Kitchen boas are all the rage these days. You can find them in craft and gift shops and in online stores. They are easy to make, though, and several patterns are available online. The simplest of steps go like this:

• Using a quarter yard of fabric (a regular quarter, not a fat quarter) …. (ok, if a fat quarter is used, you will have to sew a seam to make it look like a regular quarter yard), hem both short ends.
• Stitch the long sides together.
• Turn.
• Cut a towel in half.
• Gather the towel.
• Insert each half of the towel into the ends of the boa.
• Top stitch to secure the towel.

This Contessa is never one to stop creating when a good idea comes along. She always asks herself, what else can I do with this?

How about a mother’s boa? Where the yellow arrow indicates, you can use soft flannel or other baby fabric and where the purple arrow indicates, use diaper flannel, a cut baby towel, or cut up diaper. You can even flip one end over your shoulder for burping!

Painter? Any wildly creative fabric will make the main part – abstract or impressionism – and you can use a plain cotton shop towel or old hand towel for the bottom. After using your boa to wipe up a few paint spots, the towels will look abstract also!

Crafter? Maybe you’ll try using a microfiber towel from the tool store!

Just to prevent anything dangerous from happening, here are some boa ideas that you should NOT try!

A Golfing Boa: too easy to get it twisted into your golf swing.

A Tool Boa: too easy to get it caught in power tools.

A Car Boa: too easy to get it caught while turning up the engine.

Don’t turn your boa into a boa constrictor!