The Apple Street Cottage

No power tools for me this week...my vertigo has been, shall we say, winning?  It makes everything a challenge and using power tools is a really bad idea.  In between visits to the chiropractor, eply maneuvers, and resting on the couch, I did manage to get a little staining/painting done.   This design was inspired by an item I saw at a home decor store.  I wasn't crazy about their version, so I got out my pencil and starting designing my own.  When I was finally happy with what I had, I cut-out my patterns on the back of a cereal box, or it might have been a 12-pack of beer. Every kind of thin cardboard or chipboard is fair game around here! After cutting everything out from pallet wood, the birds were rubbed with stain on a rag.   The branch was dry-brushed with white craft paint then rubbed with stain.  Sorry, I don't have pictures of that.  I tend to get a little enthusiastic about my projects and forget to take pictures.   When I was pretty sure the stain was

About a week ago, I took a trip to the local hardware store to buy some screws.  When using pallet wood, you tend to use those little buggers quickly.  As I walked through the door, an associate, named Gina asked what she could help me find.  Since I brought one of the screws I'd been using, I held it up and she said, "Follow me.". She asked me what they were for and I explained what I did with pallet wood and showed her a few pictures.  She was quite enthusiastic and asked how many screws I needed.  We decided a box of 100 should last me for a bit.   As we walked down the aisle, Gina asked me more about how I attached the pieces together and I told her how I used wood glue and strips of wood (aka paint stirrers) on the back with the screws going through them.  "Well", she said, "we have TONS of those. Let me get you some!" She went over to the paint department and grabbed me a handful of paint stirrers.   I thanked her profusely, and before I co

Who doesn't love them?  And these little cuties have NO calories! I was thinking about those pretty cupcake wrappers that could be cut with my Cricut and went 'outside of the box' again with what to put in them.  After seeing bath scrubbies everywhere, I decided they'd look adorable in one of the wrappers, so, I went to work. The next time I was out shopping, I grabbed some bath scrubbies, came home, and cut out a few cupcake wrappers. Here's one taken apart for a closer look: Placed in a cello bag with some curling ribbon, it's now a cute, little gift or shower/party favor. Don't you think?   They are for sale - if you're interested, email me or contact me through Apple Street Crafts on facebook .   I have now proven that I still 'play with paper' in between taking apart pallets and sawing/sanding!   Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by the Cottage! Featured at: Sunday's Best Linking

I meant to get the update posted earlier this week, but the week got away from me.  I acquired a new pallet and Chrome decided not to get along with my laptop.  I really DO love Chrome, but sometimes it decides to stop working.  Anyone else have those issues? Thankfully my Tech Guy - aka Hubby, got it working again, but it took a couple of hours of his time!  But enough complaining - on to the good stuff! Thank you to everyone who commented on my Really? Five Dollars? post.  I asked for your opinion on what to do with it and overwhelmingly you said, "USE IT!"  You reminded me that I am an 'out-of-the-box' gal and silverware can be used every day. My wonderful husband got out the silver polish and cleaned the tarnish off of every single piece.  He said he didn't want the repetitive motion to aggravate my neck and shoulder - isn't he a sweetheart?   Here's the final result: How about a close-up? We are happily using it daily and, hopefully, s