Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Nana's Flour Sack Towel

My Nana and Granddad are two of the most thoughtful gift-givers I know.  There gifts are not big, but always from the heart.  I can't remember if it was for my birthday or Christmas, but several years ago, my they sent me some "flour sack" towels.  Nana included with the gift a sweet note with them telling me how she had some towels just like them that she loved to use, and so every time I use them, I think of my Nana and Granddad.  I guess they used to be made of old flour sacks, but now you just buy them as flour sack towels.  (If you've never heard of them, they remind me a little of muslin, but a lot thicker and with more texture.) 

Anyway, they gave me three towels and I love them!  When I made this red bowl, I needed something to go inside to line it.  All of the cloth napkin-type things I own were just a little two small.  The flour sack towels are so big, that I was able to cut one towel down the middle both ways to get four "napkins" just the right size to line and cover warm breads in my bowl.  I hemmed up the raw edges to match the existing hems.

Now they're perfect for lining the bowl and keeping warm breads warm and moist until the rest of dinner is on the table.  And I think of my Nana and Granddad every time I use them.

After the napkins were all hemmed up, Firecracker and I did some apple stamping on each of the corners.  We got the idea from Little Page Turners and used the smallest apple we could find from our apple picking outing.  I carved out part of another piece of apple to make the leaf stamp.  We kept two of the napkins four ourselves to use with our red bowl and sent the other two to Firecracker's birthmother for her birthday several weeks ago.

If you want to do some apple stamping of your own, you'll want to use some acrylic paint.  We brushed it onto the apple with a paint brush, dabbed it on a piece of paper, and then stamped it onto the fabric.  Then after stamping and letting the paint completely dry, you'll want to run it through the washing machine before using it.  (Sorry there are no pics of the process...but kids and acrylic paint need a lot more supervision than other craft projects...be sure they wear a paint shirt because it will NOT come out of their clothes.)  The stamp will fade just a little on the first washing, but will not fade more after that.

If you want to make your own, tons of places to buy flour sack towels came up online, generally for buying several together for a couple dollars a piece.  They varied in quality of fabric, though, so be sure to check out the thickness and size to make sure you're buying some you can make into a nice gift. 

Picking up a wooden bowl from the craft store to paint and including some hand-stamped napkins would make an great Christmas gift or for any other time of the year...or make a great addition to your own kitchen.

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3 comments:

  1. I've carved many stamps over the years from potatoes, but I never thought of using apples. Genius! I love the stamp on the towels.

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  2. That is super cute! I love your bowl too! :)

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