celebrations – Page 22 – Karla's Cottage

Sugarwings 5th birthday

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

By Karla Nathan / August 17, 2011

Thanks for your interest in photo editing. I know I said my next post would be more tips and tricks, but I wanted to show you pictures from Sugarwing's birthday party first. The soft color editing tips will be on Friday instead.

We had quite a week with our fairy child. We took the entire bunch of 7 grands and their parents to a water park in Kansas City on Thursday to celebrate a few of the birthdays, then my husband and I snuck our little one away for a weekend at a Holiday Inn water park (we had a free Priority Club room to use) and a day at the zoo in KC too.

She's pretty proud of her two wrist bands from the parks and refuses to take them off.

She also had a sleepover with me on Sunday night, and since I got to have her most of Monday, we decided to throw a party. A fairy tea party luncheon with Pixie Pie.

We got up early on Monday morning and started baking cupcakes, then made mini pizzas by rolling out the dough and cutting it with a star shaped cookie cutter. The stars were topped with Trader Joe's marinara sauce, cheese, a broccoli nose, red pepper slice smile, and green pepper eyes.

I'd show you photos, but when a soon to be 5 year old works the cookie cutter and makes the faces, they aren't always recognizable as smiling stars. They just kind of looked like pizza blobs. But she loved them anyway.

Next, we set the table with pretty dishes and linens, got the tea pots out, and put on our fairy dress up gear.

It wasn't quite time for Pixie Pie to arrive, but Sugarwings was pretty excited and wanted to sit at the table and wait there for her.

Waiting can be the hardest part.

We were trying something new that day, some all natural rock candy sugar. It made the tea even more fun to stir.

When her cousin arrived, the girls scampered up the stairs to get her all decked out in her fairy wear too.

I think that Sugarwings is wearing my all time favorite selections in this picture. She layered herself in multiple skirts and a lady bug costume, along with great ruby slippers from Aunt Sissy. Of course, the water park wrist bands just make the outfit.

Did you notice that Pixie Pie is soon to be a big sister? Her mom is due any minute, and is expecting a boy. I hope he likes tea parties.

After lunch, I turned them loose with cupcakes, icing tubes, and sprinkles and let them go. It quickly became Sprinkle Palooza, we were knee deep in tiny, tasty, tidbits that made crunchy sounds when we walked through the kitchen.

When I was a young mother, I never let my poor boys go wild with the sprinkles like this. I was probably on too tight of a budget to allow such waste and on too tight of a schedule to clean up the mess. And too tightly wound myself to be able to relax and just enjoy the show of sprinkles and icing flying everywhere.

Its so nice to be a grammy. I can't imagine anything better. I wish I'd been as happy go lucky with my sons as I am with these girls. I have to say, all the arthritis and creakiness and backaches and wrinkles are worth it. Getting older is getting better. I love being a little old lady.

Oh, the boys and I had fun when they were little, of course. I was the master of finding free things to do. If there was a grocery store grand opening, we were first in line to get a balloon and free hot dog and play any carnival games they offered. We hiked, we swam, we pinched pennies and saved up to have special treats. But life was harder then, I was a single mom with three jobs for a while, times were tight, time was scarce and money even more so. I spent more time worrying than playing and didn't realize how fast it would all zoom by.

But with Sugarwings, I'm old enough to know how precious and limited these times are.

Sugarwings might be a bit spoiled by all she gets to do and the places she gets to go, but she doesn't act like it, she is the most appreciative kid around. She always has a big smile and an "oh my goodness" or "thank you, Grammy!!!", or a "thats sooooo cuuuute" ready whenever we do something special. And she flings herself at us with unlimited joy and wraps us in her arms. Her middle name is Joy and it is perfect for her. She overflows with it.

And we still are careful about spending, all of her dress up clothes are from garage sales and goodwill stores. We buy sprinkles by the truckload, but mostly with 40% off coupons at Michael's.

She might be a bit over indulged by grand parents who are smitten with her, but honestly, I think that I am the one being indulged, not her. I love every minute of it.

Its hard to believe she is five now. I've been invited to walk to school with her on her first day tomorrow with all of the rest of the family, and I'm just not sure that I can do it. I might just sob thinking about how fast she is growing up.

But I also can't wait to go through each and every stage of it all with her. Today she was planning her future wedding. She will either marry a blue M&M or Prince Navine. I sure hope that when that day comes, I get to help design and set up her reception. And I also hope that we are still best friends then like we are now. Because it will be here before I know it, I can almost hear those wedding bells.

Holding Space Open House

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / August 4, 2011

The Holding Space open house last week was a success, despite the heat, and the poor function of the air conditioning there. I think the unit was just overwhelmed by the 112 degrees outside and crowded room inside.

The heat didn't dampen the joy and dancing.

The event is just the beginning of a series of seminars and workshops they hope to hold in the future.

Including one to do a mud/plaster treatment on this wall. My son soundproofed it with old carpet remnants nailed to the drywall, then he attached this bamboo to give the mud something to adhere to. It looks pretty good like this, but he'll be adding the mud/clay/plaster and it will really be something then. Its a green technique, and I'm looking forward to being there to watch and learn how it is done.

They will also be featuring local art, and participating in the Final Fridays Gallery Walk downtown every month.

Before the room filled up, I snapped some pictures of the finished rooms. I've shown you the faux finishes that I did there, but the rooms weren't done yet. I think they've turned out beautifully. And the kids did it all with NO budget.

Everything is second hand, some things were found along the side of the road. I gave them some hand me downs and paid for the paint.

My dear niece in Utah, had earlier shipped them her massage therapy equipment that she no longer used. (thanks again, Alicia!)

The kids were creative with their decor, making the most of what they already had, and using lots of elbow grease to make the rooms look warm and welcoming.

I'm very proud of what they accomplished.

Family and freinds came to play music throughout the day, and vendors were there to share information about what they had to offer for the community.

Some local artists brougth their work, there was chair massage, hand writing analysis (I was told that the point on my T's means that I can be sarcastic and like to tease, but in a friendly way, not mean, and that I am very social and empathetic), tarot card readings, and a lot more.

The evening featured a Kirtan, which is kind of a singing meditation. This one was done by a woman with a really pretty voice, Jerri of Heartsong Pathways.

The best part of the whole day was watching my son in his element. I was glad to see how he had found a place for himself in this world. He had a rough road through the years, to get to this point, and as any mother knows, there are few joys bigger than seeing your grown child find his way and find his heart's desire.

My husband and I wanted to show our support for the open house, so we bought the stuff to make treats, and I baked 6 batches of cookies to set out along with some iced tea.

When I bake, I don't use a recipe. But heck, if you've ever made a cookie, you know the basics and there isn't much more to it. I do the basic- butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla all creamed, add the eggs, add the flour/salt/baking soda then embellish each batch a little different.

One batch was chocolate chips, another peanut butter with Reeses Chips and chocolate chips. When making these, I switched out half the butter for chunky peanut butter and used a little less flour.

The third was a granola cookie. For that, I added cinnamon, flax seeds, dried fruits, oatmeal, almonds, and sunflower seeds, then lessened the amount of flour. To keep those from being too healthy, I threw in chopped up white chocolate chips.

One of my tips for baking, is to chop up the chips. I put a half bag at a time in the blender on chop and grind the chips up before adding them to the dough. You need half as much, (saving a little tiny bit of calories) and every single bite gets a taste of chips in it.

I baked way too many cookies, but they freeze well. The trouble will be how much the bags shrink in the freezer… if you know what I mean. Those bags of cookies saved for a future purpose just never last.

Tru-Blood premiere party at the guncles

celebrations, family, Food and Drink, guncles, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 2, 2011

Uhm, did I mention that the guncles and I had a good time? With lots of silly fun? The weekend went fast, but we managed to pack in a lot of goofiness, including a Tru Blood mini marathon.

With HBO Go on my Ipad, we were able to watch the second episode of the new season after the premiere. So, of course, we made a PARTY out of it!

Because everything is a party at Randy and Kevin's house!

I drew some Tru Blood labels that we added to some empty bottles, and we drank out of red, crystal goblets, and painted our faces to look like vamps.

Since the guys bought my plane ticket, I wanted to treat them to dinner. We talked about getting dressed up and going out, but decided it was more fun to get dressed as vampires, watch our favorite show and eat in. So, I bought some lobsters and we had the best meal ever.

Crusty bread, still warm when we bought it, a crisp lettuce wedge with Kev's home made dressing topped with a chopped, fresh tomato, and giant, lovely, delectable lobsters.

I was disappointed in fairy land on the show, were you? I've come to terms with the fact that the show doesn't follow the books. And since they do stay true to the actual characters themselves, I don't mind, and actually enjoy the surprises that the show wouldn't offer if it did follow the books.

But man, the fairy land is NOT what I had hoped for at all. And Bill is King?

But that's okay. I still love me some Sookie and am a loyal fan.

I love me some guncles too.

Every night, the suppers were so good. One night was seared scallops in a vermouth and heavy cream redcution.

And another meal was grilled flounder with fresh asparagus and fingerling potatoes roasted in butter and onions. See why I was worried about my zipper still working? Did I mention homemade German chocolate cake?

Oh, and please remember, that there is a giveaway for one of my Mini Dress Form online workshops. If you win, and have already purchased the $15 class, I will send you a kit full of vintage goodies to make the dolled up dress form with.

Happy Birthday Rich

celebrations, family, Food and Drink, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 7, 2011

My husband had a birthday this week and Sugarwings helped me bake him an ultra healthy, low fat cake to celebrate. He has high cholesterol and really works hard at keeping the numbers down, but he also has a sweet tooth. So I came up with a guilt free cake for him. Well, semi-guilt free, at least, healthier than a double fudge chocolate cake anyway.

We took fat free, cranberry/orange muffin mix, and added 1/2 cup of applesauce, 1 cup of blueberries, 1/4 cup of ground, golden flaxseed, 1/2 cup of shelled and finely chopped pistachios, 3/4 cup of chopped pecans, and 3/4 cup of toasted coconut, then about 1/2 cup of water.

While it was in the oven, we cleaned and sliced strawberries. Then, I covered them with 2 spoonfuls of organic brown sugar and a 1/4 cup of lime juice.

After the cake was cooled we poked holes all over it and topped it with the strawberries and lime juice. (It was an ooey, gooey, moist cake!)

Over that, we added this mix, which is what really made it yuumy:

1 cup of Dannon Greek 0 fat plain yogurt- That stuff is so thick and rich, you'd never know it was low fat!!
1 block of low fat cream cheese
1 cup of fat free sour cream
1 tsp real vanilla
1/4 cup organic powdered sugar
splash of lime juice

That was fluffed with the blender and dolloped over the berry covered cake, then spread. To top it off, we served it with low fat Cool Whip.

Sguarwings had 3 pieces and shared a bite of hers with the birthday boy. I didn't feel bad about her eating so much cake since it was mostly fruit, nuts, and yogurt.

She also shared some messy kisses.

And thought it was funny to wipe the cream cheese topping off of his face afterwards.

Maybe all three pieces didn't make it into her tummy, she looked like she was wearing quite a bit of the dessert, so went right into the tub after.

Ps- all of the bird cage charms I listed in the Boutique sold out right away, so I have replenished the supply. If you are in the Bird Song Tag Book Swap, don't worry, I have plenty of pretties to adorn the books with! I've ordered more charms to paint too.

By the way, we are at about 120 swappers. I have room for a FEW more, since I haven't started making the covers yet. Email me if you are interested. Details HERE.

(I will be away, so please forgive me if I don't get right back to you)

New traditions

celebrations, family, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 9, 2011

How was your Mother's Day? Mine started off a bit weepy, thinking about my mom, but it turned around real quick when my girls arrived for a day of fun. My husband took Sugarwings for the day and was happy to do it. I think it was his happiest Mother's Day of all time. No pressure, just fun with the apple of his eye.

She rode on his shoulders while in line to buy tickets to see a kid flick. He says that she turned around to everyone in line and said, "This is my Pop Pop."

Then, she added, "And I am a Princess".

And then turned one more time to tell the crowd behind her, "Because my Pop Pop says I am!"

Yes, she knows that in her Pop Pop's eyes, she's pure royalty and just eats it up.

My Mother's Day was not bad at all, either. Typically, my sons and husband help me with a big job in the yard as a gift. It always turns into the most exhausting day of the entire year, with all of us working till we drop. (me too)

They are sweet to do it, and for non-shopping guys, it was pretty good. But I've decided to change the way things are done for the next generation of moms in the family. No more hard labor on Mom's Day!

Our plan for this year was to have a girly day out.

The littlest fairy wanted to be with her mom for the day, so she got to tag along. And since all she does is nurse, sleep, laugh and smile, she was a welcome guest.

We went out for seafood and steaks with bellinis for lunch then went to Liberty Hall, our local theater that has been around since Civil War days and started as an Opera House. Its always beautiful to see a movie there, and you can sip wine while you watch a show. We chose Jane Eyre, great for a girl's day.

I can see a tradition beginning, this was the best Mother's Day ever. Relaxation, conversation, a cuddly baby, and wine!!

And did I mention NO hauling mulch???? NO digging holes?? Yay!!!

It was a weekend of celebration, with friends over on Saturday night to share some good wine and sit by the bonfire. As if that is not enough, we also had Sugarwings for 3 nights in a row. Yep, it wasn't just a good Mother's Day, it was a GREAT Mother's Day weekend.

I'm feeling pretty lucky right now.

Its time that I pull a name for the winner of a Birdsong souvenir. I promised last week, and then forgot to do it. The present goes to:

Kim Allen

Today I've been taking photos of some flowers to list online for my April Showers Bring May Flowers sale.

My birthday is in May and my mom always used to tell me that little rhyme and tell me I was a May Flower. So I decided to have a sale in the Boutique and Etsy with FREE shipping on all millinery for the month of May.

On Etsy, the shipping is already marked FREE. In the Boutique, you'll need to pay for the shipping and I will send you a refund for the postage you paid. (USA only, sorry)

Right now, I'm in the middle of adding flowers. Etsy has some new ones, the Boutique will soon. Thanks for looking!

Marty Jo

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / May 8, 2011

Today, I'm missing my mom. So, I got out the photo album I made of her to take some time to think of her on Mother's Day.

This is my favorite picture of the two of us. I spent a lot of time on her lap, being spoiled and cuddled and no matter how old I get, I won't forget that feeling. There is nothing like a warm, comforting lap to make you feel wonderful. I'm all the time trying to get anyone sad to sit on my lap for a hug. I tried to convince Beth, just the other day when she was feeling emotional.

In the library, I keep a display of photos of my mom and grandma. This is another favorite, of us with my sisters at my wedding. I think it is the only photo I have of all of us together.

No, maybe THIS is my favorite! It was such a fun day. But then, any day with my sisses and mom was a blast. We'd go junking, out to lunch, or just sit and talk and drink coffee around the kitchen table. And laugh. My mom loved being silly and laughing.

She was the kind of mom who would bake fresh apple dumplings while I was in school so that when I got home, I'd walk into a house that smelled like cinnamon.

She could sew anything. If I pointed to a dress in a magazine, she could whip it up with no pattern. Plus make a matching dress for my Barbie. Of course, her matching skills could get carried away. I remember one time when mom made matching blue gingham dresses for herself, me, my doll and a shirt to go with it for my dad.

She was an amazing quilter. But I think that her favorite part of making them was the math and the skill involved, not as much as the beauty of the creation. She was a perfectionist with her needles and took great pride in what she did. The artistic part was just a by-product of her work. I don't even know if she realized how gorgeous they were, she was so interested in the tiny stitches in the "ditch".

(This is a watercolor I did of her. The background is a pink and white log cabin quilt that she made for me, and she is wearing a necklace that I made for her. After she died, I hung the necklace on the frame)

She was a carpenter too. When I was in my twenties and homeless, she took me and the boys in to live with her. One weekend while we were away, she built an entire play fort for the kids as a surprise. We got home to see this giant, wooden structure that she handcrafted in TWO days with no plans. She had a sunning deck on the top for me, and a slide and swing for the boys. We all used the slide together, and it was super fast because she topped it with a floor vinyl scrap sprayed with silicone.

I got my love of horror movies from her. We'd stay up till midnight every Friday to watch the late night scary shows and she'd always jump up and scare me at the most tense moments. But I knew that it was just fun, not real and we'd laugh about it. This is a lesson that has kept me brave all my life, knowing that you need to look for the fun or the happiness that is hidden in any situation, no matter how frightening it may seem.

My love of laughter came from her too. She wasn't always appropriate or politically correct, and I'm not either. We both like to see things from an irreverent angle.

Mom wasn't perfect, and went through some rough spells. She didn't always have the best taste in men and we had our arguments over the years. But who wants perfect? My mom was interesting, warm, funny, slightly crazy, very talented, and a hard, hard worker. And loved her daughters more than anything in the whole world.

And I miss my mommy. And I always will.

Happy birthday happy birthday – cha cha cha (as Sugarwings sings it)

celebrations, flowers, Food and Drink, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / May 6, 2011

What a great birthday I had yesterday! Carol and Debbie treated me to lunch at Julian's in Brookside, owned and operated by one of the cheftestants on Top Chef Masters. And I am such a TV junkie, that I'll eat up anything served by someone on one of my "stories".

Luckily, this place was cute as a button and over the top delicious.

Friendly, casual, and affordable too. Celina Tio, from the show (and formerly on Iron Chef) greets everyone at the door and is nice as can be. Pretty too. The TV show doesn't do her justice, she's much cuter in person.

I had some things to deliver to Carol and Debbie and we decided to meet for lunch. I said, why not Thursday, since it was my birthday, so the poor girls might have got a party ambush. But I love birthdays and am upfront about telling everyone its my day.

Thanks for all the happy birthday wishes! I had some prime baby holding time too, so it was a good day.

I'll leave you with some photos of what's new in Boutique. I've added a few millinery blooms, and have photos taken of more to add.

For the whole month of May, I'm giving you free shipping (United States) for all millinery. Pay as normal, and when I pack up and ship the item, I'll refund your shipping fees.

There will be more blooms added next week too.

I'm just out of time today, we get Sugarwings tonight. So, no more working, time to play!

Happy Easter!

celebrations, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 24, 2011

We are having a quiet Easter this year. Well, quiet meaning that we aren't having a big family gathering and dinner for dozens this time. Sugarwings spent the weekend and that isn't exactly quiet.

Saturday morning started with egg coloring. And I guess you'd have to say that she and I aren't what you'd call tong users when it comes to dying eggs. We prefer getting our fingers in the colors instead of using the dippers that come with the kit, and we like to use paint brushes to spiff up the shells.

Not just the eggs get colored either. When you have all those lovely dyes in front of you, and only a couple dozen eggs to dip, it hurts to waste it all. So we did some experimenting and found that the egg dye is beautiful on the unfinished wood of a bird house. (We had picked up this princess castle bird house at Michaels)

And it makes stuffed rabbits pretty too.

Not to mention Dorky heads. Yep, little Agnes Rosebud started it. She jumped up on my lap and put her nose in the dye to see what it was. Of course, how could we resist painting the top of her head with a paint brush dipped in purple?

Hope your holiday is a Hoppy one too.

Sorry I won't be answering emails or comments, but I will be taking time to read them. And I'll chose a name from commenters to give a Birdsong memento to later on.

When the heck is Easter anyway?

celebrations, Chandeliers, collections, flowers, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / April 19, 2011

My Easter decor has been up way too long, already. And when is Easter even coming? Its late this year, and I got all geared up for it way too early, back in March.

Mid March even.

Every year, I'm excited to pull out the fluffy bunnies and pastel pretties to welcome Spring. Its kind of a spring cleaning ritual for me, and I like to decorate my chandelier for the season, as I wipe down the crystals on it.

Its always a fresh, clean, exciting feeling to have all the decorations out, but this year, I think it was a bit soon for all this fluff and I'm tired of it before the bunny has even come to hide his eggs.

Most of it is stuff I love, and more springlike than Easterish.

Usually I use my springy decor for the whole season, and just add the vintage bunnies, lambs, chicks, etc to it for the holiday itself. But I guess I didn't realize I was more than a month early for all the bunnies and their pals, and added the pastel guys way too soon.

Why is it that I adore having Christmas decorations up for as long as possible but not Easter? And last fall I had pumpkins (white glittered ones) every where for months and loved it. I never got tired of either.

But I'm ready to rip the ears right off the rabbits by now.

Yet, at this point, I need to just ride it out. Easter is finally just around the corner.

Plus, Sugarwings loves it all so much. She wouldn't like seeing Grammie go postal on the holiday decor.

One thing I really am enjoying is Picnik's "bunny tone" editing tool. Pretty, huh? I loved this photo of Sugarwings and my handsome husband, but it was blurry and dark. Using Picnik turned it into a keeper.

I have a feeling that when I get to fill Sugarwing's basket and hide her eggs, that my Easter Joy will return. But for right now, its a struggle to not gag when I see a china lamb.

Maybe I need some Cadbury eggs therapy. Nothing like an infusion of that elusive, annual treat to make a person appreciate Easter time!

Please pardon me for not visiting with you. I'm busy as an early bird chasing worms trying to get ready for my Birdsong art workshop coming up.

Happy birthday Dorkie babies! (and Diane too!)

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Food and Drink, holiday decor, how to's, parties

By Karla Nathan / April 12, 2011

Today is Agnes Rosebud and Button's first birthday, so I invited Beth and some friends over for a craft day and birthday cake.

The four legged guests had a very special treat- left over grilled trout covered in homemade organic yogurt. I made up "cupcakes" of fish in festive papers, then iced them in the yogurt and added a colorful pick.

(I wish I could remember who gave me the cute vintage puppy image to use- its on the hats and the cupcake picks)

Spring is finally here! I spent a giant, achy chunk of the weekend working in the yard, doing clean up and planting flowers. So, since the patio was looking spiffy, all of us sat outside on the porch to have our pitch in lunch between craft projects. (and between working on taxes- its great to have two accountant friends come by and help out when tax time rolls around!)

While it looks like I might have had a totally frivolous day, making party hats and fish cakes for dogs, we got a lot accomplished too. Taxes got filed for my son, Ryan, The Other Karla learned how to knit, Beth made book covers, Connie and Diane made cards, Shanna made an Easter Basket, and I finished a swap for Birdsong.

Plus, it was a beautiful Spring day to spend with friends, so the work didn't even feel like work, it was just plain fun.

Plus, we had a second birthday to celebrate, it was Diane's special day too. I whipped up a double duty gift for her, this tussie mussie is used as the wrap for the roses I gave to her and also works as a birthday hat.

To make it, I printed a pretty page of French text on card stock, curled it up into a cone, stapled it in place and trimmed the edges off straight. Then, I inked the opening with black ink, and punched a hole in each side to pull a ribbon through to use as a chin strap or a hanger.

After that, I added rose that I cut out in a oval shape to the front center of the cone, and pulled some pretty lace through the cone, so that it dangled out the small hole at the point. Then, I glued that into place, and wrapped the point in ribbons and lace.

Before the party went to the dogs, we had ice cream cake for the two legged guests. I experimented with making an ice cream cake, and boy, was it fast, easy and delicious!

Here's how:

In a round casserole dish, I simply layered thin slices of strawberry pound cake with Breyer's Vanilla Bean ice cream and fresh pureed strawberries.

Then, I smooshed it down into the pan, covered it, and froze it over night.

To get it out of the pan today, I sat it in a shallow bowl of hot water, till it loosened from the casserole dish, then plopped it over upside down onto a cake stand and sprayed canned whipped cream all over it and added sprinkles.

I think I might make this in lots of different ways. Think of all the goodies you could layer in ice cream and freeze. This summer, I'll keep my eyes open at garage sales to find a nice shaped mold to make these in too.

Aren't birthdays the best days?