Apron Re-Do

My daughter picked up a couple of these aprons for me at Tuesday Morning for $2.99 or $3.99. They're good heavy duty aprons. The only drawback was they were Easter aprons and had this cute little bunny on them.




I have nothing against cute little bunnies, I just didn't want one on my apron. So I picked up this fabric at Joann's, thinking I would just put a heart over the bunny.




I found a heart that was the right size on the Internet, cut it out, then traced in on my fabric. I kind of outlined the edge of the fabric with a black indelible marker to make it stand out more. Then I went around the edges of the heart with fray check and let it dry. I think stitched it to the apron, over the bunny, with a straight stitch, as close to the edge as possible.





But they also had these little metal thingies that make the apron adjustable. I detest these things! My daughter's aprons have them and I can never make them work. Too complicated for my simple mind, I guess.




So I decided to get rid of them and just sew the neck strap into the front.




I got the hearts sewed on and they looked great! But since I had fabric left over, I decided I should do something else with it.

So I added a couple of ruffles. They turned out sooooo cute!!




Here's my daughter, Ruth, modeling one of them for me. Wasn't that sweet of her? Of course, she has no idea I'm putting her picture on my blog!!


What she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?

A Homemade Christmas: More Aprons

I have four granddaughters, two of whom love to help there mother in the kitchen. So I decided to make them their own aprons. Now they won't have to hitch their mom's aprons up to fit!! They are ages four and six.

I made their aprons out of fabric I already had, floral prints I picked up at Wal Mart this past spring.

I made each apron adjustable. The ties go around the neck, through the sides of the apron, then tie in the back. They can tighten or loosen them as needed.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea!

A Homemade Christmas: Aprons

If you have read my blog, then you know that my son and his new wife are going to be livingon the island of Santo, Vanuatu for the next two years. They leave on the 31st. It's going to be pretty rough over there. What I mean is, it's very likely that they will have to hand wash their clothes!! For two years - can you imagine that!?! That's what I would call roughing it.

Anyway, since we're doing the homemade Christmas thing this year, I was trying to come up with something useful to make for my daughter-in-law. The corn bags won't work, since they won't have a microwave. Then I started thinking about their laundry. Then it came to me - a good set of aprons would save her clothes and hopefully save her a lot of washing!

So I made her aprons for Christmas. I made them out of home decor fabric, since I wanted something fairly heavy and hardy. And I also wanted something pretty.

Each apron has a large pocket on the front, which doesn't show up very well in these pictures.

I found the fabric on sale at Joann's, so I have about $7.00 in each of these aprons.

A Homemade Christmas: Corn Heating Pads

Last year after the Christmas, our family decided to do a "homemade Christmas" this year. Of course, most of us put it off until the last minute, even though we've had a whole year to plan and create! So, I have spent the last week working like a crazy woman on my Christmas gifts. So have my kids. We're all hopeless procrastinators!!

Here is one of my projects:

Corn Heating Pads

My mother made a couple of these for our family several years back. We absolutely loved them!! They are a good source of moist heat for those annoying aches and pains. They are also great during the winter for cold feet or just to cozy up to. You just pop them into the microwave for several minutes, and you have hours of warmth.

The corn heating pads my mom made for us didn't have an outer cover - just the corn bag itself. So you can imagine what they looked like after several years of use. And then, they left home with my kids so I didn't even have one anymore. That's right, my kids stole them!!

So I decided to make everybody their own corn heating pads this year. I've made a dozen of them for Christmas gifts and plan to make about a dozen more after Christmas to give to friends and extended family. The pad or bag that holds the corn is made of muslin. The cover is made of flannel. I made the back of the cover so that it is easy to slip the corn pad out and then the cover can be washed.

The approximate dimensions are 11" x 17". After Christmas, I'm going to make a neck pad as well as pocket warmers.

The cost of the corn was about $6.50 and I paid around $2.00 per yard for the fabric, so these turned out to be a very inexpensive gift.