Day 24: Fancy Schmancy Hand Towels and Dishcloth-a-Day

I've mentioned before how mundane tasks are easier for me to do if I can find some way to add a little cuteness.  It's why I digi-scrap all my recipes and why I made a cutesy chore chart for myself.  It's why I'm thinking about spray painting my washer and dryer and hanging a chandelier in my laundry room/garage -- but don't tell my husband.  He'll try to talk me out of it.  But that is a project for another day . . . today I'm cute-ing up in a much simpler way.  I loved this dishcloth project I pinned a while back. 

I love the idea of knowing that my dishrag is fresh every single day, but in reality it will be a miracle {or at least a major coincidence} if the dishrag in use corresponds with the actual day of the week at any given time.  The cloths are cute nevertheless.  I went to Joann when calico was on sale and bought 1/4 of a yard of six different patterns which was plenty for both of my projects today.  Why only six?  Because the pack of dishcloths at Target only had six.  And Sunday is a day of rest, right?  Whatever.

 

The only problem is that they are almost too cute to use on dirty dishes.  I just don't want to mess them up.  I keep telling myself they were easy and I can make them again when they get too dingy and yet they are still sitting on the countertop next to the sink.  It's Monday so maybe I'll just take the plunge today and break one in . . . 

While I was sewing I wanted to make some cute dish towels to match and brighten up my kitchen.  These beautiful ruffly towels were my inspiration.  Those fabrics and the ruffles and the twill tape all make me swoon a little bit.  I was too cheap to buy that gorgeous fabric online so I just used plain white terry dishtowels from Target.  Floursack towels would also be very nice.  While you are checking out the particulars for this project at Make life Sweet you should definitely click the link to the Sweetwater Etsy shop.  I want every single thing they sell.  Anyway . . . like I said before, I got six different fabrics at Joann so I made two sets of towels.

I had one of my proudest moments as a mother so far whilst making these towels.  I was trying to decide which colors to put together for each set and how to lay them all out and I just couldn't get it exactly right.  My daughter walked through the room at that moment, looked at my fabrics for a second and moved the pieces around to create the combinations you see here.  It was PERFECT!  'At's MY girl!!  I could have cried.  But seriously . . . didn't she do good?  When I finished sewing the towels I couldn't help but think how perfectly they went with my butterfly art project that is currently hanging in the red guest bathroom:

So they ended up being hand towels in the bathroom instead of dish towels in the kitchen.  I warned my kids, though, that these are for drying CLEAN HANDS ONLY, not for wiping up dirty messes.  We'll see how long that lasts . . . For now my bathroom is looking pretty cute.  Can you believe we only have SEVEN projects left in this little ordeal?  Thanks for hangin' in there with me y'all.  Time flies when you're having fun.  Check back tomorrow for some stenciled burlap placemats that would be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner.  For a complete list of all 31 projects, click here: