The Apple Street Cottage

Even though it's cold and snowy outside, I can add a little "Spring" to the inside. I found this container about 5 years ago on clearance and knew it had to come home with me. I filled it with silk flowers and it lived on the mantle of our old house.   Since this house has no fireplace (insert 'sad face' here), I decided to put it on the dining room table.  The table runner was made by my husband's great aunt.  I'm sure it waas a dresser scarf, but I repurposed it as a table runner. Spring is 25 days away - or so they tell me!  I'm hoping this will encourage it to arrive a little early!   Stay warm, my friends! Linking to: Merry Monday Amaze Me Monday Make It Pretty Monday

One pair of curtains & two windows - that was the dilemma I was facing.  Since the curtains matched my bedspread, I searched the internet to see if I could find another pair.  No luck!  Spending money on a new bedspread and curtains was not in the plan, so, it was time to get creative! What did I do?  I got out the scissors and cut each panel if half!  Each panel was 50" wide and the windows at the cottage are  36".  It was a little nerve-racking to cut those panels, but, I had nothing to lose.  The bedroom had 2 windows!   After cutting the panels the only thing left to do was sew some straight seams.  Pretty easy!  I also had shear panels to finish the look.   I'm sure you're looking at that photo and asking, "What is that valance hiding?"  Well, here's the answer: I hung the sheers and curtains all on one rod and covered the top with the valances that came with the cottage.  The valances got a fresh...

I hope you are staying warm in your part of the world.  It's still below zero here today and we're expecting a few days of this kind of cold!  Yikes! When it's this cold, there is nothing like a hot bowl of Stuffed Pepper Soup to warm you up!  The original recipe I found (see it HERE ) is delicious, but it's made with condensed soup and I wanted a recipe that was 'less processed'.   I found one on Pinterest, but it had ingredients that made it taste more like an Italian soup.  That's not a bad thing, but I wanted a soup that tasted like a stuffed pepper.  So, I looked at my recipe for stuffed peppers and modified it to make it into a soup.   The result: The recipe: 1 lb. ground beef 1 medium onion - chopped 3 green peppers - chopped 3 15-oz. cans tomato sauce 3 cans of water 1 14.5 oz can beef broth (I use low-sodium) 3-4 tbsp. brown sugar 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 - 1&1/2 cups uncooked rice - depending on how ...

Good Morning & Happy Monday!  We've been hit with a ton of snow at the cottage and that means "snow removal"!  I took this pic of my hubby last night: I sent it to my daughter and her boyfriend said it looked like something out of a horror movie!  I'm sure it's because fof my fabulous photography skills!  LOL Today I want to show you a little desk that was left behind in the cottage.  It was sitting in the corner of the laundry room looking pretty humble. It even had a chair: I thought they would make a great addition to my Craft Space in the basement.  Remember "White Is Bright"? Since I wanted to keep things light and I was using a black and white damask design on the craft table (see HERE) , I thought a light blue would be perfect.  I chose Valspar's Blue Bouquet and got to work.  I did very little prep - washed the desk and removed the knobs - no sanding or primer!  Here's how Little Blue looks now: I k...