Cookies & Cabernet: Retro Trick-or-Treat Apron

We're a bit Halloween crazy 'round these parts. Every year about this time, as the imminent Halloween hysteria slowly creeps into store displays and windows everywhere, we start to twitch. We send each other teaser emails with images of decorations, crafts, and recipes from Martha Stewart or Pottery Barn. We scout out the pieces of our Halloween costumes that we planned long before summer. And we quote an old family video of us as kids where we hold hands, dance in a circle and chant, "We want Halloween! We want Halloween! We want Hallo-weeeeen!" Once it hits October 1, hold on to your hats. And with the impending decoration and preparation madness in mind, I realized I needed something Halloween-esque to kick off the inspiration for creation. I needed a Halloween apron! And since I've been perusing but never purchasing from Etsy for months (I know! The world of homemade crafts and goodies lays before me), I thought it was about freakin' time. So I searched the many wonderful shops for an apron that exhibited the following criteria: 1) cute/retro/vintage design 2) NOT choke-me-around-the-neck grandma-style, head-to-toe ruffles and frills and the likes. And then I found this adorable little thang at a shop called Yoopers. A half-size, three-pocket wraparound with a "retro trick-or-treat" fabric design. Cha-ching! Exactly what I wanted: cute and functional. But the best part about buying from Etsy is that friendly, personal, one-on-one shopping aspect. You know who and where you're buying from, and most likely, it's another crafty susie-homemaker kinda gal just like you on the other side of the country. When I opened my package, which was so beautifully wrapped and speedily sent to me, there was a hand-written note and a pressed-flower magnet hidden in one of the apron's pockets as a "Thank You". I was awww-ing the whole time. I don't even want to put it on and risk disturbing its precious perfection. But I will, and come orange-and-black popcorn ball making time I'll be the most spirited baker in the kitchen. (As if that was ever a question before.)