Cottage Craft Works, LLC

Ph: 281-638-0050 | Visit www.cottagecraftworks.com





Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Winter Wood Working Projects For The Avid Hunter Promotes Family Values

These can’t miss wood working projects will keep them busy on those long cold winter days and nights during the off season building long lasting family memories.

Turkey Call Kits

Turkey box call and friction slate call kits come already cut out and ready to assemble and finish.  Hunters can carve, wood burn or finish them to make a heirloom father son project.  Flash forward 30-50 years these calls will still bring back the father and son memories of making them together and then bagging the big Tom together on opening day of the upcoming season.





Rebuilding an old Shotgun or Rifle

Replace an old worn out or broken gun stock with and affordable replacement stock.  Hunting and guns run deep in family blood lines and so does the old family heirloom rifle or shot gun that dad or granddad first taught a youngster to shoot with.

You can still find unfinished gun stocks for some of the early models of shotguns and rifles.  Over the years these old relics may have been abused or broken during various moves made by a family. 

Just by age some of the wood especially around the forends have become brittle, cracked or broken off.





Now with Pop long gone people want to bring back the memories and restore these old guns as they remember using them for the first time.

An unfinished machine inletted stock takes the major work out of starting with a slab of wood.  The stocks are duplicated off an original with the hard inletting 90% to 95% completed.

The woodworker then can take and hand fit the stock and complete the outside final sanding and then finish it saving hundreds of dollars that shop techs charge to complete making it worth redoing a family heirloom.

The wood worker will need some knowledge of working on guns.

And where do you find these types of project components?  The old fashion product online General Store at Cottage Craft Works .com

Just going through the large selection of old fashion hunting gear and products will stir up childhood memories.

Cottage Craft Works http://www.cottagecraftworks.com is much more than just a hunting web site store.  You will find hundreds of old fashion American made products for the home, farm and garden.

It is like the old fashion Sears and Roebuck where you can order Amish sewing cabinets, a hand push garden plow, cookware, and even organic grains and flour.


Can’t Miss Christmas Gifts for The Avid Hunter

If you’re stumped for hunter gifts Cottage Craft Works .com just might be your answer for hard to find USA made of fashion gifts for that special hunter.

It’s kind of like thumbing through an old Herters Sporting Goods catalog growing up in the 50s and 60s.

One of the largest suppliers of Amish made old fashion wooden hunting calls Cottage Craft Works has some of the most beautiful hunting calls ever made.  The selection covers game calls  for just about any hunt including locator calls and small predator calls.



These calls can be personalized and have become extremely popular for wedding party gifts even including the brides maids.  One hunter even had his engraved with the question to propose to his future lifelong hunting partner.

Outerwear and hunting gear is also available patterned after the Wicks old fashion outerwear.  Some of the toughest material made to stand up to thorns and thickets that normally shreds a regular hunting jacket or pants.



Heirloom quality leather hunting gear and belts will take you back in time when US Presidents and British Royalty  were pictured in hunting gear.




Amish custom made gun cases will display a favorite pistol or family heirloom.



Leather and nylon holsters are available for just about any carry needed.



You can even find unfinished replacement gun stocks for some of the older shotguns and rifles that are very difficult to find at some very affordable prices. These make a wonderful winter project for an avid hunter/woodworker.

That’s another thing about this unique General Store.  You can find just about anything old fashion to fit almost any price range.  From a simple hand operated ATV game feeder to a high end Amish hand carved gun stock featured in Outdoor Life Magazine.  This online store provides high end quality merchandise at prices for just about everyone.

Turkey box calls range from $19.95 up to $39.95 they even have turkey box call kits and friction slate call kits to provide a lifelong image of a great father and son project.

Cottage Craft Works http://www.cottagecraftworks.com also carries products for the home farm and garden including outdoor cooking equipment.


Thursday, October 23, 2014

Single Pass Hand Push Garden Cultivator

Planting a garden is hard work but rewarding when the harvest comes.  While most will end up doing double work others will use the Wheel Hoe Double Wheel Garden Cultivator to make it all happen in one pass.



The unique double wheel design is a reproduction of the famous Planet Junior garden cultivators used at a time before gasoline engines were ever used on a gardening implement.

The tool bar holds a variety of attachments that can be used in tandem to make single passes that normally might take twice to triple the effort over traditional garden cultivating.

The small plow blades can be set to cut the soil in or out.  Set them to cut a “V” furrow to plant a row of potatoes and then reverse and widen the plow blades to hill back over the top of the potatoes to cover both sides in one pass.




Use two 6” hoe blade attached to both sides and the double wheel passes over new growth vegetables as the blades slice down weeds on both sides of the rows all in one pass.



The optional attachments include sweeps that can also be used inward our outward to slice under the soil, and optional harrow disc and even a seed planter are available.

The Double Wheel Hoe is USA made and features Amish made steam bent handles.


It is available at Cottage Craft Works .com and is one of six different types of USA made hand push garden cultivators available at this unique old fashion product online store.

Cottage Craft Works is like taking a step back in time.  With all the old fashion products that were used long before gasoline engines and electricity were made available for the home, farm and garden.

The online store is an emporium for those wanting to escape to or living the more simple self-reliant life style. 

USA Made Hand Push Garden Cultivators

When it comes to serious gardening and when people still depend on home grown produce for self-sufficient living the Amish make and use the best hand push garden cultivators.

While many are selling imported big wheel garden cultivators the serious gardeners seek out the Amish made ones because of the quality materials used in them.

Those who are looking for the best selection of USA made garden cultivators go to Cottage Craft Works . www.cottagecraftworks.com/handpushcultivators

Cottage Craft Works carries six different types of just hand push cultivators.   The Wheel Hoe garden cultivators are reproductions of the famous Planet Junior cultivators that were the mainstay of home gardeners in the early to mid 1900s.



The Wheel Hoe cultivators have the most attachments available to till and slice through gardens.  The tool bar allows for groupings of attachments to till both sides of a row at the same time as well as furrow and hill rows without double passes.



Other cultivators include a flip and go a clever top and bottom sided cultivator with a plow on one side and traditional garden tines on the other side.  Simply pivot the cultivator to either side and use the cutting tools without ever having to change out attachments.



The Rotary Weed & Till is a reproduction that uses a rolling set of blades as the wheel to cut and chop weeds while the back tines turns up the roots.



There’s even cultivators for all sizes of people.  It is the Amish women and children who mostly tend to the gardening side of the household while the Amish men tend to the field corps and their different manufacturing businesses.

The Junior Wheel Hoe and the EZ-Till cultivators are smaller and more youth and lady friendly.




Cottage Craft Works is a unique back-to-basics online store that specializes in hard to find old fashion type of products that are still in demand.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Stop Maple Syrup Sugar Sand | No Boil Water Jacket Canners | Filters


Don't risk your batch of maple syrup to sugar sand in the final bottling process this season.  

With all the work and time it takes  to  collect the sap and boil down maple syrup the quality of the final product all comes down to the finishing and bottling.  One boiling mistake can mess up the entire batch with sugar sand deposits.

Most will us finish pans or traditional canners over hot gas burners tediously trying to control the temperatures from boiling  which, is what creates sugar sand.

Keeping the safe bottling temps down to the last drop of syrup is also difficult.



These new water jacket finish canner/bottlers provide even temps without hot spots down to the last bottle of syrup.  This reduces the or chance of boiling  creating  the dreaded sugar sand deposits in bottled syrup.  Available in 10 and 16 Gallon Sizes with or without burner stand.

The 10 gallon two burner is just the right size for most hobby farm operations while the three burner 16 gallon canner will keep up with most wood fired maple syrup evaporators.



Featuring  stainless steel screen top to use both a pre-screen and main screen filter as the syrup is being poured in. Complete with thermometer and bottle filler valve these canners have it all in one package.

USA Amish made using 20 gauge mirror finish 304 stainless steel available to fit two or three burner gas stoves.  Complete packages available with canner and commercial grade gas stove with a collapsible stainless stand are available at Cottage Craft Works .com

Cottage Craft Works is an online back to basics general store featuring many hard to find quality Amish made produces.  Maple Syrup processing equipment made by the Amish is just one of many categories of over 5000 self-sufficient products offered.


Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Roller Egg | Rollaway Egg | Chicken Nesting Boxes

Increase production, reduce labor, have less damaged eggs and a more sanitary egg collection process.
Rollaway nesting boxes are designed so the eggs roll forward in to and under a protected compartment for latter collection.

These boxes take away the opportunity for the eggs to be stepped on or eaten.

Having the eggs all lined up for collection allows for less labor and search time in reaching into nest boxes.



The eggs also have less chance for the chickens to mess on them making the process more sanitary.

There’s been a couple rollaway nest box designs on the market, but most companies just provide a metal divided nest box without the rollaway feature.

Some on the market use plastic parts that will eventually will become brittle and break.  They also use thinner metals.   Cottage Craft Works .com offers Amish made all metal rollaway nest boxes that use thicker galvanized metals that are more of a commercial grade. You can also find a large selection of poultry house products available at this unique online general store.

When the Amish build things they do so with longevity and functionality in mind.  They use thicker metals no plastic or short lived parts.  They are not as concerned with corporate share holders or planned obsolesces.

The type of quality products made by the Amish compare to the American made products that were made to last in the 50s and 60s before plastic was even an available option.

Cottage Craft Works also offers two different proven styles.  The traditional divided nest box in 2, 4 and 8 compartments as well as an open concept community nest box in 24” and 48” patterned after the community nest used in large commercial egg processing facilities.



It would be impossible to provide enough nesting boxes for large row houses, thus community nesting boxes handle larger flocks.

The smaller commercial producers or even the back yard hobby farmer can still obtain the same concept in a commercial quality nest box sized for smaller flocks from Cottage Craft Works.

The open community boxes can also be purchased as a front collection or rear collection system.

The rear collection system allows the nest box to be mounted on an outside wall of fence for egg collection outside the coop. 


 
Rear collection boxes are perfect for smaller coops and free range chicken tractors where it is difficult on nearly impossible to obtain inside access.

Nesting boxes are shipped flat unassembled for shipping.  They easy assemble using nuts and bolts.  No rivets are required.

Cottage Craft Works .com is a unique back-to-basics general store where the owners have personally traveled the back roads to find the most functional back-to-basic products for the general public.
Now with over 5000 products self sufficient motivated shoppers and search for simple old fashioned products that are still being made and used in the Amish off grid lifestyle.



Thursday, July 17, 2014

Hand Push Reel Mowers | New Mowers USA Old Fashion Quality

High quality USA made reel mowers are still available today.  Ideal for small to medium size yards where storage for gas and gas powered equipment is just not available.

Reel mowers are very environmental friendly to reduce your carbon foot print.  They are also very neighbor friendly with no noisy engine.

Reel Mowers were the only way to mow yards before the invention of the gas powered lawn mower.
The mower uses a rotating bank of blades to clip off the grass.  

As the mower is pushed the wheels engage the blades which are geared to turn much faster than the mower is being pushed.

Like most old fashioned products over the years reel mowers have been transferred to the import manufacturer.  And like most imported items the use of cheaper components to keep the price point lower provides a product that  just doesn't seem to perform  or last as long as the original models.

Imported reel mowers seem to push harder and loose the sharpness of the blades quicker.

A trip through Amish communities is a good test of those products that work and those that don’t.  You won’t likely find many imported reel mowers in use since the Amish purchase items that will last a very long time.

When the Amish are unable to find quality reproduction products of the originals they begin to manufacture them to use themselves and to sell within the Amish communities.

Clipper USA is an Amish manufactured reel push mower.  It is available in a 17”, 19” and 21” model. And comes with an unheard of 10 year warranty.



You might call the Clipper the old fashioned Cadillac of reel mowers.   The parts are all USA made using heat harden steel cutting blades and thicker metals than used on the cheaper imports.

They are easy to push, easy to adjust with just one knob and easier to maintain.  Best of all they take up very little space and can even be hung on a wall. 



 You can even purchase them with larger wheels for different turf grasses.  An  optional grass catcher is also available. 

Quality does come at a price expect to pay a little over $600 for something that will be the last mower you will ever need to buy.

You can purchase the Clipper USA at Cottage Craft Works .com

 Cottage Craft Works www.cottagecraftworks.com is a unique back-to-basics sustainable living general store with all types of simple gadgets and products to live more self-sufficient.

With over 5000 products people can find some old fashioned hard to find products that are just not available anywhere else.


Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Ice Cream Makers | Ice Cream Freezers | Making Homemade Ice Cream

When it comes to making homemade ice cream you have several options for an ice cream maker.  Depending on how often you and your family like to make up a batch of fresh ice cream you can spend under a hundred to several hundred dollars.

If you make a small batch of homemade ice cream once or twice a year you can probably get by just fine with one of those imported freezers being sold in discount stores for under a hundred dollars.

However, if you’re a routine homemade ice cream family or you make a lot of ice cream for social functions purchasing  too cheap may end up with a wasted batch and disappointment.

In order to sell those imports so cheaply manufactures use plastic parts and low end components to maintain their profit margins.

To step up a several notches White Mountain Freezers are a long time popular mainstay.   They come in 4 and 6 qt hand crank or electric models.



If you really want to step up into a USA made freezer with larger sizes the Amish made Country Freezers are made with all USA parts.  They range in size from 1 pint all the way up to a 20 qt 5 gallon size.



A new emerging Amish made freezer called the Immergood uses a fiberglass tub and heavy duty stainless parts.  It currently is only available in a 6 qt in hand crank or equipped with a White Mountain or Country electric motor.   A 8 qt Immergood with a USA made motor is in development for 2015.



You can purchase both White Mountain and the Amish made freezers as well as all the replacement parts for older freezers at CottageCraft Works.com

Cottage Craft Works www.cottagecraftworks.com is a unique back-to-basics sustainable living general store with all types of simple gadgets and products to live more self-sufficient.

With over 5000 products people can find some old fashioned hard to find products that are just not available anywhere else.


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Sweet Corn Silk Cleaner | Motorized Drill Powered | Corn Silk Remover

Removing corn silk from freshly harvested sweet corn can be a breeze with this drill powered sweet corn cleaner from Cottage Craft Works.

For generations hand brushing the sweet corn ears was the normal routine  if you wanted to rid the corn of that bothersome corn silk strings that ended up between the teeth.



It’s a simple rather inexpensive gadget that chucks into either a stationary drill press or into a portable hand drill using the stationary model.


A special designed rotating brush provides just enough stiffness to sweep out the corn silk without damaging the delicate corn kernels.  

Using a battery powered drill this little gadget can be used almost anywhere that sweet corn is being processed, making it perfect for picnics or backyard barbecues distant from electrical outlets.

The drill press model just uses the brush while the stationary model uses an Amish made wooden stand.


The stand can be screwed down to a table or clamped using a c-clamp on the corner of a table or stand.
After the husk is remover, the ears can be cleaned from end to end or side to side.  The brush bristles will not harm finger either. 

Both sweet corn cleaner models can be purchased at CottageCraft Works .com

Cottage Craft Works www.cottagecraftworks.com is a unique back-to-basics sustainable living general store with all types of simple gadgets and products to live more self-sufficient.
With over 5000 products people can find some old fashioned hard to find products that are just not available anywhere else.


Monday, July 14, 2014

Kitchen Sink Drain Board | Drainer Boards | Dish Drain Rack Board

These heavy commercial duty drain boards slant down to the sink.  Unlike the flat drain trays, these drain boards allow water from wet dishware to drain down into a home style kitchen sink and not run out on to the counter and floor.


These hard to find drain boards are Amish made and used by the Amish in their own homes.
Since the Amish have large families with no mechanical dishwashers they process mounds of dishes, pots, pans and utensils after each meal.

The large Stainless Steel drain board not only holds a standard drying rack it allows room on the side to also dry long cooking utensils.   The large 20-1/2” x 18-/4” foot print provides ample area for large sheet pans that tilt out of a drying rack to catch the drip off.

Remove the rack and dry those over sized commercial style pots and pans.



Drain board also serves as an extra work area to wash off vegetables and other food items when using a colander.

The mill finish stainless steel fits in even the most upscale kitchens to match other stainless cooking equipment.

Rolled edges provide a smooth metal edge for daily use and cleaning.

Standard size ships quickly, custom sizes are also available with a 3-4 week build time. 

These drain boards are also being used in commercial kitchens and food trucks to satisfy the health department requirements for additional air drying space.


A smaller powder coated all aluminum drain board is also available.  Measuring 14-1/4”  x 20-3/8” size this economy drain board still provides a good drain off underneath standard size drainer racks.



The powder coated all aluminum drain board is  also small and compact for limited kitchen counter spaces.  Perfect for apartments, RV’s and summer cottages.

Standard color is white, you can even have them made with custom colors for bold retro décors!



These drain boards are only available at Cottage Craft Works.com.  Cottage Craft Works is a unique back to basics general store that searches out these hard to find  functional products to offer to the general public. 

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

White Mountain Ice Cream Freezer Replacement Tub Center

If you've been pulling your hair out looking endless on the Internet to find a replacement tub center you can find them at Cottage CraftWorks .com

Many with perfectly good white mountain ice cream freezers are unable to use them simply because this little but critical part has deteriorated  away and no one seems to have them except Cottage Craft Works.

Replacement tub center fits the older white mountain freezers.  This is the small part that sits in the bottom of the tub  for the  canister to spin on.

The original tub centers were made of cast metal that over the years rusted down from repeated  contact with the salt water.

Even better the new replacement tub center can’t rust.  It has been designed out of a tough durable delrin poly and comes with stainless steel screws.



This is the same poly material that is being used in commercial food processing equipment for bearings and glide blocks.


Cottage Craft Works .com also has most all the other replacement parts for the White Mountain freezers including electric motors, gear housings, wooden tubs, dashers and the stainless cans.

Cottage Craft Works .com is a unique general store that still carries many of the old fashion products and replacement parts.

Hand Push Garden Cultivators | American Made Garden Tools

In this day of cheaper imported products it sometimes becomes difficult to find good old fashion American made garden tools.

If you’re a weekend hobby gardener or a serious homesteader who depends on the garden for food the tools that you choose can make a world of difference in the work that it takes to have a successful harvest.

As we all age and have more time to spend in the garden the tools that we use also need to become more easier for us to handle.

A tool might look sturdy enough when you purchase it in the store but the facts become very apparent soon after you’re in the garden putting it to work.

When we look for great garden tools we go directly to the people who build and use the tools to sustain large families just as they were doing in the early 1900s.

We’re talking about the Amish communities who depend on garden tools to get the job done year after year.

The Amish depend on large garden harvest to sustain their families throughout the year.

The Amish use sturdy well made tools and if they can’t find them they begin to build or find someone who will build reproductions just like they remember from generations past.

Although a trip to Amish country is fun, for those who are not able to make the trip seeking these alternative garden tools you can find them at the back to basic store Cottage Craft Works http://www.cottagecraftworks.com

You will find a large selection of old fashion push hand cultivators and garden tools that you won’t find at your local hardware store.


The Classic Garden EZ-Till Cultivator is a favorite of many Amish women who like a small maneuverable garden cultivator to push.  It uses a 16” ball bearing rubber wheel and has the traditional hardwood handles that can be adjusted to heights.   It has standard 19” wide cultivator tines and optional furrowing shovel and cultivator blades.





The Weed & Till Rotary Garden Cultivator is equipped with the traditional cultivator tines,  but instead of having a front wheel the cultivator has a rolling metal drum made with sharp blades that helps to chops weeds forward of the tines.  The handle is made of 1” square tubing with a hardwood handle like the old reel mowers.  This cultivator also has an optional furrowing shovel.



 The Flip and Go Wheeled Garden Cultivator works well for those who don’t want to waste time taking attachments on and off.  This unique cultivator has the traditional garden tines as you would expect to see on a garden cultivator, but on top it has also has a garden plow attached that can be engaged by simply flipping the handles over.   The cultivator also has T screws to easily adjust the handle height between different users.



Wheel Hoe Cultivators are probably one the most durable user friendly garden cultivators on the market today.  They also provide the most options in attachments of any cultivator ever built.

These are actual reproductions of the famous Planet Junior Cultivators that dominated the market when almost every home in America depended on a backyard garden to supply their annual food source such as the Amish still do today.


The basic models begin with the Standard Single Wheel Hoe.  It uses a single wheel like most push cultivators.   The wheel is much smaller, thus it easier to maneuver around in the garden than the traditional.   

The attachments range from the traditional tines, plows, with the additions of various widths of slicing blades, sweeps, harrow disk and even a garden seed planter.

The plows can be purchased in a right and left hand set that allow you to hill up planting rows or open up the row to plant potatoes. 


The Double Wheel Hoe model uses all the same attachments.  It allows you to straddle the rows of  new plantings to cultivate both sides at the same time.






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