Hi everyone, this is Carmen, I’m so excited to be sharing a Stamped Heart Apron using Ann Butler’s lovely line of inks and stamps.  They are perfect for decorating a blank white apron which I found at the craft store in the embroidery aisle.

You see, I am one messy crafter and if I don’t use an apron, all my clothes would be covered in paint and ink. (Yes, technically my wardrobe would all eventually color-coordinate but head-to-toe paint spatters and ink streaks would be too matchy-matchy, wouldn’t it? ) Here’s how to make your own cheerful stamped heart apron.  

Materials:
Ann Butler’s EZ-De’s Stamp Sets
Ann Butler Crafters Ink by Clearsnap: Aquamarine, Tangelo, Limelight
Tulip® Fabric Markers™ Fine Writer Tip Pack: black
Plain white apron

Tools:
Westcott Brand Non Stick Scissors, masking tape, stencil brush, thin plastic or vinyl sheet, acrylic block, ruler, permanent marker, piece of thin craft foam, paper towel

Instructions:

1. Wash and iron your apron. To make the large blue stripes, use the masking tape and ruler to mask off five big rectangles. Tap the brush onto the Aquamarine ink pad to load it up with color and then use a pouncing movement to apply the ink to the first rectangle. Do this on three of the five rectangles so that you end up with alternating stripes of plain white and Aquamarine.

2. Remove the tape between the rectangles. Mask off one 2″ wide stripe lengthwise across the apron along the tops of the rectangles. Mask off another 2″ stripe about 4 1/2″ higher. (The taped off areas will later become the green stripes). Make a stencil by drawing a 4″ heart on the sheet of plastic with permanent marker then cut it out with scissors. (**Tip – Old plastic file folders work great for making stencils.)

3. Starting with the center heart, align the stencil so that the heart is centered in the blank area above the middle Aquamarine rectangle. Tape the stencil in place with masking tape. Attach your desired EZ-De’s Stamps to the acrylic block and stamp the open heart area using the Limelight stamp pad. (**Tip – slip the piece of thin craft foam under the apron and it will help when stamping with the stencil.) Remove the stencil and wipe any ink from it with a paper towel. Repeat to stamp the remaining hearts alternating them in Limelight and Tangelo.

4. Remove and realign the masking tape so that the areas for the green stripes are now exposed. (You’ll be covering up the bottom of the hearts and tops of the rectangle stripes to mask off the area for the lower green stripe and similarly to make the upper green stripe.) Use the brush to apply Limelight ink in the blank areas between the tape. Now you’ve got two green stripes! Remove the tape.

5. Stamp along the neck strap and the top border of the apron.

6. Outline all the hearts and stripes with the Tulip Fabric Marker.

7. As a final detail, cut a smaller heart stencil and stamp an Aquamarine heart at the top of the apron. To heat set the inks, pop the apron into the dryer and run it on high heat for twenty minutes.

I had so much fun using the juicy Ann Butler Crafters Ink pads! And who needs a sewing machine when you can just stamp your patchwork design? You can easily personalize this apron to your liking using different colors and stencil shapes. Although with such a cute apron, you might want to make two – one for the spatters and one for wearing when guests come over. Wink. Enjoy!