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Back-to-School Craft: Apple Print Backpack
Published 08.19.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (6)
Back-to-School Craft: Apple Print Backpack
By Ellen Luckett Baker
A is for apple! Get ready for school with this apple print drawstring backpack. Let the kids make their own fabric pattern with an apple and some fabric paint. Then sew it up into a backpack. This one is designed to be small for younger kids, but you could easily make the pattern pieces larger. I sewed this backpack myself, but this is a great beginner project for an older child.
The instructions for the apple printing are below. Click here for the drawstring backpack sewing pattern.
Apple Printing Supplies:
-red and green fabric paint
-cotton, twill or canvas fabric
-apple
-leaf
-paintbrush
We sliced the apple in half and blotted it with a towel to remove the excess moisture. Then we painted the fabric paint onto the apple with a large brush (or you could dip your apple into a tray of paint), then the kids pressed it onto the fabric and carefully pulled it away. Since our apple didn't have a leaf attached, we used one from the yard and repeated the stamping process with the green fabric paint. Then we painted in the stem with a paintbrush.
My kids had a lot of fun with this, so we printed about a yard of fabric. I ended up making one backpack with a single apple print and another backpack with a repeated pattern of apples. If you want to use only one print, it's a good idea to cut your fabric in advance.
If you're not ready to try your hand at sewing, apple prints would make great wrapping paper or cards for teachers. I also think it would be nice to print kitchen towels with various fruits and vegetables. We might try that next.
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About this column
This is a year-round Holiday column. Kids love Holidays. As parents we have come to appreciate how Holidays seem to help structure our lives. Plus, any excuse to have fun sounds good to us!
We'll admit it, now that we're parents, we secretly look for Holidays to celebrate and between National, Secular, Unofficial and Bizarre Holidays, we think there are enough days out there to keep us inspired every week.
This column will be a place where you can get inspiration for how to enjoy time with your kids. Crafting projects and ideas will be posted on Thursdays by our brilliant contributors (see below). Other fun ideas will be posted here throughout the week as the inspiration hits us!
About our Craft Contributors
Ellen Luckett Baker is the author of the long thread, a blog about handmade goods. She has always enjoyed making things, but the flexibility of staying at home with her two daughters along with the creative inspiration they provide has led her to craft on a daily basis. Combining her love of graphic design and sewing, she has created an Etsy shop selling machine embroidery designs and sewing patterns.
Ellen lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young daughters. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a Master's of Public Administration with a focus in Non-Profit Management.
Cindy Hopper was fortunate to be raised in a family who appreciated the arts. This background led to a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. With a keen eye for design and color, Cindy has continued her love of art and is now passing her creative skills on to her three children. Cindy's family and friends are the beneficiaries of her passion for fun and meaningful creative projects. Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.
Marie LeBaron is a 30 something stay at home mom in Utah. Before life as a mother, she graduated with a teaching degree in Early Childhood & Elementary Education, after which she taught four years of Kindergarten. After her first child was born, she decided to read books and sing silly songs at home. She misses the classroom, but she now gets to bring the fun and learning into her home and ours. You’ll see her kids a lot in these projects as they are her guinea pigs and for whom she's creative. You can follow more of her projects at her personal blog Make and Takes.
Brenda Ponnay is a stealthy secret agent who juggles parenthood to her adorable daughter by day and freelance graphic design by night. Whether it's painting, baking, drawing, making castles out of card board boxes or just doing the laundry with flair, Brenda Ponnay has finally discovered (at the ripe old age of thirty-six) that what really makes her happy is being creative every single day.
Brenda lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, three cats and thirty-seven pet birds. You can read about all her crazy adventures on her personal blog: Secret Agent Josephine.
Disclaimer
This column is only for entertainment purposes. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.
Comments (6):
Calee said:
I so needed to be reminded about apple prints. I love the idea of a backpack but maybe I'll make some reusable grocery totes with this too.
So fun.
Posted on August 20, 2009 14:31
Elisa said:
that's so cool! I remember making wrapping paper with mom on brown paper bags and potato stamps. I like the apples. :)
Posted on August 21, 2009 15:54
Caitlyn said:
apples, cauliflower, mushrooms....my mom *loved* having us make veggie prints. I think we used the mushroom-printed blank cards for years - they looked pretty classy, too.
Then there's always whole fish, if you're up for an adventure :)
Posted on August 23, 2009 21:09
Laurie said:
Love it. Can't wait to try it with the girls. Thanks for the backpack pattern too!
Posted on August 24, 2009 09:32
Heather - Dollar Store Crafts said:
I love printmaking, and I love apple motifs - well done!
Posted on September 5, 2009 17:24
elizabeth ~ so wabi sabi said:
Ohhhh...I love these. We had an apple themed day that created itself the other day and had considered doing some apple printing, but I love the simplicity of the backpacks, and you could size them well for smaller kids too.
Posted on September 19, 2009 10:31