The Apple Street Cottage

I really want to show you how to make these easy pillow covers, but things have been a bit 'eventful' around here.  I debated whether or not to share all of this, but part of it is really important.  Let me begin... It started with my husband's emergency laser surgery last week for retinal tear in his left eye.  He is currently on 'light-duty' - no bending, lifting, etc, as well as, no reading and very limited screen time... serious business! My PSA:  If you have a sudden burst of floaters and/or flashes of light in your eye, seek immediate medical attention.  We headed to the ER and from there, the retina specialist's office where the surgery was done.   We go back in a week to see how things are healing. In the meantime, he's resting and hoping that spider in his eye goes away...we've named him 'Boris'....gotta have a sense of humor when these things happen, right? Then we also had a snowstorm - about 10 inches.  Can I tell you how glad I am t...

  Have you seen the little boxes at the dollar store?  They're about 4" x 2" x2", solid wood, and great for storing small items.   They don't look like this.   As a matter of fact, they're actually very plain.    But, before starting this project, let me welcome you to the  Creative Craft Hop  hosted by Sara from  Birdz of a Feather .   If you just came from Sara's blog , welcome to the Cottage.  At the bottom of this post I'll direct you to the next stop on this hop, but be sure to visit all of the other stops too for some amazing inspiration. They will all be listed. Now, let me show you how this plain box was transformed in just a few steps! It all started with some leftover napkin scraps and Mod Podge. I slid the part of the skewers I cut for the Pizza Peel Wreath between the top and bottom so they wouldn't get stuck together. A little Mod Podge was brushed on. Remember to separate the layers of napkins.  Ge...

  How are things in your part of the world?  Around here, it's been quite cold and a little dreary.  We had a pretty good snowstorm last week and before that, an ice storm that made it impossible to walk or open the car doors...Good Times!   Not really....you know how I feel about Winter. Since I was stuck indoors, (let's face it, bad knees and an icy sidewalk are a really bad idea) I decided to repurpose my Valentine tablecloth into placemats.  Placemats just work better for me. This post may contain affiliate links. It was pretty big - sorry, I didn't measure it, but it covered my 35" x 52" table with lots of overhang.   I wanted four placemats measuring 12" x 19", so I cut 8 - 13" x 20" rectangles.  This allowed 1/2" seams.   I placed them right sides together... ...and sewed all the way around them leaving an opening for turning. The corners were clipped... ...and then they were turned right side out. Time to press and add top-...

 I found it at a yard sale and the woman who sold it to me thought I was going to make pizza - such a silly idea! I explained that I repurposed things and although I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, I'd think of something!  As you can see, it's pretty large: It needed a good cleaning.  You could feel the oil in the wood.   A little Dawn dish soap and some scrubbing helped, but didn't remove all of the oil. I considered a few ideas:  -Just hang it on the wall.  -Add some sort of witty kitchen/pizza phrase.  -Wood-burn a design on it.  None of which 'jumped out at me'.   Then I remembered I had some grapevine wreaths that I had made last summer, so I dug one out along with a berry branch that was in the box with them.   A plan started to form in my mind, but first, I had to dismantle that berry branch. The individual branches were wrapped around a central one so it was easy to take apart.  I separated the go...