cottage – Page 4 – Karla's Cottage

Guncles in Kansas

cottage, family, Food and Drink, guncles

By Karla Nathan / September 13, 2023

We had a Guncle-riffic visit last week. They spent half the time with us, the other half with close friends in KC. Their last night in Lawrence included a birthday party for that couple, who are family to the guys.

Now, down on Sweet Cherry Lane in Jax, the tablescapes and delicious food are legendary. Randy keeps his dining table set on a regular basis and then goes even more all out when guests arrive.

And the food, oh my.

So while they were visiting, I had Randy help me set my table.

Our big craft project had been to restyle some violins.

So we incorporated those along with some violin sheet music.

We had a small group at a large table, and only needed to decorate half of it. Kevin makes the best German chocolate cake, so that got center stage on the other half.

Dinner was a luscious lemon chicken. And the company? The best!

I’ll have some close ups of the violins in my next post.

A Barbie Dollhouse turned into a Haunted Mansion

cottage, how to's, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / July 13, 2023

In the previous post, I left out pictures of Sugarwings’ Barbie House redo. At first, I was going to vintage it up with old wallpaper and sell it at Good Juju. But as I was starting to wrestle it down the stairs, it dawned on me that the kiddo had requested “Haunted Mansion” as the room theme.

Well, dur.

This thing could make a fantastic haunted house plus it was large enough to use as shelving for books and stuff.

On high gloss surfaces, I brushed on a primer then painted it black. Elsewhere, I used black acrylic paint directly onto the existing dollhouse wallpaper, trim, and flooring.

The paint was watered down and wiped off in some spots, and I tore the paper on the walls before washing it with the black.

I especially like the effect in this room.

I could’ve easily gotten carried away and dolled it up with furnishings, but held back because I knew it was meant to be a bookcase/shelf. I filled it with some of Sugarwings’ belongings and added this antique, plaster lion for the teen’s 17th birthday in August (Leo time).

It still needed a nod to its dollhouse beginnings, so I let this person move in.

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.

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.

Once again, that was wine in the teacups

celebrations, cottage, flowers, Food and Drink, friends, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 15, 2023

To celebrate Angie and Beth’s birthdays, we made plans for a day out, and I offered to make brunch first. But then, Angie picked up an estate sale to do, and between that and all of her other obligations, her time off for a whole day disappeared. Our date switched to lunch and I decided to serve it in the gazebo to make it special.

Hmm, not the best picture of us, but you get the idea.

We had wine in our teacups, and drank it with our pinky fingers crooked while wearing floral garden hats and speaking in a British accent, of course.

I draped a little, round table in layers of clothes, and brought out the floral china.

The weather cooperated with perfection, but just in case, I added a fan and extra sun umbrellas to the space.

Teapots were filled with $1 flower bundles (our local Kroger always marks them down after the weekend) and I made place cards with “Angela” and “Elizabeth” instead of Angie and Beth to be extra fancy.

But “Karla” doesn’t come with a fancy option.

So I used the name my dad, Hubert, had written on my original birth certificate.

“Huberta”

As in Huberta Josephine Downey.

Yep, that was my name. My mom changed it to Karla Jo. Not nearly as much to roll off the tongue. I think I could’ve grown up as a Bertie, or Birdy? Instead I was always Karkie Jo.

The silk flower umbrellas from my April Showers Bring May Flowers theme at Good Juju got another go round as garden party decor. I’ve left them up outside a while, they somewhat survived a 24 hour deluge. I’m not sure how many more uses I’ll get out of them, but I have enjoyed every bit of our time together so far.

We had dipped strawberries and lavender honey dark chocolate for dessert.

I fixed honey butter toasted croissants, individual quiches, and fruit salad.
Even though it was their birthdays, Angie brought sparkling soda and Beth brought a salad.

Happy Birthday to two of the funnest people around!

There was wine in the teacups

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

By Karla Nathan / May 21, 2023

Last Tuesday evening, I hosted a Mother’s Day tea party. A friend recently lost her MIL, then right before the holiday, her own mom passed unexpectedly. As I planned a get together for her I realized that none of the guests’ moms were still alive.

I thought we should honor all of the lost mothers and asked for photos of the ladies.

Then I picked some flowers from my yard to tuck into tussie mussies.

The plan was to sit outside by the fire and order pizza.

But I wanted a real tea party style gathering, so I made food instead and set it out on the table with the pretty dishes.

This tiered stand from Hobby Lobby, years ago (they still have them) always comes in handy. On a daily basis, it holds fruit, but when company comes, the fruit goes in a bowl and this is used for serving food.

Earlier this month, I found a metal lamp base on a flea market dollar table. It made an ideal holder for a stack of salad plates.

My table is oak, and not the look I wanted for a spring, flowery party. But it’s also huge, and I don’t have tablecloths to fit it. So, I covered it in a painter’s drop cloth and layered these rosey placemats (50 cents from a garage sale this week) on top.

Focaccia bread isn’t exactly a tea party staple, but I baked it to look like a flower garden.

And how lucky were we to get a perfect spring evening? Just cool enough for a fire, but not so chilly that we’re had to be close to the fire for warmth. It was more for atmosphere.

The table was a generous and exceptional hand me down from my sis, Terry. And oh my. It is a dragon mosaic made from genuine stones and can feature either a fire or umbrella in the center.

We just love it. I call it my fire breathing dragon table.

And I love my friends. I’m glad we had a night together to honor our moms and to sip wine from teacups.
I think I’ll make this a tradition. You are never too old to miss your mommy.

Inside the cabinets I just repainted

cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / May 17, 2023

While cleaning and repainting my kitchen cabinets, I did mini redoes on the displays inside.

Three of them have glass doors. The very top shelves were where I kept pretty things rarely used.
That stuff had been up there for…well, a bit.

It all needed a dusting even though it was behind glass. And I came across things I didn’t even remember owning. Those got pulled out and will go to my booth to sell. Because if they hadn’t been touched in a decade, why do I need them?

My pretties got a little bit of a shuffle, a wiping, then a thinning out.

Except for these. Oh, yes, they got a cleaning off, but that’s it, then they went right back on display with no changes.

This is a partial set from my mom’s dishes. When she died, the whole set went to my Sissy, who shared them with Bobbie Sue and I. We each got two place settings.

All of the cabinets still look plenty full, even with the pruning I did. And I have more inventory to haul into Good Juju. Although, rose pattern china doesn’t seem to be a big draw there. I try to balance my foofy pretties with some more rustic items for that venue.

I’m liking that sort of combo in my house too.

See what I mean? This is on my mantel. Since we added the hearth room with the dark floors and stone wall, I’m using a lot more natural type elements and darker colors. I’m still all about the Light and Bright with roses, but I like the cabiney-cottagey feel too.

I repainted my kitchen cabinets

cottage, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / May 14, 2023

My kitchen cabinets were built by my son, and I love them. They are solid and will last forever. But they needed some TLC and I wanted a new look. The tops are now a brighter white and the bottoms are a mushroomy tone.

I also painted the underneath part as well as the window frame behind the stove to the same bright, white.

It feels so much cleaner and brighter. Notice how often I am using the word, brighter? That is what I was going for, and I am quite pleased that I got my bright results.

While I was at it, I took stuff out of the cabinets, cleaned and rearranged them, washed this curtain and the ones on the window, and soaked every glass knob in soapy vinegar water.

The pottery on top of the cabinets got a trip through the dishwasher while I was painting and was ready to put back up there as I finished up with my paint brush.

The walls of the recessed area around this bank of cabinets are painted a very pale blue. I was tempted to redo them too, in a more sea glass shade.

Since I am still dealing with post concussion syndrome, I decided to just tackle one job at a time. But I did take down everything on the wall, wash it, and slightly rearrange the pictures. And I’m still day dreaming of an ocean blue to slap up there later.

The paint I used was Behr latex satin. Since I have been the only person to paint these cabinets, I knew all of the products that were on them, and didn’t have to sand or prime. I’d previously used latex and a water based top coat, so I knew that my satin coat would adhere nicely. That saved time. And my Grandfairy was helpful too, Sugarwings took off all the hardware for me then put it back on when I was done.

Here is an older photo of the room. See, brighter! Another thing that helped was replacing our light bulbs with daylight LEDs. Although two chandeliers’ worth of brand new bulbs felt like a major renovation cost (dang, light bulbs aren’t cheap!), they made a huge difference.

Daylight bulbs versus soft white changed everything.

I saw cobwebs that I hadn’t noticed, my husband could do his morning crossword without reading glasses, and my cabinets looked dirty. I’m glad I got the new bulbs, even though they made me feel like I needed to repaint the room and started this whole production.

I’m pretty happy with the new BRIGHTER look.

A tale of tech troubles and many mushrooms

cottage, family, mushrooms

By Karla Nathan / April 25, 2023

Remember my quest to make two hundred mushrooms? I am on my way. Especially if you count three at a time on one display.

Working on fungi this week has been a wonderful escape from my digital woes. OMG, my email issues have been a nightmare. From hours on the phone, re-explaining, waiting to codes, call backs and answers that never come, to finally being able it get into it, but in a round about, not so easy way.

It gave me great joy to chop right into the lacy skirt of a vintage gown to make sweet, lil schroomies! If I am feeling frustration with some of life’s irritations, a dab of creative time can be just what I need to forget my troubles.

Not only was my email messing with me, we had issues with getting tax forms we needed, and were also dealing with a dead phone and a hard to find replacement, then all of the minor little glitches that can pop up in a new phone once it is set up.

Rich lost his phone deep in the woods. He’d found two pounds of morels, but realized his iPhone wasn’t in the pocket where he’d last seen it.

Oops!

So he trudged back through swamps and deadfalls with no luck. Then drove 45 minutes home to get the iPad so he could track the phone. Then re-trudged through the woods and the swamps and the deadfalls to search again, this time, armed with Find My iPhone.

But once again, Oops.

The ipad didn’t have cellular and wouldn’t work without his phone. He drove the 45 minutes back to our house, retraced his steps, this time while carrying my iPhone and a working app. Success! He found it after a full day of looking, or trying to get to the other side of the swamp to look.

He came home very dirty, washed his clothes right away so I wouldn’t get poison ivy from a laundry basket, which I often do after he has been hiking. And you do remember me saying that we had been trying to replace a dead phone? Yep. He was so diligent about getting his woodsy clothes washed that he forgot to check pockets and also washed the phone he had looked for all day that was in the pocket.

It was too funny to be upset about. We invited some friends over to eat fried morels with us, and I spent some time crafting to forget about all of our technology issues. The day off was certainly needed and helped my frame of mind.

Easter morning

cottage, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / April 9, 2023

Happy Easter!

I hope your day is filled with blessings.

We have a quiet day planned, I’ll mostly be resting up from my Good Juju event. I am blessed by good friends who helped me out and covered my shift so I could leave early.

We will have a mini egg hunt tonight and a simple dinner. Till then I am going to be taking it easy and resting up from yesterday’s festivities and be ready to enjoy tonight’s get together.