12 March, 2012

under cover help

hey friends and readers, i need your thoughts...
for the past couple of weeks, i've been obsessing over the idea of re-usable bowl covers. and now i've made a few and i wanna know what you think -- genius, or kinda dumb (or somewhere in between)?




here's the back-story.
some time ago, i was asked by the people at terrain about doing some mason-jar covers. i did some brainstorming, poked around on the internet, and came up with a few options, but ultimately, they went with a different design (which i was pleased with). in my research, i found a how-to by some older woman for little jar covers. of course now i can't find the link, but the idea stuck in my head. well a few months ago, something made me think of them again and i was thinking of the same idea but used as a re-usable cover for my kitchenaid mixing bowl. i do kind of a lot of baking, and when a recipe says to cover something in plastic wrap, unless it's going to sit in the fridge over night, i pretty much always skip the plastic in favor of a damp clean kitchen towel. i got the idea that it'd be kinda cool to make a cover, with elastic around it, that would stay taught over the bowl (kitchen towels tend to droop into the bowl sometimes) and that could be thrown in the washer and cleaned when need be.


i did a search on etsy and found that there is one shop that offers mixing bowl covers. honestly, i was a little bummed that there was someone already doing it, and i didn't want to compete with another etsy artist, so i let that idea go...
but it wouldn't go away. and then, i thought to myself, well, they don't have to be strictly made or marketed as mixing bowl covers, they could be covers that happen to fit and work for mixing bowls, but can be used as general bowl covers, too! it turns out, there are lots of people on etsy doing those.....
but none do them the chez-sucre-chez way!


here's what i envision, and this is where i need your help --- i need you to tell me if i'm onto something, and should keep on going, or if this is really not such a cool idea as i am thinking it is. (be honest with me!)
i see making these in the chez-sucre-chez aesthetic, which i see as classic, a little bit country (or, to use the more fashionable word of the moment, "rustic"), and understated. i've used the word homespun before. currently i'm envisioning and using solid color linen fabric and some classic print cottons - like ticking stripe.
i think they're terrific as mixing bowl covers, but i haven't run them through the full test yet. i used one the other night when i made pizza dough (pizza night happens at least once a week in this house) and it was a champ. i'm thinking i'll test it on one of my messiest recipes - the english muffin bread - tonight or tomorrow. we'll see how that goes.
otherwise, though, how cool would it be to show up at your next pot luck with one of these covering your bowl of salad or plate of cookies rather than wasteful and bad-for-the-enviroment plastic wrap or foil? you see what i'm thinking? or, imagine having a little outdoor picnic -- you're getting the food ready and setting it out before the guests arrive, but you don't want the bugs to get in there, so you put on a pretty little bowl cover.


am i selling you on the idea yet? can you tell i'm really into it? but i still want to know what you think.... i'm ready to go full-steam ahead on these for the upcoming spring/summer shows - unless you tell me otherwise. i'll have to take new photos - i realize that - i think i've got them styled in a way that's quite a bit too country looking right now... my house is wonderful, but it's limited for photo-styling.
okay - if you have any feedback, let me know. go on and send me an email or leave a comment. thank you!! xo.

7 comments:

Victoria van der Laan said...

It's a great idea, go for it! I've seen bowl covers before but never in your design--the ruffle is super cute :)

mosey handmade said...

i love them!

Laura said...

What a great idea! It's amazing how much plastic wrap just ends up in the bin...go for it!

Carrie said...

genius! i would totally use these. great idea!

chezkimberly said...

thank you so much, ladies! thanks in part to your comments, i'm feeling better and better about these. i'm going for it! they're the newest addition to the chez-sucre-chez line. now, if only i can get those ladies' aprons in the works...

Skylark Studio said...

I love these! I'm trying to start bread baking (I made those pretzel balls! yea!) so I can see this in action.

and they can double as bonnets right? to be worn with matching chez kimberly aprons? folk fest style ...

chez-sucre-chez said...

karen - haha! yes! they totally double as bonnets. that was one of my first observations of a finished one. xo.