do not have to pay anything. Second, give yourself time. Every mug is made by hand in 7–10 days, then handed to a courier with tracking, and the courier usually takes 2–3 days after dispatch. Order at least 10 days before the date.

If the date is closer, message us on WhatsApp at 0335-4602621 before ordering. We will tell you honestly whether it is possible. We send a photo of the finished mug before dispatch, so you can see it before your friend does.

So it lasts as long as the friendship

Tell them how to look after it: hand wash with warm soapy water and a soft sponge, hold it by the handle, and keep it out of the microwave, oven and dishwasher. They can drink from it every day, as the figures are on the outside. Our care guide has more. For more ideas, see the birthday mugs page or the gallery of real mugs.