Baking is Science For Hungry People

I am one of those obnoxious people to have been blessed with more then one best friend. I consider myself really lucky to have these people in my life. 

One of my best friends is Brandy Jeanne. I've known Brandy since I was in high school. She was a year behind me and we met in math class (where I don't think we learned a darn thing) and have been through so many things together. There was a period of time where we didn't talk, during which she had a little boy who is one of the sweetest kids, but when we reconnected it was like we never stopped talking. I feel like this means that we're destined to be lifelong friends. 
  

I love my Brandy Jeanne!!!

Brandy is AWESOME in the kitchen. I don't think I've ever eaten anything that she's made that I didn't love, even if I didn't know what the dish was called (like that one dinner party). She writes a blog and at my urging has started sharing recipes and kitchen tips. You can check it out here.  I've always been a bit envious of her kitchen talents, but am happy to have a best friend who loves to feed me. 
 

For her birthday I wanted to make her an apron that says: Baking is Science for Hungry People. She had asked for one for Christmas, but no one bothered to get it for her. When I found out what she wanted, I just figured I'd make her one, because that's how I roll. Besides, I'm the only person that she gets excited if I tell her that I made her something when normally she hates receiving presents. 
 

I started out by buying a plain apron at Michael's. I was a little sad when I realized that they didn't have a pink one (since that's Brandy's favorite color) but then it hit me. I could dye it pink! 

I followed all the instructions on the back of the dye packet.


(And took pictures because I love you guys, of course!) 


First I filled a bucket with steaming hot water. The package said to use a gallon, but I just guessti-mated. It also suggested using more water if you wanted a lighter shade of your dye color.

Next, pour in a 1/4 cup of salt. 

Stir really well so that the salt dissolves. (And yes, I am using a knitting needles to stir with... hey, rock whatcha got!)

Once you're done stirring the salt in, you pour in your fabric dye. I used Tulip brand Permanent Fabric dye that I bought at Michael's. 

Stir it really well, until it dissolves into the water. 

When you're done stirring, it's time to add whatever fabric you're dying. 

Make sure that it's totally submersed, then according to the package, you're supposed to stir for 15 minutes. I just stirred until it looked like the color was saturating the material. 

Then stir occasionally for 45 minutes. When your fabric is thoroughly dyed, it's time to pull it out and rinse! 

Rinse in COLD water!

Once your material has been thoroughly rinsed, it's time to wash. Put your material into your washing machine, add your normal laundry detergent and wash on your coldest setting.

When your material has been washed pull it out. Now, I hung my apron up to dry. I probably could have put it in the dryer and it would have been fine, but at this point, I was ready for bed and didn't feel like staying awake anymore to wait for the dryer. 

Now, here's where I became a bad blogger... 


I used my Silhouette Machine to cut out a stencil on freezer paper and I ironed it to the front of the apron. Then I used fabric paint and fabric glitter to decorate the apron. 

I didn't get any pictures of the process because I was really tired and just trying to get it done so that I could go to bed. 


So you only get photos of the after.... sorry 

So after I applied the stencil and had applied the fabric glitter, I realized that my stencil was on slightly crooked. I thought about throwing a temper tantrum to rival some of my two year old niece's really great ones (seriously, I so want to laugh when she does it, but I can't!) but then I realized that Brandy wouldn't really care. Especially since the apron straps are also crooked, so it might not look that bad.. 


I'm also gave her a pedestal plate that I made that she can use to take pictures of her yummy treats on. (Yes, a blog on my pedestal plates is coming soon!)

So while I might not be happy with the crooked apron and the not so stellar freezer painting stencil debacle, I am stoked about the color of the apron! I think I might have to get a few other packets of that dye to use on other projects. 




P.S. Happy Birthday, Brandy Jeanne!!!