Surprise!

I am SO excited to share that The Floral Apron just got a rebrand and a full website redesign! Here's a peek at the new homepage:

My old website was functional, but I made it years ago—back when I first started The Floral Apron as a hobby (wayyyy back in 2021). And now that sharing recipes with you has been my real, live full-time job for the last year, it was time for a refresh!

I've spent the last few months doing what I normally do (researching, testing, and developing), but instead of recipes, it's all been for my website and logo... so lots of computer work 😅

Without further ado, let me show you around!!

Brand New Navigation 🧭

It is SO MUCH EASIER to find recipes now. In addition to a more helpful homepage, I have a brand new Recipe Index that has all of my recipe categories front and center. If you click on a category, any subcategories will automatically pop up to make it easier for you to filter what you're looking for.

Speaking of "filter," I also have a brand new Recipe Filter that allows you to sort my recipes even further. Simply select the flavor, cleanup rating, dietary restrictions, etc that you want on the lefthand side, and the filter will automatically show you all the recipes that match your needs. You can see it in action below, where I wanted to make something with vanilla:

Lastly, I now have a Table of Contents at the top of each blog post that will let you jump directly to a section when you click on it. (Try it out with my vanilla macarons.) This has the added benefit of sharing the cleanup rating at the start of the post, too, rather than having to scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog post! 🎉

New Introduction Pages 👋🏻

In addition to a new About Me page (with some bite-sized fun facts), I also have a new Start Here page. The About Me page tells you a little about who I am as a person, while the Start Here page tells you more about my website and what makes the recipes you'll find on The Floral Apron different. The Start Here page is essentially the replacement for my old homepage, and it's a great page to share with people who haven't heard of my website yet (*wink wink*). Here's a little taste:

Better Comment Features 🗨️

Did you know that I LOVE reading your reviews? It helps me improve future recipes with your feedback, and it also tells people who are thinking about making a recipe what to expect when they try it (and share any successful substitutions). That's why I try to feature reviews towards the top of my blog posts—that way you know the recipes work!

Now, it's FAR easier to leave a comment on a recipe from almost anywhere in a blog post. You can jump directly to the comments from the top of the page, after the first featured image, right before a recipe card, or at the top of the comments. There are a ton of ways now, which should hopefully make it easier for you to share your experience with others!

The comments are also organized more clearly, and you can request an email when someone responds to your comment. So if you're wondering if you can use gluten-free flour for my double chocolate chip cookies, you'll now get a notice as soon as I (or a helpful reader!) respond, rather than having to come back to check (see the image below for an example).

Note: If you don't see a featured review towards the top of a page for a recipe that you've made, you have a great chance of your experience getting highlighted if you leave a comment ;)

A New Logo 🪻

Finally, I've also updated my logo! If you've been here for any amount of time, you know that I love lavender (here are all my lavender recipes as proof), and I thought it was time my logo reflected that.

I won't be back to sharing new recipes each week quite yet (my next project is editing a new product unboxing video for YouTube!), but I will be soon—fall bakes are beckoning, after all 🍂

Thank you so much for your patience and support while I completed this major project this summer. I can't wait to hear what you think of my new site!

May your time on my website be more productive and fruitful than ever before ;)

Happy baking!
Alyssa

P.S. I did a lot of the heavy lifting for this project, but I also had some help from wonderful people. Specific thanks to:

• My brother for fixing some (...okay, many) website things that weren't working quite like they should
• My dad for helping me brainstorm the logo
• My mom for previewing, proofreading, and feedbacking every page
• My friends Abby, Sarah, Kima, and Kayla for being my beta testers
• My husband for—above all else—his continued patience when I was "almost done for the day" (one of these days, it'll be true 🙃)