Needful Things Package

 I mailed off my Needful Things swap package this week.  I really enjoyed collecting and creating things for my partner. I'll share some pictures of what I made, after it arrives at it's destination.

When I pulled in my driveway this afternoon I found a package by my garage door.  Sarah K. sent me the perfect package; it was filled with all the things I need in my life.  When I opened the box, I discovered this art work.  One of her children drew it for me.  Look I'm wearing my red shoes! It made me smile:) So sweet!

Sarah wrapped and labeled all of the goodies so I had the fun of unwrapping everything.

 Look at all of the amazing goodies!  The Blue Fairy Book which I can't wait to read, a candle, pretty gloves, Sharpies:) crafty baubles and a cell phone zombie made out of felt.  Don't you love it!

And last but not least Sarah made me an amazing apron with red and white polka dots!  I was so excited!  This was an amazing package filled with all the things I love, thank you Sarah!  I love everything and feel so spoiled!  I hope my partner will enjoy her package as much as I enjoyed mine.

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

I won this adorable apron on The Distracted Domestic. The uber talented Regena made this apron just for me. I won it for participating in her Tie One On Apron giveaway. I made aprons for two of my co-workers for the official Tie One On Day. I greatly enjoyed doing this and I won this fabulous apron in the process! See it was a win - win situation! THANK YOU Regena, I LOVE it!

Regena sent me an e-mail entitled Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner to let me know I won. Of course I was super excited to win and every time I hear Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner it makes me think of a recipe I got a few years ago during a Wilson Reading workshop. Another workshop participant gave it to me. In honor of this occasion I thought I'd share the recipe.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Ingredients:

! small roasted chicken or 3 cooked chicken breasts (shredded)

1 box stuffing mix

2 jars of chicken gravy

1 pie crust(pre-made or homemade)

Frozen veggie mix

Fresh veggies(mushrooms, celery, onion- or whatever you like)

1/4/to 1/2 cup merlot or red wine

3 tablespoons of butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Prepare stuffing and set aside.

Saute the fresh veggies in butter. Add fresh rosemary or thyme if desired.

Stir together all ingredients in a casserole dish (I use a 2.5 quart dish)

Top with a pie crust. Cover with with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbly(approx. 35 minutes.)

Serve and enjoy!

And that's Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Tie One On Day

I've missed making aprons! I hadn't made any aprons in quite awhile so I was suffering from apron withdrawals. Not to worry, November is time to celebrate National Tie One On Day. It's a holiday right before Thanksgiving where you give back to others by crafting an apron and some goodies just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. Not only does it take care of apron withdrawals it makes someone else's day! I call that a win -win situation!

I made and delivered two aprons for National Tie One On Day. Both aprons went to co-worker/friends at school.

The first Tie One On apron is this wild psychedelic number. It is made with vintage silk screened acrylic fabric. It's wild but I really love the fabric. Of course it's reversible and has a flamingo print on the back.

The second apron is this pink polka dot apron. I made this one for one of the speech therapists last year but held onto it because it needed some adjustments. She was trying to lose weight so we decided to wait on adjusting it. She's lost 33 pounds and looks great. We had to tear apart the top of the apron to get it to fit but we finished just time time for Tie One On Day. Look how cute her apron looks on her! This one is also reversible with a brown paisley fabric on the back. It was fun to share my love of aprons with my coworkers/friends!

I also finished this apron which is my first crafted Christmas gift this year. I finished a second apron for a Christmas gift and have a third one that is partially completed. Three Jillymade Christmas gifts done. Let's hope I can get a few more made in time for Christmas!

Making Progress on UFO's

Remember this skirt I made when Nature Girl was in preschool? Well, it finally got a make over this weekend. I hadn't worn the skirt in forever so I ripped it apart about 6 months ago and cut it up to be an apron. Unfortunately it sat in a UFO(unfinished objects) pile waiting to be sewn. I finally finished it on Sunday. Here's what it looks like now.

Exhibit A

It's my new favorite apron. Yes, I know I always say that every time I get a new apron, but can you blame me? There all so pretty! Really, I love this fabric! I've made Marilyn aprons for lots of other people but never made one for myself, until now.

This wasn't my only UFO, I've been uncovering them all weekend. I found a scrap quilt that was half finished in one of my craft buckets. I started it about 5 years ago, so it was definitely time to finish it. I worked on it this weekend and it's almost done. It still needs a binding but will be a picnic quilt when it's finished. I haven't gotten to the fabric store to buy binding but we were dieing to try it out. We took it outside for a family picnic in the backyard. It worked great!

Here's another UFO. A few years back my sister asked me to make an apron for her husband. This is a picture of the apron I made him. I had a little bit of the fabric left and planned to make a matching apron for my sister. Of course, I never got around to it. Over the weekend I finally used the left over material scraps to make that apron for my sister. She's been in Hawaii for a year but will be moving back here in July. I'm excited to see her again and thought this would be a good welcome home present. (The picture is a little dark. Nature Girl was the photographer.)

Exhibit B

I was on a roll with UFO aprons so I decided to finish this apron for Nature Girl's teacher. Nature Girl had requested that I make an apron for her teacher as a Christmas gift but I ran out of time. New plan, we'll make the apron for Teacher appreciation week instead. That didn't happen either as I was super busy at school.

Exhibit C

Now the end of the school year is approaching so I decided to I use left over fabric from the spring fling apron to create this reversible apron. Nature Girl wanted a purple apron for her teacher. When I finished it she said, "That's pretty but I think she'd like red with polka dots better." Ugh!

Exhibit C (reverse side)

While I've been on a roll, I don't think I will get around to making a red polka dot apron anytime soon. If she waits for me to make one, it will be another 6 months before it's finished! Now with it completed, I'm second guessing. I do hope her teacher likes aprons. While Nature Girl and I are apron crazy it seems that the rest of the world does not necessarily share our obsession. Go figure! Really, who doesn't love a pretty new apron? Every new apron I get is my new favorite. See Exhibit A above for proof.

Spring Flirty Apron Sent & Received

This is a bit of a picture of the apron I made for my partner. I mailed it off today but forgot to have my husband or Nature Girl take a proper picture of it. This was my one handed self snap shot of it. I really need to get a dress model so I can photograph the aprons I make. The funny thing about this apron is that for once I actually followed the pattern to the letter and didn't deviate or do my own thing. That's hard for me, I suffer from creative-itis! Creative-itis is a disorder where you think you can tweak things a bit to make them work better for you. It often results in extra time using your seam ripper, lots of curse words, frustration and learning things the hard way.

For the Spring Flirty Apron Swap we had to include three tuck-ins with your apron. The challenge was to match the items with your partner's initials. I used fabric scraps from the apron to make a few of the tuck-ins. I made my partner a rug mug, a wire bird's nest pendant/keychain, a quilted kite and I sent along the Sunday Dinner apron pattern. It's the pattern I used to make her apron. I had a hard time sending off the kite as I love it and so wanted to keep it to hang in our craft room/office. But I sent it on it's way today. I hope she'll like the package I sent.

But don't feel too bad for me because we got apron swap mail yesterday! Isn't the wrapping beautiful! It's funny how pretty wrapping makes it even more exciting to open the package to see what's inside!

Deidrea sent two aprons, one for Nature Girl and one for me! I love Nature Girl's expression here as she opened a box with a sweet treat shaped like a diamond ring. She's already wearing the apron Deidrea made for her.

Spring is finally in the air here. The new aprons and the spring weather lead to dancing and horsing around in our front yard and this upside down moment. The neighbors probably wondered what we were up to! Thank you to Deidrea who sent us this wonderful apron package! Nature Girl and I loved the package! The aprons are unique and beautiful!! Thank you!!!!

Chicken Loving Aprons

So this is a bit late but I had to share the fabulous chicken apron I received from Chrissy as part of the Chicken Loving Mamas apron swap. Chrissy sent me this beautiful apron in my favorite color scheme black/red/white. Just check out the fried egg and polka dot material on the ties and ruffle. It's hard to see but the top of the apron has smocking. Not only do I love the colors and prints on the fabric but I have to say that I think the cut and style makes me look skinnier so I love that too!


Chrissy sent some delicious looking recipes that I haven't tried yet and this beautiful red(my favorite color) chicken cookbook stand. Isn't it marvelous?!! The cute felt owl clips were included for Nature Girl. She loves them!

I started off with a totally different apron in mind but ended up making this whimsical chicken half apron for Chrissy. You know me, I love the make my aprons reversible so that you have choices for your apron wearing pleasure. You can't really see it in the picture but the chicken's wing sticks out.

The back of Chrissy's apron is a pink/brown/white polka dot print. Pink is Chrissy's favorite color so it seemed like a good choice for the reverse side of her chicken loving apron.

Chrissy has a beautiful little daughter named Regan. I had fun making a little apron, also pink polka dot on the reverse side, for Regan. I made a little stuffed chicken doll and included the book The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza for Regan. You can see the little red hen doll nestled into the pocket on her apron.


I borrowed this photo of the chicken I made from Chrissy's blog. Stop by her blog to see more pictures of their aprons. I had a blast sewing the aprons and putting this package together for Chrissy and Regan. Thanks for a fabulous swap!

National Tie One On Day

I just saw this button on Karen's blog this morning and was curious. I had to check it out. I'm glad I did, I love this idea! The idea is to wrap a baked good in an apron, tuck in a prayer or note of encouragement in the pocket and deliver it to someone in need. I know I have a few extra aprons I've sewn(yes, because I'm apron obsessed) so plan to try this. How fun is it to spread kindness and apron love?!!
I don't remember my mom or Gram wearing aprons to cook but Thanksgiving was always a time filled with family and fun! This Thanksgiving I'll be wearing my apron and hope someone else will be enjoying the apron I've wrapped up and sent their way. If you want to join the fun or read more about National Tie One On Day click on the badge or click here.

Feeling Giddy and Spoiled!

I got home after work to find a package waiting for me. I took my time putting away my school stuff. All the while Nature Girl was trying to be patient. Finally she couldn't contain the excitement any more and blurted out "Let's open your package." She climbed on the the counter and waited excitedly as we cut into the box. Of course we forgot the camera and had to go find it before she could look inside, but she waited patiently poised to grab up and claim anything that sparked her interest. I don't know about the rest of you mommy swappers but anything that comes in a box addressed to me doesn't necessarily belong to me by the time we're done. The loot usually gets divided up. Not to worry Kerry sent the most amazing package with more than enough goodies for everyone!

Not only are the goodies amazing, Kerry wrapped and packaged everything so nicely. It made it even more fun to open it all! She even packaged up some goodies for Nature Girl, who was thrilled and says "Thanks!" Kerry sent buttons, a bookmark, the AIW story, tea, the sweetest little tea strainer shaped like a teapot, a Cheshire cat full of M&Ms, a necklace and the most amazing crocheted teapot. Not to mention that this is an apron swap so she sent an incredible apron too!

Kerry made this incredible Mad Hatter apron for me. I love how she stitched little details on the picture. I just love embroidered and stitched items! This apron has stitching, polka dots, great embellishments, long ties and it's reversible. All things I love, so I haven't taken it off yet!

Speaking of love. This is Nature Girl pulling out the Cheshire cat saying "Oh my Cheshire cat!" The little girl is cute but that's just thievery. I can't blame her as she does love her cats! However, I quickly stole it back as I adore it and she already has a lot of cats. Plus it's my package, right?!

This is me saying "LOVE IT!!!!!!!!" And I do! Thanks for such an amazing package Kerry! You Rock!!!!

Back to the Future Aprons

I arrived home from school today to find a package with my name on it. Inside I found this Back to the Future themed apron and goodies. Cynthia included school supplies for me, which are already packed to take to my classroom tomorrow.

She also made a matching pouch with the lotion and lip balm inside. Thank you Cynthia!

I made this poodle skirt for my partner. It arrived at it's destination but I forgot to put my e-mail and blog address in the package so I'm not sure if she liked it.

These are the goodies I sent. The apron and a necklace to wear while vacuuming represent the 50's, the cd with hits of the 80's and a key catcher and purse holder to represent the 21st century. I had fun with this swap!

Now I'm waiting for my Alice in Wonderland apron to arrive at it's destination. I had the worse time creating an apron for that swap. Ask Val I had several e-mail freak outs while trying to create something, but that's a story for another day!

Apron Give Away

I've had a great summer with Nature Girl & my husband, but sadly summer is coming to an end. I've been a little apron crazy sewing lots of aprons this summer. As a matter of fact I made this poodle apron for the Back to the Future Swap over at the Flirty Apron Swap. At the time, I knew the theme but hadn't gotten my partner's information yet. I couldn't help myself I started sewing and created this. After getting my partner's info I've re-done the poodle apron for my partner but I still have the original. It could use a good home, so I've decided to give it away. If you'd like it please leave a comment and we'll choose at winner by the end of next week(September 3rd.)

Fairytales

As you know I signed up for the Fairytale swap. Our partner Victoria choose a Snow White theme. Based on my current apron obsession the wheels in my head started to turn and I thought about a way to make a Snow White apron. Victoria recently moved to her own flat. Every girl with her own place needs an apron so here's what I came up with.

Of course no one wants to dress like a princess all the time so I made the apron reversible.

I went with red with white polka dots because red is my favorite color and Victoria has red and pink appliances in her kitchen. I had fun creating this fairytale apron. I just love fairytales! Don't you?

Now that the Fairytale swap is finished it's time to move on to another fairytale. Val is hosting an Alice in Wonderland apron swap over at Hot Mama's Apron Swap. I've already got my ideas, the fabric and I just received my partner info so I'm off to work on an apron. Before I go I wanted to share a few pictures I painted to add as tuck-ins for the swap. Apryl at Meridian Ariel makes the most gorgeous pictures using old book pages and sheet music. I just love them so I thought I'd give it a try. Stop by Apryl's blog and etsy shop to see her creations. While you're there don't forget to check out her amazing vintage monsters. Lillian & her Slightly Sinister Strawberry and Dexter are my favorite monsters so far but they are all awesome! I love the unique little story that comes with each monster. I hesitate to tell you that she's doing a giveaway featuring one of her monsters, because I want to win. Now I'm acting like Dexter the imp, of course it's not very nice of me as I should spread the monster love and give you your chance to take one of these little cuties home. So hurry over to Apryl's blog and enter before July 23rd. I'd leave a comment everyday if it didn't seem like cheating!

Back to the painted pages . . . no project is complete without a little help from Nature Girl. She painted the caterpillar and mushroom and drew the Red Queen's soldier for me to paint. I love how they turned out! How cute is that Red Queen's soldier?!! Now I'm not sure what to do with them but something will come to mind.

Apron Fieldtrip and Apron Fun

While we were in Vermont we took a little field trip to the Vermont Apron Company. The owner started off making carpet bags to sell at craft fairs and farmer's markets. She got tired of always sewing bags and sewed a few aprons. She found that the aprons sold out faster than anything else. She started making aprons and opened the Vermont Apron company.
Nature Girl posed with the manikins. She wasn't as excited about the aprons as I was but she still had a good time.
The cashier had fun talking with Nature Girl as I tried on aprons. She even dressed her up in a manikin's wig. With Nature Girl entertained, I finally decided on a pretty reversible sheath apron. My husband wondered why I needed another apron, let alone to buy it! I can't explain why . . . I just loved it.

I signed up for the Vermont Apron Company newsletter while I was at the store. The newsletter was e-mailed to me today and it has a code for 25% off a purchase. I could have used it last week but that's okay. If you sign up for the newsletter you get monthly discounts on specials both in store and online. Stop by the website to see. Plus, they're getting ready to launch a wedding apron. The newsletter has a sneak peak. It looks like it will be beautiful! I wish I had thought about a wedding apron to protect my dress. Then again 10 years ago I didn't wear an apron.

Swap Happy

I joined the Great Apron Swap 2010 and was partnered with the lovely Joanna in New Zealand. Joanna sent this sweet bunny for Nature Girl. Look at that swap happy little face!
Nature Girl named this sweetie, Lovey Dovey. Lovey Dovey now has a prominent place in Nature Girl's bed and even got to play in the back yard tonight. She's made with wool, corduroy, cotton and duck cloth. She's a one of a kind treasure. Thank you Joanna!
This is the beautiful apron and pencil case Joanna made for me. It's fresh out of the package after the long trip from New Zealand. Don't you love it?! It's beautiful but even more, I love that Joanna based it on an apron her daughter's kindy teacher wears. I'm a teacher so I just love that it's modeled after another teacher's apron. She also included a lovely matching pencil case for me because I'm a teacher and have tons of pencils. By the way, Joanna makes beautiful pencil cases, wallets and bags to sell. You can see them here and here. You can also check out her lovely blog here.
I tried to get Nature Girl to take my picture but I kept closing my eyes and laughing so this is one the pictures I took of me wearing my new apron. Thank you Joanna for such a lovely swap package. I have greatly enjoyed swapping with you!

The Fun of Swaps

I've been slightly obsessed with aprons lately so I joined the Great Apron Swap 2010. My partner lives in New Zealand. Joanna has a wonderful blog called Little Minx. It's been fun reading Joanna's blog and e-mailing back and forth. If you stop by her blog check out her shops, she makes beautiful bags and wallets.
This was Joanna's first swap so I wanted it to be a good one. We weren't supposed to send extras, just an apron. I couldn't help myself. It was her first swap, and she has two little ones who needed some goodies too. So we packed up a few extra goodies along with this apron I made after her after reading her posts on yellows and vintage fabrics. I took a picture but Joanna takes the loveliest pictures so you can see a much nicer picture here. Besides my picture doesn't really show the apron as it's not being worn but I can't model the aprons as I keep gaining and losing the same ten pounds this year - STRESS eating! Joanna and her daughter are pictured wearing them and look much nicer wearing them than I would.
Sorry I got on a tangent there, back to the main topic at hand, the fun of swaps. I participate in swaps for several reasons but one of the things I like best about swapping is the people you meet. I've met some amazing, kind and generous people through swaps and blogging. It's a great way to restore your faith in the goodness of humankind and you get a lovely package filled with goodies! We've also learned about different places across our country and around the world. Needless to say there are many benefits to participating in swaps. And high on the list is that swaps are just plain fun!

We're also working on items for the Fairytale Swap. Our partner Victoria has a lovely blog here. The theme for this swap is Snow White. We hit the Disney store but surprisingly there wasn't any Snow White merchandise so we came up with a different plan. I can't show our goodies yet but hopefully they'll be finished and mailed off by the end of the week.

Making Aprons

While I was on spring break a few weeks back I started sewing aprons again. I had joined a couple of apron swaps and had two aprons to sew. Sewing and creating was the perfect way to relax and recharge my batteries. This is the apron I sewed for Kathy as part of the Hot Mamas apron swap. The theme was 50's pinup girls. You can see Kathy's post on it here. I also made a zentagle for her. I discovered this idea on Barb's blog and just had to try it. Now I'm addicted to zentangling and even have the kids at school doing it with me at snack time each day. We've been making bookmarks with zentangles.


I had such a great time sewing aprons for the swaps that I wanted to make more. I used some left over fabric from the polka dot pretties apron swap to make this striped number. It was inspired by the Klassy Kitchen Bistro Apron but I had to make it my own so it's long and pleated with long ties. It's hard to see but it has one big polka dot pocket on the right side. It was easy to make and I just love it!

Well, I couldn't leave out Nature Girl so I sewed this apron for her using bird fabric from Feathered Friends. She picked out the fabric herself. This apron is my version of the Lilly apron. I refer to it as a Jilly. I saw a picture of the Lilly apron and knew I could make that myself. Of course it would make sense to use a pattern but where is the fun in that?!! For those of you who know me, you know I'm famous for looking at something and thinking I can make that. Of course we've had our fair share of failures along the way because of this way of thinking, but I think these two turned out really well.


With Nature Girl's leftover fabric I made myself a cute little matching apron. I got a little carried away with making aprons but I just love them! I have a few more just waiting to be cut and sewn.