How to be the cutest coffee cup at Starbucks

Because I work from home, I tend to spend a lot of time doing exactly not that. Rather, I force myself to endure the hardship (insert sarcasm here) of working at coffee shops. Particularly those that offer free Wi-Fi.

If you're anything like me, you love your Starbucks (and Hubbard and Cravens, and Calvin Fletcher's and others....) but you don't love the constant waste of the cardboard cups and extra cardboard cozys designed to prevent you from burning your hand.

Thankfully, there are a lot of things you can do to prevent this waste. If you're the sort who sits down to enjoy your entire cup in-house, request a reusable ceramic cup and forget about this craft. If you're awesome enough (or carry a big enough bag) to always remember to have a washed reusable travel cup with you, again, this craft isn't for you.

But if you find yourself frequently hitting the to-go cups with nary a reuse in sight- and you've ALSO got some ends-of-skeins yarn at home, then this is for you!

Step 1: Grab some yarn. The great part about this craft is that it doesn't use much, so you can finally get rid of use the leftover ends of other projects to cobble these together. I used all one color, but there's nothing that says you can't splice in different weights and colors for a funky cozy.

Step 2: Depending on the weight of your yarn, cast on enough stitches to create about a 3" wide field. Using whatever kind of stitching you want (I used the simple knit a row, purl a row technique) knit about 8" to create the "wraparound" part of your cozy.

Note: I typically order tall-sized drinks at Starbucks, so I made the supreme effort to have one of those cups on hand when I created this cozy. I found that it was helpful, maybe not totally necessary, but helpful for sizing. I'M JUST SAYIN'.

Step 3: Knit the last 2" with a different stitch, if you prefer, or just keep going with the same. You'll wind up with something that sort of resembles a doll scarf. Cast off and keep the tail on the end- you'll use it to stitch the ends together.


Step 4: Grab a couple buttons from your button-jar. You know, that jar you have with all the buttons for crafting and fixing your favorite shirts. Pick out a few crazy colored buttons and sew them on the last 2" of your cozy. I used green thread, just for kicks. REBEL.

(Don't have a button jar? Take a break and run to Hobby-Lobby. I picked up about 200 buttons for $4.99 - all different sizes, shapes, colors, and so forth - and perfect for crafts like this. )

Step 5: Turn your cozy over and wrap the ends together, allowing them to overlap slightly. Use the tail ends of the knitting to sew the ends together on both the top and bottom.

Step 6: Turn your cozy right-side-out, then get yourself over to a Starbucks for a hot drink and some crafty admiration. Look at your bad-ass, craft-making self!