I've Got You Covered

I know this isn't going to help my 50s-housewife-in-a-time-warp image, but I'm a huge fan of aprons (yep, me and June Cleaver). Yeah, they're girly and old-fashioned, but the thing about aprons is that they make a lot of sense. I like nice clothes and I'm a slobby cook — without aprons those elements of my personality would be a disastrous combination resulting in triple-digit dry cleaning bills.
Happily, gone are the days where my only option would be an unflattering "Kiss the Cook" number; there are tons of stylish and attractive aprons on the market now. Sometimes, I think they even make my outfit cuter. And wearing an apron in the kitchen gives whatever you cook are air of legitimacy that I truly believe makes it taste better - you might as well be wearing one of those chef hats. And I'm pretty sure that the sight of a woman in heels and an apron falls squarely on every man's fantasy list (whereas the sight of a woman in a chef hat...not so much). I love to give aprons as housewarming or bridal shower presents, and I even gave one to my mom last Mother's Day (which I end up wearing myself whenever I cook at home).

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1. Red polka dot half apron, $32, from Gourmand Apron Creations; 2. Floral apron with green ruffles, $32, from Anthropologie; 3. Laminated stripe apron, $25, from Gourmand Apron Creations; 4. Yellow floral apron, $30, from Flirty Aprons; 5. Ruffled rose-pattern apron, $45, from Williams Sonoma; 6. Blue roses apron, $29, from Elizabeth's Embellishments; 7. Aqua polka dot half apron, $47, from Daisy Shoppe; 8. Navy stripe apron, $20, from Sur la Table; 9. Pleated pink half apron, $18, from Florence Adams; 10. Hot pink ruffled apron, $62, from Haute Hostess; 11. Green paisley patchwork half apron, $45, from Progeny; 12. Cheery cherry half apron, $31, from Jessie Steele. Photo above: Cupcake ruffled half apron, $22 from Splendid Minta on Etsy.

Above is a roundup of some of the cutest aprons available online now. My next project is to start sewing my own- I'll keep you updated with patterns and how-tos when I get around to it. And remember, eBay also always has a great selection of real vintage ones, which can be even more charming. Tie one on!

Etsy For Yourself

This post is for those of you who haven't yet discovered the magic of Etsy.com (I'm guessing there's a lot of overlap with the pool of those of you who haven't yet discovered the magic of Twitter, but that's a topic for another day)- you poor deprived souls (I say, as if I didn't just discover both things recently myself)! Etsy is like a huge online craft fair of lovely handmade and/or hand-curated items, and I could spend all day wandering among it's virtual booths. It is alternately inspiring, jealous-rage-provoking (that I was not granted that capacity for pure artsy-craftiness), and too, too tempting. Nowhere else can you find such a wealth of one-of-a-kind beautifully-made things at very reasonable prices. The pics above are from four Etsy shops that I love, but they represent only a tiny fragment of what's out there- like four of the stars in the sky, or four pearls at the bottom of the ocean. So dive in!

Above: Crazy-cute vintage flower headband ($22), from Be Something New. I might buy it before you get there, though- I want to wear it to all seven of the weddings we're attending this summer. But all the headbands at this little gem of a store are to die for, so there's more where this came from.

Pretty milk-glass cake stand ($85) from Eddie Ross (if I didn't already have a marriage-threatening collection of 15 cake stands I would have snatched that sucker up already, too). Eddie Ross offers pretty antiques that he has collected himself from all over the world. I like absolutely everything in his shop.

Adorable scalloped cupcake liners ($4.75 for 75) from Bake It Pretty. They have all kinds of cute cake decorating items for sale. To me, they fall right into that sweet spot of totally impractical but absolutely necessary.

Handcut Kiragami paper ornaments ($18) from Emerlye Arts Kiragami. I'm not kidding- each one of those things was carefully cut by hand- like those paper snowflakes you made in first grade, only on psychotropic drugs (the snowflakes are are on drugs, not you in first grade). They would make truly incredible decorations for a party, or very pretty art in a girly room.