Bias on a Budget: Make Your Own K-Pop Cupsleeve

Everyone has their collectible items that just make sense to them.

Variant covers for special comic book issues and special pressings for vinyl album collectors. Chasers for card sets or rally items for sports teams, and for K-Pop stans there are cupsleeve events.

Cupsleeve events are something that almost all K-Pop fans know well. Even in cities (like my own, alas) that K-Pop concert tours overlook, fandoms can find a cupsleeve event at a local coffee, tea, or ice cream shop near them.

Often, these events are something to commemorate the birthday of a group member, a new album comeback or release, a debut anniversary, or another significant milestone for a group. Sometimes, it is just to share the love of a group during another holiday or observance, like Christmas or Valentine’s Day.

Sometimes, these are commercially hosted. The group Xikers recently partnered with certain Target store locations for special cupsleeves celebrating their latest mini-album release. More often than not, however, cupsleeves are the result of a local shop and/or a K-Pop fan group getting together to make and give out their own designs to fellow fans.

These events almost always include more than just a single-item handout. They are a chance for fandoms to meet new friends, participate in random dance events, exchange photo cards with each other, or simply have an excuse to get out and support your local businesses. I’ve even seen some events that have helped gather donations for a charitable cause.

Why did cupsleeves become all the rage? There may be some different answers to where it started, but I have read on different K-Pop sites, SM Entertainment hosted the first cupsleeve event in 2009 to promote the group TVXQ, which might also be one of the first groups to feature photo cards with an album in one of their special Japanese releases.

Jump forward 15 years, and communities of all sizes all over the world feature cupsleeve events. According to an article in a Los Angeles-based food site, cupsleeve events really took off during the pandemic in 2020. Concerts and other events were being canceled left and right, but business owners in Koreatown could host safe distancing photo ops and create special drinks with cupsleeves to keep fans happy and hopeful.

One of my favorite aspects of the cupsleeve is how “homemade” the entire thing is. The cupsleeve events we’ve attended have been custom-made by fellow K-Pop lovers. We have gotten some cool designs for favorite groups… but it’s impossible to feature every group we love.

That’s why I decided to make some of my own. It is incredibly inexpensive and easy.

Find a cupsleeve from a commercial establishment or pretty much any restaurant with coffee or tea takeout. They are everywhere, usually next to the creamer and stir sticks. Even convenience stores have them. You really don’t need to buy one. Once you find the sleeve, open it up, and create a background with paint, markers, or scrapbook paper.

Next, print out some favorite images of an artist or group on a computer or cut them out of a magazine. Add some stickers, glue on jewels, glitter, or whatever else you think captures the design.

That is it: your own custom cupsleeve. If you have some extra cupsleeves and some friends, you could host your own “design-your-own” cupsleeve event. That really follows the spirit of the public events, when you think about it.

These may never be huge collector items that will increase in monetary value, but cupsleeves do represent a special memory for fandoms.

If you can’t find one near you, make one!