The Dish Towels

I have a fun, easy, and inexpensive gift idea to share with you today.

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I used flour sack dish towels for this project, and I found these at Target - four for $3.99. I used ink, stamps, and fabric that I already had on hand and had so much fun putting these together. The possibilities are endless, and I am itching to make a few more in some other designs.

Here's a look at what I have so far...

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Stamping with ink and foam stamps 

 

I used Staz-On ink pads and some foam stamps and stamped a design across one side of the towel. You could also use rubber stamps, or make your own from a potato. Be sure to use a permanent ink - I'm not an ink expert but I know that pigment inks take for.ever. to dry on paper, so I'd be reluctant to use them on fabric. The Staz-On worked great, dried fast, and didn't wash out.
 

The result: LOVED it! These ended up being my favorites. They were super quick to do, and I think this would be a fun project to do with kids. I let these dry overnight and then threw them in the laundry just to see how they'd hold up. Perfect.

Freezer Paper Stencil

I used a snowflake punch and freezer paper for this one. Did you know that when you iron freezer paper with the shiny side down it will stick to fabric? It makes a great masking stencil that stays put while you apply your paint. I made this one before I was privy to the fact that spray paint shouldn't be used on items that come in contact with food, so if you use this method please use acrylic paint or fabric paint to dab into the open stencils.

The result: I really loved the look of this method, but the paint I used wasn't as sparkly as I thought it would be. I would definitely use different paint next time, but working with the freezer paper as a stencil was really fun!
 

Appliqued fabric strip 

 

I used a 1" strip of Christmas fabric, adhered initially with a strip of iron-on hemming product to hold it in place, then I ran a large zig-zag stitch along each side to keep it from fraying.
 

The result: Loved this! It was easy to do and I liked the finished look. Be sure to pre-wash your fabric and towels before doing this so that any shrinkage is taken care of before joining the two.

Appliqued fabric shape

I used an iron-on heat and bond product on some red gingham, then ironed it on to the towel. I ran a simple stitch around the edge of the bird, then a random line stitched underneath the bird for a little extra pizzazz.
 

The result: I love the way this turned out, and I think my grandma will like it too!

 

So here's my gift idea: I plan to bake some loaves of bread and then I'll use these towels to wrap around each of them, tie with a pretty bow and tag = done! I'll also use some of these towels to wrap a bag of brownie mix, tied with a pretty bow and a wooden spoon on top. I'm super excited to give these as gifts this year! I'll have another blog post once I get a few of these gifts put together.

 

Hooray! December 5th and I'm making great progress!

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