The Apple Street Cottage

  Halloween will be here before you know it and I have a fun sign to get in the 'spirit' of the season. W elcome to the 'Do It Over' Designers blog hop.  We are a group of bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/DIY.  I'm happy to host this hop and I hope you'll visit everyone to see what they have to share with you. The links will be listed at the end of this post. This post may contain affiliate links. It all started with the back of my Lemonade Sign .  I found the blank sign in the free pile at a yard sale and I love the Lemonade side, but the back was looking rather...shall we say.... boring .  Time to give it a makeover and have a 2-sided sign!   So, I gave it a quick coat of white paint for a base. Some black and gray paint was sponged on and... ...I immediately  hated it! Isn't that awful? So I sanded it off, leaving some of the white and a purple 'frame'. Wanting a distressed look, I applied some black paint and antiquing medium with a rag. F...

Hello September!  School started last week and that's always been the beginning of the Fall season for me.  In honor of those two things, I've created an Apple Pie Garland. Welcome to the  Creative Craft Hop  hosted by Sara from  Birdz of a Feather .   If you just came from Donna @ Modern on Monticello ,   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. This post may contain affiliate links. This project got its start on Design Space.  I found a pie pattern, sized and cut it on felt using my Cricut Maker. I used a blanket stitch to put them together and made a total of 5. Then I went in search of an apple pattern.  Found one, cut and stitched it. I made 4 apples. Next, mini clothespins were attached with hot glue . The pies and apples were clipped to a piece of jute and the garlan...

Did I mention it's still summer at the Cottage?  It's hot and humid and while so many others are starting to embrace fall, I'm hanging on to summer until after Labor Day.   That being said, let me introduce you to my latest wind chime project.   This post may contain affiliate links. It started with a wine bottle.  The bottom was cut off and the edges were carefully sanded.  I use a bottle cutter for the job and I've shared my technique before, so I won't bore you with all those details.  I also wear eye protection .   I've never had a bottle shatter/spray glass while doing this, but better safe than sorry! After sanding the edges, I applied some copper tape around the bottom. It just makes a pretty edge. Then I screwed eyes into an old bottle stopper and a wooden mushroom that was leftover from my Glam Girl Terracotta Planter  (I'm a big fan of 'Use what you've got'!) , connecting them with a piece of leftover necklace from my l...

  I realize it's August and many bloggers are jumping into Fall and Halloween content with both feet.   Not this gal!   Summer is a very short season in my part of the world and I plan on enjoying it for as long as I can.  Soooo.... Let me share this beautiful hydrangea tile tray that I found at a yard sale for $2. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers  and I knew I had to have this tray as soon as I spotted it.   Did I need a tray? Nooooo, but who could resist those beautiful pink flowers? The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the wood.  A little too orange and it took away from those pretty tiles. This post may contain affiliate links. Some painter's tape was put down to protect the tiles and out came the sandpaper. Goodbye orange and hello 'I'm not sure what' kind of wood and filler. I usually like to keep wood, but this situation called for paint.  So I created a little sample board to see what would work best. None of t...