Sweetheart Apron for Valentine’s Day {Tutorial}

 
Earlier, I shared with you the inspiration behind this sweetheart apron.  I changed the tote to the obvious apron and switched up the pattern a bit.  Instead of using the offset hearts as shown here, I flipped every other row of hearts to get this fabulous design with rows and rows of sweet hearts.
 

 
To create the apron, I gathered a few materials:

pink apron

heart punch 15mm

freezer paper

iron

red fabric paint

sponge brush

First, prepare your apron according to manufacturers directions.  Some aprons you may have to wash, others you will just have to iron to get all the wrinkles out. Next, using your heart punch, cut sweet little hearts from the freezer paper.  You are going to need hundreds, if not thousands of little tiny hearts for this project so make it fun. 

Then, position your hearts onto the apron with the shiny side down as shown in the photo.  You can use the design I used on the apron or the one from the inspiration post, it is totally up to you. Try to complete one full row at a time, leaving just a little space between each heart. Finally (for the first half of the tutorial), iron the hearts into place. 

Hint: When using freezer paper, make sure the shiny side is down.  If the shiny side it up, it will stick to your iron and create quite a mess.  Also, freezer paper only needs a little bit of heat and pressure to stay in place.  This isn’t like using an iron-on where lots of time needs to be spent going over the area.  You will love freezer paper if you like iron-ons.  This process is super-simple and goes fairly quickly.

Note: I went to three locations to find Freezer Paper.  Walmart showed that it was available online and in stores, but when I got there, no  freezer paper.  They also didn’t have freezer paper at Target.  I did find it at the grocery store with all the other sandwich wraps.  just be sure not to get or confuse freezer paper with wax paper.  They are two separate entities and do not work the same way.  I was able to purchase the freezer paper for less than $5 and still have plenty left over for future projects. 

After you have heat set all your freezer paper hearts onto the apron, it is time to paint.  Using a sponge brush to dab the red paint over the hearts, cover the entire apron with paint.  When using hearts of this size, it is difficult to just get in between each one and you end up covering the entire heart so tap lightly and enjoy the pleasure of painting. 

I would recommend that you use a spouncing technique or dab the paint onto the surface. If you use a brushing motion, you may lift up the hearts and get paint where you don’t want paint to end up.  Take your time and you will be terribly happy with the results.

Allow the paint to dry at least 4 hours or overnight.  I let my apron dry for 12 hours before my favorite part of this whole process, the removal of the tiny freezer paper hearts.  Gently remove each heart to reveal the finished product.

I cannot wait to wear this apron.  It is a little too small now as I am 31 and 1/2 weeks pregnant, but it will be perfect for working in the kitchen or craft room with my new little girl.  I cannot wait to share the wonderful world of crafts with her.  She will probably hate crafting, but that’s how it goes.  Either way I will be ecstatic about this apron and our journey to come. Our first of many Valentine’s Crafts to come. Perfect for Valentine’s Day or Every Day.