BBQ Apron Invitations

My DH and I started a tradition the first year we were married of having a big 4th of July BBQ. I am originally from the Kansas City, Missouri area, so I got him hooked on the great KC BBQ when we were dating. (As a side note, if you're ever visiting KC, our favorite is Jack Stack in the Freighthouse district behind Union Station. Get the Crown Prime Ribs and split them between 2 people - you won't regret it!) Anyway, the first year we just had a grill, so we had your traditional hamburgers and hot dogs along with a Beer Can Chicken. Well - by the next year we had purchased a smoker, so we had ribs, smoked chicken, baked beans, and I don't remember what else, along with the standard burgers and dogs (mainly for the kids at this point). That trend continued, and now he is in the process of building his own smoker. We had hoped it would be done and tested at least once before the 4th, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. We've had a few delays, but he is making great progress on it though!

Anyway, back to stamping! I always like to send out invitations for the big party (who can pass up an excuse to play with paper and stamps!), so when I saw this adorable BBQ apron on Susan Lile's blog, I knew I had to recreate it. So, here is my version.

I actually didn't do any stamping on it though. I created a pattern with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" piece of scrap paper and just eyeballed the curve of the arm opening. I then folded the scrap in half to make both sides even. I looked all over for some fun designer paper that would fit with our BBQ theme, but I couldn't find any I liked so I just used a variety of DSP that I already had. The spatula was created with the tag punch and word window punch. I scored along the top of the tag punch and adhered them together with a silver brad. The neck of the apron is a piece of twill, also adhered with brads. My aprons aren't as detailed as Susan's, but I wanted to keep them fairly simple to recreate. And - I think they turned out really cute!

Thanks for looking!