New Retro Apron

My mom sent me an e-mail last week called The History of Aprons and it reminded me of both of my grandmothers and the aprons they always wore. It made me really want to have my own brightly colored retro apron. So... I made one.

First I found some bright colored fabrics...

and the perfect pattern with a few unique styles of retro aprons.

Then some quick sewing... and tada... a new Retro apron!

The girls loved the apron too, which means I will to be sewing up a couple more!

Here I am with my favorite cookbook, which is coincidentally, from the 1950's. And below is the e-mail which inspired this project.

The History of APRONS

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.


From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will; replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Send this to those who would know, and love, the story about Grandma's aprons. Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.


REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

But Love ! !

Guess who is celebrating a birthday today...

SALENA! Please wish my tall, beautiful, funny, generous, witty, chatty, fabulous friend a HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Enjoy your special day, Salena {or week as the case may be}!! Looking forward to officially celebrating at GNO on Saturday. :-)

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Having some "doggone" fun!

Yesterday was all about Bella. She got to have a "spa day" at Rainbow Kennels in the morning. It was the first time we have taken her to get groomed and boy did she need a trim. Plus she needed a pedi/mani as well as those nails were WAY too long. Anyway, we felt bad for her because she was so scared when we left her. And we could hardly recognize her when we came to pick her up. It looked like they put her in the dryer and shrunk her up! She looked so tiny with her fur clipped.
Oh and her fur... it was absolutely as soft as velvet and snowy white. Plus she smelled so wonderful... ummmm! This darn cold weather and her new short hair cut has made bathroom time extremely fast. Not that she was ever one to daudle anyway... but seriously... she is lightning quick!
We took some pictures of our three girls dressed up so we could make a Valentine's day photo. Bella, always the extra tolerant dog, was so patient and relaxed. I am surprised that the girls haven't dressed her up in some doll clothes yet. Notice the little pink clips and bow in her hair? Again, a super tolerant doggie.
Today, I could hear the girls giggling in Kippy's room this afternoon. I didn't know what they were up to until Abby came out and showed me these pictures she had taken of Bella. Kippy had Bella on her doll bed and wanted her to be friends with "Jack".

Then Kippy added "Maya", her samoyd webkinz dog for Bella to be friends with.

Finally, Kippy added all of her stuffed puppies to make a "dog-pile". It makes me laugh to see all of the various "doggies" that Kippy has. As you can tell, she has pretended to have a puppy forever! Oh Bella, you are so loved!

This old dog learns a new trick!

Hey, guess what? I learned to crochet this week! Well, I did know how to crochet a chain, but I have never actually made anything before. I am so excited to learn a new skill!! Here is how it began... Abby's girl scout troop was invited to go to Crates of Yarn on Monday for an introduction to crocheting class. Since I had the day off (thanks to Martin Luther King) I decided to tag along for the class. I have always wanted to crochet because my Grandma Ruth made it look so easy and make such wonderful things. Whenever I tried to, I was always confused by the pattern directions. They read like a foreign language... "Ch 3, sc in next stitch. *dc in next stitch, sc in next stitch* around. Slip stitch to join. Ch 1." What the heck are they talking about?

Prior to the class, I picked up crochet hooks, a free pattern and some yarn at Wal-Mart. Actually, Steve picked up some camouflage yarn which had a free pattern next to it and said, "Why don't you make me this?" The pattern said it was for beginner and I was hoping that I could follow along enough in Abby's class to actually make something.

At the class, I sat next to a mom who had crocheted before. She tried to advise me on how to start. Eventually, I borrowed a "how-to" book from one of Abby's sister-scouts and tried to make heads or tails out of the instructions. As I went along, I would mess up, take out stitches, ask questions and try again. Finally, things started to click. Hey - I'm doing it!
I made myself the orange beanie hat first. Abby asked me to make her a hat, so I whipped a hat out for her. Then today, I made Steve's hat. I kind of winged it with adjusting for the different sized heads involved, but the loose weave was pretty forgiving.
I went back to the Crate of Yarn store for some more yarn today and picked up a cute book on making simple daisy chain flowers. I added some flowers to my hat and to Abby's... Didn't think that Steve would appreciate a flower, so skipped his. I now have yarn to make a beannie for Kippy, plus instructions for some other fun things. This old dog is enjoying a new hobby!

Gran Torino... go see it!

Steve and I went to Gran Torino last night and we highly recommend it. Of course, Steve & I are BIG Clint Eastwood fans, plus we are all about "politically incorrect" humor, so maybe it won't be everyone's cup of tea. Anyway... Clint is a bad @ss... I want to see it again... two thumbs up by Steve and Renae....

Too old for sledding?

I think I may be too old to go sledding. Why? Because on Sunday, we went sledding with my brother and his family and I hurt myself. Who hurts themselves sledding? It is supposed to be fun, right?
I borrowed Noah's super fast sled and made a very quick trip down the hill. The problem was in my navigation (or lack thereof). I made the fatal mistake of hitting all the "built in jumps". For some dumb reason, I didn't let go or jump off the sled, I just clung on for dear life and got some major air. My left wrist took the brunt of the action and got hyper-extended.

Nephew... Noah.. the guy with the super fast sled

Abby... screaming her way down the hill (as usual)

Kippy is the Evel Knievel of the group.... look at joy on her face as she zips by.

Russ & Nixin trudging back up the hill to go for another ride.

Steve found a little broken piece of sled and was able to go for a ride. He sure kicks up the snow, doesn't he?

Kippy and Noah had one of the wildest rides. They had so much speed build up that they made it all the way to the chain-link fence, which abruptly stopped them. Luckily, there are no injuries to report.
Steve and I on the same sled just don't fit as well as the kids...

I guarantee that none of these kids were sore like I was Monday morning. My back, shoulders and neck... not to mention my wrist, which has been in a brace ever since!