Craft Apron Love

As promised, here are some pictures of the craft (or in my case, garage sale) apron I made last week. 

Yup, that's me in the backyard with a little too much sunshine for a good picture. 

Wait, did I just say 'too much sunshine'?

I TAKE IT BACK! 

Moving on...

I put a snap on the center pocket (that is where I kept my cash- don't tell anyone!) so when I was moving around or bending over nothing would fall out.

It was so comfortable to wear two days in a row and held all my things rather nicely.  I made this up without a template or tutorial- just took a stab at it and loved it!  I like the look of the tie hanging down, so I cut my bias tape very long so I could tie it around front.

Happy Friday, all!

Feeling NEEDY.

The need to create something that is. 

All last week was consumed with the garage sale we had last weekend (oh, that's right, I DID create something last week!  Yea, part of being 'consumed' with the garage sale entailed making a 'craft/garage sale apron' to use to carry my money and things during the sale so I wouldn't be tied to a cash box- which turned out SO cute and exactly what I needed, I might add! I will post some pictures of said apron as soon as I take some!) so ALL day today I have been catching up on everything that I've let slide, including cleaning out Mr. Jack's closet.  (Holy never ending job that is! Not only would I like for him to take a break from growing for just a minute so that he can be my baby forever *sniff*, but how about a break from the multitude of clothes he can't possibly squeeze into, the one's that would fit if it were the right season, the pile that worked ONE MONTH ago, the pajama's that my wonderful husband hangs in the closet (?) and all the clothes that DO work! Ah!) 

Anywho, I have approximately one million projects swimming around in my mind that I am chomping at the bit to get at, but that darn garage sale took up so much time!  Not that I'm complaining... let me clarify, not only did people actually pay us for our junk stuff we didn't need anymore, but they actually hauled it away too {insert evil laughter here}!  Still, I probably won't do it again for many many years.  We don't accumulate much 'stuff', so I can't imagine having enough 'stuff' to have another sale for quite some time.

So, in a nutshell, I'd rather be crafting than cleaning!

Anyone else have this dilemma???

Oh, and here is a picture of my favorite tiny guy a month ago (and now those jeans are too short- see what I mean?). This is one of his one year pictures. He is wearing my Grandpa Jack's cowboy hat.  My Grandpa wore this hat all the time, I can hardly picture him without it.  Baby Jack likes it too. 

*sniff*

Must. Applique. Now.

Applique is like an addiction for me.  Or is an addiction. 

Same thing I think. 

 Here is a shirt I made for my little nephew again... He LOOOOOVES trains.

He might want to marry one someday... we'll see, he's only two. 

The first thing I did was draw a picture of a train.  Well, actually I had to draw approximately ONE HUNDRED pictures of a train before my husband said it looked close enough to a real train.  Seriously, every picture I showed him there was something wrong with it.  I guess he really wanted it to be perfect for little Will!

  Well anyway, when I finally got it right, I had to cut out all the little pieces for templates and then I started cutting the fabric.  The gray smoke and black wheels are felt and the rest is scraps I already had. 

And there you have it!  A train shirt for an adorable little fella.

See???

This Apron Has a Tail

Er, TALE.  It goes like this... sometime around Christmas last year, I was at a white elephant gift exchange.  As one of the very last people, I opened an apron.  It wasn't so cute or anything but since I'm a messy fun, spontaneous cook, I said "ooooooo, I need an apron, I'm keeping it"!  Well, naturally, in true white elephant fashion, it was snatched away.  That's right, I said snatched. 

Fast forward to May 2010, just a few weeks ago.  My super thoughtful friend, Michelle (I love my friends!), who witnessed the loss of the apron, now works at a library part time and spotted this book:

(sorry the picture is so tiny, it's called 'The Apron Book')

Well, she checked it out for me right away and said 'Sara!  You should just make your own!  There's a pattern in there and everything!" And that is how this apron was born. 

And technically, it does have a tail.  When you tie it in the back... you know, it kinda hangs down like a tail.  Just sayin'.

The pattern was for a one-sided apron - what I mean is there is no back to it, so the back of the fabric is what you see (is that how they all are??). Personally, if I'm using an apron I want it to be more than just one thickness of fabric and, more importantly, to look pretty from the back too!  My manipulations to the pattern started there. This apron is almost reversible, I didn't actually think of that in time, so that will be my next apron attempt.  Also, it had this super long tie that went around your neck, through loops on the sides and then tied in the back. Well, I like simplicity and call me crazy, but I could see myself ending up looking like this in that apron.

I decided to create a loop around the neck and the tie around the back.  Nice and simple.  So, despite my best efforts to finally use a pattern (I've never used a pattern before) I ended up changing it anyway!  For my next apron, I will just use my new found apron knowledge and make my own pattern!  I think I'm gonna change it up some more...

Oh, and this was FREE (well, once upon a time I bought the fabric in the clearance bin- but it was so long ago that it doesn't count, right?)!  

My kind of project. 

My Ladder is FAMOUS.

Funky Junk Interiors featured my 'ladder turned organizer' in her sidebar!!!!!!  Who knew that it would be so much fun to see something you made appreciated for all to see!  Awesome!  If you haven't already, go check out her very cool ideas.

Happy Tuesday! 

The Casual Cake Stand**

**Alternately titled **

"Is it still considered crafty if it only takes 30 seconds to make?"

I saw this adorable plate at Meijer the other day...

...they also had some green apple plates which I loved even more, but the red matches our kitchen soooo much better.
I immediately wanted to make a cake (muffin, cupcake, whatever you want, doesn't even have to be a baked good) stand using the matching red bowl.

So, I gathered the supplies (as pictured below):
Plate
Bowl
Super Glue

See that super glue? Don't use it for this. The label says you can use it on 'some plastics'... well, what I have here is some plastic that it doesn't work on. So, use Liquid Nails- that does work.

Put your glue on the bottom of the bowl...center on the back of the plate... let dry... add some Apple Streusel Muffins and done!


See what I mean about 30 seconds?

Extra Storage/Organization Anyone?

I Hate (with a capital H) piles of papers and 'things' in the kitchen. Buuuuuut, since we don't have an 'office space' (love that movie!!), piles inevitably happen. I finally came up with an organization method I can fit in the laundry room (conveniently located next to the kitchen) to create a place for everything that accumulates in our kitchen, so everything can be in it's place (did you see that coming?). And my favorite part is that it was super cheap too!

So my idea was this- use an old ladder I've had fur ever (and was begging to be used in a useful way)... you may have to cut it down to fit in your room like I did. Or my hubby did, whatever.

Pick a REALLY amazing day... well, hello sunshine!!
Paint the ladder RED...(which happens to be my very favorite color) oh and I had intentions of distressing it a bit, but clearly this ladder has been stressed enough in it's life without my help!

Run to Hobby Lobby for some buckets (they were only $2.50 each), then use Mod-Podge to label the buckets...

Then hang your buckets with a pretty ribbon (also cheap from Hobby Lobby) and WA-LA a 'Bucket/Ladder organizer'(that's what I will name it, yes, that's catchy!)!

Do you love it like I do? It rests against the wall in the laundry room, totally out of the way but easy enough to put things in. I wish the colors were better on the pictures, the turquoise ribbon really looks good next to the red ladder.
Some close ups you say? OK!



I labeled the buckets based on what accumulates at our house, but you could categorize these in any way! I think it would be so fun to do this in a bathroom for things like 'washcloths', 'soap', 'lotion', etc! Where else could you use it?