Aprons I've sent out the past couple of weeks

Here's the aprons I've sent out to partners in the past two swaps I've been in.  Both are using a halter apron pattern.

The only difference is - instead of using bias tape around the halter like on the top apron, I lined the halter section on the bottom apron.  I don't know why, but I'm not a fan of applying bias tape, and I'd rather use more fabric than use bias tape!  I ended up cutting the pattern pieces a bit bigger for a seam allowance and I love the way it turned out.  I also cut the ties twice as wide, to sew it together and turn it - much easier than turning under all around and top stitching.

My Aloha Apron

This is the apron I received from my partner and I LOVE it, especially the matching headband!  One of the things I love most about these swaps is the different styles that I get, and this one is unique.

She sent so many goodies with my package.  I got some frozen treat makers (enough for the whole family), along with a ring full of laminated recipes for some good old fashioned popsicles.  One of them is a pudding pop with Oreos that my man wants me to try first.

She also filled a mesh bag with summertime toys for my kiddos.  You can't see it well in the picture, but I got some spreaders with matching table cloth weights - I'm so excited about those.  Maybe I should host a backyard luau and put all of my new treats to use.

Spring Apron

This apron swap's theme was "Spring Fling".  I thought this fabric was fresh and fun and honestly didn't want to send this apron off.  The tuck-ins were to be based on my partner's initials.  This part was so fun this time and my partner had pretty easy initials - TLS. 

T- I included some nice spring hand Towels.

L - I made the coin purse pictured below using this tutorial.  I decided it could be used for Loose change or a Lip Gloss holder.  I also included a tube of my favorite gloss.

S - Some new Spatulas.

I hope my partner likes her package I much as I do!

Apron I made for Lori

This is the apron I made for the Flirty Apron Swap.  I used some fabric from my stash and the Lola apron pattern.  The main expense of this apron was the 300 yards of bias tape.  Okay, so I exaggerate, but I did use about 5 packs, plus one pack of ric rac.

I made a potholder with the video tutorial I posted a while back.  This is an amazingly easy pattern and I think you should all go try it today.  You'll have a lovely potholder or trivet in less than 10 minutes.

My wonderful stick figure son modeling it for me.  Trust me, Lori looks much cuter in the apron than Nate.  If you'd like to see her modeling it, go here.  While you're there, take a look at the other wonderful cutie pie aprons all the swappers have made.

My Cutie Pie Apron

Here is my apron I got from Lori.  Isn't it cute?!?  I am telling you that the picture just doesn't do this apron justice.  She used a Jamie Christina pattern.  After seeing how cute it is and how well it fits, I think I will definitely have to order some of her patterns.

I also got this hand towel with LOVE appliqued on it.  I'm hoping my sweet children's grubby little hands will lay off it so it can stay beautiful.

I got some cupcake tins and picks (which I bought the exact same picks to send to my partner, who happened to be none other than Lori)!  I got a cute magnetic notepad and some delicious chocolate covered cookie dough bites.  Those things were so good that I almost couldn't stop eating them.  The only way I did was to offer them up to the lucky kids who happened to be standing near me at the time.

This was a great swap and a lot of FUN!  Thanks, Lori!

The apron I made -

I never did post pictures of the apron that I sent out to my partner for Shawnee's Flirty Apron Swap.

We were supposed to spell out a wintry word and include "tuck ins" for each letter of the word.  I chose the simple word SNOW.

For the letter "S", I sent my partner socks. 

I kind of reached for the "N" tuck in.  The only thing I could think of was a nutcracker, and I just couldn't find one that I liked enough to send.  In the end, I decided to send her a garland of  her Name.  Thanks to my ultra cook father in law, I got a Cricut for Christmas and was able to make this super easy!

For the letter "O", I sent two ornaments.  My partner decorates her tree in pink and cream - so I hope these two beauties looked good on her tree.

For the "W", I sent a recipe for Wassail along with two mugs.  Unfortunately, I heard that one of the mugs was smashed in shipping. 

Finally, here is the apron - since the theme was snowflakes, I went with the snowflake patterned fabric.

very, very, very, VERY, very late

I joined a swap several months ago called the Scrappy Tidbits swap. We were grouped in fours, and you sent scraps to your other 3 partners. Then you make something with all of the scraps. I chose to make a wallet for each of my three partners, and I'm only 2 months late. I will never, I repeat NEVER sign up for a swap during the Christmas season again.

I found a great tutorial online for this quilted wallet at That Darn Kat. It was a little frustrating trying to figure out the credit card slots on the bottom, but I worked it out by the second one. I also sewed a right to a wrong side one time and almost threw the whole thing in the garbage. But in the end, I think they turned out rather cute. Except one is a little catywhompused, but I just think that adds to the homemade feel - that's what I'm telling myself anyway.

I actually didn't put any of my own fabric on the outside, but used bits and pieces of my three partners. Below is the inside. It has 10 credit card slots and two places to hold bills. It's only lacking a change pocket. My favorite part is the pearl snap.

Hostess Apron

It's time to send out a fancy apron for the Holiday Hostess Swap. I used the skirt from the dress above (one of the girl's dresses last year) to make the apron, and the black material I took from my Mom's stash. I wish I could have kept the rhinestones around the bow, but half of them had fallen out, so I just used black cord. The lovely Chuck agreed to model the finished product below.

You wouldn't believe the goodies

I got a great package in the mail yesterday! I was part of a scrap swap where I sent 3 people my scraps. Here is what Dianah made for me with my scraps. Above, a coffee collar ... check out the steaming cup of coffee! Love it.



Here are two dishtowels, remember that cowgirl material I made the apron out of? Now I have a matching towel! How fun is that?

This is my favorite towel with the Eiffel Tower!

A bookmark, again with the cute cowgirl!

The coffee collar again on a coaster ... the picture I took of the coaster didn't turn out very well; so just know that there is a really cute coaster under that cup. She also sent some tea and chocolate covered peppermint sticks in the cup! Thank you, Dianah.

Ornament swap

I got my ornaments in the mail earlier this week from my swap partner, Andrea. She certainly outdid herself with not 1 but 3 ornaments! I love them and we really can't wait to put our tree up this year. The kids are begging to go ahead and decorate now so we can enjoy them longer. Hey, they're only young once, right? So I might just go ahead and get the tree down this weekend.

Thanks, JoAnne for putting this FUN swap together.

Another swap

Remember when I said I was about swapped out for awhile? Well I had forgotten that I signed up for an ornament swap a long time ago. In fact, I have 3 more swaps to do before Thanksgiving. Then I'll really, really lay off of them ... at least for a couple of weeks. So here is the ornament I made for my partner. It the first beadwork I've done in my knitting - and I like how it turned out, do you?



I got this pattern from a booklet called 12 Exquisite Beaded Ornaments to Knit . It was super quick and easy, but I did leave bars where my double pointed needles joined.

I can't wait to see what kind of ornament I'm getting!

We the People Swap 2

I made this little bucket organizer thing for my swap partner in the We The People Swap. it's got lots of pockets all around the outside, so hopefully she can puts lots of good sewing stuff in it. It's a Simplicity pattern and frankly, no fun to sew. I'm not sure I'll ever make another.



I messed up, but didn't even fix it. Can you tell a difference between the above and below photo? Well, one of the pieces of vinyl is on the wrong way. The black trim going down the middle of the pocket in the one below is on the inside instead of out. I didn't think it was worth undoing all my work.



And here is my organizer that the lovely Sarah made for me. Isn't in neat? It sets across the seat of a chair and has two rows of pockets on both sides.


I love the fabric combo she used, here's a close up:

Thank you, Sarah - I love it!

Artsy Autumn Swap

I got my package from the Artsy Autumn Swap today! My partner was Marie. She sent me the beautiful box with all kinds of fall goodies inside.




Here is a close up of little pilgrim salt and pepper shakers! I love these little guys, they are so stinking cute.

Here is an ACEA card Marie made for me..... very cute (and mysterious).

An up close of 2 vintage hankies.


A turkey apron! She put a sneak peak at what she sent and I thought the turkey was a potholder, imagine my surprise when I found it was an apron .... with the sweetest turkey appliqued on.

There was also some cupcake liners and toppers, some fall stickers I can use in scrapbooking or card making, CHOCOLATE, candy corn, candles, a little wooden crow I can hang on the wall, and a bag of pumpkin potpourri type stuff. And did I tell you about how beautiful the box is that it all came in? If she likes what I sent her even half as much, I'll be happy.

Fall swap

I'm part of the Artsy Autumn Swap, and the lovely Marie is my partner. Here is a sneak peek of one of the items I'm including in my box. It's a half apron (sorry for the bad pics but all of my picture takers are watching a movie, so I tried taking it myself) that I made out of a tablecloth. I love the colors and they remind me of fall, even though it's a huge flower on it.

My Hawaiian apron

I got my apron today! My dream vacation is to go to Hawaii with the fam. Jen made me this little number and when through some tears making it. She also made me a really cool shell necklace and bracelets .... I'm wearing them in the picture. I guess I should have taken a close up so you could admire her handiwork. On top of that, she sent me some Hawaiian Host Caramacs candy and made each kid a lei of dum dums. Here is a video of Charlie and John discovering their surprise ....




Thank you Jennifer! I love the apron, I would have loved the one with hole in it! You really spoiled me with all the extra goodies!

Paris apron

I almost didn't want to give this one away. This is the apron I made for my partner in the Flirty Apron Swap. The theme this go around was "What I wish I did for my summer vacation", and my partner's dream vacation is going to Paris. I added a little pearl necklace that is just tied at the straps so she can take it off when washing .... or in case she doesn't like cleaning with pearls on.

I also sent her an Eiffel Tower and Arch de Triomph pencil sharpeners for her Paris souvenirs, because - hey - who doesn't love a good pencil sharpener?

The apron I received from my partner

I got a package in the mail yesterday from Nadine, my booming apron scary boo swap partner. She made me this dishtowel and potholder, and she does a MUCH better job at potholders than I do - maybe I can get her to email me some pointers.

Here is the treat bag. She cut out pumpkins and ghosts from the fabric to add to it. I can't wait until Halloween to use this to pass out candy to the little kiddos, wearing my apron, of course.

After trying to get my 4 year old to take a decent picture of the apron, I discovered the timer feature on my camera! So here it is .... my new apron. Isn't it adorable? Yes, yes it is.

Here is the side view - I LOVE how the ruffle goes all the way up to the ties. John just had to get in the picture with me ....



And then they all wanted to join in the fun!

Thank you, Nadine! What a great partner.

The apron I made for my scary boo swap partner

I loved making this apron for Nadine. It was quite fun, and I personally think it looks pretty cute on. It's safe to post the pics now since she should be getting hers in the mail today. I received my package from her today and it is such a cute apron - I'll post pics tomorrow.