easiest apron ever

this is seriously the easiest apron you will ever make. i will describe it in words only because it's so easy you won't even need photos (okay, one photo).

what you need (makes size small apron for a size 2-6) : (2) 25" squares cut from cotton + (1) piece 1" wide ribbon (or make your own from fabric) at least 3 yards long

step one: sew squares right-sides together leaving opening for turning (note: i added a chicken applique before sewing squares together)

step two: clip corners and turn right side out

step three: top stitch around square making sure to close opening

step four: measure 10" towards center from top corner, pin tie perpendicular (see photo)

step five: sew tie down using zig-zag stitch

fold the top corner over, where the tie is sewn down will be hidden underneath, wrap the tie around the back and back to the front to tie in a bow.

the end. i'll put a little linky over on my sidebar for you :)

p.s. not sure what's going on with the link boxes? do you see them around all my pretty photos, or is it just my computer? i'm hoping it will go away as fast as it appeared because i don't know how to fix it.... hmmm....

watch this

if you live in the u.s. you should watch this. more here.

p.s. thanks for all the well wishes :)

p.s.s. an earthquake woke me up this morning at 4am. 4.3 magnitude and the epicenter was only about 30 miles away!

olympic garland

hi there. just wanted to stop in and say hello. i've been hit with a cold bug that has me feeling under the weather (and we have 6 inches of snow with 30mph winds predicted). today, by far, is the worst i've felt so far so hopefully i'll get better soon.

i had this entire fun week planned up olympic opening ceremony party preparations. i don't think that much of it will happen anymore. i did take a little time to make this flag garland. i found images of flags here. i just picked out the 'big winner' countries of the winter olympics because there's no way i could fit all the flags on my garland.

i also realized that 1) we have no interesting place in our house to hang garland and 2) i can't come up with an interesting place when i have a cold.

saturday tour

today i am sharing a photo with you that was not taken by me. this photo is from a local fire district's historical library. i had the oportunity to work on the interior of the district's headquarters in my previous life as an interior designer. this was always one of my favorites because i just love the expressions on their faces.

i am also sharing this photo with you today because we are experiencing hard drive turmoil here. we are anxiously awaiting the results of our attempted recovery. i have been shy to take more photos and load them onto a computer until i know the future of my photographic life of 2009.

you may not believe me but we have a hard drive sitting on our kitchen counter waiting for a case arriving on monday to back up our files.... 3 days too late.

here's your tour:

-i may be the last person on earth to see this but it's appropriate for current events

-this is so clever

-make your own message here

-i am amazed and saddend by this all at the same time

-i may have to make myself one of these

-inspiring, interesting, weird, pretty, it's all here

-my version of this is on the menu next week, come back to see it

-found some inspiration here

-i wish i could order from here this year, but i can't, maybe next year

-did you participate?

-awesome, just awesome

see you next week!

calm.

it's been a calm day around here today. other than the fact that the other computer (the one connected to the external harddrive and has photoshop) won't work right. i'm hoping it's just being difficult and it's not anything serious. i was going to sew a little today but needed the other computer for some info/patterns.

so, today you get s.o.o.c. image of a few things i'm up to. grabbed the new artful blogging publication from the bookstore this morning. oh, wouldn't it be a dream to see your blog in print? on the way home i snagged a deal on those linen napkins (21"x21" - close enough to a fat quarter for me) for 25 cents each (originally $11.95 each). cheaper than by-the-yard, i'd say. i can make several things from them. and the green yarn is new-ish for a scarf i have planned. i'm going to take my crochet skils beyond the single chain, maybe.

and maybe tomorrow i'll show you that image after i doctor it up in photoshop :)