cottage – Page 24 – Karla's Cottage

Refurbishing the Yellow Brick Road

By Karla Nathan / April 10, 2015

Sugarwings got her love of all things Oz from her mom and Nanny. I've always been a fan myself and have done my share of encouraging her interests. When she was little, we'd go to this sidewalk at a nearby shopping center to do some skipping and pretending.

She enjoyed that so much, that I painted our flower bed's stepping stones yellow so she would have a trail here to play on.

And over the years, she has spent a lot of time along this short path.

Dewdrop loves dressing up as Dorothy too. (her mother sent this to me from her new home, looks like she is pretty happy and having a wonderful time there!)

Seasons of harsh weather has taken its toll on the pathway, our yellow bricks faded out and returned to the blah red bricks they started out as. I'd used latex house paint on them before, I think. Or was it craft paint? It has been awhile. I doubt if there are many paints that would hold up to Kansas weather, especially on bricks.

Sugarwings and I decided to give them a make over. This might not last much longer than the other paint did, but redoing is fun, so we won't mind freshening it up again if needed. This time, we worked in tandem, I sprayed them yellow ahead of time, then used a gold glitter spray over that after it dried. Sugarwings got the bottles of glitter ready to sprinkle over that as it was still wet.

We tried different shades of sparkle, but I really didn't care for the red or green as much, so we layered over it.

Sugarwings also helped out by running in to get her ruby slippers to try out the path, and by arranging our Toto yard art nearby.

Although, we have our own, live yard art Toto/Twinkle that worked just fine.

Sugarwings thinks we should add a scarecrow. Maybe. What we really need is some blooming plants. Spring is here, but not in this little corner of the yard yet, it's still pretty dull, even with the bright yellow paint.

But not in her mind. She sees the whole land of Oz ahead of her.

Family art

collections, cottage, family, paintings

By Karla Nathan / March 11, 2015

While redoing the guest room (like I said, it never ends, a redo steam rolls!), I gathered up some old family photos and drawings that had hung in there and moved them to make a display in my stairway.

This is a drawing I did of my grandma about 30 years ago, from a photo of her as a young girl. The frame had broken, so while it was out, I gave it a little revamp with some color pencils and I've done a bit of digital editing to it, by cropping and adding a background of text from a handwritten note by her mother. I'm going to reframe it to go with the rest of the pictures on the wall.

This is how it looked before I added to it.

Of course, the original doesn't have the text, that is just in the digital copy. But I did add color by hand to the original, not digitally.

This sketch is of my dad's mom, that I did at 16.

This is a watercolor of her husband, my grandfather Harry, done a couple years later.

And a quick sketch of Ryan as a little boy. (with his Kevin Bacon hairstyle, he LOVED Footloose as a kid)

This one is a watercolor that I did of a photo of my husband's grandmother, Gladys. The photo sits on a quilt that she had made.

The collage of my sisters and I is a more recent work, but not all that recent. 7 years ago, maybe? Before I discovered photo editing, that photo I used of us is kind of dark. We are standing by a road sign for Downey street, our maiden name.

As I was hanging the pictures in the stairway, I knew that not a single art piece was a good example of work, and that none of the frames went together well. It is a hodge podge grouping, of some cool, some cheap frames, some really nice antique frames, old photos, and some so-so drawings, that don't really have a cohesive look together.

But all are meaningful to me. And a home can't have all perfectly groomed decor, or it becomes a showhouse, not a home. My house will always have a place for so-so artwork, family mementos, and sentimental items. Even if they aren't the prettiest items around. Maybe someday, I'll reframe them all in a better way, but for now, I just enjoy walking by them and seeing them as is.

PS- I've got 50% off the Boutique right now. But you MUST use this link:

http://www.karlascottage.com/?code=Fling

to get to the sale site. If you go through the regular link, the 50% off won't register. If you can't click on it to get to the page, you might want to try cutting and pasting it to your browser. Thanks for helping me spring clean!

A little luncheon for friends

cottage, Food and Drink, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / March 2, 2015

One of my favorite things is a day in the studio. Throw in friends and the day is ideal! It isn't always easy to get everyone together, with all of their busy schedules, so when we do, it is even more special.

I went out to the coop and gathered up some very fresh eggs to whip up little mini quiches (because any food looks more special when baked in individual pans), baked some rosemary garlic rolls (because rosemary makes anything seem fancier), and set the table with my favorite old dishes (because, DURH! Birdies!!!).

For the quiche, I tried something a little different and used puff pastry instead of pie crust. I liked it, and it was even better for leftovers, sometimes quiche pie crust can be soggy on the second day.

I thought I'd try to make a flourless chocolate cake too. It really fell apart pretty bad when I took it out of the pan (the trick is to have the right kind of pan, instead of just a cake pan, I think). So, I drizzled it with lots of dark chocolate syrup, dusted it with powdered sugar, and sprinkled a few chopped choc. chips over it. That did some camouflage work. Plus, no matter how crookedy a cake is, placing it under a glass dome works miracles.

Beth taught me years ago when we shared an antique booth, that anything looks better under glass. She could set the oddest bit of junk under a cloche in the middle of a pretty display, and it would be the first thing to sell every time.

We still had some Valentine decor up. Around here, holidays linger.

Since I had company coming, it was a good reason to spiff up around the cottage. And to take some photos, because I don't think the place has been cleaned up much since I put away all the previous holiday decor.

The trapeze like swags of cobwebs even got wiped away. Those are the one downfall I've come across from the tin ceiling. The uneven surface tends to attract cobwebs. And I end up not noticing them until there are enough for a full fledge circus performance overhead.

But I discovered the perfect way to get rid of them! A quick brush with the cinnamon broom that I got at Trader Joe's over the holidays snags each little web easily.

My tables are always a mismatch of pieces. I've given up on silverware. Who knows where the forks disappear to???? sigh

I've discovered that I can replace cutlery for 10 cents a piece at Goodwill, so I just don't worry about it anymore. Most of my house is a hodge podge, why should my table settings be any different?

Mostly, I was just happy to have a break from my house looking like this. I love a reason to clean up, because if I don't have one, this is how it stays.

But messy or clean, there is no place like home! And I love having company come to join me here.

Cottage Guestroom redo

cottage, redos

By Karla Nathan / February 28, 2015

We finished the guest room last week, and I was able to shuffle around things I already had, to put it all together. Oh, sure, I talked big about not wanting a room that was filled with left over bits and pieces, but once I started looking around, I decided that I liked the stuff that I already owned. Why go buy something else?

Especially when I had so many sentimental things. This quilt square was made by my husband's grandma, and I framed it. It sits on one of her journals next to a cup that was my mom's.

As I was going through some things I had packed away, I was surprised at how much I had that went with the new blue walls ("clear pond" from Behr).

Funny, I'd owned them because of their pinkness. But all had a touch of this aqua-blue too.

I bought this vintage bed spread years ago and have tried using it, but as much as I loved the roses, I never liked the way it looked in a room. But now, it seems ideal for this guest bed.

The oak washstand on the right used to belong to my husband's other grandmother. And the book case on the left was already in the room. I thought about painting them, but after I saw them in place, I liked the contrast. Most of my house is soft colored, so it is fun to have a space that is bright and cottagey, with some darker furniture.

My mother made the little, blue pillow, and I stitched up the curtains from a torn, vintage panel.

One of these tins was my mom's. And the wedding photo is a family picture from the Nathans. I thought the sepia photo went well with the dark furniture.

The heart valance is made of a strip of netting tulle, and three hearts hand made by Lori Oles and Andrea Singarella.

The sign is one that I'd painted years ago, when I used to sell these. It is made from the siding of the old garage that was on the property when we moved in. It was the first garage in Douglas Co., KS, and you know me, I can't toss anything.

Of course I found a use for the wood when we ripped the structure down!

I reused the same bed that was in the room before.

And brought in this desk from the studio. It used to be a drop leaf table. The leaf was removed, and attached facing up instead of down, to make a back wall, and I added a shelf supported with metal brackets and spindles.

One of the butterfly plates was my mom's and so were the two carnival glass dishes.

When Sugarwings saw the completed space, she decided to help out and set out the tins for me, and has claimed it as her grown up room. I don't know if she will actually move into it when she is staying here, she hardly even uses the room that she does have, and sleeps downstairs on the sofa. But if she wants it, I told her she could have the room after Birdsong, when I need it for guests.

The room is small, scavenged from the attic of the old part of the house. When we built it, I asked that the wasted space in the roofline be saved and made useful. So, a storage area was built in.

I don't have much in it, but it is handy to have there. Kind of a secret space to hide things away in, then forget that they are there.

This is what it looked like before. I'm relieved to see the last of the dull, heavy carpet. The room feels so much cleaner now. But, I'm just not a carpet person.

What to do when two connecting rooms don’t match?

cottage, how-to projects, redos

By Karla Nathan / February 25, 2015

Our newly redone guest room is two steps up from a little closet area that used to be a laundry room, years ago, before we moved the washer and dryer downstairs (best idea EVER) and before we carved this room out of the attic.

Previously, we redid the closet floor in a faux oak laminate. The upstairs of my house is all new, compared to the age of the main house. We bought an 800 sq ft, old farmhouse, and added on, changed, redid, remodelled, and then added on some more. I adore the ancient wood floors downstairs, but for the guest rooms and kid's room upstairs, matching that gorgeous, old wood wasn't in the budget. I was happy with slapping down some cheap laminate.

And was very happy just to have the carpet gone.

Anyway, when it was time to redo the guest room, I went with a dark, hickory laminate. I feel like it is much better to go the opposite of what is down in a connecting room than it is to try to match it and be a hair off. Since the first floor had been done years ago. I knew I couldn't do an even match. So, I went darker.

We talked about covering the step in the hickory too. But, I didn't like the two floors butting right up against each other.

So, I covered the back of the steps, (is that called the risers?) with paintable, heavy duty wallpaper.

Glued on tightly, not with just wallpaper paste, with real glue.

Hmm, I reckon it would have been smart to have a photo of the finished project to show you, but this is as close as I have right now. I could probably run upstairs and snap one pretty quickly…. but I think you get the idea from this?

I've painted the step and the wallpaper white to match the trim. (after caulking the areas that need it)

I think I'm going to like this solution!

Country Sampler Homes Tour giveaway

cottage, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / February 22, 2015

The photos of my home that Fifi and Mark took a while back were split up between Romantic Country (last fall, I think) and Country Sampler Homes Tour 2015.

I am beyond pleased with the photos, the colors are printed exactly as they look in real life, and they are nice and big, with a few full page ones.

If you ever get a chance to work with the people at Country Sampler, please go for it, they are so pleasant, helpful, and generous! Quite often, if your home is photographed, you don't even know when to expect seeing the issue it appears in, and have to check the magazine stands each month to see if the issue is out. And you don't get a free copy of some.

Country Sampler didn't do that. Not only did they send an issue and a letter to me to let me know that the magazine will be on stands soon, they also sent a second package full of magazines for me to share.

Did I mention how pleased I was with the whole experience? And the spread itself?

I'll keep a couple of issues for my own collection, send one to Guncle Randy, and then will have a giveaway at Birdsong 5, another on Facebook, plus one here on my blog.

If you'd like a chance to win, you can "like" and leave a comment on this post, on my personal FB page or "like" my Karla's Cottage FB page. And leave a comment on this blog post.

That is three ways to win one, or heck, come to Birdsong 5, I'll be giving one away there too.

A nice little pile of old, French Books. I shoulda bought more!!!!!!

antiques/junking, Books, cottage

By Karla Nathan / February 19, 2015

At Bottom's Up last week, I bought some books from Gwen.

A few, from the 1760's, were simply too wonderful to be art supplies. I tied a silk ribbon and flowers to these to set out in my living room.

Books were $5 each and notebooks were only $1!!!!!

Which is why I was sooooo happy!

The composition books were full of old, handwritten notes. This one had some cards tucked into the pages. I was thinking this booklet was probably a medical student's journal.

I sure don't read French, but once I got a good look at it, a few words stood out.

Hmmm, Syphilis….

Not the prettiest phrase for creating with.

And it is on every page.

Oh well, this was the only book about venereal disease. And it still has some interesting and useful bits.

Many included maps, drawings, and nice handwriting. I'll be serving these up for the journals we are making at Birdsong 5.

There are a couple seats left there, if you want to come and make books with old French pages too.

A Sweet Valentine Gathering

celebrations, cottage, Dew Drop, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings, Valentine's Day, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / February 14, 2015

One of my favorite things is to have a studio full of friends, whether it is at Birdsong, a craft day, or a kid's holiday party.

I don't always get to host a bash for every holiday, but love it when the timing works out to have everyone over.

Sugarwings and Dewdrop went to Michaels with me to fill a cart with pink and red heart supplies, I nabbed a few Dollar Store tablecloths and balloons, and we were set to go.

We made faux cupcakes by gluing a styrofoam ball into a cupcake paper, smearing it with modelling compound icing, and glitter.

Lots of glitter.

Besides that, the projects weren't organized, it was every artist on their own.

Valentine cards for loved ones were a popular choice.

Dewdrop completed this one for her mommy.

Lizele made lots of colorful hearts. She is a prolific crafter.

Besides the cart full of stickers from Michaels, I had vintagey goods out too. And had saved empty valentine candy boxes to be redone.

Sugarwings and her mommy made a mail box for her upcoming class party.

The littlest workers got a bit burned out and turned to coloring books full of ponies, then decided to work with playdough. That is always a hit with Dewdrop.

The older kids had already headed out to the creek and woods behind the house when I got my camera out. They usually make a few nice things, then head outside, not caring that it was horridly cold out there. Of course, someone always slips into the creek and needs dry clothes, but it never stops them.

I really should plan more summer time craft days, where they can get out there and enjoy the woods when the weather is better.

Before the party, Sugarwings and I made chocolate dipped strawberries to serve, and I saved the plastic containers that the berries came in. Those were ideal for sending wet modelling compound cupcakes home in. Cars might have been muddy from the creek on the way home, but at least they didn't have any pink, fake icing all over them.

I can't say there wasn't any glitter drizzled into the seats, though…

My new water jug from Victorian Trading was ideal! I filled it with ice, poured cold water over it, and it was still chilly the next day.

The pottery really keeps the water cold.

For punch in the cut glass dispenser, I mixed white cranberry/strawberry juice with a couple cans of Sierra Mist. The night before, I froze cranberries in juice to make a giant, floating ice cube to slip into the punch. Very pretty, and tasty, but so easy to make.

I'm already looking forward to the next party.

Does the chain reaction redoing ever stop? A Studio Shuffling

cottage, Hand Painted Furniture, studio tour

By Karla Nathan / February 9, 2015

When we decided to rip out the carpet and redo the guest room floor, I also decided to get rid of most of the things in the room. It was a hodge podge of misfits, leftovers from an antique booth, stuff that never sold, things that I just shoved in there to fill the space.

This piece is a good example of the decor. It had a piece of wood on the top and a tablecloth over it and was filled with stored books.

I'd kept it for years because I felt like it had potential, but I'd never done anything about it.

A coat of white paint was a big help. But it still had a huge, gaping hole on the top.

But that was easy to fix with two 18 x 18" marble floor tiles from Home Depot. Then, I sat another book shelf on top of it after giving that a coat of the same paint.

Previously, I had this table in the space, it was okay, but not as efficient for storage. And the mosaic shelf above it was useless. Purely decorative and a waste of precious storage space.

Even in a large studio, every bit of space counts!

(I might use this table in the freshly redone guest room, I don't think it counts as a leftover, or unwanted piece, I still like it)

I'm still not done with my rearranging, but I'm liking the use of space so much more. I've redone a lot of the shelves and have the things I use on a regular basis nearer to my desk chair than before.

Hmmm, yes, I know this doesn't look very tidy, but for me, it is.

While moving things around, I found this mini cabinet I'd made from two old boxes glued together and covered in old paper.

It is going to be ideal to fill with little tidbits for crafting.

When my guest room gets all settled and finished, I'll be sure to show some pictures of that too.

A Grand Fairy Indulgence, or the chain reaction of redos keeps on

cottage, Hand painted, Hand Painted Furniture, paintings

By Karla Nathan / February 7, 2015

When I was showing Dewdrop the paint chips for the guest room, she came up with a brilliant plan.

I should paint their bathroom pink.

The cute part was when she tilted her little head, tapped her tiny chin, and acted like she was really making a deep consideration about the color.

Which is funny, because in her mind, PINK is the only color that should exist.

And since I kinda like some pink myself, and since I'd been redoing and shuffling things around the house, and was still in that mode, I said, "Great idea!" And went for it.

And anyway, when redoing the guest room, I moved a piece of furniture to the studio, and when I redid that area of the studio, I no longer had a place for this sweet little tin box covered in old wallpaper.

So, heck, I needed to redo the bathroom to make a spot for it.

Right????

The shower curtains were due for a freshening and needed to be taken down to be washed. The room used to be grey, and the shower liner was tan, so I bought a new white liner. That alone really brightened up the space.

There is something about dull, Kansas winters that makes me want to brighten and lighten. I felt so much happier with my pretty, soft pink, sparkling walls and white shower curtain.

The best part of the pink is that sparkle. I dumped a few gold and silver glitter bottles into the paint before rolling it on. But to make it really dazzle, when the paint was still wet, I gave it a fairy dusting.

I filled my palm with glitter, and blew it onto the wall to stick to the wet paint. Perfect results! (Unless you consider what a mess the floor was, and how much of it got tracked through the house. Which doesn't really bother me. I like to leave a trail of glitz and sparkle every where I go, and apparently the dogs do too.)

And while I am pinking up the bathroom, I am considering de-pinking the kitchen. I moved one of my paintings from the kitchen to the newly pink guest bath.

The door stayed gray. I liked that neutral shade with the wall color. I almost painted it white to match the trim, but am glad I changed my mind instead of the door color.

I also left the old tins on the ceiling rustic and natural instead of painting them all white, like some already are. And not just because I detest painting ceilings, but because the roughness of the rust helps cut through the sweetness of the pink.

And there is plenty of sweetness going on. Previously, there was a similar wall of mirrors. The largest and smallest were here with two other ones. But in looking around the house, I realized that I had two more mirrors with a rose patterned frame and I switched them out and added them to the other rose rimmed mirrors.

Dewdrop hasn't been by to see it yet (as I am writing this ahead) but Sugarwings was very pleased. And I am too. It is so dainty and pretty that I no longer can refer to it as a guest bathroom, I think I'll have to call it a "powder room". That seems to fit it so much better.

There was a very ugly light fixture in there, previously it was painted to match the wall and disappear. I thought I'd paint it white, but wasn't happy with that. I bought a new fixture to hang, but decided I didn't want to spend that much. So far, my only expenditure was for a gallon of paint, a few bottles of glitter, and a $9 shower liner. The $89 light fixture gave me a pause, plus it was just too new looking for this old house.

The tin box covered in wallpaper that had been moved from the studio, made me think of these rolls of wallpaper border I had.

A strip of old paper dressed up the light fixture just fine for me.

And I'm happy with the mismatched, vintage shades on the fixture. They seem to suit my old cottage.

I think Dewdrop will like the pink flowers on the light. Of course, she'd probably rather of had pink kitties…. I can't leave all decisions up to her!