The Apple Street Cottage

If you recall the last post about Rosie, she informed me that she wanted something 'fabulous' for a Christmas outfit.  Here she is: She promises to explain how it was done before next Christmas.   To read more about Rosie - her story, her antics, her sassiness, please visit her Page.  Click   HERE . Wishing you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons.  The Apple Street Cottage is taking some time off and will return in early January 2020.

Welcome back!  I've titled this project the Winter Scene Light Box because I don't know what else to call it.   Remember that Estate Sale I went to a few weeks ago?   4 times?   Yeah, that's the one!  Well, I found this treasure peeking out from under the bed.  The scene inside was broken in two pieces with the yellow building on it's side, and I could hear smaller pieces rattling around inside.  I HAD to have it, so it went in the box of goodies I got for $20.  If you haven't read that post, you really should.  It was a little crazy - and did I mention I went 4 times??  Anyway, I digress...  The first order of business was to get inside of it.  The back was held on by one screw at the bottom and finishing nails on the other 3 sides. First the screw came out, allowing the bottom portion to slide down and out. The wiring and lightbulb were revealed, along with those pieces I could here rattling aro...

It's no secret that I love to repurpose items and use reclaimed/pallet wood, so when I spotted these wood blocks at an estate sale, a plan began to form.   The second part of the plan involved the square nails, also found at the same estate sale: So I grabbed the scraps of pallet wood that I refused to toss and started drawing some triangles with my speed square. My jigsaw made quick work of them - sorry, no pics.  I like my fingers and my hands are on the saw when it's operating.  I'm sure you understand! After a little sanding to smooth any rough edges, holes were drilled in the bottom of each tree to accommodate the 'trunks'.  The 'trunks'? Remember those blocks?  Let's talk about them. They were vintage children's blocks made by Playskool.  I did nothing to them but drill a hole through each one.  Since I was using vintage square nails, I didn't want the blocks to split when I hammered them in. The square nails...

....or is it Daisy? I can't decide, but more about that later.  A vintage dress form has been on my wish list for years, actually, since my college days, but whenever I found one it was either not for sale or way out of my price range.  Well, I found one and of course, there's a story...... It all started in October, when I was in Joann's and discovered they still had that lacy spider fabric I used for my wire pumpkin .  Since it was on clearance, I decided to grab a couple of yards 'just to have'....you know what I mean, right?  The woman cutting it for me asked what I was going to do with it.  I told her that someday I was going to find a vintage dress form and use it to dress her for Halloween.  She said, "I have one and I'm having a yard sale this Saturday."  I almost fell over.  She asked me for my phone number so she could text me a picture and then wrote down her name and address so I could come to her sale.  Could it get any ...