Mommy Cooks

Tie One On: February

Red Roses Apron

"Church Ladies' Apron" pattern by Mary Mulari
2 yards "Bon Bons Pistachio" fabric from the "Chocolat" line by Three Sisters (Moda)

Here is my submission to the Tie One On gallery for February -- the theme is Valentine's Day.  This is one of those times when I've tweaked the theme a bit to fit what I have, but I'd fallen in love with this fabric and felt that the red roses would fit quite nicely.  ("Bon bons," too, now that I think of it!)

It's a beautiful fabric, lovely colors and silky-smooth.  The pattern is very simple and easy enough for a novice, as I am.  I straightened the scalloped hem -- with those handy curves on my cutting board -- feeling quite brave.  I didn't make it reversible either, as there wasn't another fabric available that coordinated well enough, so it is the same on both sides, as I liked the idea of a double-thickness apron.  The fabric requirements were a bit skimpy, I thought, and I wasn't completely happy with the way that the neck strap went together, but on the whole I'm quite pleased!

Happy Valentine's Day

Because a good idea is worth repeating, we made sugar cookies for the girls' Valentines yesterday, and decorated them with colored sugars, red and pink. 

Julia wasn't particularly interested in rolling out the dough this time, so Laura did most of it, as well as most of the cutting.  (And this is a little preview of my new apron for the Tie One On theme this month.)

I let the frosted cookies sit out on the rack overnight, so that the icing would firm up, then we put each one in its own plastic bag, and the girls wrote on labels I'd cut from cardstock.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Quick Gifts for Knitters

Grandma's birthday is this week, and so the girls and I came up with this quick almost-handmade gift -- "personalized" knitting needles.

Use a pair of wooden knitting needles.  Mask off the stick with painter's tape, and with water-based paint in the recipient's favorite color, paint the knob.  Carefully peel off the tape fairly soon after painting, and let dry.

Use any paint you like, but I do recommend water-based as it is so much easier to clean up when kids are involved!  The teal paint we used is a craft paint, and the blue is a Benjamin Moore sample pot.

You can also make a label to hold the needles.  Cut a fairly long rectangle out of thick paper or cardstock.  Make two holes side-by-side near one short end, large enough to hold the needles firmly but not so big that they slip right through.  (I started the holes with an ice-pick, then used the needles themselves to make the holes bigger.)  Make a corresponding set of holes at the other short end, and then slip the needles through the top set of holes from the front and the bottom set of holes from the back.  Decorate the label as you like.  You can crease the label to make it look more tidy.