Make your own easy & cheap kids' chef hats and no-sew aprons for holiday cooking

November 20, 4:49 PMEarly Childhood Parenting ExaminerAngele Sionna

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For holiday cooking, every little helper needs his or her own apron and hat. And you can give them one on the cheap by making them, plus it's another fun activity to do together.

You can easily make your own apron using an old pillow case and some ribbon, add a little bit of paint if you want to go all out. I find the best way for decreasing the messes of little chefs to have a full apron that covers their whole torso, not just one that ties around your waist.

You can use a sewing machine, sew by hand or use no-sew glue that you find at any craft store or even Walmart's craft department to make this apron.

To make the apron:

• Take your old clean pillow case and fold it so that it is the size of your child from chest to knees.
• Sew the edges down or use a new-sew glue to secure it to this size.
• Cut two pieces of ribbon about a foot or so long to use as the neck tie.
• Sew or use no-sew glue to attach one end of each ribbon to the top of your pillow case apron body.
• Cut another length of ribbon about a yard long and use the no-sew glue (or sewing machine) to attach this ribbon to the pillow case at the appropriate place to be at your child's waist.
• You can add personalization with paint, letting your child be the artist. Maybe make handprint turkeys or draw a winter scene. Whatever you want. You can paint on his or her name too.
• Then wear while preparing your Thanksgiving dinner and all the other fun stuff to come!

You can find a free chef hat pattern (to make one like the photo right) at YouCanMakeThis.com. You can also find a great and cheap pre-made chefs hat at KidsCentralKitchen.com for only $1.49. (Theirs is the one my oldest usually wears in the kitchen.)