Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Stamped & Painted Kitchen Towels

I saw this at Censational Girl and loved the way her towels looked.  I found some vintage looking kitchen towels with the stripe down the side at Hobby Lobby and they were only $6 after the usual 40% discount. I bought my fabric medium at Hobby Lobby too. 

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For the stripes I used good old Frog Tape, left over from painting my son’s room.  It worked perfectly, made nice clear lines.

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I used a foam brush and painted the stamps before I stamped the fabric.  I used shades of the same color on the print towel.  I ended up liking the stripes better so that is what I made the most of…

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A few months ago I was cruising the Salvation Army and found this ginormous plastic tote/bin full of blue surgical towels (just to set the record straight, these towels have never been used in a surgery, they are extras that are included in each surgical kit, the hospital throws them out if they are not used during the surgery they were opened for).  And they were 25 cents each. I bought 40+ of them, paid $10 for all… 

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They are great to use for shop towels, they are 100% cotton, I love the blue color (although some of them were that surgical green color), they are hemmed and generally square.

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So I pulled these out of my rag basket and thought they would make great towels prettied up to use in the kitchen.  I made the one with red stripes, but really love the ones with the aqua on the blue background!

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I am linking to these great parties!

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26 comments:

Emily said...

Ellen these are really great :-) I especially like the aqua on white. Such a simple idea with great results, well done!

Emily @ Design and Nonsense

Unknown said...

Great idea! What a neat way to use the surgical towels.

emma @ frog, goose and bear said...

Love the stamping! The stripes are my fave. I have a HEAP of these surgical towels thanks to having a surgeon for a husband. I use them for everything - rags, camping teatowels, etc. etc. They are fantastic and I can't get over how they have to throw them out either! Anyone who scrubs in to the surgery dries their hands on these sterile towels and then they are thrown away!

Earning-My-Cape said...

Hi!I am a new follower! I love these towels! So creative!

I'd like to invite you to join in A Crafter's Dream Group Giveaway, hosted by My Merry Messy Life, Little Becky Homecky, and me. Each blogger is offering her/his own giveaway worth $25 or more. Please stop by and check out the details!
http://earning-my-cape.blogspot.com/2012/07/crafters-dream-join-our-group-giveaway.html
I hope to see you there!
~Susie~

Jessi @ Practically Functional said...

I love these, what a cool idea! They would be really fun and simple things to make as gifts for Christmas or something :-) I'd be thrilled if you want to link this up to my current link party! http://practicallyfunctional.net/2012/07/the-fun-in-functional-link-party-7/

Emily said...

I've been dieing to try doing this too what cute towels!

Jen @ frazzled 5 said...

These look amazing- cannot wait to try it out myself. Pinning Them!
Hugs, jen @ f5

The Prudent Pantry said...

These towels turned out great. Such a simple idea, but it makes such a huge difference.

I would love it if you would share this at my new Smart Solutions linky party. You can link up here:

http://theprudentpantryblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/prudent-projects-smart-solutions-linky_13.html

Have a great day!

Heidi@OneCreativeMommy.com said...

Very cute! I would never have thought to try paint. Wow! I love the stenciling! I'm hosting a linky party "One Creative Weekend" at OneCreativeMommy.com. I'd love for you to visit and link up this idea and/or anything else you'd like to share.

Kathleen said...

These are so fun and useful. Have you washed them yet after using them? I'm curious about how the paint held up.

Rachel @ Polka Dots and Lemonade said...

Oh my gosh, I love these! I am definitely hoping to make my own in the near future, because have like 2 kitchen towels!!

Newest follower, visiting from The Foley Fam!

Unknown said...

I'm in love with your stripes too and the bargain you found on the surgical towels!

Etcetorize said...

They look great all together! Thanks for the clarification on the surgical towels (lol) and for sharing at Etcetorize this week~

Shannah @ Just Us Four said...

These are so cute! I love the stripes. What a fantastic project! Would you consider linking this up at my Pinworthy Projects Party? I hope to see you there!

Jill said...

What a great selection of towels Ellen! Love the seaside stamps!


Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a fabulous week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

colorchic said...

These are so cute. I especially love the stripes and definitely need to get my paints out! What a fun project!

Athena at Minerva's Garden said...

Hi Ellen: What a pretty idea. Inexpensive too--I like! Take care, and have a great week!

Max said...

Hello! I really like what you've done here, and great timing re tips for me as i've just bought some fabric ink and plain tea towels to have a go at something similar myself x

Maria Kitching said...

These are great, they look fabulous. I've never stamped on fabric before and something like a tea towel would be an excellent way to 'test the water'.
Maria Crafty Chic

Kin said...

What a great way to customise plain towels. I might give it a try.Here from Adventures of a DIY Mom :)

A Proverbs 31 Wife said...

Really cool :) Thanks for linking up to the Cure for the Common Monday :)

Tanya Anurag said...

Gives me ideas :)

-Tanya
http://tanyaanurag.blogspot.in/

The CSI Girl said...

Great refashion and great idea! I would love for you to link this up to The CSI project this week. The challenge is refashions/upcycles. This would be perfect and you just might WIN! Come on over each week for a new challenge, new tutorials and new judges.
www.thecsiproject.com

Roeshel said...

So pretty! It's so hard to find affordable coordinating towels...this is such a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing! ;)

Unknown said...

I love these! And what a score on the thrifted towels!

Maria Soto Robbins said...

Very cute. I've been using the Frogtape too to paint on fabric and it's working very well. If you'd like to see what I've made its at my etsy shop. Thanks for sharing!
http://etsy.me/NyrhCF