Thursday, January 5, 2012

Not quite felt food.


Last year, I made my niece a play kitchen for Christmas.  No, not this kind:


                                                                         Source: martawrites.com via Kimberly on Pinterest




Although that would be cool.  I wanted to send something compact since her family lives in an apartment and I thought they might appreciate something that pulled double duty as storage and could be easily tucked away.  Plus it had to be fun, too.  You can see the solution here.  I made her a bunch of felt food which I made up as I sewed, and probably wasn't the awesomest felt food ever, but was pretty cute.


So this year, I wanted to make something along the same lines - something she could add to her kitchen.  I did see a pin for something very like this on pinterest, but alas I have somehow lost it.  In any case, if this was inspired by YOU, sorry I didn't know.


But here's my version of:


Firstly, you will need a pair of standard issue women's socks.  They can be plain or fancy, striped or dotted, new or used.  I used new, though, since they were a gift.  Just plain old crew socks.

Lay one on top of the other

and cut the toes off.

Then turn them both inside out.  Smoosh one of the socks up into the other sock 

and then smooth them out nicely.

Start at the bottom where the toes used to be and there is not an unfinished edge, and start rolling the socks up, together.

Roll, roll, roll, keep going.  Up over the heel part, which is a little awkward.  And when you get to the top, stop.

Your donut will look like this from the bottom:

And they will look like this from the top:

I used two packages of socks - they had the same patterns (a few plain, some dotted and some striped) but one was pink and tan colors and the other was blue and brown.  I liked all the colors and patterns together.  They looked like they could actually be donut colors, but with some added fun, you know?


To frost your socks, cut out some felt circles in colors that match the donuts.  I have vanilla, chocolate, caramel, blueberry and raspberry frosting.  Yum.  Just trace around the donut and cut, then cut a small circle in the very middle.  

Then go back and make the inside and outside of each circle all wavy and random.  Like icing.

Your donuts probably need sprinkles.  They'll taste better that way.  For my sprinkles I just used embroidery floss and made little french knots randomly all over the frosting circles.

Here's a close up of the french knots.  I'll admit that doing the sprinkles this way was mostly due to a new and inexplicable obsession with french knots.  And yes, it did take a long time to do an even dozen donuts this way.  You could maybe hot glue stuff on the top for sprinkles instead, if you wanted.

Just hot glue the felt pieces to the top of the "donuts" - covering up where the seam is.
Then I found a little gift box that looked remarkably like a bakery box and placed six inside.  I liked them so much, I decided to give the other six to my other niece.

For the lid to the bakery box (which I could have sworn I took a picture of but is currently MIA) I needed to make a logo.  I designed this cupcake in picnik:

That's a whole lotta geometric shape "stickers."  Feel free to use it if you want.


Then I put this little graphic on the background I'd created - also in picnik:


I printed it out the same size as the lid and then just mod podged it on.  I used mod podge because I really wanted it to be more permanent and sturdy, but it rumpled up.  If I were to do it again I think I'd just use double sided tape or glue dots.


And there you have it!  Not quite the same as sewing felt food, but still pretty cute, if I do say so myself.  And if you don't have any kids to make them for, just make them for yourself as a fat free treat.  We're all still on our New Year's diets, right?




Added: of note, I received an email from Jenn who authors the blog Rook No. 17.  So glad she found me, because it turns out she is the original mastermind behind sock donuts!  Want to see her post?  Check here!  Nice to meet you Jenn!




*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!

25 comments:

kellystar said...

LOVE these...posted the link on my facebook so everyone can enjoy your fat-free donuts

Lindsey said...

Awesome idea! You inspire me!

Rachel {BubblyNatureCreations.com} said...

These are adorable!!! they look easy too!!! :)

Rachel @bubblynaturecreations.com

Christina said...

this is SO cute - I think I might make these for my nieces & nephews!! They're adorable!

I featured this on my blog today:
http://christinasadventures.com/2012/01/sunday-features-54.html

And I pinned it too:
http://pinterest.com/christinasadven/20-below-features/

Venassa said...

This is absolutely adorable! I'm going to pin it :p

vb-creations.blogspot.com

Jill said...

These are amazing Kim! I absolutely love them!

Unknown said...

These are the cutest little donuts ever! What a great use for a pair of socks. I would love to have you link up at Creative Me if you haven't already! Here's the link:
http://www.thesoutherninstitute.com/2012/01/its-new-and-improved-creative-me-linky.html

Happy New Year!

Megan @ These Are Some Good Times said...

These sock doughnuts are awesome !

I would love for you to share them at my party, Some Good Stuff: http://some-good-times.blogspot.com/2012/01/some-good-stuff-2.html

Megan

Kelli W said...

Those are absolutely adorable! I love that they are basically no sew too...the kiddos would have fun helping make them!

Dani said...

These are so adorable!! Love the idea, thanks for sharing!

Rebel Chick said...

These are SO CUTE!

Lindsey said...

These are TOO CUTE! :)

http://www.toddlindsey.com

Anonymous said...

This is beyond easy! And so adorable. :-) I'm pinning it to my handmade toys board. Thanks!

Jenn Erickson said...

Hi Kimberly,

Tee hee, your sock donuts caught my eye over at Malia's Crafty Soiree party. The pin you originally saw likely came from my blog Rook No. 17. Here's the original post: http://www.rookno17.com/2010/12/sock-upcycle-gift-tutorial-how-to-make.html.

It makes me feel great to know that my little project was the source of inspiration! Feel free to visit my Facebook fan page and share a photo of your project and a link.

So glad to have discovered your blog through this happy coincidence!

Happy New Year!
Jenn/Rook No. 17

The Photographer said...

These little donuts are so cute, and I love your printable! I posted about them over at Craft Gossip, along with a credit to the original sock donut that you linked to! Thanks!

http://lessonplans.craftgossip.com/?p=5392

Melony said...

Def going to do these! Love your idea, so amazing. I have a little one that will LOVE them!

www.mel-designs.typepad.com

Delia said...

This rocks! My goodness how clever. I would probably just do puffy paint for the sprinkles because I'm impatient. You are a french knot making queen!

TheCraftBarn said...

Love it!! I posted a link to this on my blog...thru my pinterest board.
Thanks!
Jennifer @ The Craft Barn

Kitty said...

This is super cute!

Jennifer Perkins said...

Kim thank you so much for letting me feature these on BlogHer. The post went live today http://www.blogher.com/snippets/whip-batch-hot-and-fresh-sock-doughnuts

The doughnuts are so dang clever I can hardly stand it!

Stephanie said...

How cute! I made some felt food a few years ago, and just cutting out all the pieces took forever! :)

Sarah B. said...

I can't get over how cute these are! I'd love to make these for the kiddos at work. Thanks for the tutorial! :)

FlyAwayHome said...

Well aren't you smart! These are the cutest little donuts. Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

They look great and they are so cute but what do you do with them you can't wear them you cut off the toes I don't know why you would give someone new socks with the toes cut out is there a reason for cutting off the toes what would you do with them other then just look at them maybe use them as a pin cushion I don't know please tell maybe you could not cut the toes off and am I really the only one that fines it cute but a waste of socks they are pretty costly these days and I have 3 kids and I would be upset to get that as a gift and to come to find out my kids could not even wear them..please let me know why or what you would do with a dozen of useless socks?

Unknown said...

Pauline - I can't respond to you via email since you didn't include it, so I am hoping you check back here for a response. The point of this gift is for PRETEND FOOD, not socks. I was trying to think of an easy way to make some play food and these socks presented themselves as a great solution. You can get socks at the dollar store for 1 buck a pair, or at walmart for about $4 for 6. I think it's fairly affordable for play food, if you've seen the cost of buying quality felt food, it can be pretty pricey. That's also why I mentioned that you could use your mismatched socks that come out of the dryer missing their mate! You could also get socks at the thrift store for cheap. Again, you wouldn't be giving these as socks since you're sewing AND hot gluing felt and embroidery floss to them. They're for little kids to play kitchen with, like any other felt food. Hopefully that clears up any confusion.

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