The Apple Street Cottage

Last summer, while digging around some antique/vintage shops, I came upon this coat.  Honestly, I am not usually a 'Vintage Clothes Gal', but this coat spoke to me.  I slipped it on and fell in love. My husband took one look and said, "Buy it".  Eighteen dollars (that's right, $18) later, the coat was mine. This pic was taken on a hot August afternoon! It's from the 1950's and it's is great shape: That's the arm - not a tear in sight! It's wool and very warm. I did a quick search of this company.  They started in the 1950's in New Jersey. I bought a pair of dark brown leather gloves to match.  Yes, I paid more for the gloves that I did for the coat! The coat has been worn many times this winter and I can tell you, it's very warm!  Short and sweet this week, my friends.  I hope you enjoyed hearing about my 'Vintage Find'.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week! 

...so the snowman stays! I made this guy last fall.  I drew a pattern on paper, traced it on the pallet wood, and cut it out. Here's a close-up: After sanding the pallets, I screwed a piece of wood across the back to hold it together.  The hat was painted and a thin piece of wood was attached with Liquid Nails for the brim and more stability.  The rest of the snowman was painted and distressed with my palm sander.   The final touches: painting a face and adding a red burlap scarf. The snowman was done! I'm keeping him on my side porch, where he's not exposed to the weather.  The red burlap might 'bleed' and I don't want to re-paint! I plan to put a piece of burlap outside for a test. If it 'bleeds' I'll have to find a new scarf.   I'll let you know what happens. I'm so glad you stopped by.  Please be sure to share, pin, follow, etc.  I love having new friends at the Cottage! Linking to: Saturday Shuffle

My daughter makes and sells her own nail polish.  As you can imagine, she has a LOT of nail polish bottles.  For over a year, we've been talking about some sort of rack/cabinet to hold all of those bottles.  I spent some time 'trolling' her Pinterest boards to see what she liked and, low and behold, I found a little cabinet at a yard sale that need ed a do-over.  Here's what I did: This little beauty started out off-white with a plastic window and knob.   Cute, but not the look I was going for... As I 'trolled' my daughter's Pinterest boards, I noticed she liked 'distressed-black'. So, I got to work.  The first thing to do was remove all the hardware and that plastic window.  The window was hot-glued in and I thought I would have to heat-up the glue.  My husband gave it a little push and it popped right out!  Problem solved! I gave the entire cabinet 2 coats of black chalk paint.  The hardest part was getting all the nooks and crann

The holidays are over and it's a brand new year.  We've been rather busy with some big news here at the Cottage.  In a few weeks I'll be able to share, but for now, let me share another project that was a Christmas gift. I made this box for my daughter's boyfriend.  After making the wrench-handled one (see that one HERE ), I decided it was time to use some rope.  I'm starting to run low on pallet wood, so I've been using up my scraps...man, am I glad I saved them - they're perfect for the ends! After cutting all the pieces and adding the paint/stain finish, I drilled holes in the ends for the rope.  This is the easiest handle since all you have to do is tie a knot! For Christmas, I filled it with some favorite 'goodies' and a gift card.   There are so many ways to use these boxes:  Gift-giving, table centerpieces, flower boxes, mail collector, the list goes on and on.   I still have a few more scraps waiting for me, along with a new