The Apple Street Cottage

 It's June and that means Flag Day and Independence Day are just around the corner. So, it's time for a little flag decor to mark the occasions.   Since I'm always a fan of a good upcycle, let me present my summer top. I've always hand-washed it in cold water and no matter how I tried, the red bled into the white.  It doesn't show up that well in the picture, but if you look carefully in the upper right, you may see what I mean. The interesting thing was the bodice of the top didn't bleed - at least not a much!  Most of it was around the arms and neckline. Well, I couldn't wear that anymore, but the red and white stripes gave me an idea! This post may contain affiliate links. Out came my rotary cutter and cutting mat to cut some strips. One linen top deconstructed into about ten strips! This lovely (large) wooden knitting needle was in my stash just waiting to be used for something other than knitting. It's about 14 inches long. I started attaching the ...

I have to be honest, this is a project that was 2 years in the making.  When we went to visit the kids for the 2016 holidays, my daughter's boyfriend showed me this flag (to be).  It's approximately 3' x 4' and he wanted a distressed, antique look; he asked me for my thoughts.  I got him started by painting the field of blue, but this was his project and I didn't want to 'take over'.  Well, it sat for a year until we returned for the 2017 holidays...the project was now mine and my daughter's to complete! It was built by a friend with 13 pieces of pine.  Perfect for the 13 stripes on a flag.  We got started by taping: We started with the white stripes.  The first step was dry-brushing the edges to prevent bleed-through.  Each stripe ended up with 3 coats of white craft paint. The white stripes were then taped, and the red stripes were applied using the same technique.   The painting was done! Next came the distress...