antiques/junking – Page 6 – Karla's Cottage

My dolly redo obsession has GROWN (to about 4’ high)

antiques/junking, holiday decor, how-to projects

By Karla Nathan / July 16, 2023

I have remade many, many old dolls into fairies, angels, witches, and zombies. I can’t help it, I see a doll that needs a makeover and I’m itching to start gluing things all over her and giving her a new look.

St Nick, here, is my latest and my biggest. And while he might not be a fairy, he is a jolly old elf.

He was at a garage sale where everything was a dollar.

(Including a dining room table with six chairs. Seriously, every single item was $1. The same day, I was at a sale where everything was 50 cents. You just gotta love garage sailing, you never know what you’ll find. Even if it is something you do not need. I’m very proud of myself for not coming home with a dining room set.)

He caught my eye, because I knew he deserved better than a felt suit. Poor guy. I’m sure he was fine as is, but he was not living up to his full potential.

I had no idea what was lurking beneath, or how I was going to redo him, so I just started pulling him apart and taking it as I found it.

My best surprise was that under the fake fur covers, he had nice boots. All they needed was a shine in the form of some high gloss spray paint.

His rubber face needed paint too, and a lot of it. I primed that first thing, to let it dry while I worked on other elements.

There, that new face is better!

The painting part was easy, but the clothing? That gave me some issues, I am not a seamstress. And the heavy, cut velvet fabric (it used to be my old sofa’s slipcover) was pretty thick. I envisioned many broken needles if I attempted getting the sewing machine out.

So, first I tried staples, and discovered that they sorta worked. At least a couple could hold material in place while the glue dried. So with a combo of hot glue and The Ultimate, I started sticking the fabric to the plastic and gluing seams in the clothes. Since I wasn’t using a needle and thread, I carefully cut the velvet to make sure that finished edges made up my hemmed areas.

But then, I started to fret about the pants. His previous britches were real pants, with an elastic waist. As I tried to figure out how to replicate that, I realized that he was not going to be pulling them off and on, and I did not need anything that complicated.

So I made two legs out of rectangles glued them to his thighs.

While they already had a finished edge from the hem of the slipcover, I still covered that with fur. Because, well, dur, Santa! Of course his trousers are fur trimmed.

And not just any old, fake fur this time. I used strips cut from a vintage, white mink pillow.

Next, I covered up my most hideous glued together seams with trim and old lace, then added more mink in appropriate places. I did not have quite enough to go around the bottom of his jacket, like a traditional Santa suit, but did what I could and made it go as far as I could by using thin strips.

I knew that my husband had the world’s rattiest belt in his closet, one that should’ve been thrown away years ago. It was practically in shreds. I cut the buckle off, glued it together where I could, peeled off the worst straggles and spray painted it like the boots.

The buckle is an antique, mother of pearl one that I slid in place and glued on. But first, I tucked a couple handfuls of stuffing under the jacket. I thought this guy was looking too slim.

Originally, Santa had a bag of badly wrapped gifts (more felt) and cheapo plastic garland. No kid wants that delivered down the chimney.

So I lined the bag with a pretty doily and added a fluffy teddy and an old doll (she had no legs, and was scheduled to become a zombie, I’m sure she prefers this life).

The bag is glued, stapled and pinned into place, and the rope to it is glued to his mitten.

I left the mittens as is, they are the only part that did not get a makeover.

His too shiny glasses got a little tarnish with paint and I made his beard, mustache, and eyebrows from curly locks goat hair.

The hat is pretty simple, it’s from another fabric, but with a similar look, and is also trimmed in mink and glued together.

All in, it took me almost five hours on a day that I should’ve been working on something else. But I could not help myself, it had to be done. And everything I used was stuff that was repurposed and hanging around in the studio.

And speaking of hanging around in the studio, I have nowhere to put this guy til Christmas. I have a feeling he will become my loyal companion while I work out there.

From Fairytale to Haunted Mansion

antiques/junking, cottage, family

By Karla Nathan / July 10, 2023

Sugarwings will be SEVENTEEN this August.

SEVENTEEN

How and when did that happen? That also means my blog will soon be 17.

This is the very first photo I posted of that lil sprite.

And this is my most recent photo of this piece of my heart. Before leaving for a summer in North Carolina with Dad, we went to the Omaha Zoo together. And I have to say that trips and outings with this kid are 100% as enjoyable as they were years ago. This person will always be filled with magic, curiosity, and joy in exploration.

Sugarwings has been a good sport about living in a mermaid/fairytale bedroom but confided in me that there was a Pinterest wish board of a Nightmare Before Christmas/Haunted Mansion style that they loved.

At first, I thought that I would redo the room as a surprise, but had second thoughts and decided to include their wishes long distance. And I was glad that I did, we had a good time texting pictures and colors back and forth across the country.

So, I repainted and put the room together, showing the steps by text as they were completed. ( One bit of control that I kept over the process was gathering color samples that I approved myself before saying, “what color do you want.” This way, I got a shade of plum that I was fine with on the walls as opposed to a possible tone that might’ve driven me bonkers.)
Sugarwings also did not want to rip up the murals that were in the room they had used off and on. We have two rooms upstairs that have been switched up over the years from nursery, guest room, Dewdrop’s space, Sugarwings’ dwelling, toy room, etc. We like to redecorate periodically.

This photo is from a few years ago, the bed had been repainted since, but the walls are the same, and my soft hearted sweetie was too sentimental to lose this mural.

The solution was to flip rooms. This one was much smaller and had no closet.

But there was a little walkway into it that had a linen closet. At one time, this was our laundry room, now the washer and dryer are downstairs. We were able to move the linen closet shelves to the mural room’s closet and set up a clothes rod in this area, and there you go.

This new bedroom was now feeling much larger than it would have if I’d had to squeeze in a wardrobe for storage.

Once things were repainted or reconstructed, the fun part began. I went through my Good Juju inventory and shopped for black furniture and odds and ends to decorate with. Sugarwings already had dragons, and a few other things they’d want to use. I arranged everything for now, but I am sure that when the kiddo gets back from NC, there will be some rearranging to suit their own taste.

When Dewdrop was little, she loved Snow White, so I’d made this for her with that theme as a magic mirror. The silver in was scraped off with a razor blade and a picture could be seen inside the mirror.

Now, I’ve given the pink flowers a black wash of paint and removed Snow White’s photo. There is now a skull with a flower crown peeking through the mirror. If this is too creepy, we can easily change it, the picture is just taped on the back. I might’ve gone too far with this, Sugarwings did have more of a Disney theme planned.

But I knew a slightly creepy edge would be appreciated.

I discovered that a coat of black changes many things from shabby chic to gothic. Both are ornamental styles.

Because of the low ceilings and small footprint, this room has a platform bed with drawers underneath. I added a piece of a vintage iron headboard on the wall behind it to make the bed feel more substantial. It had been hanging outside, so was nice and rusty.
I left both white to keep the room from becoming too heavy.

The ballerina bats are some that I sell at Halloween. Simple, plastic bat skeletons with vintage flowers and tutus.

Sugarwings wanted green for sheets because that is a shade from Disney’s Haunted Mansion. And a striped comforter similar to Jack Skellington’s pants. This was as close as I could get in a comforter at a reasonable price. I found it at Ross along with the fluffy rug. The sheets and curtains are Amazon. Besides paint and rid brackets for the closet, everything else was scrounged from the house or repurposed.

I sure miss having that child around, but we will be visiting the North Carolina side of the family soon. And redoing this bedroom has made me feel a little closer to Sugarwings during the separation.

Feeling beachy

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / July 7, 2023

July at Juju is Beachy Keen on one of my walls.

I have found some great, old pitchers and pottery with an ocean theme like this fish.

As well as these lobsters and mermaids. Oh my- those mermaids!

The coral vase isn’t old, but suits the theme well, right? And there are lots of beachy blue necklaces and pearls spread out.

Can’t you picture the blue comb in a mermaid’s hair?

Speaking of mermaids, here is a collage I’ve done.

The blues are spread throughout, it’s a loose interpretation of beach style, but goes with it okay.

Like this lil guy in a sailor suit.

And juice glasses with Florida oranges on them.

Above it, I’ve hung a wreath I made from seashells picked up at Marco Island, and hand dyed silk ribbon. There are also my flamingo friends that I showed in an earlier post.

My half booth is divided up into small areas with different goods. I’m surprised at how much I squeeze in.

Some things from the previous month, like this garden statue get shifted around. I like to give the spot a whole new look as much as I can, without taking too much home after a sale.

Then there are things that did okay so I replenish the stock. Like these crowns.

And my shroomies.

I made quite a few crowns. The first time I brought some in, they lingered a bit. So I took a hard look at them and decided they were too shiny. I used some patina liquid on the metal and that turned the whole ambiance of them around.

First Friday weekend is today. If you’re nearby, come in and say hi!

https://www.goodjujukc.com

Painting with grout? Yep

antiques/junking, cottage, Hand painted, how-to projects

By Karla Nathan / July 2, 2023

For years, I have been using the grand fairies’ outgrown craft table as a side table in my living room. Not because I loved it, but because it was the exact size I needed at the holidays to set the Christmas tree up on. It wasn’t ugly, it was just a simple, round, white table. But it wasn’t anything I adored, that’s for sure.

Then, I found this table at a garage sale for FREE. Well, basically free. The lady sold me an entire car load of stuff for twenty bucks, and the car was stuffed to the brim. I felt like this table was a bonus thrown in with all the inventory I’d bought.

Here is how it started, perfectly nice, no problems, just a little too traditional for me.

I wanted it to look old. Well, that’s not exactly right because it already is old.

It needed to look like it had been painted and repainted over time. More cottagey.

So, first it was primed, then I mixed up grout into gray paint and gave it a thick, gloopy coat of that. Next, white paint, then sanding the clumps away. There were some ugly spots that didn’t sand well, so I touched up with the white again, then a glaze of umber went over it all and was wiped away.

To finish, a polycrylic clear coat went over that.

The paint looks properly mistreated now.

My Christmas tree will look great on its new pedestal! And I think I do adore this one. Bye-bye to the kiddo’s craft table.

June at Juju

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / May 31, 2023

When I found this landscape, I knew it had to go behind my mosaic cottages. Even though the display was finished. I took it apart and redid it all, not just this shelf, but the whole cabinet. I had to distribute some of the things that had been on this shelf to the other levels so the painting wouldn’t be completely blocked.

Because I tend to layer so much that I block a lot. Like the mirror on the wall in this photo.

What mirror? Well the one I hung in December that no one has ever seen because it has had so much in front of it.

Since I am a stacker, piler, and layer-er, I am careful to have most price tags prominently displayed. People don’t have to risk causing an avalanche to get something down if it isn’t a price point they appreciate.

If I can do it, the tags are easy to find, but not right in your face.

Other times they are directly on the face. Ha, get it?

Seriously, I try not to overcrowd, but it ends up that way anyhow.

Ceiling to floor.

Speaking of ceilings, for summer, I have added butterflies to the entrance. They didn’t have quite enough umph, so I also hung frames around them.

My jewelry area got a makeover too.

Did I mention that I like to layer things? This is pretty full.

By piling so much on the furniture, shoppers miss those pieces. I’m trying to use larger tags on them to see if that helps. I’ll have to make one for this cool chair. I’ve had it in my breezeway for a year now, and really liked it, even though it doesn’t seem like my typical look, I thought it was cute there with a basket of rosemary on it.

Also not my style? Red, white, and blue.

Still, I found so many, many more things I really liked in those shades, that I once again, went overboard.

My plan was to do groupings in these tones and fill a small area. Before I knew it, I had so many pretty items that over filled a whole wall.

Plus, I threw in bags of marbles and of buttons to coordinate and make more splashes of color.

To be honest? I prefer neutrals with floral accents. But- ya gotta know your crowd. I think the shoppers there enjoy the mix. And I really do have fun putting it all together, no matter what colors I use.

And I ended up loving the final look. Maybe I am a red, white, and blue fan after all?

A couple of coincidences

antiques/junking, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / May 11, 2023

Isn’t this just lovely wallpaper? It is my all time favorite in years of collecting old papers.

Often, I come by the same patterns multiple times, but a few special designs are more rare and I do not see them around as much. This is one I have never come across again, and I save it only for important purposes. This treasure is way too wonderful to be a tag or a random craft. A pattern this beautiful is meant for lining a cabinet, or being in a treasured book for a friend.

At Juju on Friday, a shopper came in and asked if I had any wallpaper. Well, I do sell craft packs in my Boutique, but I haven’t been bringing that to the mall. I had started covering a wall in a different old paper for each season, then selling the pieces I took down after.

This customer was looking for a very specific one, not just something to craft with. She wanted the exact paper from her grandma’s home, and had searched everywhere, including online with Google’s reverse image. When she showed me her photo, I knew I could help!

I have to wonder what the odds are that of all the shops in Kansas City, or even in the Old West Bottoms, and the vast amount of dealers at them all, that we met and she was asking around for my favorite wallpaper of all time? That night, I cut two repeats off for her and she came back the next day to get it, promising me photos of the shadowbox she is making in her grandma’s memory.

Coincidences make me happy, and I used to collect them in a file. It’s been years since I wrote them down, though I am thinking I might start again. My favorite was that a friend was walking down the road, a quite few blocks from our house and saw a bundle of mail in the muddy ditch. He picked it up, saw it was ours and brought it over. Inside was a very big check we had been waiting for. This was the first time he’d decided to go for a walk there, the mail was muddy and not easy to spy. And it was found by someone who knew us.

A very lucky coincidence!

Last week when I went to the Sparks Flea Mkt, I bought a bag of junk jewels and inside I found a brooch with my buddy, Beth’s price tag on it from a previous sale. That gave me a huge smile!

Rich and Sugar’s first flea market

antiques/junking, dogs

By Karla Nathan / May 8, 2023

Last week was my favorite flea market, Sparks and White Cloud. It is a far cry from its heyday of the past, but I still love it. And I always fill my cart multiple times.

As well as refilling my junk jewel stash.

I see future bejeweled Christmas trees hiding in this pile of sparklies!

And for some strange reason, I purchased this entire tub of rubber doll parts.

I was picking through it to find vintage Christmas elf heads and the owner told me that I should buy the whole tub. Uhm, no thanks. Especially at $50. Well, his price kept dropping and my pile of elf heads kept growing.

He said he would throw in the tub, and I always need more clear tubs, who doesn’t? But wait, had he previously expected me to fill my pockets with faces? I had figured he was sending the tub too.

I have no idea what I’ll do with the hundreds of heads in this bucket of weirdness. But another dealer talked me into buying a pile of ugly dolls for only $2. I can possibly copy the John Travolta/Nic Cage FaceOff movie and put new faces on the bodies to create some cuter dolls.

I shall consider it a challenge, not a waste of space and twenty bucks.

For the first time, my husband came along to the flea market. He isn’t into vintage, but hey, he is into me and I just hit 65, so I guess he likes some vintage stuff.

It was Sugar’s birthday and the weather was exactly what you’d want when you describe a perfect spring day in Kansas. So we loaded up Sugar in the truck and the two of them wandered around while I shopped. While Rich took a cart full of purchases to the vehicle for me, I had that sweet dog.

She was so well behaved. I simply laid the leash across my shoulder so I had free hands to shop, and my pup stayed right at my hip the whole time.

We rewarded our birthday girl with a walk down by the Platte River in White Cloud. The only thing missing from making this an ideal adventure was a funnel cake, which I missed out on getting. As I was watching the river flow by, I thought it would be quite the spot for a picnic, and wished I’d picked up a treat to bring along.

Funnel cake or not, I sure enjoyed our outing. I ran into lots of other junker friends there and had conversations with sellers I’d been buying from for years. I didn’t convert Rich into an antique shopper, but he had fun. He was intrigued by the idea of “mantiques” but not enough to look at any. He mostly liked the word.

Sugar got tons of attention and many compliments on her behavior. Yep, a very good day.

I keep trying stuff to see what works

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / May 2, 2023

This month I am trying something different in my Good Juju space. See all of the blue tags?

They border on obnoxious, huh? That is the point, I hope.

My booth is piled floor to ceiling with small things. And they do pretty good most of the time, I think people enjoy the treasure hunt. But I also think that they are so focused on the mountains of minis that they do not see the bigger picture.

That furniture underneath the massive stacks is for sale too! And I am done with my umbrellas, am ready for a new entryway display, so they are also gaudily tagged.

Sadly, I rarely sell furniture. Oh, a piece here and there, but usually small and extra inexpensive. (Not that I have anything high dollar anyway)

People probably don’t even notice the tables, shelves, and dressers. So, I tried to tag them in a way that made it obvious.

It certainly is a scramble when someone does buy a table, since there is a possible avalanche of goods on top of it. But, I am always happy to unload and redo. It’s like a timed design challenge, to reshuffle as fast as I can while shoppers are looking around.

I like my spot to have a different look each month, so I don’t want the same furniture there forever and I am constantly hauling things back and forth from home. Which is inefficient. I’d much rather sell some and find more pieces to fix up and redo.

Well, we will see, huh? This month is my one year anniversary at the venue, I am still trying new things. It’s also my birthday Friday while I’m there. My second Good Juju birthday weekend with post concussion season. (Not a tradition that I want to continue!)

Crowning glories

antiques/junking, jewelry

By Karla Nathan / April 21, 2023

Last week, I made some crowns.

And since I had been painting statues and figures, everyone was treated to a crown for their head.

Even if a head was all they had, no body. And even the wildlife was crowned.

A few were steam punk style, but most were simply on the regal side.

Well, that wasn’t a good idea

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / April 16, 2023

At last month’s Good Juju sale, I tried a new out a new booth for my jewelry.

Well, that didn’t go so well.

I think the space was too tight and hard to shop in for so many pieces of jewelry. That stuff needs to be spread out more.

I have already paid my rent for the 3’ x 3’ corner, so I decided to try something else for May’s shopping event. I have a lot of vintage clothing, but could only bring a couple of pieces at a time into my man booth since a gown can take up so much space.

Rich helped me make over this jewelry spot into a clothes closet. It feels more efficient this way, but what do I know? I’m still figuring this whole thing out.

Since I am a big believer in using the WHOLE piece of real estate, I had Rich add some shelves for me.
He made the clothing rod out of one of his grapevine walking sticks and the rest of the installed bits and pieces are things we had in the garage. So the changeover didn’t cost us anything.

It was sad to see him cut up one of his cool sticks, but he has a few and using it does class up the area. I think I’ll ask him if I can have more of those, then I’ll fix them up and sell them. I think there could be a market for his whittled grapevine walking sticks, I really like them. I might add some leather and crystals to them.