Do you have a dad that loves to putter around the garden? A dad whose idea of fun is to dig around in the dirt? Well, Fathers Day is on its way, so hurry, run to the nearest home improvement store! No, youre not going there to buy Dad tools or home improvement supplies. Youre going so you can purchase an inexpensive carpenters apron. With it you can make your father a cool gardening apron thats manly and easy to create. The aprons are generally found with leather tool belts but are made of muslin or other plain cloth. Sometimes these aprons are stamped with the stores logo. Ask for plain ones, with no logo, or buy it and cover the logo with craft supplies as shown below.
Youll find the aprons for a buck or two, and for about the same price, youll find simple gardening gloves that resemble the apron. The two purchases make it easy to create a gift set especially perfect for a gardening dad. Little kids can make a simplistic version whereas older kids can make create a set with a little more detail.
If the apron you purchased has one giant pocket stitch or glue it so that it has three or four. Some of these aprons have two pockets; change that to four by stitching or gluing down the center of each one. If the apron has a logo stitch or glue a piece of cloth over it before creating the pockets. The cloth can become the backdrop for the gardening design on the apron. After the pockets are in place you can then do any number of things to embellish the apron as well as the gloves. Rubber stamping is a quick and easy way to make a garden theme on the tool apron. You can create your own rubber stamps by ruining a couple of vegetables from your kitchen. Cut a bell paper in half, dip it in paint or ink, then stamp it onto the apron and gloves. Or, use a green bean or pea pod as the stamp. Cut onions in half to make yet another stamp. Instead of stamping you can glue painted, wooden shapes onto the apron. The flat shapes are sold at craft stores in hundreds of different shapes. Buy them already painted or purchase unfinished shapes that you paint yourself. Ordinary hot glue or white glue work fine for attaching them to the apron, but if you are going to launder the apron, fabric paints work better. Seal the wooden shapes if you will be washing the apron later; do not put the wooden shapes in the dryer. Instead of wooden shapes or stamping techniques you can simply purchase letter appliques. They can spell out "#1Dad" or something else. Instead of letters you can choose applique images with a gardening theme. Youll find tons of the appliques at fabric stores or online. Fabric glue works well to attach the appliques. If you dont have a lot of money to spend on the garden design just write on the apron and gloves with markers. Kids can write words like "beans", "peas", "carrots" and similar terms on the gloves and apron. Dont write all the words in the same manner. Make each word a different color, turn some words sideways, and even write some words in bubble letters or italics. The finished apron and glove set will not only thrill Dad but it will give him a place to put all his small gardening gear. Make the gift even more special by filling each pocket with something Dad needs for gardening. Fill each pocket with a different type of seed or place something different in each pocket, like seeds, a trowel, and even a small squirt bottle. Wrap it all up and give it to Dad for Fathers Day then wait to see the giant smile that spreads across his face. The gardening set doesnt necessarily have to be for Dad. You can make one for any person that loves to garden. Change the theme to something more feminine for Mom or Grandma. If they particularly like flower gardening, for example, create sunflower or similar images on the apron and gloves. You can even glue on pieces of lace or ribbon to give it a softer look. Whether youre making the set for Dad, Mom or someone else youll spend little money but make a huge impression!
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