Coffee Cozies

By now, I think we are all striving to be more green, but as I mentioned before, there's just something magical about those disposable Starbucks coffee cups. Although I don't have a solution for that yet, I do have a solution to cut down on cardboard consumption by making your own coffee cozie out of recycled items!

I've been eyeballing these cuties on Pinterest for a while, and after researching all the ways people have come up with making them, I decided to take a sewing-machine-free route, with plenty of room left for uniqueness and versatility.

To start, stop by your local Goodwill (or raid a man's closet, hopefully without breaking any laws) and pick out some neckties that catch your eye while keeping in mind quality and width (these cost <$1!!!).

Supplies:

Empty coffee cup and cardboard sleeve for template (now you have an excuse to go get a cup of Jo from your favorite coffee shop)

Necktie

Buttons or Material Flower/rossette or whatever else you'd like to use as an accent peice (keep in mind, the flatter, the better)

Needle and thread (color to coordinate with tie color)

Sissors

Straight Pins

Felt (color to coordinate with tie color)

Fabric Tac

Velcro

E6000 glue

Instructions:



Drink your coffee. Smile. Take a deep breath; when you release it, make sure you don't blow it in anyone's face before brushing your teeth.

Remove the cardboard sleeve from the cup and gently take it apart (making it one long flat piece).

Lay out the necktie on a flat surface, place cardboard sleeve on top (pretending the pointy tip of the tie does not exist), and cut the tie about two inches longer than the cardboard sleeve.

Separate the layers of the end of the tie (the newly cut end), and cut out about 1/4-1/2 inch of the inside material.

Fold the edge over (towards the back of the tie, where the other seems and tags are), secure in place with a couple of pins and sew along the edges to secure (now you have a hem without any extra bulky fabric).

Pick out your accent peice and sew at the pointy end of the tie until secure.

 (Don't worry about how your stitching looks on the back of the tie, it wont matter.)

Lay the tie on the sheet of felt and cut to size (again, pretending the pointy tip of the tie doesn't exist).

Secure felt on back of tie (side with all the seems and sloppy sewing evidence) with fabric tack. 

(We use Fabric Tac for this part because it will dry soft and is machine washable.)

Then cut a square of velcro (hook side) and glue to inside of the pointy tip of tie with E6000 glue. Allow time to dry.

(We use E6000 for this part because it's super strong and resilant. Be sure not to get it on anything else, or you'll never get it off!)

Measure where to put the loop side of velcro on the pretty side of the tie by wrapping the tie around the coffee cup until it fits snuggly, slide the velcro in place to mark the spot (this part takes some coordination, experimentaion, and patience), then secure in place with E6000 glue.

Allow time to dry.

You're done!!!
Time to celebrate with another cup of coffee.