WooHoo!!! I love Surprises!!!

I have been waiting so very patiently for a wonderful little surprise to show up on my door step and today it arrived! Remember the apron swap that I joined? Well my SUPER SWEET swap partner sent me an awesome package full of so many things that I just love.  Her name is Madelyn and from reading her blog she really loves her fabric and all the great projects she does.

She sent me a beautiful apron, 2 spatulas that I was in so much need of, 2 lovely valentine dish towels, vintage tissues, hand sanitizer,quilted nail file, a super Moda Sweet Treat bag fabric and instructions aaaaannnd....drum roll please......a cookie cookbook and cookie cutters!!!!  Oh yes, I am typing with my mouth full of the soft peppermints that she included too. I love these things. I am always the one at the wedding reception filling her pockets full of the little pastel mints that taste just like them. Yum! :)

She knew just how to get to this Cookie girl's heart!  I can hardly wait to break open the book for some great recipes and get out my sewing machine to make my treat bag. I am so excited I do not know where to start.

(I had to take the picture my self so that is why my head is cut off.) LOL

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart Madelyn!!! I love everything!

Flirty Apron Swap

Good Evening to you all!  I hope that each one is doing well and warm and cozy in their homes tonight.  The fierce weather that has hit many of you is no doubt a hard blow to your daily lives. My prayers are going up for each and every family that has been affected.  As for us here in the south we are just wet and cold.  But I am looking forward to a soon approaching Spring.
I have been hard at work making a special apron for the Flirty Apron Swap that Shawnee hosts.  This will be my second one and I decided to jump in with both feet and make my first ever full apron.  I wanted to do something a little different and still vintage inspired so I started digging through all of my old aprons.  I found the winner and below is a little history of the original apron.

I have many of my great-grandmother's (Nannie's) aprons that she had made and one in particular is a favorite of mine.  I could not figure out what she would have used it for but I just loved the simplicity of it.  It is solid white and made from cotton sheeting material.  There are no pieces if you will. It is one sold apron with very small rolled hems, no pockets and short ties. It almost reminds me of something a nurse might have worn many years ago and with it being white it looks quite sterile. I decided to call up my sweet Mom and ask her if she remembered the apron.  Well, of course she remembered it! She told me my that Nannie had worked at a commissary kitchen making biscuits. That explained the solid white sterile look for sure and the size, looking like a dress, actually covers almost all of your clothing except the arms.  Neither of us could figure out the short ties though.  Maybe she just pinned it to her clothes.

I took this wonderful apron and used it as my pattern  and of course added my own little touches, longer ties, a pocket, a ruffle and lots of color.  It took me a little longer than expected to get it all together but I am very proud of the results.  I hope that my swap partner likes it as much as I do.  I also included a few tuck-ins to make it a sweet valentine gift to remember.

Enjoy the pictures and don't mind the cheesy blonde in the photo it's just me. :) I hope to see you all back here soon.