Autumn Crafts and Decor – Dish Towel Aprons, Fall Matching Game, Babywearing Scarecrow

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dollar General for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

During our monthly blog-related trip to Dollar General, I thought I was scoping out the seasonal aisle for autumnal craft ideas. But when the assignment hit my Social Spark account, it turns out it was actually for decor. Thankfully, 2 of my craft ideas definitely count for decor, but they’re still crafty! The other one is straight-up craftastic. I hope you enjoy what I came up with!

This is the one that probably doesn’t count as decor, unless you consider aprons more ornamental than functional. Dollar General had THE CUTEST fall dishcloths. I couldn’t resist snatching up a couple of them because I knew they would make adorable aprons for the kids! It’s SO simple to turn them into aprons.

I have the step-by-step photos at the end of the post, so if that’s what you’re looking for, stick around.

I also found these great fake gourds, pumpkins, and leaves (and real pine cones), so I bought two bags. Instant matching game! Anneliese has had so much fun playing with them. This makes a great activity for her to do while she’s waiting for me to finish cooking a meal, because it’s ready to go on the table!

And when she finishes, she can arrange everything in a bowl nicely, for a centerpiece she can feel proud of. She likes to tell me that she made a decoration, with pride in her voice.

Dollar General also had these adorable and inexpensive scarecrows. I knew I needed to make a babywearing one for my yard, so I got a large one and a small one. At home, I broke the stick off of the child scarecrow, and wrapped it in a nice back carry on the parent scarecrow.

The little ones in your house are kept close and happy, right? Why not your scarecrows?

You could make a little ring sling to have the scarecrow front-carry its baby if you wanted, but I loved the child’s face and wanted her peeking over the parent’s shoulder, just like a real back-carried kiddo does.

Here’s the step by step apron photos. I really hope my pictures are good enough to explain everything! But I’ll try with words just in case.

1. Choose dish towels.
2. Cut to length desired (top edge) and cut the apron-shape swoop. Optional – use scraps to cut a rectangle for a pocket.
3. Not shown – fold and hem top edge.
4. Pin twill tape on the right side of both swoops.
5. Sew the edges, flip to the back, and iron. Pin again, this time to the back of the apron.
6. Sew the twill tape again as close to the edge of the tape as you can (you’re making channels to thread more twill tape through for the apron ties and neck loop).
7. Fold in sides of the pocket and pin to the apron, at the height you’d like (just the height of the bottom edge of the pocket, since it’s flipped down at this point).
8. Sew bottom edge of the pocket, then flip up and pin again.
9. Sew around the edges and bottom of the pocket, and a seam down the center (vertically) of the pocket, so that it makes two pocket sections and it won’t sag.
10. Get some more twill tape for the adjustable tie.
11. Use a safety pin or diaper pin to thread the twill tape through the two twill tape channels you made earlier. This makes the two ties and the neck loop.
12. Give the apron to your favorite kitchen helper, or make a whole bunch of them for your child’s preschool class, art teacher, or the local resource center.

Will you be doing any of these projects at home? Which was your favorite?

And how do you feel about the super-long step-by-step image? Is it something I should do again sometime, or does it make you throw up in your mouth a little? Bloggers gotta know.