Things Made From Old Sweaters: Super Bowl Edition

I have a shameful confession to make. Family members and Wisconsin friends please either brace yourselves or turn away.

I don't care about the Green Bay Packers.

Let the cries of "BLASPHEMY!" ring.

I was born and raised in the land of cheese heads where you exit the womb wearing green and gold. Upon birth parents sign their children up for the season ticket waiting list, which currently has a 30 year wait! In Wisconsin it is a regular interior decorating choice to have an entire room of your house dedicated to the Pack. I personally know more than one family who has done so.

(photo courtesy of TribLocal.  See the full article it's from here.)

The fervor of Packers fans is unrivaled in the NFL. This may be partially credited to the fact that the Packers are the only community owned sports franchise in all of American professional sports. When a fan says, "the Pack are MY team," they aren't kidding. This obsession with a football team is something that has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Go to a Packers bar in any city away from Wisconsin (or just any bar IN Wisconsin) on game day and you'll see what I mean. These people are insane! I say this in the most loving way possible.

Seeing as the team of my birth right has made it to the super bowl this year, I figured I should do a football friendly post. No matter your team preference, beverages will be consumed on game day. So lets all go drink some beer with the help of my new creations!

One of my goals for FLNL & HNLY is to be as eco friendly/green as possible. I've been trying to find all sorts of fun ways to upcycle. Lately I have been liberating hideous sweaters from their purgatory of Goodwill and charity shops to give them life in the form of stuffed animals (I'll talk about them in another post) and the subject of today's post: coozies.

*I start by taking the sweater apart by the seams creating flat pieces.  

*I then crochet the yarn as I unravel the sweater. 

*Next I trace one of the stencils I've made on felt and carefully cut it out.

*I then apply some glue to the felt piece and position it on the coozie. I hold it under a few heavy books until it is dry. This keeps it in place for when I stitch it.

*My last step is carefully putting it under the sewing machine and stitching the felt in place.

I'm pretty excited about how darn cute these dudes came out. They are all made out of 100% cotton and are machine washable for those times you jump out of your seat screaming to celebrate a touchdown and spill all over your sorry self. They also stretch so they fit snugly over a variety of things from cans to bottles to those to-go coffee cups. I've even stretched one over a pint glass.  

I'll hopefully have my new etsy store up and running soon. These guys will be on sale along with several others not pictured. 

I would love suggestions on other creatures and images you'd like to see on these. What kind of thing would you most like on a drink coozie? 

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone. Even though I won't be watching the game I hope the Packers beat the crap out of the Steelers.