The Apple Street Cottage

Thanksgiving is upon us and Christmas, well, you know, it's been in the stores since August!     I've been trying to decide what to do with a collection of mini tart tins found over the summer at an estate sale.  At first, I thought I'd make a wreath and even though I had a bag full of them , it would be a small wreath.  Plan B?  Make some ornaments!   I started by punching a hole in the top using my Crop a Dile Big Bite. To decorate, I pulled out my box of vintage jewelry and started sifting through it.  There was a bracelet in pieces that I saved - knowing I'd find something to do with them.   Today was that day!  I picked the piece that was the best fit and dipped the edges in some E6000. I placed it in the tin and left it to dry.   Some silver ribbon was looped through the hole and the ornament was done. How's that for quick and easy? Next came the poinsettia pin.  I removed the block of wood from a mini bott...

 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...