24 DIY Ideas for the Coffee Lover to Make

Everybody knows one person who is genuinely unreachable before the first cup. These 24 DIY ideas for the coffee lover are what you make for that person, and then quietly make a second one for yourself. Some are evening projects you can wrap the same night: a polka dot mug baked in the oven, a crochet cozy off a 10mm hook, a resin coaster with whole beans suspended in it like amber. Some go in a jar and get eaten, like cinnamon brown sugar syrup, caramel latte marshmallows and coffee nut brittle. A few turn a shelf into a coffee corner, from a rack of bottled syrups to a wooden crate packed as a gift basket. And two of them, the body scrub and the soap, turn used grounds into something you would actually pay for. Every tutorial links back to the maker who wrote it.

1. Polka Dot Coffee Mug Gift

Polka dot coffee mug gift, a white mug painted with black dots filled with coffee packets, chocolate and a gift card

A plain white mug, a circle sponge dabber and Americana multi surface paint in Black Tie, which is the whole supply list. Wipe the mug down with rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball first so the paint has something clean to grip. Then the part everybody skips: air cure the finished mug for four full days, put it into a cold oven, bake thirty minutes at 325 degrees and let it cool with the door open. Rush that and the dots come off in the dishwasher. Fill it with coffee packets and chocolate.

Get the full tutorial at A Pumpkin And A Princess.

2. DIY I Need Coffee Shirt Using Heat Transfer Vinyl

DIY I need coffee shirt, a gray long sleeve tee with I NEED COFFEE cut in black heat transfer vinyl across the chest

A gray long sleeve tee with I NEED COFFEE cut from heat transfer vinyl in a tall thin typeface. Lettering this large is where HTV is at its most forgiving and its most unforgiving at once: the shapes are easy to weed because everything is big, but a long word sitting crooked across a chest is obvious from across a room. Fold the shirt in half and press the crease before you place anything, and use that crease as your center line rather than eyeballing it.

Get the full tutorial at The Casual Craftlete.

3. Coffee Scented Candles

Coffee scented candles, a vintage floral china bowl filled with wax, topped with coffee grounds and a lit wick

Two cups of soy wax flakes, one candle wick with a weighted bottom and a single teaspoon of coffee grounds, which is less than you would guess and is the right amount. The tint is not dye, it is a brown or tan crayon, peeled and dropped into the melting wax, and the maker is explicit that food coloring will not mix into wax and should not be attempted. Melt on low heat in a non-stick pot, stirring often, wrap the wick around a pencil laid across the cup, then pour. Thrifted odd cup and saucer sets are the ideal container.

Get the full tutorial at Premeditated Leftovers.

4. Happy Handle Coffee Cozy

Happy handle coffee cozy, a hand holding a white to go cup wrapped in a navy and white crochet cozy with a handle

Crocheted in super bulky yarn on a 10mm hook, so it is finished in an evening rather than a weekend. It takes about 25 yards of Lion Brand Hometown USA and works up at a gauge of 7 stitches by 5 rows to four inches in half double crochet. The design detail worth the price of admission is the flap that forms the handle, which is sized to slip a gift card inside, so the cozy and the gift card become one present. Worked in rows first, then joined and worked in the round.

Get the full tutorial at Moogly.

5. Farmhouse Coffee Lover Calendar Free Printable

Farmhouse coffee lover calendar free printable, a framed one page year calendar with a watercolor coffee cup design

A one page year calendar with a watercolor coffee cup at the top and “but first… coffee” hand lettered above the grid, offered free in two sizes, 5×7 and 8×10. It is a print, save and frame job, and the maker’s own advice is to run it on good card stock at home rather than plain paper, which is the difference between something you frame and something that curls. It is licensed for personal use only. A cheap gold frame turns a free download into a gift that looks bought.

Get the full tutorial at The Cottage Market.

6. DIY Coffee Bean Necklace

DIY coffee bean necklace, a single coffee bean painted rose gold hanging from a fine chain on a pale wooden surface

One real coffee bean, a jewelry finding ring, super glue, spray paint and a chain you already own, made after the maker priced the version she liked at forty dollars. Two mistakes she made and published: she did not clean the beans first, so the waxy surface resisted the paint and needed several coats, and she glued the rings on facing the wrong way so the bean sat sideways on the chain. Wipe the beans with a damp cloth, turn the rings sideways, then paint.

Get the full tutorial at Attack of the Hungry Monster.

7. DIY Resin Coffee Bean Coaster

DIY resin coffee bean coaster, a clear square resin coaster with whole coffee beans and gold glitter suspended inside

Whole coffee beans and glass glitter suspended in clear resin in a square silicone mold. It is built in layers and each layer has to be firm to the touch before the next one goes on, which is what keeps the beans floating at different depths instead of all settling on the bottom. About two tablespoons of resin makes the first thin clear layer. A heat gun passed over the surface pops the bubbles that always rise. Sandpaper tidies the edges once it is fully cured.

Get the full tutorial at Handmade with Ashley.

8. DIY Cold Brew In A Mason Jar

DIY cold brew in a mason jar, a Ball jar of dark cold brew coffee with a screw on filter lid standing on a kitchen counter

Two wide mouth mason jars and a screw on cold brew filter, and no machine at all. Coffee grounds soak in cold water in the first jar for more than twelve hours, then the filter twists on with the straw side down, the second jar goes on top of that, and you flip the whole stack and let it strain through. Cold brew is smoother and less acidic than coffee brewed with heat, which is easier on your stomach and lets you actually taste the chocolate and fruit notes in a good bean.

Get the full tutorial at Sueeye.

9. Caramel Latte Marshmallows

Caramel latte marshmallows, a pile of thick pale homemade marshmallow squares beside a white mug reading coffee

Homemade marshmallows flavored like a caramel latte, with a caramel swirl rippled through a coffee marshmallow base and cut into fat squares. The maker’s honest framing is that once you get the hang of making marshmallows at all you will keep making them, and that a plain coffee marshmallow sounded dull next to one built around a coffee house drink she already ordered. Piled in a tin with a ribbon these are a better gift than anything you can buy, and they cost pennies.

Get the full tutorial at Goodie Godmother.

10. Homemade Coffee Syrups

Homemade coffee syrups, a row of glass bottles with chalkboard labels holding golden flavored coffee syrups

Equal parts sugar and water brought to a gentle boil in a heavy saucepan and simmered for about ten minutes, and that is the entire base. What goes in afterward decides the flavor: a third of a cup of caramel sauce, or a couple of teaspoons of vanilla, peppermint or orange extract, as strong or as mild as you want it. The maker bottles hers in little glass oil drizzlers she found two for three dollars in the Target dollar bins, then labels each one. Keep them in the fridge and use them inside two weeks.

Get the full tutorial at A Few Shortcuts.

11. DIY Coffee Body Scrub Recipe

DIY coffee body scrub in a glass jar tied with twine, dark coffee grounds and sugar scrub beside a blue gingham cloth

Sugar, coffee grounds, coconut oil, castile soap and a splash of vanilla, layered into a jar and stirred until combined. It is gentle enough for regular use and it is the project that makes the case for making your own skincare, because you can see every ingredient going in and you can leave out anything your skin argues with. The jar in the photograph is a reused berry jam jar with the label soaked off, which is the right container: wide mouth, heavy glass, free.

Get the full tutorial at Sueeye.

12. Coffee Gift Basket

Coffee gift basket, a wooden crate filled with mugs, to go cups, coffee and treats tied with a burlap ribbon and tag

A wooden crate rather than a basket, which is the upgrade that makes the whole thing look styled instead of assembled, filled with beans, mugs, to go cups, sugar, creamer, stir sticks and homemade biscotti. The maker’s must have list is short and it is worth following, because a coffee basket fails when it is all coffee and nothing to drink it from. Wrap it with ribbon, add an ornament and print a label. The initial mugs are what stop it reading as generic.

Get the full tutorial at The TomKat Studio.

13. Cinnamon Brown Sugar Coffee Syrup

Cinnamon brown sugar coffee syrup in a dark glass bottle with a tag, beside a latte and an iced coffee

Three ingredients and a saucepan, made after the maker spotted a bottle of Torani brown sugar cinnamon syrup in a shop and decided to recreate it at home the same afternoon. Her own verdict is that it tastes like the cinnamon dolce syrup from the coffee shop, which is a specific enough claim to be worth testing. It goes into hot or iced coffee and into tea, and a small bottle with a tag is one of the better under five dollar gifts on this list.

Get the full tutorial at Hello Little Home.

14. The Grinch Coffee Mugs

The Grinch coffee mugs, two green mugs with a Grinch face decal and lettering, on a striped cloth with ornaments

Green mugs with vinyl decals, one wearing the Grinch’s eyes and sideways grin and one lettered “I’m a real Grinch before my coffee,” made from free cut files the maker offers in three versions including a tea one. Her own advice in the comments is the useful part: use Oracal 631 or 651, because other vinyls do not stick well to a curved glazed mug, and hand wash most of the time even though hers have survived the top rack for years.

Get the full tutorial at That's What Che Said.

15. Crochet Coffee Cozy Pattern

Crochet coffee cozy pattern, two to go cups in gray and cream cozies above three flat cozies fastened with wooden buttons

Worked on a 5.5mm hook in any number four medium weight yarn, about 90 yards per cozy, finished with a wooden button. Four cozies out of four ball colors gives you a gift set from a single afternoon, and the maker points out they work just as well on a cold cup as a hot one, which matters more than it sounds if the person you are making it for drinks iced coffee in February. There is a video walkthrough alongside the written pattern for anyone who follows stitches better by eye.

Get the full tutorial at Just Be Crafty.

16. DIY Coffee Gift Jar

DIY coffee gift jar, a glass milk bottle of coffee beans with a tan covered lid, a friend label, a burlap flower and ribbon

A glass milk bottle filled with coffee beans, dressed with a printed label about friendship, a burlap flower and a gingham ribbon, with the lid covered in adhesive backed cardstock cut to fit. The maker measures the lid, draws a circle in her cutting software to comfortably cover it, then peels and sticks, and she picked a warm gray cardstock specifically because it reads as brown next to the beans. Her closing instruction is the one people genuinely forget, which is to actually fill it with coffee.

Get the full tutorial at Amy Latta Creations.

17. Coffee Nut Brittle

Coffee nut brittle, shards of golden nut brittle full of cashews and peanuts piled in a small metal pan beside a bowl of nuts

Brittle with real coffee in it twice over, half a cup of strong brewed coffee and a teaspoon and a half of coffee extract, poured over twelve ounces of mixed nuts and seeds with optional dried cranberries and a scatter of sea salt. The rest is standard brittle: a stick of butter, two cups of sugar, a third of a cup of light corn syrup and three quarters of a teaspoon of baking soda stirred in at the end, which is what foams it up and makes the snap.

Get the full tutorial at A Family Feast.

18. DIY Frozen Coffee Mix Display

DIY frozen coffee mix display, three mini plastic cups of coffee drink mix with whipped tops, green straws and round logos

Mini parfait cups filled with a frozen coffee drink mix, topped with white “cream,” finished with a green straw and a hand drawn snowflake logo so they read as miniature to go cups. Everything comes from one order: mini parfait cups, slim 7.75 inch straws, parchment paper, a metal skewer to make the straw hole, eighth inch ribbon and brown and yellow permanent markers for the logo. Hot glue holds the lids. They are a Christmas ornament and a drink mix at the same time.

Get the full tutorial at Sprinkle Some Fun.

19. Coffee Jellos

Coffee jellos, neatly cut cubes of pale tan coffee jelly piled high in a tall cut glass goblet on a wooden table

Four ingredients including the water, set overnight and cut into cubes, served in a glass. The maker is disarmingly honest that she is not really a coffee drinker, maybe a cup a month, and that she could eat these every day anyway. Her one warning is the obvious one she still flags: the only hang up is waiting for it to set, so make it last thing at night. Her set was firm enough by morning that the cubes cut cleanly out of a glass dish without a single one breaking.

Get the full tutorial at With A Blast.

20. DIY Chalkboard Coasters

DIY chalkboard coasters, square teal chalkboard tiles with Coffee written in chalk beside a matching teal owl coffee mug

Plain white tiles from the hardware aisle, about thirteen cents each, and a can of chalkboard spray paint. Lay the tiles on an old sheet somewhere well ventilated, coat them evenly, leave them several hours, then do it again. The maker suggests giving the second coat overnight, because paint that has not fully hardened chips and smudges the first time chalk touches it. Adhesive felt stickers on the underside keep them from scratching furniture. Chalkboard erasers are hard to find now, so a damp paper towel or a baby wipe does the cleaning between drinks.

Get the full tutorial at A Few Shortcuts.

21. Cappuccino Milk Bath

Cappuccino milk bath, a glass milk bottle of pale bath powder with a round green label beside galvanized buckets

The bottle comes first. It is a 9.5 ounce Frappuccino bottle washed out with the label soaked off, which is why the finished thing reads as a proper milk bottle rather than a jar of powder. Inside goes eight tablespoons of powdered milk, four each of corn starch, baking soda and instant coffee, and five drops of vanilla essential oil. The step that decides the result is rolling the powdered milk and the coffee flat under a rolling pin on a cutting board first, because granules sit in the water and powder dissolves into it.

Get the full tutorial at Running With Sisters.

22. Caramel Latte Tea Cup Candle

Caramel latte tea cup candle, a white cup and saucer holding a pale caramel candle beside a silver creamer and sugar

Soy wax flakes, caramel liquid dye, caramel latte fragrance oil, a wick and a tea cup. The measuring trick is the useful part: fill the cup to the brim with flakes and tip them into a bowl, then do it again, because you need at least double the loose wax to fill the cup once melted. Heat to 160F over a pot of boiling water, stir in about six drops of dye and ten to fifteen drops of scent, pour, then leave it at room temperature for roughly an hour.

Get the full tutorial at Simply Stacie.

23. Homemade Coffee Soap

Homemade coffee soap, stacked pale soap bars flecked with coffee grounds beside a white cup of black coffee and beans

Cold process soap made with brewed coffee instead of water, which is exactly as intimidating as it sounds and exactly as manageable as the steps make it. Ten ounces of cooled brewed coffee takes 4.3 ounces of lye, which smells strongly of burnt coffee as it dissolves and needs gloves and eye protection. Coconut, olive, castor and palm oils plus shea butter melt together, both mixtures cool to between 100 and 115 degrees, then they blend to trace. Two tablespoons of grounds go in at the end.

Get the full tutorial at Sueeye.

24. Beginner Sewing Project Tutorial: Coffee Cozies

Coffee cozies sewing project, four to go cups wearing fabric sleeves in chevron, paisley, red and blue prints with buttons

Fabric cup sleeves sewn from scraps and fastened with a button, and the case for them is straight sewing lines only, which makes it a genuine first project rather than one described as easy by somebody who has sewn for twenty years. They use so little fabric that the good prints you have been hoarding finally get used, and every print seems to work. They also replace the cardboard sleeve you throw away every day, and they insulate a cup for longer than one does.

Get the full tutorial at Sueeye.