Karla Nathan – Page 229 – Karla's Cottage

Feathered Friends and a forgotton giveaway

collections, give away, redos, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / January 19, 2010

Beth and I finally got together today, we've been trying since Christmas Day! She and her husband were supposed to have Christmas dinner with us, but got snowed in. Between bad weather, and many other little issues, we hadn't had a chance to hang out since.

Today, she was able to come here and we worked away in the studio making things and talking for what seemed like a few minutes, but was really hours. When she left, I begged her to come back tomorrow, it was so nice to have a day to relax, chat, and catch up while creating things.

We also exchanged gifts, a few weeks late. Here is what she brought me. I hated to open it, the wrapping was so flowery and gorgeous, but was glad I did! I got a sharp, pink kitchen knife and cutting board (everyone HATES my kitchen utensil situation when they come over, and I really needed this upgrade), as well as a stack of especially pretty post cards and a floral box.

I'd made her a Christmas tree (yes, kind of late to enjoy that one!!) and placed it into a lidded glass jar that I decorated with her initial. I figured she could pack away the tree and use the jar in her studio for supplies. I also gave her a coffee travel mug that I fixed up, but forgot to take a picture of. I did a similar one for myself, so I'll show that with some how to's another day.

For me, today was birdie day. I had some red birds, that were a nice, vintage cotton fiber, but honestly, I just am not a red person. So, I thought I'd try painting them. I used a combination of acrylic paint, then crackle paint, then glitter and was pretty happy with the results.

These two are in love.

They are all love birds now, instead of cardinals. Some have already been used in projects and will be lovely Valentine displays, that can carry on into Spring time since there are no hearts or other blatant signs of Valentine's – just a feeling of it.

Others are individual birds that are ready for you to use in your own projects, or to simply enjoy as is.

If you'd like one, they are listed in my Boutique.

I've got big plans brewing for beefing the Boutique back up, its a bit emptied out after the holidays.

I've already listed a few packs of Heavenly Wallpapers (sorry, they are already sold!) but am still chopping and will be adding more soon as I get all the slicing and dicing done.

There will be an announcement when they are ready to sell. I've got 11 x 14 and 8 x 10 in about 15 styles so far, but want to cut more up and get a full restock done. Since I've got over 200 rolls of wallpaper, I can't cut them all without spending a lifetime doing nothing else, but I at least want a BIG assortment ready to share with you. I hope to have at least 25- 30 patterns cut and ironed and photographed by the end of the week.

There will be some new millinery packs coming too.

Its a lot of work to pluck the blooms, but at least I have a helper!

I forgot all about the January Giveaway!! How about a bird? I made an army of them today, the ones pictured here are just a few. If you'd like a foofed and glittered bird, please leave a comment on any post, all month.

Lighting

Chandeliers, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), paintings, parties, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / January 17, 2010

Remember the rugs I want from Curious Sofa? I am still jone-sing for those, but right now, they aren't available in the size I need for the kitchen. My house is big, but my rooms are small, in the old part of the house. And this is AFTER removing some walls!

I found these plain bamboo mats at Old Time Pottery for under $25 each. They are far, far, far from the quality of the ones at Curious Sofa. Those have wider, more solid planks of bamboo, more floor like than this. These are pretty light weight, and are a temporary solution for me.

To foof them up a bit, I drew on them with a brown Sharpie marker. It was an easy, quick project to do, I just sat on the floor and doodled away while Sugarwings and Twinkle played with toys next to me.

The reason I love the bamboo rugs for my kitchen to start with, is that they are low maintenance. If something spills, or mud gets tracked in, just sweep and mop them, and its a speedy clean up. But, I don't have to worry about as much filth showing (and with 3 dogs, a 3 year old, and a lot of grown men in living in this country house, there is plenty of filth!) because they are darker than the horrid light colored tiles we have.

By the way, if you are ever tempted to install cream colored flooring, just whack yourself over the head with one of the tiles instead. DO NOT give in to impulse!! I regret it daily. No matter how clean my house is, those floors always look bad.

(please don't tell Twinkle that the photo is of the rug, not of her, it would break her heart.)

I'm wishing we'd gone for darker tile, or even a really dark stained pine plank…

Soft lighting helps, though! Last night we had a dinner party, and I made use of all my lamps.

The overhead lights got turned off and I switched on all the smaller lamps and lit candles instead. (this rug still needs some Sharpie doodling) There is something about the soft glow coming from the corners of the room that makes me fall in love with my home all over again.

When we built the cabinets, I had electrical outlets added above them. There is one in the corner cabinet too. In that one, I drilled holes to run an extension cord up through, so I could have a little 25 watt lamp on each shelf.

And of course, you can't beat candle light either. I use this old chandelier with no wiring ($4 at a flea market) and the sockets perfectly fit tea lights. Previously, I used candelabras, till I realized that they are always in the way and block the view of the person across the table.

Tea lights don't drip, and burn for just over 2 hours or so, just right for a relaxed dinner with friends.

The snow still has not melted around here, and I have decided to give up on waiting. So I trudged through it to claim these garden chairs I wanted for the breakfast nook. Much better! The hand painted Victorian chairs are now in the studio, and I think this corner is much less sweet. I loved the chairs, and I loved the curtains, but when I got those great new lace panels, I realized that I needed some juxtaposition, or my house would look like a little old lady lived in it.

Well, I might be getting old, but I hope to not let my house reflect it… Some contrast, and some junk help keep a home whimsical and not fussy.

Pretty kitty

antiques/junking, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / January 15, 2010

Have you met some wonderful people online? I know that my life has been enriched by all my blog friends, and I am constantly being impressed and inspired by the kind hearts and generosity out there in bloga-ritaville (as my pal, Robin, calls it)

A while ago, Rachel contacted me to see if it was okay to send Sugarwings a gift. She says that she is raising boys but loves to make pretty things for little girls, and wanted to send my fairy grand baby a kitty doll. I told her that Sugarwings loves to play babykitty/mommykitty, and she even customized the doll, by adding a kitten!

When Sugarwings, her mommy and I opened the box, all three of us said "awwwww" all together, it was so cute nestled in the box and wrapped in tulle.

If you'd like one for yourself, or for some little sweetheart in your life, she has a family of kitties waiting to be adopted in her Etsy shop.

And if you think it would be fun to make your own little stuffed buddy, here is a head start for you. I bought a boxful of old laces and trims and these were in the box. There are a total of 15 precut teddy bears, with the faces already embroidered and ready to be sewn and stuffed. The directions and pattern are included and you can find it in my Boutique for $5 (total for all 15 guys and the directions)

This morning, I went to a Thai Chi class. I'm middle aged and pudgy, so I doubt if looked very elegant while trying to keep my balance, but I think I kind of enjoyed it. Ask me tomorrow, when I see how stiff I am in the morning.

The rest of the day was spent on odds and ends, cleaning up my studio, so I can make space to work on some orders that I need to get done (wall paper for Rita and a fairy portrait for Sherry). But cleaning the studio to me, doesn't mean just putting piles away, it means doing something with it. So, the pile of stuff accumulating on the desk waiting to be photographed, actually got their pictures taken and got listed in the shop.

This little needle kit is $6.50

Great rose cover, huh?

And I might just be too late for this one…. is anyone still making Valentine's or has that ship sailed? In case you are still working on a Valentine's swap, or making something pink and red and rosy for your self, here are some supplies.

I found a cute heart shaped plastic box (vintage) and filled it with pink and red buttons, pearl beads and little red velvet flowers. Oh, and a bit of flashy rhinestone jewelry.

Its wrapped up in a pink floral hankie tied with old trims, with a pink velvet millinery sprig attached.

Do you need the perfect napkin to complete the table setting for Valentine's Day? Here are some delicate little embroidered ones, that are as dainty as can be.

These are nice too. They make me feel like Spring is actually going to arrive some day….

It is warmer here, but sure not Spring time. At least it is bearable out there.

Good thing its not single digit cold any more, my husband has been outside changing the tire on Old Blue. Sugarwing's Hippy Chic Mommy had some car trouble this week, so my husband offered to loan his big red truck to her and he will drive Old Blue till she gets settled. But, before this decrepit chunk of rust can be road safe, it needs brakes, and before it gets brakes it needs a tire.

Its nice to have an extra vehicle out behind the shed when you need it. Even better if it runs….

Okay, back to work for me. That studio needs more work before I can actually use it!

Inspirations

antiques/junking, Chandeliers, collections

By Karla Nathan / January 14, 2010

When I finally escaped from being trapped at home by the cold spell, I got really lucky on my shopping trips. I'm always looking for millinery flowers, and my hat whispering skills were in fine form this week. Not only did I find old hats, look at this sweet little parasol purse that I found!

Too bad I can't go to Jenn's event in April, it would be the perfect purse to carry there.

And did I mention the hats??? FOURTEEN hats this week, all flowery and vintagey, some nice and velvety.

There were bargains out there waiting for me, the prices ranged from $1- $17, and some are just loaded to the brim (pun) with flowers. I'll be making up some pink, red, and white packs for Valentine's Day. Unless of course, I am too late. I might have missed out on getting supplies to you for Valentine's. I feel like I am never quite caught up… so much that I want to do, no time to do it.

While I was in Kansas City, my pal, Carol, gave me a sneak peek of her farm house, dream house. It was hard to be happy for her, when I was turning so green with envy that I was about to froth at the mouth.

Her new home will be amazing. It already is, but when she adds her special Spinski touches, it will be amazing-er.

And I had mentioned going to Curious Sofa to look for rugs, here is a picture of Debbie's stunning decor. See why I felt like I needed to de-flower my kitchen? Hanging around with Carol and Debbie has made me bump up my style to a more sophisticated palette. These two ladies were certainly an inspiration for my kitchen redo.

Beth too. She has that sepia thing going on too.

This chandelier is in her booth. Notice the NFS tag??? Durn. I'm wanting it.

The whole drive into KC yesterday, was a wet and muddy one from melting snow. But everywhere I went, there were rainbows! (Yes, I was driving and taking photos at the same time, but hey, I was not about to pass up a rainbow photo op!)

On my way to the antique mall, I came across this. Notice the "Income TAX" sign? This place inspires trust, doesn't it? Makes you want to bring your shoe box full of receipts right in and dump it on the plywood desk.

Forget Zero Dollar Decorating, I’m going shopping!!!!!!!!!!!

antiques/junking, Chandeliers, how to's, redos

By Karla Nathan / January 12, 2010

I got out of the house!!! We had quite the heat wave, temps roared up into the low 20s. So, of course, I had to go outside into the world and soak up some of that great weather.

And shop!

My Zero Dollar Decorating is done, I went out spending! First stop? Curious Sofa. Debbie had emailed 20% off coupons with an announcement of big sales. I had been coveting some bamboo rugs she carries, with vintage style script on them. Sadly, there weren't any in the size I needed, but I HAD to spend my coupon, right? You can't let 20% off at Curious Sofa just slip by.

So, I bought the clock in the first photo. It seemed to be just right for the new look in the kitchen. While I was in the neighborhood, I swung by Beth's booth at Mission Road Antique Mall and picked up the clock face (2nd photo). Hmm, looks like the beginning of a theme, to me.

When I saw this Cinderella's carriage, I knew that clocks were the right choice! It was found at my favorite antique mall, the Rusty Chandelier in St. Joe. My friend and I were both needing a good girlfriend day out and we made the most of it. Talking non-stop for about 10 hours, shopping, dining, and shopping some more. There was no one home at either of our houses, and no reason to get back, so we just made a day and an evening out of it.

After being cooped up for so long, it was exactly what I needed to myself back to normal. Sometimes you just need a day out, to talk to another adult who you are not related to, but just love like a sister and have a lot in common with. What would we do without our friends??? Including blogfriends- thank you all, for keeping my company while I was snowbound. If I didn't have your email conversations during this last cold snap, I'd have really gone insane.

Its nice to know that friends are only a keystroke away!

Since I had found my clock theme while out shopping, I decided to add a watch face to a piece of art I made today for the kitchen.

I started with a French ad from an old magazine, and glued a butter pat plate to it, added a millinery bloom and the watch face to the center of that. To the middle, I glued a rhinestone.

Then, I cut a tiny oval of old text and glued it to a charm, and glued a mini cameo to it, and hung it from a crystal. With a punch, I made two holes under the word "Paris" to put a ribbon through, then tied that to the crystal to dangle it.

At the bottom of the page, I pasted a German die cut rose.

It didn't quite look done, so I drew some scrolls and swirls in metallic inks. If I'd planned better, I'd have drawn it first, instead of trying to work around the things I'd already glued down.

After that, I rubbed dark brown ink along the inside of the mat, and popped it all back together. Now, I want to go buy some more shadow boxes and make more! I loved doing a 3-D collage, or is it called an assemblage?

Another purchase yesterday was this crystal ball, bubble night light. While I had the old French papers and glue out, I covered the wooden base of this, and inked the edges.

This frame was from our trip yesterday too. I wanted new accent pieces for the kitchen redo, but just couldn't find what I wanted, so decided to make something.

In this, I used more French text from an old book, that I'd embossed one day when Beth brought over her Cuttlebug.

To make the embossing stand out, I rubbed over it with a bronze ink pad.

In the center, I added a circle punched from the cover of the French magazine, which was a nice brown, then glued velvet petals and a white millinery rose to the circle.

After putting it back together, I fashioned a hanger from ribbons. I tightly tied two ribbons around the frame, then looped another one through them, and hung that one over a hook on the wall.

Here is a view from the far side of the kitchen. A great view of just how crooked the old house is…

After dropping my friend off after our day of shopping, I stopped and got a can of creamy taupe paint to change the walls behind the cabinets by the sink. The inset had been chocolate brown (like the rugs) but it seemed way too dark after my other changes. So, I was painting at midnight last night. It was a quick job though, because Behr now makes a primer/paint combo and it covers like a dream.

(that is a pot of chicken rice soup on the stove, yum, I'm hungry just thinking about it in the kitchen waiting for me!)

Here is the kitchen from the other direction. The wooden piece over the window is also from yesterday's expedition. I got it at Rusty Chandelier's sister store, Jesse James. (Or would Jesse be a brother store? They share a parking lot)

After painting the inset creamy taupe, I had to add some of that color to the faux finish around the other walls. I think I'm done. Well, maybe…. I really would love to find some non-princess chairs for Sugarwing's table.

And I am still planning on bringing in some metal garden chairs for the breakfast nook

if the snow ever melts.

I've got some old alarm clocks that I might take apart to get the faces from, and add some of those to the china cabinet, too.

And I really, really, really want those rugs from Curious Sofa! Either this one, or this one?

Well, maybe I am not done, after all.

Are we ever done? That is what makes it fun!

Here are my totals for what I spent, after I escaped from the house and the Zero Dollar Decorating:

paint- $36

trim over window- $19

frame for flower collage- $2

clock faces- $6

Cinderella's carriage- $29 (big splurge, but SO cool!!)

Clock from Curious Sofa- $48

bubble night light- $15

Fleur de Lis hook for flower collage- $6

The Snow Princess

Books, celebrations, Chandeliers, fairies, family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 10, 2010

Things are still icy around here and I am still too big of a wimp to go outside. If it is below 10 degrees, I just don't think a 3 year old needs to be in and out of the car, and even though I am feeling better and over my bug, I didn't want to be in and out of the car either.

So we decided to make the most of a snow day, and have a Snow Princess Tea Party. We got all dressed up for it.

Well, kind of. One of us did at least. I'm wearing my husband's long johns, two sweaters, hair that hasn't seen a fixin in days, and a black lace "wicked witch" jacket.

The idea came about when we were out in the studio and I realized that cabin fever was really getting to both of us, if I was letting a baby play with power tools. So, I started to make up a story about snow and princesses and fairies, and it turned into a 3 hour adventure for us both.

(Notice the new chandelier? It was out in the studio, I used it for lighting for above my jewelry display at shows, now it is staying in the kitchen. My son and I hung it last night- More Zero Dollar Decorating!!)

We scoured the studio for props, and made up the story as we went along. I covered Sugarwing's little table in layers of white and slipped pillow cases over our chairs.

After creating a snow princess crown, she decided that I should wear it instead of her. Sadly, she isn't a hat person. But that is okay, she usually indulges me in so many other ways, that I can forgive her for not playing with all of my vintage hats with me.

And what do you serve a snow princess? All white foods. Snow ball candy (yogurt raisins) were the hit of the day.

Here is the story:

Once upon a time there was a golden haired, happy little princess who loved to dance and sing in the sunshine. Every where the sweet girl went, flowers bloomed and birds sang with joy, just to be near her. Butterflies and fairies flit about above her just because she was so fun to be near. And her warm, kind heart always drew them to her.

One day, a nasty gnome who liked to spend his days in darkness and gloom heard the boisterous laughter of the happy little princess and all of her flying friends. This nasty gnome hated happiness and his ears ached from the sound of glee that was coming from the friends dancing and singing in the blooming garden.

He crept closer and peeped through the hedgerow to see where this hideous laughter was coming from. And he saw the pretty princess twirling and leaping in the flower beds. The sight of such playfulness brought pain to his eyes to match the pain in his ears. He couldn't take seeing and hearing anything as beautiful as this little girl. To him, it was not beauty at all- it was torture! He had to stop it.

So, he pulled out his crooked, magic wand and waved it through the air, then pointed it right at the happy little princess and cursed her with a spell to put a stop to all the singing.

The sweet princess suddenly felt a chill. She looked to the flowering ground beneath her silk clad toes and saw the flowers wilt and frost form over them. Quickly, the pond that was filled with long necked swans started to turn to icy slush, then freeze into a solid sheet of ice. As the princess looked up, a fat flake of snow fell right onto her once rosy, now pale cheek. She smiled at his sparkling crystal beauty, even as she felt herself growing cold.

All around her, the birds, and fairies, and butterflies flapped their wings trying to warm themselves as their world became covered in ice and snow and the sun was buried behind a gray cloud of doom.

As the nasty gnome still peaked through the ice-crusted hedges, he almost smiled. But he couldn't because he had a heart colder than any block of ice. But his ears no longer ached from the sounds of song and his eyes were no longer in pain from the sight of joyous dancing.

Because, the pretty little princess who loved playing in the sunlight, slowly turned into a snow princess. Her golden hair became as white as a blizzard and she was as frozen as the ice on the pond.But as she became a statue of snow, her face froze in an expression of wonder and delight as she saw the sparkling snow flakes fall.

He trudged away, feeling satisfied with his spell, knowing that her friends would fly away to someplace warmer, leaving the princess cold and alone like he had been his entire life of 568 years.

But as he left, he looked over his shoulder, expecting to see a flight of fairies, butterflies, and birdies deserting their princess. Instead, he saw something different! All the creatures fluttered around her, staying close to bring her what little warmth they could. The littlest fairy gathered herbs to make tea to warm her, as the swans plucked their down feathers to cover her frozen limbs.

Because the sweet princess had such a loving and kind soul, no one would leave her. Even though they were so cold and had wings to fly away from the frozen garden back to sunshine, they stayed with their snow princess. They would not stray from her side no matter how cold and miserable they were!

Maybe it was the tea that started to warm her. Or the fluffy swan's down? But she knew that it was the love her friends showed her that warmed her heart and melted the ice that held her captive. All the love and caring freed the happy little princess and broke the evil spell the nasty gnome had cast.

He saw the sun coming back out through the clouds and the flowers shaking off their frost and reopening their petals. He heard singing, even more loud and joyous than what he had heard before! This time, he ran as fast as his stubby, gnarly legs would take him, far, far away from the horrid sounds. He ran straight to a cave deep inside of a hill where he could hide forever in the darkness and gloom where he belonged.

A rainbow appeared in the sky as the ice storm cleared and the snow princess thawed. She felt the sun on her skin, wiggled her toes in the soft dirt of the garden and grinned the biggest, happiest grin she'd ever grinned before. But from that day on, her hair stayed white as a blizzard and was never the color of sunshine again.

When she saw her reflection in the pond, she was reminded of the nasty gnome and his evil spell. But she was never frightened when she remembered that day. To her the white hair was the color of the downy swan feathers that her loved ones tried to warm her with. Her memories of that cold, cold day were of the love and caring that she shared with her friends.

Where all the roses went, and my kitchen through the ages

Hand Painted Furniture, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, redos, show and tell

By Karla Nathan / January 8, 2010

My Zero Dollar Decorating has slowed to a crawl, I seem to have caught a bug of some kind. Or does Cabin Fever also cause joint aches and stomach cramps? Ugh. Its still colder than ever, but all of our cars are freed from ditches and snowbanks. I just am not up to getting out of the house.

People have asked me to show more whole room pictures of the kitchen, I'll take some when I am feeling a bit better. This bug is giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "under the weather" for me! I was feeling bad enough from being cooped up by the cold, I sure didn't need to catch a cold too.

There are a few photos that I had taken of where I moved the deeper, brighter color things from the kitchen to, I'll show those now.

Before, the corner cabinet in the dining room was all done in blue and white. Now, I've added roses to it from the kitchen, on top of all the blues.

The blue bird themed plates and figures, I've collected for a while, as well as the china roses. They are another remnant from my antique mall days, I'd bought them to sell in the booth and they never did. As I was redoing all my shelves, I wasn't surprised to see how many things I own were by default. Stuff I bought to sell and ended up keeping. Its not a bad thing, because I always told myself that I would not ever buy anything merely to sell it, I had to really like it and say it was something I'd add to my own home (because unless you are magic, not everything sells!). It was a form of staying true to my own sense of style, I guess.

Not all of this is inventory that I kept, the large chintz cake plate was my mom's, and so was the aqua wine glass. A gift from family, and some from friends are here too.

This shelf has some sentimental things, a framed quilt square from Grandma Nathan, a hankie from Grandma Downey, two pitchers covered in roses from my favorite flea market (reminders of fun times with my pal, Beth), and the bird I made at Silver Bella in Denise Sharp's class.

Plus this bird, she is so wrong she is right. I wonder if some crafty lady in the pre-glue gun days, added the feathers to this poor figurine or if it was meant to be this way? I see things like this and am oddly attracted to them, wondering if someday, my own embellishments that I am making to things now will be looked kindly upon in the future by someone at a garage sale with a quarter to spare?

The blue mirrors that are in this cabinet remind me of my sisses, who both collect blue mirrors too. The carnival glass and the cobalt teapot were both my mom's and those items were the original reason behind even having shelves filled with blue and white. Funny, how a couple of pieces of sentimental things can influence a whole room.

The photo on the left is of my husband and I about to share a smooch, and the frame on it is an old blue mirrored one. The photo (with a glare on it) on the right is my Mom's high school picture. Sugarwings has been made into art by my friend, Lori, and Beth created the vintage wallpaper covered journal.

I'm not exactly the sort of person to have a traditional hutch filled with wedding china. My stuff is a miss match of things I like, hopefully pulled together in a way that's attractive. But most of all it makes me smile when I see it. I am the sort of person who, really, really enjoys her stuff and likes to see it out and about.

Again, no one wanted these paint by number roses. I had them for sale here and there and there was never a taker for them. I even tried to give them away a couple times. Am I the only person to appreciate fine art? Actually, these bring back lots of memories of paint by number sets I had as a kid and adored.

And I do think they are pretty. Especially grouped with all of these blooms.

I'll leave you with some previous transformations of my kitchen, these photos are all from magazine articles I've been in. Some are from before we got the new cabinets, and some are from before I discovered pastels….

(I wish I hadn't sold this table!)

(My mom's carnival glass inspired the painting on this table, its sold too)

How do you paint a table with a leaf in it and still have a pattern on it?

First, paint the whole table without the leaf. Then add one leaf, and paint it so that the edges match up to each side of the table. If you have another leaf, match it to the first leaf and the edge of the table on the other side.

Okay, better stop now, I'm getting to the really old ones that were more country than cottage and they make me cringe!

Extreme Cabin Fever and MORE Zero Dollar Decorating

antiques/junking, collections, fairies, housework, how to's, paintings

By Karla Nathan / January 7, 2010

The weather just keeps getting worse. Luckily, I escaped for an afternoon on Tuesday to go see my pal Carol, of Raised in Cotton. If I hadn't gotten a little break from being housebound, I'd be bouncing off the walls instead of just repainting them!

Its colder and there has been more snow, so even though it was cold on Tuesday, it was the best day to get out. I couldn't go anywhere today no matter how much I might want to. So, I've been working away on my Zero Dollar Decorating to stay sane. I touched up all the paint on the dining room walls, and repainted the base boards with a quick brush of glossy white.

Then, I brightened the room up with a wall of mirrors that I shopped for from the bedroom and studio. The picture in the glorious gold frame went into the bedroom to replace the large mirror.

Next, I tackled the corner cabinet in the kitchen. It had been painted pink inside like the other cabinets that I redid earlier. Plus, I hadn't rearranged anything in it for years. It looked pretty cute when I set it up, ages ago, but over time, it got cluttery and too much as I'd stick treasures in here and there after hitting garage sales.

My kitchen is getting a de-rose-ing. I told Beth I was deflowering it and she said that maybe that wasn't the best term to use.

I still LOVE roses and all my little pretties, so this is more of a shuffle, some went to the dining room, and some to the studio, and some will be listed to sell in the Boutique, if I ever get back to work.

This weather has affected me mentally. I seem to be in some weird limbo, waiting for my real life to get back on track. Extreme cold weather always sets me off like that. Its an odd sort of cabin fever, I start hating staring at the same walls and want to change them and everything inside them. Combine that with the post Christmas let down, and weeks of these horrid temperatures, instead of just days of it, like we are used to in Kansas, and I have gone berserk from it!

(Or berserker,if you are a Kevin Smith fan)

Sorry, didn't mean to run on with my weather complaints. Back to the photos….

Here is the after.

It is still nice and rosy, but is toned down and cleaned up. The sides are covered in the tone on tone silk wallpaper that I had in my stash. Funny, it is the first vintage wallpaper I have ever bought, and I got it 20 years ago to cover the walls of my dining room and never used it. I'd stuck it away in the closet and found it a couple years ago when I realized that old wallpaper was a wonderful art supply. And now, here it is, used on my home after all.

I like to mix my china cabinet shelves up a bit and display more than just china. A framed old print (that I tried to sale at Miss Frenchies and Silverbella, but no one wanted! I'm glad now- sometimes I think that my home is full of nothing but things that I bought to sell and got stuck with), an old Haeger pot filled with silverware, ready to set out for a buffet, a collage I did at Silver Bella, and of course, some fairies and birdies.

For me, fairies and flowers in with the dishes makes for a much more interesting look.

The wallpaper is stapled up, instead of glued. Because I know that I am fickle. It doesn't look perfect, but with so much in the cabinet, who can tell?

Its just background. A nice, neutral, but pretty background!

The plates in the back corner are on a stair shaped stand, which is just what I need for my love of layering. I also like to hang things on the cabinet walls, pictures, cherubs, plates, etc.

Adding cake stands helps with layering too. I try for a variety of heights, and make lots of groupings instead of just lining up a matching set of plates. When my mom died, my sister got her set of Wild Rose dishes, and instead of keeping it for herself, she broke up the set and gave each of us a place setting. Mine is on this shelf, with a lot of other pale pink rosey dishes.

I went for an over all sense of "white", even though other colors were used as accents.

The lamp on that shelf was a quick project. I got it for 50% off of $5 at one of my favorite antiquing joints a while back and it was out in my studio waiting to see what it would become. Well, it didn't take much to transform it. In under 5 minutes, it had a whole new look.

1- switched the shade to an older one that I'd picked up at a garage sale a few years back.

2- pinned a rhinestone brooch to the shade

3- cut a page from a vintage French text book to fit the body of the lamp

4- drizzled glue on the book page, then rolled it around the lamp and burnished it down with my fingers

I really doubt that it took more than 2 or 3 minutes to do.

After the corner cabinet, I tacked the cabinet tops. Over the years, I'd collected tea pots, and over the years, as my tastes have changed, I edited the collection. My last redo had mostly rose patterned tea pots lined up on the cabinets. This time, I got rid of most of them, except a few plain white ones (I guess you can't see them in this photo, they are at the other end). I wanted to go very neutral and have much less up above. Now you can see the vines I'd painted on the wall years ago. I'd had so much crap up there, those were hidden.

They were also hidden by filth. Ugh, it was NASTY up there. All pottery got popped into the dishwasher, and I tried to clean the walls, and ceiling (yes, I told you I was going stir crazy with cabin fever- I WAS WASHING CEILINGS!!) but the greasy, dusty coating that was on everything was too awful to come off with my environmentally safe Windex. I had to use elbow grease and baking soda with a pot scrubber. And we are not people who fry much of anything. Where does all that grease come from???

That grease was another reason to put much, much less junk up there!

In this photo you can see a couple of the white pots that made the cut. I redid the narrow shelves between the cabinets too. I'd had decorated bottles, rosy shakers, and green depression glass there before.

Well, I could run on and on and on, telling you about my shuffling and reshuffling. I've been at it nonstop. You know how you take something from one room to another, then you have to redo to cover the hole that you made when you first moved that piece? Yep, that is the vortex that I have fallen into.

I switched the dining room picture with the mirror from the bedroom, and then had to dig around and find a different bedspread that matched better in there. Lots of those kinds of problems came up. But I am getting a new look with the same old stuff from other rooms, closets, or out in the studio, and keeping myself semi-safe from the ravages of cabin fever.

And I am getting lots of little problems solved. Like this ceiling tin that was covering the bad patch job. It has new screws, is up tightly, and now I've got it faux finished to match the ceiling.

At this rate, my New Years's resolution for 2010 will be completed before January is even over. And not in the typical way, where you give up. I'll run out of things to fix or redo around the house!!

There is more I want to do while I am trapped here in the house, but I think I am at the end of what I can do with with I have, and keep it Zero Dollar. I need a gallon of paint and some hardware before I go any further, and both cars and all three trucks are stuck in the driveway.

But today, I have Sugarwings. We've been climbing up and down the ladder that is in the kitchen and sitting in the dark closet playing with flashlights.

Now, its time to go and bake muffins, so I'd better run.

More Zero Dollar Decorating

redos

By Karla Nathan / January 5, 2010

Its still cold, I'm still stuck indoors staring at these same walls, and sick of them! So, I kept going with my Zero Dollar Decorating. (plus it gave me something to do so I could avoid starting on taxes!)

In the kitchen, I repainted the interior of my glass door cabinets, and covered the backs in vintage silk wallpaper, then rearranged the things inside, to have a more neutral look.

On the edges of the shelves, I glued some of the pretty hand made trim that I got from my Late Great Aunt Caroline. The wallpaper is some of my stash, and the paint is the wall color from the adjoining dining room.

After painting and moving around the plates and glasses and mugs, I decided that I needed a more neutral curtain for below the sink. When I rummaged around in my studio, I came across some burlap and decided that was just what I needed. But when it was done, it was a little too un-Karla-like, so I took it down and sewed some of my aunt's old lace to the bottom.

I'm pretty happy with it now. I also covered the lamp shades with brown paper to warm them up a bit too, and to match the new curtain. Hmm, looks like I need a light bulb… And too bad that the coffee maker is such a dominant feature on the counter. It looks like a big, black robot! But, heck, I LIVE here and I do need my coffee every morning!

For the dining room, I turned the table to a different angle and gave the room a whole new look. Then, I brought in a side table from the studio to fill the space that I'd snitched the cabinet from to take to the bathroom the day before. Its not permanent, I'd rather have something with a door or drawers to store table linens in. I've got a piece in mind, but it is TOO COLD to go out to the garage to get it and fix it up!

To feel warmer, I hung some heavier curtains over the lace panels that I had up. These are from Target, about 7 years ago, a nice, heavy velvet that really traps the cold air coming in around the windows. They looked a bit blah, so I took some ribbon and safety pins to tie up a lace panel that I sometimes use as a table runner.

Since it was too cold outside to hop in the car and go shopping, (plus, I am broke from Christmas) I was forced to shop around the house and studio to find things for my redo. None of the changes are very big, or dramatic, but they've helped me cope with some winter blues!

Zero Dollar Decorating

housework, redos, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / January 3, 2010

Only 3 days into the New Year and I am already making good on my resolutions. I've been touching up, cleaning up, and foofing up.

Years ago, we had a leaky skylight. It was repaired badly, you could always see a lump in the ceiling. So, I'd covered it with textured paint.

The lump was still there.

Then, I put this old ceiling tin over it, that did the trick, but the tin panel didn't hit the studs and wasn't secure on one side. It kind of dangled a bit, but not a lot. Still, it bugged me, but I ignored it.

But today, I reattached it with anchor screws! I still need to glaze over it in pink, so the lavender isn't so strong and it matches my faux finished ceiling better.

All of this snow and cold has made me feel like a prisoner in my home and I'm starting to get sick of the view. So, I decided to do a little Zero Dollar Decorating by moving stuff around in the house. This cabinet was in the dining room before, I moved it into the bathroom and brought some vintage tins in from the studio to store Q-tips, band-aids, etc. in. There is an old tin trash can lined with a doily in the bottom, that now holds TP.

After moving the cabinet in to the bathroom, I had to rearrange the wall grouping. And I even filled all the old nail holes after moving the pictures around!

Then, I went around the house and filled other neglected nail holes. And squirted lots and lots of calk (always use the paintable kind!) into any crevice that felt drafty. I went through 4 tubes of the stuff. We have an old and drafty house.

The right length screw was found for the knobs on the cabinet in the bedroom.

And I found a screw to fit a knob to go onto this corner cabinet door in the kitchen. For some reason, My home has been a Bermuda Triangle for knobs this year. They have fallen off in my hand, the screws have rusted and broken, or just plain cracked in half.

The corner cabinet used to have two matching door knobs like this, now it is this one and the glass one in the previous photo. I don't mind a mis-match, actually, I think I prefer it.

Here is a before and after of more Zero Dollar Decorating. (The left side is the before, and still has my Christmas garland of berries up) With the new, (old) French netting curtains, I thought my pink iron corner bits were a bit too much. I took some old iron fence posts (that were used elsewhere) and hung them up as curtain rods.

Isn't that an improvement? I'd like to change the chairs too. These will go in my studio, and I'll bring in some garden chairs to rustic it up a bit. I love pretty, and always will, but too much pretty all together gets to be a bit overly sweet. So a few rougher elements will tone it all down.

(The pink urn holds gloves and hats, and this table is near the front door)

But with this ice and cold, I'm going to take my time on getting those chairs inside! Bbbrrrrrhhh! I've got some other shuffled decor going on too, that will keep me busy. Since I took a cabinet out of the dining room, I need to look around the house for something to replace it with. I think there is a broken table in the garage I could fix up. And I am thinking about de-rose-ing my kitchen a bit. Not completely, but enough to take away that overly sweet look that I mentioned.

I've also repainted Ryan's bathroom and bought the paint to redo a door in Sugarwing's room. I'm going at this resolution with gusto and determination. All the Christmas decorations are put away and I'm ready for a new look. But on a budget. So far, I've only bought a couple of screws and a quart of paint.

Before I forget, the winner of my December Giveaway and the gift certificate from Vintage Workshop is

Rhea

Since I'm in a tizzy of home repair, (Handyman Don comes tomorrow!!) I don't have time to list new things in the Boutique. So far the 50% off sale has been wonderful, thanks to all of you who have shopped there. I'm extending the sale until I can get caught up and have new goodies to share with you.

Details are: Go ahead and make your purchase and pay by paypal. I will refund 50% of the total plus any excess postage (the site over charges on multiple purchases sometimes, its hard to judge).

If you are paying by check, please email me for a total and I will mark things sold.

As of tonight, I've "cleaned up" the site and have all the sold items deleted so it is easier to shop in.

Thanks again!

There is a fun Before and After party at

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/01/before-and-after-party.html

Check it out for some great ideas for your next redo!

Author name: Karla Nathan