DIY Apron Mother's Day Card

My mother's birthday was in early April, and as I flipped through one of my paper craft books, I found a darling idea for a card.

Putting my own twist on it, I created a little handmade apron for the front of her card, pictured above, and she was delighted with it.  So were my friends.  :)  And so began my journey in making variations of these cards for sale to friends and in my Etsy shop.  However, I won't keep all the fun to myself...so here is a DIY tutorial in case you want to make your own.  :)

Make a little cardstock pattern for your apron...4" x 3 1/4" and cut out your fabric.

Iron a 1/4" hem on the two short sides and one long side.

Sew those 3 little ironed down hems.

Along the unhemmed long edge, sew a basting stitch about 1/4" from the edge, for gathering.  Leave long thread ends for pulling, as show.

Gently pull the basting thread on top of the right side, to gather.  And pull the basting thread underneath on the left side, to finish gathering.  If you pull the top threads on both side or the bottom threads on both sides, your thread will lock up and not gather.  Spread your gathers out evenly.

Next take a coordinating piece of ribbon, about 5" long (give or take) and either pin it or spot glue it to the top of your apron, covering the basting thread and the top edge of the fabric.  If either the top edge of the fabric or the basting shows after you stitch on your ribbon, you can trim them/remove the basting thread til it looks clean.  I like to use a zig zag stitch to attach the ribbon to the top of the apron, to create it's waist band.  The pinning or spot gluing just helps hold it in place while you sew.

Hope you can see the zig zag stitching which attached the ribbon to the apron's waist.

Next you want to adorn the hemline of the apron with rick rack or some decorative stitching.  I have fallen in love with the vintage look of the decorative stitching.  #13 is my favorite pattern for this.  

For best results, have your thread be a coordinating color that will show up well.  I sew that stitch about 1/4" from the hem stitching at the bottom of the apron.

Ta Daaa!  Doesn't it just make you want to get out your childhood Barbies and try it on her?!

Next, clip miniature clothespins to the top of your apron.  Prepare your card with a pretty cardstock mat on the front and use a glue gun to attach the clothespins to the card.  Angle your apron as seen in the finished photo.

Type out some different sayings to go on the front of your card, and print them.

I glued my sentiment to a pretty coordinating cardstock, then matted that with a piece of a vintage book page.  I attached it to the card with a foam block, to add dimension.

Are you in love yet?  Want to wear the apron yourself?

Add caption

Finish it off with a coordinating punched heart or flower attached to the back flap of the envelope.  Pretty.  Special.  One of a kind.

And you are finished!  If you do not sew or have time to make these, please visit my Etsy shop called Perfect Darlings to purchase one from me.  :)  Or make your own and have a great time!  As a courtesy, I would greatly appreciate it, however, if you would refrain from selling yours on Etsy...I'm sure you can appreciate that.  :)

Happy Mother's Day!
Your comments always brighten my day!

Be Blessed,
Donna

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Upcycled Knit Top...From Too Short and Too Low to Sassy and Sweet!

Once upon a time, this pretty cotton knit top fit me well.  I loved the print and the colors.  Plus 3/4 sleeves work for almost 3 seasons for me here in Southern Indiana.  But then, after some washings and partial dryings, it became too short and the neck line began to stretch and be too low.  Rather than put it in the Goodwill pile, I started researching ways to upcycle it.

Then one Sunday at church, I saw such a cute top.  It was made from some kind of Chiffon type fabric and had a lacy gathered 'skirt' around the hem.  Ooohhhh.  I liked it!  And then I remembered I had some white lace in my fabric stash.  And within an hour, I had an upcycled top!

I just cut a piece that was about 8 inches wide and about 1.5 times longer than the bottom edge of the top.  I sewed a basting stitch along the top of the lace in order to create slight ruffles in the fabric.  I pinned it with, inside the existing hem of the top, trying to keep the gathers mostly even all the way around.  Then I sewed it in.  

I also took up the neckline about an inch by increasing the seam on each shoulder.  And lastly added a lace panel above the pink crocheted neckline decor.  

I left the lace unhemmed, as I like the slightly shabby chic look.  It washes up great and does not ravel.  I even made a little lace embellished pin to wear with it, as seen in the 2nd photo, but mostly will wear it without.  

So enjoying my 'new' top that now fits nicely and has a sassy little lacy skirted hemline.  This is my 2nd or 3rd attempt to upcycle or refashion clothing.  Such fun...can't wait to try something else!  Thanks for reading!

Be Blessed,

Donna

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Tip Junkie

Little Sweet Hearts

Time for a few sweet Valentine crafts!  January is a great time to start them...less pressure, which means more fun, knowing that Valentine's Day is still weeks away.  I decided to play around with some red and white fabric, embroidery floss, felt, and embellishments to make some sweet hearts that will be fun to give to friends with a card and to tuck into vignettes around the house.  So here we go...

I mostly used fabric for the fronts of the hearts, and felt for the backs.  But this polka dot felt was a must for the front of one of the hearts.  Just fold some scrap paper in half and cut out a heart about the size and shape you desire, to make a pattern.  Then cut out the fronts and backs to your hearts, using that pattern.

I used a woven fabric for the white heart, which had places for me to freehand a cross-stiched heart.  You could use aida cloth for that too.  Or even burlap!  Red felt worked great for the backs of the hearts.  Felt is so easy with which to work.  Use 2 strands of red, black, or white embroidery floss for stitching the heart fronts and backs together with a running stitch...leaving a little opening with your needle and thread still intact.

Using a small funnel stuck into the little opening, I filled each heart with some fragrant loose leaf tea.  Orange Cinnamon tea makes a great choice!  If you don't have loose tea, you can use fiberfill or dried lavender or even dry rice with a few dried herbs mixed in.  Yum!

Then finish stitching your heart together, knotting it on the back.  Give her a sniff...ahhh.  Not only cute as can be, but fragrant as well.

I embellished the front of each heart using buttons, felt hearts, stick on jewels, and ribbon.

Aren't they sweet tucked into a little white vintage berry bowl?

I am going to enjoy them in my sunny craft room for a week or two...then...

I

...give most of them as gifts.  I have one of them tucked into a shadow box too.  Cute little Valentine surprise peeking out from that unexpected place.

These are all hand cut, sewn, embellishments glued...so you can easily sit and do this in the evenings.  We are getting back in the swing of having one hour after supper most nights where we are 'unplugged' from electronics.  That one hour gave me a head start on creating these.  If you made these alittle bigger ( mine are 2 inches tall) and filled them with dry rice, they would make cute hand warmers!  Use your imagination and above all ENJOY!

Blessings,

Donna

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Pretty Cash Envelopes...the Dave Ramsey Way!

My husband and I have been married for 29 years.  And thankfully he had a plan for how to manage our finances when we got married.  The envelope system!  I think he learned it from the late Larry Burkett, back in the early 80s.  The man who teaches this concept world-wide today is the one and only Dave Ramsey.  It has worked GREAT for us all these years.

The gist is that you put cash in labeled envelopes for as many categories as you practically can.  The grocery money has an envelope, and when the cash is gone...you stop spending til the next payday.  I must admit we sometimes rob another envelope alittle bit if something has depleted the food cash and we need milk and apples for the next few days.  But overall, that's the way the system works.  But as you can see, the envelopes get pretty tawdry over time.

They are in and out of my purse, the car, hubby's pocket, etc.  So within a month, they start looking kind of bad.  I used to be a bit embarrassed when I'd take them out of my purse to pay for something at the store.  I wondered, years ago, if people though I was too poor to have a wallet!  Ha!  But now, nearly every time I use them at a store, the clerk says, "Do you use the envelope method?  I've been wanting to try that!"

So...this week the sewing bug hit me.  And I have lots of cute little pieces of fabric that I wanted to use to make something practical.  I have to thank the cute little gal blogger at Just Imagine Heaven who created this great tutorial for making fabric money envelopes, for use with the cash envelope system.  It was perfect for my stash of cute fabric AND perfect for fixing the grubby envelope problem.

And here are the ones I've made so far.

Strawberry fabric for the Grocery envelope.  (Ok, so when my husband goes to the grocery store for me, I imagine he'll pull out some cash and leave the strawberry envelope in the car...ha!)

This red and white gingham is sort of festive, so I am deeming it the Gifts Cash envelope.

This cute sewing themed fabric will hold my Etsy shop cash, for when I need to buy supplies.

My attempt at a 'manly' envelope for Hubby...for the Home Maintenance Cash.  Denim and red flannel...I think he'll go for that.

This cutie pie is for the Misc Cash...that's what we call the cash we use for paper products, photo processing, toiletries, cleaning supplies, a magazine, etc.  

LOVE this vintage style fabric!

Classy aqua and white prints for the Clothing envelope.  I should mention that I plan to buy iron-on laundry labels in white and create a label for the front of each envelope.  That's on tomorrow's to-do list.

And now to fill them!  One thing I LOVE about the envelope system is that it gives me permission to buy clothes for me or my guys when there is money in the envelope!  There is alot of freedom in budgeting and designating your dollars when you get paid.

The envelope system also gives you an immediate place to put receipts from those purchases.  My Etsy envelope will hang on to Post Office receipts for me til I get them filed.

Hey!  Let's go to Home Depot!  I should say that this is just for things like paint, landscaping, new door seals, etc.  We have bank accounts that would take care of big maintenance needs for our home.  When we were young and poor, we only had about $25 a month to put toward home maintenance.  But it built the habit in us, and that was invaluable.

The Gift envelope is a HUGE help.  We put a set amount in it each month, and whatever is not spent that month, stays there to be added to the next month's allotment.  When birthdays and Christmas come, we are very thankful to have this stash of cash, ready to use.

I still need to sew envelopes for Eat Out, Haircuts, Dog Care, Gasoline (a friend suggested a duct tape envelope for hubby for that!  Perfect!), and Extra.  Extra is that envelope that covers things that pop up now and then such as a new coffee pot or park district soccer fees.

Do any of you use the envelope method?  If you've always wanted to try it, you can start slow...maybe with just a Grocery, Gas, and Eat Out envelope.  Go to Dave Ramsey's website for lots of encouragement on how to Live Like No One Else So You Can Live Like No One Else!  
Blessings,

Donna

My One Yard Wonder

Two Christmases ago, I received this cute idea book as a gift.  It was something I'd never looked at but it sounded fun and full of promise, so I had it on my Christmas wish list!  Shamefully, it took me 1.5 years to really use it!  Just today I  MADE something from it!  And it was so cool to have the patterns included, ready to cut out and put to use.  So, introducing, my One Yard Wonder!

I think they call this Granny's Clothespin Apron.  It's the greatest idea!  A cute little apron which has a large pocket across the front that is made to hold your clothespins while you hang things on the line.  Brilliant!

I adore hanging sheets, towels, PJs, and blankets on the line to dry.  They come in smelling like fresh air and sunshine, and the towels are so much more absorbant than when machine dried.  My clothespin bag usually ends up blowing off the line and landing in a spot of mud, so this apron will be just what I need.

The patterns were easy to cut out and use.  The instructions were mostly clear, and it went together easily.  Such a fun project!  It probably took me 3 hours, but I'll be faster with the next one I make.

The clothespins settle right into the large front pocket or can clip to the pocket edge.  

Isn't the fabric cute?

Since my fabric had a pattern to it, I situated the front of the apron right over this sweet little girl that is outside enjoying being a kid.

The ties are sturdy and are about 30 inches long.

And here I am modeling it.  I made this one for my Etsy shop, Perfect Darlings, but definitely plan to make one for ME!  No more flying clothespin bag!  Yippee!!  And as I take things off the line, it will be so easy to put the pins in my pocket, rather than keep the bag on the line within my reach.

This apron would also work for kitchen and house work.  Pockets for your iPhone, iPod, kleenex, lip balm, or whatever.  Maybe I need two!

Thank you for stopping by!

Blessings,

Donna

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A Pretty Life in the Suburbs
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