October 2016 – Karla's Cottage

Happy Halloween!

By Karla Nathan / October 31, 2016

Halloween decor at my house is witchy and white pumpkin-ish.

Mostly black and white, but with a little color. Not much in the way of orange.

These mini pumpkins are on a candle ring. I got them at a garage sale for a quarter and spray painted them white. They can stay out til it is time to deck the halls.

Same with these velvet ones that I stitched up. I'll put away the little witch, but the pumpkins will be out for Thanksgiving.

This is a plaster one, made by my pal, Tami.

Besides sitting out a few witchy goods, I try to warm up the rooms for the season. Heavier throws on the sofa, deeper colored pillows, along with rusty and wine toned mums make the cottage feel like autumn has arrived.

Plus a touch of spooky, of course!

Have a happy Halloween, everyone.

Sister gifts- hand made art journals

Books, family, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 29, 2016

When Bobbie, Sissy and I go on our annual sister trip to Siesta Key, we pack craft supplies and I make journals for us to work in. My suitcase is 90% tools, lace, ribbons, ephemera, and other pretties to foof the books.

Although, they do start out pretty foofy already. The spine is all decked out in beachy toned trims.

The theme this year is Beach. The first year it was Blessings, last year it was Witchy Girls

Each one is a little different than the others. But all are covered in silk wallpaper (that I waxed for durability) and are made in the same colors.

I painted these little frames in ombre blues with glitter, so we can take photos of ourselves on the beach and add those to the covers. (I packed my portable printer)

The interiors are made up of scrapbook papers. They are heavy card stock and can be covered or used as is. Bobbie's has this black and white Harlequin pattern.

Sissy's has wallpaper roses.

There is already a little bit of trim added and I packed a two gallon sized bag full of ribbons and lace to really make these special and drip with vintage goodness galore.

I'll be sure and get photos of finished pages as we go along. More to come!

Pumpkin Party

Dew Drop, holiday decor, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 27, 2016

For breakfast the other day, we had pumpkins made from mandarin oranges. It took (literally) seconds to do. The sections of oranges stack up easily, and I put a cashew on the top as a stem.

The grand fairy ghouls didn't have school on Friday, and I was about to fly off to Florida for my annual sister trip and would be missing Halloween with them, so we thought it would be a good idea to have an early celebration. There was bobbing for apples, making caramel apples, crafts, and pumpkin painting.

The girls were surprised to find their craft area in the studio decorated with all the garish Halloweeness colors that they love.

We live in a house that features white pumpkins that I display all fall, so the kiddos get extra excited when I let loose and do the traditional, flashy stuff that makes them so happy. Throw in a few dollar bin crafts and they were happy as any little ghoul can be.

Me too.

I'm going to miss them while I'm away.

Punkins and Joy

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 25, 2016

This year we chose a chilly day for a trip to the pumpkin patch. But the cutting, Kansas winds didn't bother these guys.

I was the party pooper who wanted to leave early. That isn't easy to do, when Sugarwings wants to explore the farthest fields and is automatically drawn to run for the horizon line to find a pumpkin undiscovered by anyone else.

Sometimes, managing fairies is like herding cats. Or why don't I just say, herding fairies? That is a pretty apt description, if you picture a flock of winged, sparkly creatures flying in all directions and me trying to convince them not to flit over the flowers and chase ladybugs, but to go get in a car instead.

But there is no force on earth that can keep a cold Grammie out in a field of anything, including this pumpkin wonderland. I smoothly directed their thoughts toward our next adventure and made the rest of the day seem so enticing that they ran with me to pay for the gourds we bought and then out to the car.

Ha! Someday, they will realize how diabolical I am in my maneuvering. But for now? They think I am fun. Our pumpkin hunting was successful, and we had a wonderful, if short, visit. I might have bought a few more big orange ones that I'd planned to, though. Sometimes a bribe helps move things along too.

Hmmm, I wonder if they were the ones who maneuvered me?

But seriously, can you have too many pumpkins?

The annual Zombie walk

celebrations, family, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 23, 2016

The zombie walk gets better every year. This season, we had 4 grand ghouls in it.

Including this one. Her baby sister stayed home, though. She isn't ready to join the ghoulishness yet.

Avahni and Kia did fabulous jobs with the makeup and costumes, but the girls were in such constant motion, it was hard to capture at the parade.

Luckily, I got to see the process. Look away if you are grossed out, because the gashes and sores that they made with tissue paper and liquid latex look very authentic.

Seriously, LOOK AWAY!!!

Last warning, here comes the gore….

I warned you. Here comes another.

Awfully well done. But a bit stomach turning.

Here is a fluffy bunny to make you feel better.

And here is a cheerful, funny, Marge Simpson.

Maybe you need a little nourishment to fortify yourself.

Still feeling rough? Here is a nurse to the rescue.

Lawrence goes all out for the night.

We try to get a table on the patio at a good restaurant to enjoy the show.

This spooked up car was parked across from us.

I already can't wait til next year's spooktacular!

An Autumn dinner party and some views of the new room

celebrations, cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / October 21, 2016

While I was setting the table for a dinner party my husband was throwing for co-worker friends, I thought I should get some pictures of our new space while the area was cleaned up. (You know how fleeting that window of time can be with a houseful of kiddos!).

This is from the new room, looking into the kitchen.

From the new front door in the hearth room looking through the space into the living room.

And from the kitchen into the living room.

From the kitchen into the new room, with a view of the mantel.

I can't wait to have a Christmas tree set up in there! I'll be counting down till the holidays just like the grand fairies do.

This one is taken from the stairs.

And here are the stairs. They are covered in rose pattern wallpaper, that I glazed over to blend in better. The bold, rose pattern stood out too much before. Now, it is subtle and muted.

The ceiling is 15', and my son put in the pine floors, with my husband's help. In front of the fireplace and both new doors, is a pebble mosaic that I did. Ryan hung all of the shelves and curtain rods.

It is nice that we all had hands on in creating something for the space, even though the big job of it was done by a contractor and his crew. It feels good to have a part in doing some hands on work ourselves.

I had planned on putting curtains on the doors, but Honey voted against that. She prefers being outdoors for most of the day, but likes to keep an eye on what we are up to. Recently, she learned how to open the door knob, so she comes in whenever she feels like it.

Now, if she'd just learn to SHUT the door behind her. You'd think she'd been raised in a barn.

This is from the living room looking into the kitchen. I still can't believe how wonderfully open it is, and also, how well the new floor matches the original 90 plus year old floors once all were sanded down and re-stained. I beat up the new floors with crow bars and hammers to help the aging process a bit.

This party was also in celebration of finishing the room. That very day, the last of the construction items were crossed off the list. What a good feeling.

You know what will be an even better feeling? The first day we light a fire in that new hearth and cozy up by the flames to read a good book. I'm a Spring/Summer person myself, but this redo could be the impetus to switch me into becoming an Autumn gal.

Wicked

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / October 18, 2016

Wicked is my favorite play. Of course, I haven't been to that many… but I do love it, I've seen it four times now.

Each time, I've gone with someone different. The first time with my husband to the fabulous Fox theater in St. Louis, which is so special, it is worth going to even if there is no play to see.

This time with 3 of the grand fairies, and I have to say, that was pretty special.

We made a weekend of it, and stayed at a nice hotel in Wichita. They were great company. And it was fun to watch Sugarwings' emotions as the story unfolded.

It was a special birthday weekend for KiKi, we brought cupcakes to the hotel and watched an in room movie.

Now, I can't wait til Dewdrop is old enough to go see a play with us!

A couple of Witchy girl banners

holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 16, 2016

Last Halloween, I was enamoured with making witchy girl banners. And as October was progressing this season, I felt the urge to conjure up a couple more.

And I still love making them.

Especially creating little skirts or embellishing the gowns with vintage fabric and trims.

Or making the magic wands. That is my favorite part.

No, wait! My favorite part is making the brooms! I love going out in the yard, finding a stick to trim and adding the "straw" so that my enchantress has a broom to fly away on.

Maybe I just plain old love making these. Last Halloween I was whipping them out nonstop. This year, this is probably it, I've got a couple of trips planned and have been busy with finishing up the remodel plus some entertaining.

Hopefully, I'll be able to make Sugarplum Fairy banners for Christmas, they are every bit as much fun to sparkle up and glue together. In the meantime, if you'd like a witch themed banner made with lots of vintagey goods, you can find these two here.

no words needed

dogs, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 14, 2016

A girlfriends’ weekend

friends, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / October 11, 2016

Andrea Singarella, Jenn Hayslip, and Lori Oles came to visit over the weekend for some relaxation…

Craft time…

Shopping in the West Bottoms antique district…

Boating…

Girlfriend time…

And lots of laughs!

I'd asked my family to demonstrate the circus apparatus in our new room, and was happily surprised when they generously showed up with costumes, music, and an entire performance for my guests.

We even got lessons on doing some tricks ourselves.

Kia showed me how to do this move.

And Sugarwings taught me her favorite one, "Man in the Moon." More like, "Crazy Old Grammie Who Will Have a Stiff Neck the Next Day".

On our first evening, Beth joined us and Angie invited our group to her deluxe apartment in the sky on the Plaza "for a glass of wine" and this is the beautiful spread we found when we got there.

Afterwards, we had dinner at the museum across the street from Angie's apartment.

We squeezed a lot into the few days they were here, and most important for me, we had some studio time. I feel like I've been away from creating time too long because of the renovations we've been doing to the cottage. Now that those are behind me, I'm looking forward to being out there beading, painting, cutting, and gluing a LOT. It was great to be in the workroom with a few friends and a glass of wine. While I often have the grand fairies as company while making things, the wine was a rare treat. Hmm, I wonder if I should keep some stashed in the treat cabinet on a regular basis?

Our weather was ideal for boating on Saturday, but cool enough on Friday that a soak in the hot tub was refreshing. More wine –of course- and steam rising as the heat from the water met the chilled air was a relaxing way to end a day spent finding treasures at Good JuJu, Top Hat, and Bottoms Up. We had trudged from one end of the antique warehouse district to the other and the jacuzzi was appreciated afterward. Shopping there is practically an endurance sport and we needed the pt after it was over!

Here is what I bought. Now that I am a full fledged circus performer like my kids, I'll probably need it, huh?

Our time flew by too quickly, like fun times seem to do.

I'm lucky to have found such nice friends to get together with, even though it is not for as long as I'd like.

And to know that even if we aren't together often, when we are, we take off right where we left off, with lots to laugh about, family stories to share, and arty interests to talk about. We spent over an hour in Michaels discussing beads, favorite supplies, and resources for them on our way to the airport. It is good to have someone to share complaints with about too small holes in pearls. Who else would listen to me go on about that?

(We came across Jenn's cover story in Romantic Homes at Michaels too!)

And it was nice to have my family get to know some of my favorite people. And for my friends to hang out with my loved ones.