Karla Nathan – Page 107 – Karla's Cottage

Cracker bars

By Karla Nathan / December 23, 2016

A friend made these delicious toffee bars from Ritz crackers and when I tried them, I knew I had to make some too. Soooo simple to do and soooo addicting.

I took some pictures of the steps and was going to take a photo of the finished product, but MY FAMILY ATE EVERY LAST BITE!

Well, I just had to make some more. I grabbed a pic fast, because those things don't stay in the house long at all.

There are many recipes online for how to make these. Once I read a few, I decided to change it up a bit to suit our household. Here is a photo of what I used, along with pecans.

Because caramel goes sooooo good with pecans. And yes, Im exaggerating my "sooooooo's", but I am NOT exaggerating how addicting-ly, wonderfully, delicious these are.

Sooooooo delicious!

That is, if you like salted caramel-ish, buttery, chocolatey, crunchy, goodness.

With chocolate!

First, you line a pan with parchment paper, then fill it with broken crackers. I let the kids do this part, and had them use a lot of crackers, not just a thin layer. Over that, we sprinkled about a cup of chopped pecans.

Next, I melted a stick and a half of butter with 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup sugar.

After the sugar dissolves, it needs to bubble until it looks creamy. And it needs the pan's sides constantly scraped so sugar doesn't form on the sides. If you don't feel like you can keep it from turning to sugar this way, when it starts to get creamy looking, put a lid on it, take it off the heat, and let the steam melt the sugar that might have crystalized on the side of the pan. If you stop the mixture from turning to sugar, then you get a rich, toffee/ caramel texture. (This trick works with fudge and other candies where you have to boil sugar too)

Poor the mix over the crackers, then stir it up to make sure each bite is covered in gooey goodness.

Pop the pan into the oven for five to ten minutes at 350. But, please check on it, to make sure that it doesn't burn. Ten minutes might be too much. Five might not be enough. You just want it to brown and firm up, loose the wet look it had when you poured it on.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle it with chocolate chips to cover the crunchy layer and spread them with a spatula. The heat of the baked mix will melt the chips as you spread them.

I didn't use a whole bag. I was going more for more emphasis on the toffee portion of the candy than the chocolate topping. But if you are more of a chocolate lover, please feel free to add as much as you'd like. Mine barely covered the cracker base.

The bars will set up in the fridge, and after a few hours, can be cracked into pieces.

If you want to take a photo of your tasty treats, do it fast.

These don't last long.

They are soooooooooooooooooooo good!

A Craft day party (on my own)

By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2016

This holiday season, I've been on a non-stop quest for filling my days with all of the holiday fun I could find and I've been pretty successful at it. Parties, luncheons, play dates, cocoa parties, and more.

Last Tuesday, I had plans for a full craft day and lunch party with a few friends. Sadly, no one could make it after all, and I thought I should probably get busy and do some Christmas shopping while I had a free day. But instead. I decided to have a solo party. I got myself a candy cane and headed to the studio to make some stuff. I've missed creating, there has been a very small amount of it lately.

It was a good day, even though I missed my buddies. Whipping up this shadow box (made from the backside of a wood framed canvas, lined with a Christmas card and filled with bottle brush trees and a putz house) sure made me happy.

I even treated myself to a second candy cane while I worked.

Then, I painted this pup for a friend (the glue under the glitter is still a bit wet, the glitter will dry clear, not white.)

Earlier, I'd started this snow gal head. I took advantage of my solo craft day to finish her.

Her body is a Victorian cruet bottle filled with fake snow.

Yep, a good day. Of course, I missed my friends, but sometimes it is good for the heart and soul to have a day just to piddle around with supplies and make something.

Salt Shaker Snow Gals at a girlfriends’ gathering

friends, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 18, 2016

A few of our Birdsong Peeps gathered at Tami's house as she hosted one of her generous craft days.

At last year's holiday party, I was admiring her collection of salt and pepper shaker snow people. So, when I heard that was the project for this season, I was thrilled! Here are some that she made and that were sitting out as examples.

She provided a bountiful supply of goodies to deck the snow gals out and we rolled air dry clay and glued pretties onto little snow ladies all afternoon, only stopping for a delicious luncheon.

Here are a few that friends made.

And here is what I made that day.

Tami always goes all out to make our days in her studio special, so I wanted to bring her a special gift. Since she is a button collector, I thought a necklace made of vintage mother of pearl buttons would be a good idea for a gift.

Lovely ladies, fun projects, tasty food, non stop laughter, all made a perfect day-

Thanks Tami!

Annual Holiday Home Tour

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 15, 2016

We had lovely weather for the Holiday Home Tour this year and there was a great selections of houses to peek through.

This kitchen could've made me turn as grinchy green as those apples, with seething envy if I wasn't so in love with my own cottagy kitchen. (well, maybe I was a slight shade of green)

Here is the room from another view.

What a wonderful, old home.

The details of the recent remodel were so smartly done. Like using the original garage doors as siding in the TV room.

And at this house, they went all out with props to use for photo ops.

This won my heart as we drove up. When I saw the tree tied to the roof of the station wagon, I knew the house was going to be a fun one to tour.

I was right.

Every home we went to, was very well done. I'll leave you with a few pics of the day.

A holiday dinner party at the cottage

celebrations, cottage, friends, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 12, 2016

Last week, I hosted the annual holiday book club party. Here is 2014 and here is 2015. In the past, I've just done snacks and treats, but this year, I thought it would be nice to have a sit down dinner.

Since we have the new space, I was thrilled to have a chance to use it. Plus, the book club ladies are a nice group, it is good to have a night where we can kick back and chat about things other than books.

The new space is ideal for entertaining. I picked up a small, drop leaf table that I keep in the hearth room by the door, and we carried it to the dining area, slanted the main table and added the drop leaf one onto the end of it.

Originally, I thought I'd get a gigantic, rustic, farmhouse table to fill the space, and to seat my large family.

But then, I saw the price tags.

So, I bought a $60 drop leaf table to create more seating instead.

The drop leaf fits nicely, and solves the problem when needed. It is wonderful to have plenty of room to seat everyone without bringing in a folding table. In the past, I'd have to move the island (I built it on wheels), set up a folding table from the studio, and cram in a few extra chairs.

Now, all of the guests fit comfortably without having to move the island.

As much as I like the look of a farm house table, I think I prefer having a more flexible set up. My dining table has 3 leaves and expands to 110", the little drop leaf adds space for 5 more people. We had 11 for the party, and I think I can probably make three more fit if I got creative with where the chairs go.

Nothing on my table matches, and all of it is from garage or estate sales. Sometimes, I think, maybe I should go buy some matching silverware, or glasses…. but honestly, I don't think anyone minds. The lights are dim, the candles are lit, there is plenty of wine.

For this party, I used white dinner plates, table cloths and napkins, clear and gold salad plates, floral bread plates, and clear glasses. I added a string of battery power lights to a bowl of painted pine cones topped with Shiny Brite fruit, and put some sparkling branches with lights, a pink glass garland, and gold Shiny Brite balls.

My local grocery store has $1.99 flowers on Mondays, and just happened to have some perfect ones for the party marked down and waiting for me. Pink and green, with a touch of red for the holiday.

I was going for a white on white look with a splash of color.

I made vegetarian lasagna, and stuffed shells with chicken and butternut squash a week ahead of time, then pulled it out of the freezer to bake up that night. I always believe in as many short cuts as possible when planning a party. Everyone brought wine to share, I baked some bread, bought packaged salad, and kept the dinner part simple.

Add a nice bunch of ladies, and it was a very nice party!

A girlfriends’ day out on the town in the Big City

celebrations, friends, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 10, 2016

My pal, Angie, once again, generously invited a group of us to visit her apartment in the sky over looking the Plaza in Kansas City.

We started the afternoon with a late lunch at Union Station, and ended up with wine and desserts at Angie's home to enjoy this view of the Plaza lights.

As always, she went all out making it special for us.

Beth says that Angie is determined to bring some culture into our lives. She takes us to museums, botanical gardens, and other big city things that I never think about doing, but adore visiting when I'm taken there.

On this day, I did something WAY, WAY out of my comfort zone! We explored Science City at Union Station, and all of us rode the sky bike.

I'm terrified of heights, and have no balance. But apparently, this thing can not tip over, it is balanced by the load of bricks that hang beneath it.

Hmmm…

It felt like I was going to plummet to the ground. Bypassing that net somehow, of course.

But I did it. Twice! I did not enjoy either time, but it was good for my soul to give it a try. Just like all of the culture Angie has me soaking up, that is a nice change from my typical days, a little change of scene has been good for me.

We checked out the Kaufman Gardens to see the Poinsettias, and goofed off with a photo shoot. I'm channeling my inner Zoolander here.

Silliness was the main part of the day, we played like little kids, giggled, and belly laughed all afternoon.

In my opinion, adults need to get some childlike, joyous, laughing fits going every once in a while to stay sane.

I started out my day with some crafting, so was already in a very happy mood. In the last month, I've not spent much time with my glue bottle. I made up a few of these ornies to pass out at our lunch, and it felt wonderful to be doing things I loved again.

My heart rate seems normal, and at Science City, I could run up and down stairs without needing a break or getting light headed. Looks to me like my cardiac procedure was a success, and I was celebrating feeling normal again.

I don't think I realized how bad I'd felt for how long. Most of my summer was droopy and tired.

Of course, spending a day with fun friends, is always helpful.

I've been throwing myself headfirst into holiday happenings, and for a while was feeling like I'd over scheduled and it was too much, but just this week, I've gotten past that and am loving all of the activities and excitement.

Now, my problem is trying not to feel guilty about not getting any work done…

I'd told myself earlier that I'd just take it easy and not worry about work for a while, so I haven't updated my Boutique with new items for Christmas. That was fine when I was still a little weak or droopy, but now that I'm flying through the sky on bikes, that seems a bit hypocritical.

Well, too late, the holiday selling season has about passed. I need to let go of the guilt, enjoy feeling better, and plan for getting some work done in January instead.

For now?

I am Merry Christmassing it up. Going for the glory and the joy of the month. And I am blessed by my new found good health!

Wire and lace angel wings

holiday decor, how to's, how-to projects

By Karla Nathan / December 6, 2016

When we built the new mantle, I had hung a couple of my paintings and a mirror above it. To keep them secure, we anchored the frames to the stone. Which was a good idea, but wasn't handy for changing out the pictures for the holidays, and I felt that the pink roses were a little springy for Christmas.

So, I covered the glass of the two paintings with burlap, using two sided foam tape, then hung some hand made angel wings over that.

I wanted one large pair of wire and lace wings for the giant frame that used to be the top of a Victorian door.

To make them, I used wire wrapped in raffia. I thought that roughness of the raffia would be a good surface to adhere the lace to, I'd worried that the plain wire might be too slick. I'm sure I could've made it work by either wrapping the wire in ribbon first, or stitching the lace instead of gluing, but I also liked the rustic look of the brown raffia under the dainty lace I was going to use.

I cut two pieces of wire the same length, and twisted them into wing shapes. leaving a tail on each to twine together in the center to connect the two wings.

This vintage, beaded, lace dress was from a thrift store for $5. I cut the lining out and and roughly trimmed two sides of it to fit over the wire wing shapes.

Glue guns are rarely my favorite tool, but in this instance, just what I needed. I glued the lace to the top of the wire in small sections at a time.

Once the lace was attached, I flipped the wings over and trimmed the fabric down to about an inch of excess.

Then, I rolled it around the wire and glued it down on the backside too.

I liked them as they were, but wanted some embellishments. I added a few white feathers, and velvet leaves, to the center, and tied on silk ribbon to hang them from, then glued a faded millinery bloom over that.

The silk is tied to a small nail I put into the frame.

When they were hung, they were a bit wonky. I think a heavier gauge wire would prevent that. To keep the wings from swaying and looking like a pair of droopy stockings, I stretched them out and used straight pins to attach them to the burlap. They keep their shape ok that way, but if I make another pair, I will definitely use a sturdier wire so there is no droop.

The ruffled pair of wings is similar to the tutorial Dawn has for angel wings. I did these differently, but it is the same sort of style. Mine are layered with dyed crepe paper and more of the beaded lace from the vintage dress, then embellished much like the wired set.

I'd drawn my own pattern onto cardboard and covered it. Dawn offers a pattern and full directions on her site if you'd like to make a pair yourself. Plus, she is just plain old, nice to visit.

Some Cottage Christmas pictures

cottage, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 3, 2016

Our cottage is feeling festive, even though the decorations are slightly streamlined from previous years. I spent a good part of a whole day setting up trees and little holiday vignettes like these reindeer figurines on moss. The day included a lot of breaks, plus a trip to buy a few strands of lights, so it was a lite work day, but I'm happy with how much I got set up.

It was exciting to have a new room to deck! I bought a flocked, white tree (half price at Hobby Lobby) that is the perfect height for the nook by the fireplace. Sugarwings did the math to see how tall it would be while sitting on a table (to keep it above the danger zone from Honey's exuberant, but destructive, wagging tail.)

It is not only the ideal size, it is a happy compromise on color scheme for the kids and I.

They want colorful lights, I like white.

It has been a dilemma for years.

This tree has a button to push that changes the lights from rainbow to plain white! So the grandfairies can enjoy all of the colors during cocoa parties in front of the tree, and I can have my serene whites when I want them.

I have to admit, the multi toned twinklies are a nice option to have. I love the white lights, but this look is fun.

Of course, I always wonder just how long those built in lights will last. On my old tree, I had to add extra strings as the permanent lights proved to be not so permanent after all.

I hadn't planned on keeping my old white tree this year, since I had a spanking new one to set up. But I realized that I had plenty of space (we LOVE the new addition!!!!) and I decided to toss the bottom section of the old tree, and keep the top part to create a table top tree for the living room.

The small table between the rooms is our cocoa party area. It is perfectly located with a view of both white trees, as well as the TV, so we can watch Frosty or the Grinch as we sip our cocoa and stir it with a candy cane.

We made our own cocoa mix with baking cocoa, organic sugar, chocolate chips, and vanilla beans in the blender. It's so creamy and rich when we stir it into warmed milk poured from a floral teapot, that we hardly need marshmallows. But we throw a couple in anyway because it's all part of the ceremony.

Around here, tea parties and cocoa parties aren't just about the treats. We love the traditions of getting out the good teacups, setting the table pretty, using the silver spoons from my mom and Great Aunt Caroline, then passing the dishes of toppings around the table while practicing our best manners.

Well, Dewdrop still is in it just for the treats, but she is only in kindergarten, she'll learn soon enough that it is the holiday traditions that make the season special. Sugarwings and I are teaching her.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures around the house.

The Halls are Decked!

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 30, 2016

Typically, the day after Thanksgiving, I delve deeply into the boxes of holiday goods that I've been waiting to decorate with. Sugarwings and I have a saying, "Respect the Bird." Which means that we hold ourselves back from tumbling headfirst into Christmas until after the Thanksgiving turkey has been eaten.

This year, I was a bit slower, it was Monday before I got around to tackling the trees.

I set up quite a few, slowly but surely, and by the end of the day, I was ready to kick back, eat some Thai take out and enjoy the lights.

Thank you for all of your kind comments and messages about my health. My heart is beating as it should, the procedure worked, which is great news. I'm feeling a tad worn down but am rallying a bit more each day.

There will be some more photos of the holiday decor soon. I'm using my infirmity as an excuse to be lazy for now.

Feeling Better

family

By Karla Nathan / November 27, 2016

The last few months haven't been easy for me. I've had some trouble with heart arrhythmia and have been tired and worn down. Then, recently, I had a procedure to repair the issue and it looks like it worked! But the healing time was rough, I had some small set backs, that slowed the recovery time. In ten days, I had surgery, a severe UTI that sent me back to the hospital, a chest cold, then an outbreak of head lice brought in by the kids (not uncommon, but what bad timing!). After that, a kidney infection, asthma problems from the cold I'd caught, and my back decided that I'd laid around enough and decided to attack me while I was down and out. Every time I'd cough, it was accompanied by a small screech caused by a back spasm from the jarring cough.

But I had family around to help me heal, Sugarwings took it upon herself to make some mint tea, and keep me hydrated.

My buddy, Beth, brought soup from my favorite restaurant, and a tattered heart filled with things I love.

Mostly, I didn't want to do much more than nap and watch Netflix ( The Crown was exactly what I needed!).

The cardiac ablation itself went well and the recovery from that wouldn't have been so bad, if I hadn't had the other things to deal with. A cough is worse than normal when you have had the interior of your heart cauterized. Ouch! Add some asthma and a thrown out back, and well, like I said, it was rough. I was glad I'd pre-posted on this blog, and had a multitude of stories that felt like they were telling themselves, I didn't need to get up and go to the computer.

Things started to improve, but I'm still lazing around part of each day. My dining table is covered in semi precious beads, and as I am up to it, I whip up a necklace or two and get ready for Christmas giving.

While I'm sad that I've not been able to do all of the Christmas crafts to sell like I have in the past, I'm hopeful that I can get some done, later than normal, but maybe I'll be able to list some. This is my absolute favorite time of year and I'm determined to create, whether I get to list the items or not.

For now, I'm just enjoying the season. And appreciating being up and about, ready to deck the halls and fall into all that December has to offer!

Author name: Karla Nathan