a family portrait fit for the kitchen

anyone else have trouble remembering what day it is? and how that relates to when events are supposed to occur? geez, i've been a space cadet lately. for example, yesterday i posted about "mid-july" garden updates (title has now been fixed, thanks to my friend Inder) when it is quite obviously june. and then i realized that father's day is not a week from now. oops.

B has been insisting all week that she wanted to get Nick a batman t-shirt for father's day, so i headed off in search of one this afternoon. i wasn't convinced this was the best gift, but what can you do when you're shopping for dad *on* father's day, right? apparently the universe agreed that the t-shirt was not the best choice, as it could only be found in sizes small and extra large, so it was on to another gift idea...

luckily, inspiration struck! i ran into Joann's to grab a yard and a half of duck cloth and headed straight back home to my sewing machine. Nick looked slightly concerned when i walked into the house with a random piece of fabric and announced it would be the best present ever. always the good sport, he went along with it when i asked him if i could get some measurements.

after some figuring, cutting, folding, pressing, and convincing my machine that it did want to sew through nine layers of duck cloth (win!), i had created a very sturdy blue apron.

when B woke up from her nap, i managed to convince her that she wanted to draw a picture of our family on some freezer paper. after she completed her masterpiece, i cut it out with an exacto knife and ironed the stencil onto the apron.

(in case you've missed this piece of random sewing genius: the shiny side of freezer paper will adhere when ironed on to fabric. works great for stencils or for tracing patterns... no pinning necessary.)

for a brief moment, i considered a test run, but threw caution to the wind and went right for it! we painted the alien family portrait with blue fabric paint and sponge brushes and removed the stencil. after that dried, we used the same process to paint eyes and mouths with black paint. and thank goodness, it turned out awesome!! see for yourself....

we now have a fabulous apron for one very handsome chef, and very proud little girl. the dog... well, she's just wondering where the food is.

cheers to a very successful last-minute father's day craft project! and here's wishing a very happy day to all of the dads out there, especially my incredibly loving, patient, and all-around fabulous husband. you make me one very lucky gal!