family – Page 55 – Karla's Cottage

A Springtime tea party

fairies, family, flowers, Food and Drink, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / May 16, 2011

The weather around here has been weird, which means, its a typical Kansas Spring. The air conditioner was in use on Monday and by the end of the week we had the furnace back on again.

Sugarwings spent some of the weekend with me and we were both sick of the cold weather, so we cheered ourselves up with a Fairy Tea Party. A big part of the fun was setting her table and planning treats that our guests would like.

We made cupcakes together, then I put her to work making cherry tomato and cheese kabobs on colorful toothpicks. (she preferred to make her tomatoes connected with multiple picks, and her platter of snacks looked more like an erector set than kabobs)

I let her pick the flowers for the centerpiece and she chose all yellow, which is odd for her, she loves pink even more than I do. But I think she made a good choice for the table cloth and the teapot that she chose.

Our guests were Pixie Pie and Lola (which means Grandmother in Filipino, Lola is Grandpa Ardell's widow). All day, while getting ready for them, Sugarwings refused to call them by their names, she would only refer to them as "our guests".

And after they left, she set and re-set her table for guests to come again.

The goodies went over well. I don't have a single photo where someone isn't chewing. Everyone was pretty engrossed in the meal. (that is Sparkle in the background waiting patiently to clean up the floor under the table after the meal is over, Agnes Rosebud and Twinkle aren't that patient, they are under the table already.)

The girls might think that tea parties are all about the food, but I am sneakily teaching manners as we chow down. They learn about passing the food around, pouring their own cream, and sharing food, but not sharing the spoons or double dipping. As well as polite conversation and asking each person how their day was.

There might have been a little bit too much sugar in the tea, so we bundled up and went outside to run some of the energy off. It sure looks like Spring with all the iris in bloom, but it was too chilly for me.

Promising them a bubble bath got the two little girls to come inside again so I could get warm They were happy running full speed through the garden trails while I shivered, but a chance to play in the big tub convinced them.

And a warm bubble bath was good for them too, they were cold and sticky.

Thanks for all of your sign ups for my Birdsong Tag Book Swap!

And there is room for more. Scroll down to the previous post for details if interested.

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 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.

The fairie’s surprise

family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / April 21, 2011

Recently I discovered the gardening junk at the Dollar Store and filled the Fairy Berry Trail with a gaudy cartful of rainbow-ey things.

Sugarwings was coming to spend the day with me, so I hurried out and filled the trail with the decor to surprise her. She thinks that the fairies decorated it for her. I never get the credit, but I don't mind.

What on earth would my life be like without my grands? I'd be doing something yucky like actually getting some work done instead of hanging rainbow wind socks out in the woods.

I'll be busy getting ready for BirdSong this week, please forgive me for not answering comments. I'll be taking the time to read them, tho!

Being Real

family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 18, 2011

Sugarwings and Pixie Pie spent the evening with us Monday night and like all evenings do when they get together, it ended in playing dress up. I'm always looking for fun princess, fairy, or other costume accessories and dresses for them at garage sales and thrifts.

This time, the dogs got involved too. I think that Agnes Rosebud was born to wear a boa, don't you? This is the one I am packing to take to Moulin Rouge, but I think she looks much cuter in it than I will.

Twinks got into it too. She could use a smaller size fairy crown, though, this one falls around her neck.

By the way, does anyone know what the term for these things is????? I've been wracking my brain for it, and I KNOW that there just has to be a name for them.

I love to see what costumes the girls pull together. You never know what will be coming down the stairs to curtsy and show off. It could be a bumble bee, a witch, a fairy, or a conglomeration of all of them at once.

Sugarwings often falls back on the Dorothy look. Although she puts her own spin on it, and is wearing two different shoes, not ruby slippers.

But her first outfit was the best. She hadn't been part of the parade down the stairs yet, and I went up to see if she needed zipped or buttoned, or helped out in any way. But there she stood, completely naked wearing her two mismatched heels, a crown, and pretending to drink a cup of tea.

I asked why she wasn't dressed up, and she said she wanted to be "real". She's real funny alright.

Once upon a dream

fairies, family, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / March 11, 2011

Thank you all for your kind words about my Bookie. He was a funny little, odd ball and will be missed. I appreciate you sharing your stories with me about your furry loves too. They do find their way deep into our hearts!

Oh a happier, much happier, practically gleeful note, Jenn Hayslip's

Once Upon a Dream

event is open for sales!

And oh my gosh, her site is like stepping into a fairytale already. I can't wait to see the actual party! She is known for her attention to detail.

Plus, I might have a slight fondness for fairies…. So this weekend will be right up my ally. Or up my fairy trail. No, that sounds a bit wrong, and maybe even little risque, doesn't it?

Our magical weekend in Asheville, NC will be a grown up fairy tale, far from the Disney princess type of fairies. She is going for romantic and gorgeous.

As a matter of fact, when Jenn was first planning this and invited me to teach a mini class, she sent me a lot of the inspirational links that she was looking at and that is what inspired me to take the fairy pictures of all the little girls in my life.

Which reminds me, I should try to get some more sweet winged, naked baby pictures before my tiniest grandfairy is big enough to crawl away!

Here is the project that I will be doing at Once Upon a Dream. We'll be turning a teensy, 1" Charlotte in to a prize ribbon to wear or display.

Jenn is providing a generous budget for the kits, and I'll be filling them with vintage wallpaper, and pretty ribbons, lace, some millinery, and sparkle. Nothing but the Besties!

I keep looking at the Once Upon a Dream site over and over, its just so well done and so dreamy. I highly recommend a visit there to get lost in the atmosphere and day dream of fairies.

Today in Lawrence, KS, the weather has the promise of Spring. I've got all the doors and windows open, and hope to do a spring cleaning before scooping up my own little fairy, Sugarwings.

I found this cute old book, that I now have listed in the Boutique, and it has some interesting tips in it. But I think it should add "Play make believe with your grand-kids" because I can't think of anything else that keeps me feeling as full of life as that does!

We went to the park yesterday, and pretended that the slides were rainbows that we could ride. We had a treasure hunt using a map that was actually a scrap of some kid's homework blowing across the playground, and the hunt ended with her finding an imaginary crown for Prince Charming buried in the wood chips.

I'll leave you with a few more photos of whats new in the Boutique. I'm still restocking, and there is much more to come!

Sugarwing’s Low Sugar Freezer Jam, otherwise known as a strawberry spread type thing

family, Food and Drink, how to's, how-to projects, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / March 3, 2011

For not having a recipe and having never made jam before, we did okay last night when we gave it a try. What we ended up with was a unique strawberry spread type thing, and we really like it. So, I guess that is what counts. Whether anyone would ever call it "jam" when they ate it, doesn't really matter to us.

We were going rogue.

While I've never made jam myself, I knew a bit about it. Like you need a LOT of sugar for it to set up. And if you aren't canning it, you need to make freezer jam instead.

We used very little sugar, because I was making the jam myself so I could purposely cut back on it, since Sugarwings has a little bit of a jelly addiction. Well, with a name like Sugarwings, you might expect her to have a sweet tooth…

Here's how we did it, if you want to make some strawberry spread type thing for yourself:

First you need a good berry scrubber with skills in pulling off the "green parts".
After the green parts are gone, cut off the top, and toss the fruit into a blender. We used 2 quarts of organic berries.
We squeezed half of a lime over the berries in the blender and then purreed them. To get the most juice out of the lime, we played with it a while, and got it good and smashy before I cut it in half.
To the berry/lime mix, we added a 3/4 cup of organic sugar and about three good sized squirts of agave nectar syrup, and blended them all together. Have the lid on the blender before your helper pushes any buttons, or else be ready to wipe berry globs off your forehead.
We opened a packet of pectin (found on the jello isle at the grocery store) and disolved it in a 1/4 cup of boiling water. I have a feeling that the jam might have been thicker if my helper hadn't spilled quite a bit of the pectic powder when she poured it into the bowl. If all your pectin makes it into the hot water, you might have a better end product than we did.
Mix the pectin/water with the berries and sugar, then pour into jars. Leave space at the top of the jar for the jam to expand when it freezes.
Let set at room temperature for a couple hours before cooling in the fridge (or freezer if you want to save it for later)
Make labels while the jars set up.

The whole endeavor might have just been an excuse to make labels. Our yeild was small, only three partial jars, so we decorated the lids, too. We had looked forward to making labels too much to stop at three.

For our labels, we used some fruit rub ons and paint markers on water color paper shapes cut out with our punches.

My kitchen might still be a little sticky, but we sure had fun. And our so called jam really is tasty. And good for you too!

To me, it tastes a bit like a Margarita. Sugarwings thinks it tastes like jelly, but she's never had a margy. This spread has more of a fresh berry flavor than a jelly flavor. And I don't think it ended up costing any more than if I'd bought three jars of All Fruit spread. Sometimes, kitchen experiments can go a bit crazy in the budget department, but this one did okay financially.

Plus, its something we will really enjoy eating, and it wasn't hard to make. We also whipped up some home made yogurt, and for breakfast today, we swirled some of our "jam" into the plain yogurt, and it was heavenly.

My funny Valentine

family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / February 16, 2011

Did you have a good Valentines Day? We sure did, we had Sugarwings for the night and my husband whisked us away to see a romantic chick flick. Gnomeo and Juliet. And it was really pretty cute. First of all, I have a thing for yard gnomes. No, not a romantic thing, I just like them.

And second, the music was all Elton John. Can't beat that.

On the way home we scooped up some to-go food and served it on the good dishes when we got back to the cottage. After, Sugarwings and I whipped up a quick, festive dessert.

We skewered mini marshmallows onto red toothpicks, melted a hand full of Belgian chocolate chips in the microwave for a minute, then dipped the marshmallows in and quickly rolled them in sprinkles.

It took minutes to do, and she could do most of it all by herself. Plus they were tasty! The trick is to use the good chips. What a difference it makes to upgrade from Toll House chips.

In the last year, I switched over to the Belgian chips and they are make any thing I bake better. They cost a bit more, but are such better quality. If I am making cookies, I put the chips in a blender and chop them up, so they go further. I only use half as much that way.

I hope your Valentines Day was a sweet one too!

Snot, Elbows, and some Vintage Valentines for you (the images are for you, that is, not the snot and elbows)

celebrations, family, free images, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope that you are having a day filled with love. Around here, this year's holiday is more about tissues and Nyquil than chocolates and champagne.

My husband and I usually celebrate Valentines Day as a family because it is the anniversary of him adopting our boys. So, we take the kids out to a nice restaurant and toast each other. Because of everyone's busy schedules we weren't able to do our dinner on the 14th, we spent Sunday evening at our favorite Italian place instead.

The food was so good and the company so wonderful, I was able to forget about this nasty cold I have, and had a spectacular time. The only bad part was that I was trying to avoid holding the baby, so I wouldn't spread my germs to her.

Can you imagine how hard that was for me??? Look at that face! Don't you just want to scoop her up and squeeze her?

She was being extra cute too, giving everyone big smiles. Usually, she is very serious, so seeing all those grins made it even harder for me to stay away.

When we got to the restaurant, I asked the hostess to seat us out of the way, so my nose blowing wouldn't gross out the rest of the guests. It all worked out fine, I timed my cold medicine to be at its peak through the meal and I was glad I didn't cancel to stay home and blow my nose in bed, like I almost did.

The cold hit me extra hard because I'm just getting over the flu. And on Saturday night I got no sleep at all. Poor little Sugarwings was in pain, and I had her sleep with me to take care of her. She cried out in her sleep from a sore arm, and I felt so bad for her that I didn't get much rest myself.

Finally, the next morning we took her to the ER and found out that she had a dislocated elbow. You have no idea how bad I felt by making her wait over night to go to the Dr. But her daddy had thought she should wait till the next morning to see how she was, and her mom was tied up. Its hard to be the grandparents sometimes. You have to respect the parent's wishes, and try to follow their guidelines and rules for raising the kids, even if it goes against your own ideas on what to do.

But luckily, all was settled on Sunday morning and we got our little one to the hospital where she was fixed up so quickly that it was like flipping a switch. Once that elbow got twisted back in place, she perked up and was her old self again, bouncing around like Tigger.

The whole time she was in pain, she was so brave and so sweet. I have to say, that she is the happiest kid I've ever met, even when suffering.

Have you ever heard of nursemaid's elbow? Apparently, its very common for kids under 4 to dislocate their elbow when someone is holding their hand and they twist away from them. She had happened to be holding her mom's hand and threw herself to the floor, and pop! There it went. We were told that once it happens, it can recur quite often for a couple of years.

At least we'll know next time to get her to the Dr. immediately!! Since she waited over 12 hours to get treatment, it wasn't easy to fix due to swelling. The nurse tried a couple of times, but no luck. So, a Dr. was called in to do it, and she had to give the arm a good wrench. My husband, Sugarwing's Hippy Chick Mommy, and I all had tears on our cheeks when we heard our fairy baby cry out in pain.

It just hurts so much more to see a little one in pain than to be hurt yourself.

She put it all behind her quickly, and then proceeded to let loose all that pent up energy that she had felt too bad to use since the day before. If only I could recover that fast! This cold is kicking my butt. Too bad they don't make chocolate truffle cough drops for people who are sick on Valentines Day.

Somehow this holiday mostly got away from me. I didn't make a single thing for it, or do any kind of romantic decor in my house. There is not a heart to be seen, except these few bits of jewelry that I found in my supplies to show you.

Between illnesses, injuries, and just plain old being busy, I seem to have missed out on getting all geared up for Valentines Day.

But, its not all about the hearts and flowers, is it? I might not have decorated or created anything with a Valentine theme, but there has been plenty of love in the household. And while dinner out with the kids and a big box of Kleenex, while I had a nose that looks like Rudolf's and eyes that are glowing red like a demon's, doesn't sound so romantic- my sweet husband still took my hand, looked into my runny red eyes and asked me to be his Valentine. And our dinner out with the kids was so much fun, that we laughed and talked for over 2 hours.

Yep, its not been a traditional holiday. But its a good one. Even with the snot.

I'll leave you with a couple of Valentines from the 1930's. You can click on them to pop up in a larger window, then save them to your own computer to print.