December 2019 – Karla's Cottage

Holiday Blessings

By Karla Nathan / December 30, 2019

Our weather on Christmas Eve and Day was spectacular. Upper 60s? In Kansas on December 24th? You just never know, some years are blizzards, others are meant for being outside.

We found a new trail behind the dog park that lead to the river, and on my first steps along the bank, I spied a rock that looked like an angel wing.

Of course I had to make a Beach Blessings angel as a thank you.

Dewdrop harvested some algae to make the wreath and as I placed it in the angel’s arms, I saw a teensy, heart shaped rock to add to it.

We had two days of walking weather, with various family members going along each day. Kansas might not have gorgeous scenery, but I still appreciate our time in the woods when we can get it.

I would love to live somewhere more interesting, with hills or beaches, but I figure a person should make the most of what they have and look for the best in it. I am lucky to live in a town that cares about making trails for its citizens (and dogs). And am also quite lucky to have a few acres of our own woods to enjoy.

And winter walking weather in Kansas was a pretty nice Christmas present!

i should’ve made a bigger thank you angel…

Our Cottage Christmas

celebrations, Dew Drop, dogs, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 27, 2019

Could I describe Christmas as both laid back and lively at the same time?

Maybe what I mean is that we had a lot of fun with simple pleasures.

Like princess cocoa parties with melting snowmen cocoa bombs while using Nanny’s china.

Decorating sugar cookies and gingerbread men together.

Taking advantage of the unusually, lovely weather by going for long walks.

In jammies.

We had a build your own calzone/pizza bar, so everyone got their favorites and it was a group effort for Christmas Eve dinner.

I chopped and sautéed most of the toppings the day in advance, then Ryan helped with the rest.

We had a house full for both days, with almost the entire family sleeping over, staying up late to watch holiday movies, using the hot tub to relax, and playing the games that were given as gifts.

I think what made it all so wonderfully sweet was that there was nothing at all formal about it. There was a nice, casual flow about the holiday.

We went light on gifts, with easy meals, took a few walks, had a wonderful time with everyone under one roof.

Dewdrop will be with us for the rest of winter break, so there will be more family fun time to come.

Sugarwings has plans for surprising her lil sis with elf pranks every day. We will see some movies, hang out in the studio to make things with all the new art supplies they got, and of course, snack away on those beautifully decorated cookies.

I hope your holiday was a blessed one too.

A Handmade Christmas Countdown

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 24, 2019

This year, I decided to feature some of my hand made ornies each day as a countdown to Christmas.

I posted them on IG and FB daily and thought I would share them all at once with you here too.

Some are special, with family stories behind them, like the previous ones with family photos (my immediate family, and my great grandmother and her sister) or this one made from one of Sugarwing's old shoes.

This is one of Dewdrop's baby shoes.

Others are just for fun.

This was a scrap of watercolor paper I had been practicing on, years ago, and came across in a box of junk. I cut it into a ball shaped ornament and hung it on the tree. (The snowy effect is done by sprinkling salt onto the wet paint)

This is one that I made at a craft day with pals.

And this one reminds me of my early vintage paper days. I went through a paper doll making stage, that was every bit as fun as playing with the paper dolls I had as a child.

Once, a friend gave me a packet of photo paper she didn't want and there were a few photos in it. I didn't realize they were family pictures her husband had copied years ago, just thought they were some old photos they didn't want (I personally have tons of old pictures like this, so thought nothing of it) and made one into an ornament. She was here for craft day, and had fun making decorations with the images herself. It was a nice surprise for her to find them in my studio on craft day.

It doesn't matter if the pieces have a special meaning for me, each is special.

And I love unpacking the box of goodies each year and looking through my treasures as I add them to the tree.

I will leave you with the rest of the countdowns and wish you a very, very Merry day.

Actual grand fairies

Dew Drop, fairies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / December 22, 2019

Making Sugarplum fairies has kept me so busy that I am just now wrapping gifts, today.

My husband is in Chicago at a Chiefs game, Ryan is at work, Sugarwings with her mom, and Dewdrop won’t be arriving with her daddy til tomorrow.

That means I have an empty dining room to spread out gifts and get them packaged up. I just finished my shopping yesterday, on a fun day out with some of the family, letting them choose their own pressies instead of trying to surprise them.

As much as I love surprises, sometimes you just gotta let them do the picking. And even though I’d heard that yesterday was the busiest shopping day of the year, I still preferred strolling through stores with people I love and going out to lunch over ordering from Amazon at home.

It felt more like Christmas that way. Oh, I used Amazon for quite a bit, but a shopping date was like the icing on the Christmas cookie to top off my holiday festivities.

I also made some gifts, like this Sully Sugarplum Fairy for a great niece. It is as pink, glittery, and gaudy as possible for a very sweet lil princess.

I used another photo of her on a card.

This banner is for The Guncles’ nature tree. They can take them apart to use as ornies or hang as is.

I used the painted brown paper table covers from a Snowbird’s Song as a background. I also made use of it as wrapping paper this year.

Speaking of wrapping paper, I’d better get to work. I am sitting at the table having my morning coffee, surrounded by stacks of gifties and rolls of paper.

Holiday Happenings

celebrations, family, friends

By Karla Nathan / December 19, 2019

I never turn down a Christmas invitation and look for as many holiday adventures to cram into December as I can.

Meeting up with friends for lunch and going shopping? Yes, please!

Especially a visit to Angie’s. She lives within walking distance of the museum, where we ate at the courtyard cafe, the made me feel as tho I was dining in Europe.

(I fell in love with that dyed wreath! And have plans to try to dye some of my dried hydrangeas aqua…)

We peeked around the museum and soaked up a smidgeon of culture before heading out to shop.

The displays at J’Dore were inspiring. We hit a thrift store too.

But the best part? Just chatting and catching up over sparkly wine and chocolates at Angie’s pretty apartment in the sky.

The grand fairies and I had a night out to see a Magical Cirque Christmas. It reminded me more of an old school variety show than a typical Cirque extravaganza. The teens thought it was new and different, having not grown up in the age of Ed Sullivan.

Sugarwings loved the corny magician, and while we had a late night for a Tuesday, it was worth all of the sleepy yawns on Wednesday morning.

She and I also attended Matilda at the local theater. There is a kid friendly play there every year at the holidays and we have a happy tradition of going.

Tonight is the last, big bash of the year, a party for her Martial Arts group, with dinner and dancing at the Doubletree. Last year we danced so hard, Sugarwings’ shoes fell apart.

Well, I guess I mean the last outside function, we will be rocking around the Christmas tree with Dewdrop soon!

She will be back in Kansas for Christmas break. I am thrilled to be having our tiniest family member with us again.

I have been on pins and needles with the transportation plans, they have been iffy, but seem straightened out now.

We will be having cocoa parties in front of the tree, dancing North Pole Style together (to a kid’s musical dance party toy that most of the family finds annoying, but that we love), and making gingerbread men together.

Because there can always be a party waiting to happen if you just look for it.

The last Sugarplum fairies of the decade, a look back at the year, and a giveaway

fairies, family, give away, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / December 18, 2019

Oh my, that is true, we are not just near the end of the year, it is the end of a decade!

My year is ending with a blast, I have loved hunkering down in the studio and making Sugarplum Fairy after fairy after fairy.

And I am thankful for all of the people who bought them for me so that I could indulge in my love of crafting these gals.

It has been a mixed year for me. Lots of wonderful moments and people, lots of injury and heartache and worry.

It is odd that a year can be soooo good, but yet so bad at the same time.

Teaching at Karen's Cozy Castle, and at Jenn Hayslip's retreat, seeing family members from far away, and having a studio full of Peeps come to see me a couple of times this year made up for a lot of the problems I have had.

It is hard to be too down about a minor skull fracture, multiple concussions, and other aches and pains when I have so many positives in my life too.

The break up of my son's family and the draining work of getting their house on the market was heart wrenching. But having little Dewdrop come back for Christmas eases that pain. And while my son and his littlest girl now live across the country, I am adjusting. And still have the other 3 grand fairies with me. We are trying to get back to family dinners with the group, and while it is a change to not have two of our people, there is still a lot of love on those nights.

And seriously, how lucky and blessed were we to have an uptick in the local real estate market just as we finished the remodelling of the house we had bought for my son's family and to get out from under that mortgage in less than a week? We worked our asses off to make it happen for weeks, but yes, it did work out.

We could have been stuck with an empty house to take care of and keep up all winter.

My husband's early retirement also threw me for a loop. But we are adjusting and he is the happiest he has ever been in his life.

Life is all about changes and how you deal with them. Honestly, I did NOT deal well with having to do so much to that house to get it sold, and with the family splitting up.

Did I mention that my husband unexpectedly retired that week and that I also had my hormones cut in half at the same time? But I got through it, and did what was needed to make things work.

(I have since found out that my rotator cuff was torn and my bicep tendon was ruptured at the time, so that makes me feel better now about being so whiny while painting ceilings then! I am now in PT for those injuries.)

I have had beautiful trips with people I love (even though I came home with a concussion twice).

I have had dozens of fun and caring Peeps here at the cottage.

I have had a nest full of puppies to cheer me up with snuggles at the end of a long day of repainting a house we were afraid we were stuck with, but were not.

I had the joy of running through the waves with Sugarwings, splashing through Disney in the rain and laughing with all four girls, making seashell fairies on 4 beaches to leave as thank yous for the beauty of the trip.

I have had people let me down, but others show so much caring that I could get past the hurt of the let downs.

And I have had the joy of making all of these Sugarplum fairies. What a happy way to end the year. I was so thrilled to see that they sold so quickly, and while this is kind of late to be adding more to the Boutique, I had a lot of happiness go into making each and every one whether they sell or not.

2019 has been eventful.

These fairies might seem like a silly little thing to be so emotional about, but a lot of healing went into the creation of them.

I would like to share the cheer. Please leave a comment if you want to be entered to win a fairy of your own.

(You can also enter on FB and IG)

Beach babes at Siesta Key

family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / December 15, 2019

On my annual Sister Trip to Florida, we were joined by all but one of both of my sister’s kids, thanks to Sissy’s generosity.

Sissy also brought everyone bags from Gudren, and wanted a photo of us together holding the colorful bags.

So we decided to go all super model, and pose with scarfs blowing in the breeze as we leapt into the air.

Uhm, we are not super models.

But we know how to have fun.

Maybe Sissy is model material. I love this photo that I took of her.

And this one. I channeled my inner Tyra Banks and told her to find the light.

We always try to use the ocean backdrop to get some good sister pics each year.

And this time, we were able to get more family shots.

And I got to spend time with people I rarely see.

I love having all the silly photos as souvenirs of the trip.

And the fun pictures.

As well as our traditional, casual, sister pics.

There was even a pretty, great niece there to snap photos of.

There were gorgeous skies to use as backdrops.

Although it can be hard to focus on faces without the light blowing out behind them.

Sometimes the faces are shadowed if I get the water or sky correct.

Mostly, we are just so happy to be together, we constantly have our cameras out to capture the short time we have with each other.

Because we know that, in a blink it is over.

Sugarplum Fairies

fairies, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / December 12, 2019

I had such a nice day at my friend, Tami's house.

She generously invites a group of us for craft parties and supplies lots of fun things to make.

While I was tempted by her table of goodies and the projects she had prepared, I had "homework" to do.

I wanted to finish up another flock of fairies to add to the Boutique.

So I brought my own items to work on, and managed to get about 10 fairies done that day between chatting, visiting with friends, and visiting the kitchen for magnificent, tasty treats.

I am blessed with good friends, the ladies from this group are Birdsong Peeps that are somewhat local, and who try to get together on a regular basis.

Thank you, Tami, for arranging these dates to enjoy our friends!

And thank you to everyone who has bought Sugarplum fairies from me this holiday season, so I could indulge myself in making so many of them!

I am rather fond of these little darlings!

If you would like one, they are $12 and you can find them in the Boutique.

Transforming a snow globe

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 9, 2019

Last summer, I found a boxful of ugly snow globes at an estate sale. I had big plans to remake them, but ended up setting them out for sale at A Snowbird's Song.

Apparently, no one wanted them… So I decided I needed to reclaim them for my original purpose. Some are easier to open than others, this one was pretty easy to get apart.

The snowman was exchanged for a little pink angel, and I made an arch from wired tinsel and millinery blooms and placed it over the vintage tree behind her. Then, poured on tons and tons and generous glops of glue.

The glue was camouflaged with mica flakes.

The wooden base got a coat of distressed white paint, some crepe paper and sparkly bits.

I am kinda glad no one else bought this $1 item, and I look forward to redoing the others that were not purchased.

Seashell Gnomes and Angels at Siesta Key

sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / December 7, 2019

In honor of the holidays, I made some gnomes and angels instead of fairies.

I was inspired by these broken shells that already looked like toadstools.

The tiny red noses were a lucky find by my nephew, who found a sprig of them washed up on the shore.

Nieces also helped gather shells for me. Shelli saw this “jawbone” and we crafted a Dino as a group project.

See the inspiration?

I think my little gnomes look like they are having a happy, little dance party. They must love Siesta Key as much as I do.