“For several minutes, he sat staring at Millie’s pink apron that still hung on a nail by the pantry door.”
–Fields of Home by Ralph Moody, page 227

It all started when I was watching a friend’s video tour of her house.  Never mind that I had actually been in the house before—I’d only just stepped in the door, because some of them had the flu bug; I hadn’t sat on a stool in her kitchen and seen them… The beautiful row of aprons hanging there.  Thirteen of them in all.  And yes, she said, she really did wear all of them.  (In fact, she’d forgotten she was still wearing one when she started the video.)

She looked so cute and homemakerish.  And it brought back memories of my grandmothers and great grandmothers—the vintage aprons they have hanging in their pantries, the vintage aprons I remember them wearing.  Suddenly, the aprons that had hung almost forgotten on a hook behind the bathroom door were getting a bit more use.

But I kept thinking of Ashleigh’s apron shelf.  And how I’d love to get a closer look at some of those vintage fabrics at which I’d only had a fuzzy glance.  So I decided that, someday, I’d have an apron carnival on my blog.  Because as delightful as it is to look through books with shots of vintage aprons from magazines and ads of yesteryear (not to mention, now, Pinterest—full of enough apron ideas to please any apron lover!), I thought it would be really fun to see my friends, my blog readers, in their aprons, with the aprons they loved.

Not only that, but I wanted to hear the stories behind them, too.  Because just like the “heavy square that had been an apron with many pockets” of In Grandma’s Attic, there’s a story in each gingham or floral apron hanging on my apron hook—and I know there must be in yours, as well.

I started taking some self-portraits of me in my aprons back in April of 2010.  It’s taken a while, and turned into a fun project with many apron photo-shoots (did you see this weekend’s “1,000 Words” shot?).  But here it is.  The blog carnival that’s been almost two years in the making…

Apron Week
at the Little Pink House

Here’s the deal.  I’m going to be posting about aprons—complete with lots and lots of pictures—all week long (Vintage Aprons, Grandma’s Aprons, Little Aprons, even a guest post about aprons).  And I’d love to have you join in on your blog!

Be prepared to link up on Friday, September 16 with all your apron photos and posts.

And the best part?  One lucky apron-wearin’ blogger or apron-lovin’ reader will win this beautiful, vintage-inspired apron from the Posey Lane Etsy Shop owned by my longtime pen friend Bethany and her sister:

Participate in the Apron Week Blog Carnival:

• Dig through your family photos or take your own pictures, and post some apron pictures and/or stories this week, complete with any anecdotes, memories, or apron lore you’d like to share.
• Come back here Friday, September 16 to share the links to your blog post(s) with apron photos for a chance to win an apron from Posey Lane!
• To qualify for entry, your post(s) must mention “Apron Week at the Little Pink House” and link back to https://gretchenlouise.com (feel free to use the “apron week” button in your posts—see code below).
• Any public blog post, LiveJournal post, Facebook note, or Tumblr post link may be shared.

No blog, no apron?

We want to give those of you who don’t have an apron the chance to win one and start making your own apron memories, so the apron giveaway will now be open to everyone.  Be sure to “like” Posey Lane and Little Pink House on Facebook and come back here Friday, September 16 to enter the drawing!

Share the fun:

• Tell your friends about it on Facebook and Twitter (use the Twitter hashtag #apronweek).
• Put the button on your blog:
  <a href="https://gretchenlouise.com/tag/aprons/" ><img border="0" src="https://gretchenlouise.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/apronweek.png" alt="Apron Week at the Little Pink House" title="Apron Week at the Little Pink House"></a>
• Pin your favorite apron shots to Pinterest using the hashtag #apronweek (if you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed my recent penchant for pinning aprons!).

Thanks so much to Posey Lane for supplying the apron for giveaway!  Be sure to “like” them on Facebook and “favorite” them on Etsy.