Gingerbread House Love

Who isn't inspired by those amazing gingerbread houses? I mean have you ever seen how EPIC they can be! Unreal that they are made out of cookies. I mean some people are just overloaded with talent and creativity. I love watching those specials on the cooking channels, the creations that are outrageous.

Now, I love to bake. When I bake I try to make my cookies, cakes, pies, whatever as pretty as I can. They usually turn out somewhere between what my husband would make and a few steps below a professional bakery. I usually go for the chic and homemade look. When it comes to cookies however, my icing skills are seriously lacking.

I have never been able to figure out how to do that pipe and flood method, or really anything piped. I would love to learn, but I think its going to take more time than I have right now. One day... maybe...

Needless to say, I am always impressed with decorated cookies and therefore gingerbread houses. Eatable art. Here are some pictures of gingerbread houses that I am thoroughly impressed with.

Disney Gingerbread House, on Frog Prince Paperie

Gingerbread House, on Kalmbach Memorial Park

Falling Waters Gingerbread House, by coleypauline, on Flickr

Hogwarts, by Britta, at check out the photo tutorial!

The Burrow, By CraftSter user mezcraft, craftster.org

Biltmore Gingerbread House, by sweetashvegus, on Flickr

I really hope some of these photos have inspired you to get building! Make some awesome cookie houses and let me know how they turned out. If you need some more instructions, Nicole (a gingerbread house pro!) from Tradewind Tiaras did a great guest post on Frog Prince Paperie. Its a really great little tutorial on how to make great little gingerbread houses. Check out the post here.

Make sure to check out Gingerbread Ninja for some great Gingerbread inspiration!

XOXO,

Coco

Doughnut Coffee Cozy (Tutorial and Pattern)

Who doesn't like a good jimmy (or a sprinkle depending on where you're from)? 

Especially when it is on top of a fried piece of dough covered in frosting? 

And what better complement to a lovely doughnut than a big cup of steaming hot coffee?

This is one of those tutorials that I started out taking pictures for, and for one reason or another (usually my camera's batter needed to be charged and I didn't want to wait) I only got a few process pics. Good thing this isn't a hard pattern to follow. Pretty much, after you get the sprinkles stitched on the rest of the cozy goes together rather quickly. 

I suggest popping in a good (or cheesy) Christmas movie and making up one of these cute cozies as a great stocking stuffer. Or add it to a coffee lovers gift basket (toss in some chocolate covered espresso beans, a travel mug, and a gift card to their fave coffee joint).

Doughnut Coffee Cozy

What you will need:

• tan felt (one sheet, 9”x12” OR ⅛ yard)
• light pink felt (one sheet, 9”x12” OR ⅛ yard) (You could use brown felt for chocolate frosting or even blue for blueberry, get creative!)
• light blue felt (one sheet, 9”x12” OR ⅛ yard)
• thin quilting batting (a small amount
• tan embroidery floss
• light pink embroidery floss
• sprinkle-color embroidery floss (aqua, lime green, white, yellow, purple, and pink)
• thin white elastic cording (about 4" of 2mm)
• One ¾” button
• Matching thread (light blue)
• The usual stuff (sewing machine, hand sewing needle, fabric scissors, paper scissors, straight pins, pencil, paper, tape, etc...)

Cut out two pieces of light blue felt according to the pattern. Fold one sheet of light blue felt in half long ways and pin the pattern in place. Using very sharp fabric scissors cut around the pattern. Cut out the doughnut pattern from the tan felt, you will need two doughnut pieces. Cut out the batting and the frosting using the appropriate pattern pieces.

Pin the frosting in place on one piece of the tan doughnut. Using a backstitch embroidery stitch (check out this video), stitch around the outside and inside edges of the frosting. You want to follow the curves and stitch pretty close to the edge. 

Now its time to make those sweet little sprinkles! This is so easy and there is really no technique, its just random. All you do is make small (various sizes of small looks really great) stitches in different colors all over the frosting. I used one color at a time and just filled in wherever I felt like there needed to be a sprinkle. The back of this piece ends up looking like a mess of colorful threads, but the back doesn't matter :)

I also added sprinkles to the cozy its self. Use the same method of random stitches all over one of the light blue cozy pieces.

Layer the two cozy pieces of felt (make sure the sprinkle side is facing out) on top of each other making sure to match up the edges and corners. Fold the elastic in half and pin inside the felt sandwich according to the elastic placement marking on the pattern. Pin the rest of the sandwich so that it doesn’t move while sewing. Using the sewing machine, stitch around the perimeter of the felt, ⅛” from the edge; making sure to back-stitch at the beginning and the end.

Sew the button onto the cozy, see the button placement marking on the pattern, going through both layers of felt.

Sandwich the batting piece between the plain doughnut piece and the frosting doughnut piece. Center this sandwich on the cozy and pin in place. Using the backstitch and the tan embroidery floss, stitch around the inside edge (where the hole is) of the doughnut, and then stitch around the outside edge. Make sure you are stitching through both doughnut layers and both cozy layers. Where the doughnut hang off the cozy, just keep stitching as if it were through all four layers.

Thats it! I hope you get crafting this holiday season! 

Get your craft on and make some doughnut cozies to slip in those stockings.

If you make one of these darling cozies, please let me know! I would love to see how yours turns out.

Leave a comment here or check out the Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/EvelynandAnna

XOXO,

Coco

PATTERN:

(Print out on a regular sheet of printer paper. I drew the pattern on notebook paper because we were out of printer paper, but if you print it on regular paper the proportions  will be just right.)