family – Page 39 – Karla's Cottage

A Fabulous Fall

Dew Drop, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 28, 2014

Around our house, princess frocks and fairy get ups are daily clothes. But the grand fairies still wanted to wear their pink ball gowns to some Halloween parties.

Our Hippy Chick and I both fancied up too. I was a white witch, she was a pixie.

My costume makes more sense with the hat, right?

We headed to the annual Ghost and Giggles party at Lions Gate Country Club.

Where Sugarwings was chosen from the audience to be Lulu the Clown's helper, and insisted that her baby sister come along.

It made my night to see her share the props for the magic trick. Since Dewdrop wasn't officially part of the show, there weren't enough glasses to go around.

It;s good to have a big sis to watch out for you and share.

We had a hay rack ride, games, a clown show, with balloon animals, and of course, great food. I always love the menus at Lions Gate.

It has been the most lovely fall. My flowers are blooming like crazy, tomatoes are still ripening on the vines, and we've had one party after another.

The city of Lawrence sponsored an Enchanted Forest at the nature center with woodland characters along a trail through the woods, and ponies to pet when your walk ended.

It was only $3 to attend and everything there was as cute as can be.

This was one of my favorite characters, a bald eagle in a giant nest, who had a bucket for kids throw stuffed fish into. There was also a Big Bad Wolf roaming the trails, challenging all the kids to a howling contest.

I think I might have won. Dewdrop and I both had a pretty good howl, though.

Afterwards, we had a little gathering to watch the Royals. I'm not a sports fan myself, but my husband sure is.

When I arrived in Florida for my sister trip, the shuttle driver who took me to my rental car asked where I'd flown in from. I told him, and he said, "Kansas City! That is HOT right now" I told, him, no, it was warmer in Florida. He spent the rest of the drive lecturing me on having some pride in my local team.

So, on the shuttle ride back to the airport at the end of my trip, when I ended up with the same shuttle driver and he asked where I was going, I went along with Kansas City being HOT and didn't bother to mention I hadn't noticed.

My husband sure noticed. He is loving the Royals. So, I fixed him a special meal, for his little get together and even wrote "K C R" on the pastry wrapped, rosemary brie, with rosemary leaves.

While I'm loving every minute of the fall parties, perfect weather, and cute costumes, I'll leave the sports watching to him.

But I did eat my share of the baked brie.

I hope that your Halloween week is an enchanting one too.

With lots of laughs.

Plenty of silliness.

And time to slow down and enjoy watching the leaves float down from the trees before you have to start raking them all up.

Kittens and corn

Dew Drop, family, kitties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 24, 2014

We have not had the best luck with kitties lately. Poor Terrance Snowball disappeared. Our other cat, was distressed and lonely, so we got a kitten for her (and for Dewdrop, who is a major cat person),

Dewdrop named her Cocoa and loved her. Then, one morning, I woke up to find the tiny baby dead. We don't know why. I was able to maneuver Sugarwings out the door, and off to school without seeing the body, so that we could sit down and talk about it later, not right before class started.

When Dewdrop and I went to the pumpkin patch, she had spent a lot of time holding this kitty with the pumpkin colored eyes and heart shaped nose. So, I called Pendleton's Country Market to see if they had any kittens available and found out that this kitty was looking for a home.

Sugarwings and I took a trip out to the country to get the new cat, and of course, spent some time playing while there.

Her favorite part was the corn bath. It was an extra large horse tank filled with shucked kernels, and she couldn't get enough of it.

First of all, it is great for jumping in.

And you can bury yourself in it, roll in it, or just sit back and enjoy it.

I played in there for a long time with her, but got a bit itchy after a while. She was enthralled and stayed about an hour.

I'm afraid I got a bit slap happy while she dwaddled in the vat of corn.

I was finally able to coax her out by mentioning the slingshot. This place is a year round, working farm, not just a pumpkin patch. Farmer John culls the veggies that are going bad from the good stuff he takes to market and has the bad ones in baskets by the sling shot, so that you can test your skills in flinging rotten apples or eggplants.

There were some issues with getting the cat into our carrier, but all in all it was a great day. And Dewdrop has named her new kitty, Pumpkin Pie. She remembered her from the previous trip there and was thrilled ot see her.

Her little heart is broken over losing Terrance and Cocoa, but having Pumpkin Pie to snuggle has helped. I hope this sweet kitty is here to stay, and is still around for ages like our previous, old barn cat. It hasn't been easy to go through this revolving door of kittens for the last couple of years, after having the same old tom for over a decade.

Wish us luck, please. And Pumpkin Pie too, she probably needs it more than we do.

Fall leaves wedding centerpiece how-to

celebrations, family, free images, guncles, how to's

By Karla Nathan / October 16, 2014

This is a big week for me. I'm away with my sisses on a trip to Sarasota to relax on the beach for an entire week of sister time. From there, I'll be flying directly to New Hampshire to meet up with my husband and attend his brother's wedding.

We are both standing up with the couple and I am thrilled! I've never been in a wedding, and this one is extra special. The guncles had a commitment ceremony 15 years ago, and have been an ideal couple, deeply in love and devoted to each other.

But in Florida, their ceremony isn't recognized. So we are all flying to NH where it is legal for them to wed, and I am double thrilled to be a part of it.

I'm helping with the decorations, here is a prototype of a centerpiece that I have mailed to the guncles to approve. And while I'm in Florida, my sisses and I will have a bachelor party/craft day with Randy at sweet Karen's Kozy Kottage in Mt. Dora to create the rest of the decorations for the wedding.

The plan so far, will be to get some fall vines from the hobby store, sponge paint them gold and add glitter, to make a few centerpieces and a garland for the mantle in the room they are renting for the event.

The day of the party, we will add some fresh flowers to the arrangements.

We have 10 of these tins to use to make a banner to hang from the garland. I added a K to this one as an example, but I don't know what we will be spelling yet.

I thought of using the light weight, paper mache boxes to hold the floral arrangements because they have to be mailed. These would cost a fraction of what it would cost to ship vases. Plus, Randy adores photos, so this is a way to use photos in the decor. He has already made up place cards utilizing pictures of the attendees, so this will look nice with those on the table.

The boxes are decoupaged in old, French text, then glittered in a sheer crystal glitter. Over that, I've added a fall colored scrapbook paper framed out in Dresden foil and holding cut out picture of the guncles and their beloved pets.

The leaves are stuck in oasis foam, and there are two small skewers, painted gold holding up the mini banner, "Happily Ever After" printed on heart shaped leaves covering chipboard.

Here they are if you'd like to use them for a project too. Click on the image to open in a larger window and save that to your computer to print.

When I get back, I'll have pictures of the finished decor, along with the happy couple too, of course!

ps-

I'm out of town now, but the tutorial is still available for purchase, if you are interested in making an art journal

Kansas City Renfest 2014

fairies, family, Sugarwings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 10, 2014

The mermaids at the Renfest have a new grotto. Last year, they were plopped into a sad tank of water.

Now, they have a magical pond along a woodland trail.

Complete with a treasure chest filled with baubles to share with princesses who come to call.

As always, the Renfest provides the perfect backdrop for Sugarwings' fertile imagination. It is a beautiful location in a hilly wooded area, with a fairy tale village amidst the trees.

With fairies to meet.

Who like to frolic with guests.

And queens who love to dance with with visiting royalty.

We spent a lot of time playing a board game with the hand blown glass marbles.

And visiting the livestock.

This pony was named Sugar. That seemed to be a good fit.

I'm afraid I didn't catch the name of this lady.

Poor Sugarwings always ends up poisoned by some bad apple, every where we go.

Luckily, she felt better and was able to have a turkey leg for dinner.

Her Daddy was there, selling hand made magic wands and alchemy pendants.

In his free time, he and Miss Tree did some acrobatic yoga.

Sugarwings joined in.

I did not. But I did share the turkey leg.

There was dancing around the maypole too.

And pirate wenches in pink.

The only thing missing? Little Dewdrop. I hope to get a chance to take her this year too. She and Sugarwings have matching gowns, and she is just dying for a chance to rock hers too. (These pink gowns are from TJ Max and only $29 each. What a steal. Knowing Dewdrop, she will be wearing hers nonstop till it looks more like the "before" version of Cinderella's dress instead of the one the fairy godmother gives her.)

Sugarwings' dress already is heading that way….

Sports

family

By Karla Nathan / October 2, 2014

My husband has always been a sports fan, and has been disapointed that my sons and I detest sports don't follow his teams with him.

But now, he has the girls, and Dewdrop will watch anything on TV if it means she gets to snuggle, so he has a baseball buddy on some evenings. And Sugarwings is a cheerleader fan. She has gone to a couple of KU football games to watch the cheering.

She doesn't care about the game itself, but he is happy to have someone to go with him anyway.

She is pretty good company. She likes to hang out and help me around the house too. And I hate housework about as much as I detest sports. don't enjoy following teams with my husband, so appreciate anything that makes it go by more quickly.

Redoing the Fairy Berry Trail tree house

Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, Hand painted, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 21, 2014

We haven't had access to the Fairy Berry Trail for a while. First, a big storm turned some dead branches into widow-makers, dangling from the top of the trees. Then, my husband and son did some dangling from the treetops with the chainsaw, and trimmed it all up, leaving piles of debris blocking the trails.

This week, we cleared it up and repaired the Fairy Tree House by rebuilding its walls from the downed limbs and some grapevines.

It kind of looks like a big brush pile behind those two large trees.

One of those trees has grown crookedly down, to form a roof. We entwined branches into a dome shape over the crooked branch, creating kind of a igloo shaped structure.

Here is a picture looking through the archway "door" into the room. And a picture of one of my dogs sniffin the other's butt, apparently. Sorry.

After all the branches were in place, we wove fresh grapevine in and out of them to anchor it all. Hopefully, as the vines dry, they will keep the branches in place. The vines were laden with clusters of grapes, so I'm crossing my fingers that they will drop seeds and more vines will grow up the walls that we built today.

The grand fairies have always loved their tree house, but it is even more beckoning now. Very cozy, with full walls and a roof, made up of woven branches with sunshine peeking through. And I created an archway entrance out of grapevines, that is low enough that an adult needs to duck to get in, but just right for the kiddos.

After a day of construction, well, most of a day. We trimmed up some other trees and cleared the paths in the woods while we had the chainsaw out, but a big part of Sunday was needed just for building the tree house.

Anyway, once it was done, I decided it needed a little something. So, got my paints and thought I'd turn the big knot hole by the entrance into a face.

Then, I thought, no, some eyes looking out from the darkness.

That morphed into two sets of eyes, with the lower ones looking up.

And that made me think of the two fairy girls who will be playing in that tree house.

So, I thought I'd make the faces into those girls. This green sprite is supposed to be Sugarwings.

And here is Dewdrop.

Kansas Sunflowers

family, flowers, photography, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 15, 2014

Outside of Lawrence, halfway to Tonganoxie, there is a sea of gold, stretching out as far as the eye can see.

I've lived in this town for over 20 years and this was my first visit there. How could I have been missing out on walking through the rows of sunflowers? What was I thinking?

While I always thought it sounded pretty and that I'd like to go and see the flowers in bloom, I had no idea that the field would have such an enchanted feel to it.

Lots of families were there, all taking photos, probably a dozen cars full of people. But, the moment you step into the rows of flowers and are swallowed up by the blossoms, you are alone in a world of yellow and green, lost in the rows of looming giants.

How strange, to be ten minutes outside of the city, and amidst at least 50 other people, but feel so isolated and hidden.

But not in a scary way, it is a magical feel. No, an enchanted feeling. That is the only way to describe it.

I grew up in the middle of an Indiana corn field. Walking into the corn, and into the sunflower field is similar, but the flowers are so much prettier and special. I loved playing the corn when I was young, and could lose myself in the stalks, or find a hiding place to lay back reading a book for a few hours with my Irish Setter as a pillow.

The sunflowers had me reminiscing about those days in the Hoosier corn fields, but as much as I enjoyed those times out in my brother-in-law's crop, this was something different. At some points, we were completely hidden away, with flowers topping 8-9'. Other spots, they where shorter, or there was a slight hill to stand on and we could see acres of yellow off into the horizon.

I think my girls shared my excitement. I don't know how you could walk out into the vastness of the field and not feel the magic.

In some spots, there are clearings, that beckoned me to grab a dog for a pillow and bring a good book to hide out with for a while. I could have easily spent hours in one of those little rooms with green walls.

And then, there would be places so dense, we had to back track and find a new route through, and we'd wonder just how far we'd wondered from the car, just to find out that we were actually only ten feet from the road.

And woven all about the stems, were blue morning glories, the color of our Dorothy's gown.

We discovered that sunflowers weren't just to admire, you could also play with them.

By plucking out a few seeds, you can make happy faces, we wanted them to look like they were laughing, so they would feel as happy as we did.

I hope that others walking through the field see our sunny faces and smile back at them.

Sugarwings made a happy face too.

The fields are free to visit, anyone is welcome. The farmers ask that you leave them as you found them, take out your trash, and pay a dollar each for any flowers that you pick. There is a donation box to help the land owner defray the costs of the field.

We paid for the ones we defaced (well, really we "faced" them) and we picked a couple too.

I hope to take Dewdrop there for a few pictures too. I think she'd look cute in a fairy gown. Being dwarfed by the towering blooms makes a perfect backdrop for a fairy photo shoot.

Plus, I just can't wait to get back there myself.

A Pinkie Pie Birthday party and some home made sidewalk chalk

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 26, 2014

August is a busy month for us. My husband and I have an anniversary, The Hippy Chick and Sugarwings both have birthdays, and of course, back to school time. Which still irks me, that it comes so early. Am I showing my age by thinking back to school should be after Labor Day?

We have had a lot of celebratiing going on.

So much so, that some days we had to double up on parties. Sugarwings' school's open house was the same night that we went out to celebrate her mom's birthday.

My social calender has been jam packed. A good buddy has the same birthday as the Hippy Chick and turned 50 this year, so we have had a brunch for her and a Girls' Night Out too.

I feel very blessed with all of the special occasions to attend. And to have friends and family around me to celebrate with. My sister also has a birthday this week, but is too far away for me to be there when she blows out the candles.

I miss being there to give her a birthday hug, but I also know that I'm very lucky to have my sisters in my life and that we are extremely lucky to be so close, even while being so far apart. I hope that Sugarwings and Dewdrop will always have this closeness. Whenever they spat (which is a LOT) I always tell them that a sister is a forever friend.

Not that it helps. When someone takes a toy from your hands, or screams in your face, it is hard to feel overwhelming friendship and appreciation at that moment.

The party that our Hippy Chick threw was full of friendship and fun. She let Sugarwings choose the theme, Pinkie Pie, and added lots of pink polka dotted balloons to the park by her house. Simple, colorful, and cute. With old fashioned games that inspired lots of laughs and running.

She provided some fun little giveaways, and made a gluten/dairy free cake with fresh strawberries. Sugarwings and I made some side walk chalk to give to her friends too.

There isn't much to making it, but I think we could have done it a better way. Maybe this post should be titled, "How NOT to make Sidewalk Chalk"

Here is what we did wrong. First, no recipe, no measuring, and no thinking it out. I kind of figured I'd wing it. And I was wrong, it would've been better if I'd paid attention.

First of all, I had no idea that plaster of paris would dry so fast. Our plan was to add the glitter to it, stir in some water, then pour it into a mold and swirl in food coloring to each piece of chalk in the molds.

Well, it was thick as burnt and lumpy gravy within seconds. Seconds! I did not use enough water. I found that if you use more water, it takes days to dry, but it is better than having it dry before you can get it in a mold because your mixture didn't have enough liquid.

And it sets up permanently. This bucket, after soaking for a week, is still coated with plaster. I thought it would wash away if I soaked it, but no, the bucket is ruined.

If you are making this, use something you want to throw away, like a Dollar Store bucket, not your favorite pail.

So, here is how you should do it:

Put on gloves

Add two cups of plaster of paris to a throw away bucket
Mix food coloring into one cup of water (we didn't do this, I figured out afterwards that it would be better to stir the food coloring into the water ahead of time, instead of adding it to the mix later)
Have your silicone molds nearby and ready to pour the mixture into ( you can also
pour the mix into small plastic bowls, and after they dry, break the chalk into chunks)
Dump a whole container of fine glitter into the plaster of paris, mix well
Slowly stir in water
Pour into the molds, let sit for a few days
Remove the chalk from the molds and let them sit for a few more days. Ours took over a week to set up when we did it this way, but the chalk was really nice. And the silicone molds made cute shapes.

PS- happy birthday, Bobbie!

Around the cottage

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 24, 2014

Summer ends too quickly for me. Especially this year, we have had fall like temps that make me believe that summer has really ended, not just that school starts way too early.

On Sugarwing's first day of second grade, we could see our breath, it was so chilly! That is NOT typical Kansas weather in mid August. Usually we are cursing the cracked, dry, brown earth that is baking in the heat.

Now, I'm not complaining about not feeling like I live in a smelting pot, I just am discombobulated by the freaky weather and am going to start thinking about pumpkin pie before it is even time to harvest our tomatoes.

We have made use of this untypical August cool air by taking lots of bike rides and hitting the walking trails. During one walk, we paused for a selfie, and snapped it just in time to catch Twinkle in the act of side swiping Sugarwings and I both with her tongue.

Besides working on Nature's Blessing journal covers, I've not had much of a chance to get creative, instead, I've been hanging with the grand fairies and working in the yard. All the work that normally gets put off til cooler, fall weather has been tempting me to be out doors, doing it now instead.

Oh, I've had time for a few little redos, like fixing up this frame from an estate sale, and I've been in a deep cleaning frenzy in the house for some odd reason.

The frame was sprayed with bonding primer (zinser)

Washed with watered down, coffee colored paint.

Then, wiped with a paper towel. I plan on sanding it for a distressed look, then popping in a pretty picture of a grand fairy.

Of course, I'll have plenty of those to choose from!

A family Stay-cation

family

By Karla Nathan / August 17, 2014

Honestly, our whole summer has been a stay-cation. We've taken at least one day trip a week, even if it is just to the pool or lake. I've tried to have a weekly outing and a daily project for the grand fairies when they are here with me.