The Apple Street Cottage

Halloween is just a few days away and I want to share the last of my Halloween projects.  First up is the Witch's Boot: There are no step-by-step pictures, but this started with drawing a pattern and cutting it out of pallet wood.  Two pieces were needed, so the seam was filled-in with wood dough, sanded smooth, and painted black.  The edges were distressed and holes were drilled for the laces.   A piece of black scrapbook paper was cut to fit and heat-embossed with spider webs and spiders.  It was then decoupaged on the wood. The top 'brim' of the boot was painted purple and some black stripes were added.  At this point, the boot was sprayed with clear sealant. A piece of tulle was threaded through the holes and tied in a bow.   I'm pretty sure this is what every well-dressed witch will be wearing this season! Next is one for the kiddos: This little ghost was also made with pallet wood and painted white.  ...

Now that the transformation of that little chest of drawers is complete, it's time to share what I've been working on for Halloween! Since I had two sizes of pallet wood, it all began with making two patterns: The patterns were placed across three pieces of pallet wood, traced, and cut with a jigsaw. This is a great way to use up any small pieces that are left over from other projects.  This is the only picture I have of the beginning of the process.  Sorry, I get carried away... You can see the top of it, along with a pallet pumpkin and a bird ! The pieces were sanded and painted with white, orange, and yellow craft paint.  Once the paint was dry, they were distressed with 220-grit sandpaper.  I like how the wood shows through the different color paint - a little bit of bare wood and a little yellow tint! The pieces were wood-glued together and strapped with screws and a paint stirrer. I used jute twine and a staple gun to create a lo...

Welcome back!  Last week you saw a garage sale dresser transformed with paint and decoupaged napkins.  If you missed it, click here .  Today I have a little tutorial showing how it was done.  Let's get started, shall we? The drawers were sanded down to bare wood and the edges were painted black to match the rest of the dresser.  The napkins were found at the Dollar Store. Notice they are 2-ply napkins?  You only need one, so separate those layers! Iron the one-layer.  It helps when you are ready to lay it down on the wet decoupage medium.   Since the napkins were not wide enough to cover the entire drawer, I was going to have to piece them together.  These napkins also had a very definite pattern that was going to need matching, so it was time for some measuring.  I found the middle of the drawer and matched it to the middle of the napkin.  Then I marked the edges of the napkin on the edge of the drawer with ch...