I'd been feeling a little guilty about using those cardboard cup holders every time I got a cup of starbucks. I'm picking up coffee a couple of times a day and I rarely remember to hang on to the coffee holder. So I decided to make something like the cute ones I've been seeing in craft mags and blogs. THEN I decided that as long as I was making one, I might as well knock out a few for my girlfriends back home and send them out with some love for Valentines Day.
I started out embroidering some little romantic motifs because I can't make anything without embroidery! These all came from the book A Rainbow of Stitches:
I added a little heart detail to each one in celebration of V-Day. Some close ups:
The other benefit of this project is I could use a bunch of cute fabric that's been burning a hole in my stash! I matched up the fabric to make a little patchwork action on the front side with a solid backing on the reverse.
I used a pattern from Stitch magazine as a template, but there are a bunch of patterns all over the internet. This was pretty straight forward with batting in the middle and a ponytail holder and a button to close it up. The end results:
and back:
To send out to my friends I added some really cute printable valentines I found around the web from The Black Apple, Wild Olive, and Kate.net. Then I bundled up some sweets because you have to have sweets on Valentines Day.
It felt pretty good to actually get a project done and sent out in time for the intended holiday. I hope the girls loved these. And me and my little deer coffee cozy enjoyed a yummy valentines day mocha! Happy V-Day all!