Kitschy Kids Apron

I love when I see something and it totally inspires me... It makes creating so much more enjoyable when I feel freshly inspired. Lots of things inspire me- pretty projects on pinterest, amazing bloggers, fabric, etc- but one of the things that inspires me the very most, are my kids. I love thinking up projects to make for them. Things that I know will make them smile. They are even starting to come up with projects on their own. It's so fun to hear the things they think "mommy should make them" and it is so fun for me to be able to actually make some of the things they come up with... According to my daughter- next on the list is a stuffed purple dolphin! ha ha If anyone knows of a cute purple dolphin tutorial out there- please share! I would be so grateful! :)

This apron project was a combination of inspiration for my daughter and also inspiration from fabric. I had been wanting to make an apron for a while but, had been putting it off. When I was in my local fabric shop, I came upon this darling Happy Home fabric by Robert Kaufman, and I knew instantly that it was the perfect fabric for a little apron. I could envision it perfectly- right down to the little rolling pin as a waistband.

I used the Home Sweet Home Fiesta print to make the apron bib  and also used it for the rolling pin on the waistband and the utensils on the pocket. I used the Happy Home Pitchers print for the apron skirt and the ties around the neck and waist. The yellow dot for the ruffle  on the bottom edge is from Joanns.

I think her favorite thing about the apron is the pocket. She loves being able to put her special treasures in there while she "cooks".

 I didn't use a pattern for the apron. I started by cutting the "home sweet home" motif from the fabric for the bib and took some measurements of where I wanted the skirt of the apron to fall on her leg and just went from there. It was really simple to make and came together just how I envisioned it would when I bought the fabric. I backed the entire thing with the yellow polkadot fabric incase she wanted it to be reversible... but let's be honest- who in the world would want to hide this darling kitschy kitchen fabric on the front??

To date- this is my favorite project I have ever made. Not sure if it is because I was inspired by so many things while making it, if it is the way it turned out, or if it is watching her while she is playing in it- possible a combination of all three? :) 

I can't wait to make a twin version for my mini kitchen helper... thinking I may do one minus the bib and neck ties... Stay tuned!

Floppy Bow Tutorial

Our family just did family pictures and I made this floppy bow headband for an accessory. It was so easy to put together- and I just used things I had laying around the house...

All you will need is a headband (mine is a 25 cent plastic headband leftover from a birthday party that I found in the clearance bin at party city), fabric (any scrap will do- it needs to be 6x8 inches),  ribbon (I used grosgrain), and a hot glue gun.

Here is how I made it:

Step 1: Cut two 1 inch pieces of ribbon, and hot glue them to the ends of the headband to hide the ends. (in my picture you will notice that I only did one end at first, but it would be a lot easier to do both at the beginning.)

Step 2: Now you are ready to start wrapping the ribbon around the headband. I would wrap it a couple times and then put a dot of glue and continue till you get to the end of the headband. 

Step 3: Cut a 6x8 inch piece of fabric.

Step 4: Fold it right sides together so it is 3x8 inches. Sew around the edge but leave an opening to turn it right side out.

Step 5: Turn it right side out, tuck the opening (raw edges exposed) in and press flat. You can stitch this part closed if you would like, or just leave it like I did. My opening was small enough and it was centered exactly where I glued it to the headband so I didn't bother to stitch it closed.

Step 6: Fold your sewn fabric piece like an accordion. You can make as many folds as you would like. Then I put a dot of glue on the headband where I wanted the bow to be and stuck the accordion-ed (is that even a word? ha ha) bow to the dot of glue to hold it in place for the next steps.

Step 7: Cut a piece of fabric for the middle of the bow that holds the bow to the headband. You could even use leftover ribbon if you wanted to tie in another color or look. I cut a strip of fabric that was approx. 1 1/2 inches by 4 inches. (you don't need it to be that long, I just wanted enough to hold onto to get a grip to pull it tight. I trimmed off about 3 of the 4 inches- so just cut this part to your liking.) I pressed the fabric into thirds to create my strip to wrap.

Step 8: Turn the headband over so the bottom part is facing up. Place a dot of glue on the headband underneath the center of the bow. Put the strip on the dot of glue and secure it.

Step 9: Wrap the strip all the way around the top of the bow and back to the underneath. Cut the strip with enough excess that you will be able to fold the raw edge in before gluing it down. Tuck that raw edge in and glue. 

That is it... One Floppy Bow headband- ready for pictures, a day at the park, or wherever a floppy bow and it's owner may wish to go.

Enjoy!!

P.S. You could make this bow in any size... I made one about half the size and glued it to an alligator clip for my baby girl... It turned out darling too. :)