The Apple Street Cottage

  Welcome back, Everyone.  It's mid-September and the temperatures are starting to cool off.  Low 70's during the day and upper 40's to low 50's at night is perfect, especially since it isn't raining! This week I decided to start decorating for Fall.  Keep in mind, I am not an interior decorator or designer.  I just know what I like.  So come along and see how I decorate - on a budget! There are 2 rules to decorating at the Cottage: 1.  Don't spend a lot. 2.  Use what you have - whenever you can. This post may contain affiliate links.  Simple, right?  Let's have a look... First stop is the top of the China Cabinet .   The galvanized tin has been around for at least 12 years. So long that I can't remember what I paid for it.  The flowers inside are also at least that old and were purchased on sale.  Since they've lasted this long, I'd say they were a good investment - whatever I paid for them!   The bird I found a couple of years ago, also on sal

It's Labor Day weekend and in my world, Fall begins AFTER Labor Day.  My birthday is at the end of August and, when I was a little girl, that meant school would be starting in the next week or so, meaning Fall had arrived! This post may contain affiliate links.  These days it seems like Fall begins it's arrival in July.   The stores are stocked with faux leaves and pumpkins, the Back-To-School ads start, and I've even seen some Halloween decorations.   Seriously, can we stop rushing things and just enjoy the season we are in? Ahh, summer, when t he flowers are blooming, fresh vegetables abound, yard sales are in full swing, and it's warm and sunny.   Except for this year.  Yes, the flowers and veggies made their annual showing, but the weather has been cloudy, rainy, and humid - not the typical upstate New York summer at all.   In spite of the disappointing weather, things were still happening around here .  When we sold our house 2 years ago, I wanted to take my favor

Cutting boards are everywhere these days, leaning on kitchen backsplashes, hanging on the wall and being used as trays and charcuterie boards.  This one caught my eye at an estate sale and, upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn't a cutting board at all.   That's right, it was purely decorative with a 'not so great' finishing job. It whispered, "Take me home and make me pretty again."  So, I did! This post may contain affiliate links. The first step was removing that awful finish. My Bahco Carbide Scraper made short work of it.   If you do any wood refinishing and haven't tried one of these tools, you should.  The finish was removed in short order! A little light sanding and this piece was ready for finish.   Since I intended to continue using it as a decorative piece, I created a stencil . The edges were painted with black craft paint. Golden Oak stain gave the wood a little warmth.  The entire piece was sealed with Polycrylic . And the sad little p