The Apple Street Cottage

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...

Fall is upon us.  I'm convinced, since I could hear the dry leaves rustling as they blew down the street yesterday - even though the temperature was in the high 80s and it was humid!   In spite of that, the project list is growing and I wanted to share this quick and easy one before I got tied-up with the bigger ones. I found some old keys and embroidery hoops at the flea market and immediately thought, "Windchime"! This is a very easy project.  You need keys, a small embroidery hoop, a pen, fishing line, and a lit candle. I started by deciding how to space the keys (I used 10) around the hoop and marked each spot with a dot from a pen.  I drilled the holes, sanded any rough edges, and was ready for the next step. I cut a length of fishing line and tied it to each key.  I melted the end in the candle flame to keep the knot from slipping - an old trick that my Dad taught me! Then, the other end of the fishing line was threaded through a ...