PREORDER: A Christmas Gingerbread Cottage Retreat | Curated Embroidery Gift Box

PREORDER ONLY

Important information:

• Pre-orders will be open from October 9th to October 18th.
• This special gift box ships free within the United States but is not available for International shipping.
• Your Christmas Gingerbread Cottage Retreat box is expected to ship during the first week of December, but may ship earlier if all items are available sooner. Once your box ships you will receive tracking information via email.
• Other items purchased in same order as this pre-order will ship with your box in December. Please place a separate order if you need the other items sooner.
• This is a special preorder item. All sales are final, with no cancellations or refunds, except where required by law.

After the hugely positive response we received for our collaborative kit Song of the Garden Bandit, Melissa and I decided to team up again to curate a very special holiday gift box for Christmas. The box includes instruction (including online video tutorials) and supplies to stitch and to finish a trio of joyful gingerbread embroidery projects, designed to be framed in decorative embroidery hoops for display on a mantel or hung in a Christmas tree. You'll also find some extra stitching supplies inside and some fun holiday treats we think you will love!

While designing the three gingerbread ornament projects, it was a delight to play with  Storyteller Stitchery's library of colors and thread blends to recreate holiday candies and frosting through embroidery stitches. To stitch the colorful candy and bright Christmas lights I chose silk thread, which is naturally shiny and beautifully reflects light. In contrast, I combined more textured embroidery stitches with a thick, soft wool blend thread to recreate the frosting. Combining these premium specialty threads with creative embroidery stitch applications resulted in the creation of these two gingerbread cookie patterns and the larger gingerbread house project:

1. Snowflake gingerbread cookie. A perfect project for beginners, featuring basic embroidery stitches. Practice these stitches while getting a feel for the silk and the wool-silk blend threads.
2. Gingerbread man cookie. Additional stitches and techniques are introduced to give you more confidence in your stitching.
3. Gingerbread house. A larger project exploring unique embroidery stitch combinations to recreate the joy of decorating a gingerbread house with colorful holiday candies and frosting. Some of the stitches are more challenging for new stitchers, but the included video tutorial will help guide you and offer stitch modifications and alternatives.

Included in the gift box

In addition to the threads and supplies to complete the gingerbread embroidery ornaments, your specialty gift box comes packed full of curated embroidery supplies and festive extras.

For stitching the three DIY embroidered ornament projects:

• White and gingerbread cotton fabric, permanently printed with the pattern templates.
  
• A fat quarter of white cotton fabric for stabilizing and brightening the printed fabric. This fabric can also be used for practicing embroidery stitches before stitching the three projects, and can be cut in strips for binding the embroidery hoops.
• Beechwood hand embroidery hoops for stitching the projects. One 4 inch and one 6 inch stitching hoop are included in each box.
  
• 4 colors of hand-dyed specialty wool-silk blend threads and 6 colors of hand-dyed specialty silk threads from Storyteller Stitchery. Your threads are wound on large, reusable bobbins and organized on a ring with an adorable gingerbread cottage charm.
  
• A pack of hand embroidery needles for use with the silk and wool-silk blend threads.
  
• Color printed embroidery pattern instructions, including suggested stitch order and a link to follow along with the online video tutorial.
• A copy of the hand embroidery Beginner Guide, featuring tips for getting started and hand embroidery stitch diagrams with links to online video tutorials.
  

For turning the three embroidery projects into holiday ornaments: 

• Three decorative embroidery hoops for framing the finished projects.
• A fat quarter of holiday fabric to decorate the back sides of the embroidered ornaments.
• Decorative ornament hooks for hanging the ornaments from a tree or mantel.

Additional hand embroidery supplies:

• One roll of Thimtec thimble tape to protect your fingers and for binding the inner hoop of the beechwood embroidery hoops.
• A magnetic needleminder featuring the gingerbread house design.
• A pair of stork embroidery scissors for trimming threads.
  

Fun holiday extras and treats:

• A large tote bag featuring the gingerbread embroidery design, to be used for gifting the holiday box and as a project bag.
• Additional holiday treats specially curated by Melissa and Jessica to create a unique and luxurious gifting experience.

All carefully packed into a large rose gold keepsake box with a magnetic closure, ready to gift.