friends – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

It’s still February, so it’s not too late to celebrate Valentine’s Day

celebrations, family, Food and Drink, friends

By Karla Nathan / February 22, 2025

I had a Galantine Party planned for before the holiday, but the weather cancelled it. Too bad, because with this dreary, cold, endless winter, we needed a break to be together and have some fun.

After the February Juju sale, I brought home my leftover inventory with a heart theme and decorated with it to make the cottage festive for my friends.

We rescheduled our gathering for after the 14th and I did not mind savoring all of my roses and hearts in the kitchen for an extra week.

Our party was right before more snow and hideously cold temps were beginning to rage across the plains again. So I salted my sidewalks, had logs blazing in the fireplace, and lit lots of candles for a cozy evening and we made the best of it. Our timing was pretty good, snow started falling later that night, we had our evening together before it hit too hard even though it was bone chillingly freezing already.

Originally, I’d planned mostly snack type foods. With the never ending cold and the dismal forecast, I figured we needed a more hearty meal and whipped up a beef stew casserole topped with Duchess potatoes, and set the table for a dinner party instead of a casual hang out evening. I was glad I did that, it’s good to enjoy your pretty things and spoil your buddies sometimes, isn’t it? I eat off of paper plates a lot, and completely forget I have these lovelies.

The day before, I made a chocolate cake. But not just any old cake, this was Bobbie’s buttermilk cake, a trademark, family favorite, best cake ever cake.

I’m not a recipe person, but I got out Bobbie’s cookbook where she’d complied recipes from our entire Downey clan and followed her directions to a tee to bake her cake.

Between Valentine’s Day being the adoption date for my sons, and Ryan loving that holiday so much, my sister’s last name being Valentine, and the 16th being the anniversary of her death plus her daughter and our mom’s birthday, well, I desperately needed that buttermilk, fudgey delight.

And it was sooooooo good. It tasted like home.

I was glad to have my friends to share it with, and served it on my grandma’s plate. Which I did not put away back in the high cabinet. That chintz floral pretty is going to stay out year round and get the use it deserves. We never forget the ones we lost, but I think honoring them in small ways keeps them close. Like using their things, making their favorite foods, doing things they loved.

For me, sharing these moments and talking about them with others I love is healing. Thank you to my buddies for indulging me.

A Cottage Christmas Open House

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

By Karla Nathan / December 18, 2024

Angie, Beth, and I cohosted a holiday get together at my house last week.

We had planned for plenty of food, and generous guests brought delectable goodies too.

It became a true feast!

And a feast for the soul too.

I loved having a houseful of festive friends filling up my space and my heart too.

Dorothy got plenty of attention and spent her days choosing which laps she wanted to visit. The hooligans, I mean, big dogs, were banished up to Ryan’s apartment.

Because they’d have loved to be climbing onto laps too. It’s not as cute when a 60 pounder does it as it is when a 6 pound dog wants attention.

Two nights earlier, I’d made dinner for my book club buddies, then Rich was out of town, Sugarwings was at mama’s house, so the cottage was already for party number two. I just shifted the extra tables around and brought in chairs from the studio.

Since I was on my own for a couple of days, well except for said hooligans, the house stayed cleaned up. I did need to re-mop, but with 2 doodles and a golden retriever that is the story of my life. I’m a full time mopper.

The outdoor tables with lights strung underneath worked well for the dinner party on Tuesday and just as well for Thursday afternoon’s gathering. They are my new favorite hosting trick and I’ll be wrapping lights under them all the time in the future. It will be a nice bit of sparkle for a summer night’s garden party too.

The cocoa station got beefed up for the day too, and we set out some tasty liquors plus whipped cream to mix in with the chocolate.

I might’ve gone overboard on the cocoa packets. But as much as Sugarwings and I enjoy our parties by the tree, plus with family coming, it might not be too over the top.

I feel quite blessed to have had these fun ladies all come to our party. Most were from Kansas City, so had to make a drive to get here. I appreciate them making the time to come and celebrate with us.

Holiday party season, part one

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

By Karla Nathan / December 13, 2024

An event that I look forward to every year is our book club Christmas party

We do a book exchange, have dinner and wine together and just take time to chat.

I try to come up with party favors to reflect the season. This year I made stretch bracelets in genuine stone beads the colors of the holiday and used them as napkin rings.

Dinner was slow cooked beef with red wine gravy, rice, and sweet potato/squash casserole. Plus a salad. I realized at the last minute that I forgot to buy salad dressing, so whipped up a cranberry vinaigrette with the berries I’d bought to serve as a side dish. Lucky I had them available, huh? Plus, now that is my new favorite salad topper. I boiled the cranberries in orange juice with cardamom, then whipped it up in the blender with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and fresh thyme, from my flower bed with a little salt and pepper. The blender made it almost creamy, I guess that is called emulsified?

Typically I make the entire meal, but this year I asked if friends could bring desserts. What a great idea! These bon bons were sorta like cake pops, but even better.

And who knew you could make cookies with tumeric? Oh my, what a treat.

We have a large group, which meant I had to be creative with the seating. Instead of setting up a folding table, I brought in my two glass topped garden tables. Our special farmhouse table that we had made has a an epoxy river running down the center and lights below it. To match that, I taped up some lights under the glass of the two I brought inside and I really loved the outcome.

Then we had a few cancellations, and ended up not needing either one. Oh well. It’s party week and I am using them again for the next group, so am glad to have carried them into the cottage before it got so cold outside. It all worked out. In the meantime, I was playing musical chairs, switching up place settings as each person dropped out.

In my world, the best time to host a party is the same week you just had one- you only have to clean your house once! I had a great time with the book club and am looking forward to part two with the next group.

Time with friends

friends

By Karla Nathan / October 22, 2024

SEVENTY FOUR magic wand/ plant stakes done and ready to market for the holidays!

Beth came over for a craft day, she was wanting to learn how to make Swifty bracelets, so I gave her some tips. I had an order to fill of my own bracelets for a friend, so worked on those a while before starting on the plant stakes. I stayed on task late into the day. Actually into the evening. I didn’t leave my post til after 9pm and this magical pile was all done.

But I’m afraid that’s all I could manage for the day. The final part, price tagging, was done at my mosaic group. My pal, Shan, had just finished this beauty, and there I sat like a lump, making price tags. This group is full of talented people and I love the look of the mosaics, but I typically find myself doing busywork like tags, or covering dozens of mushroom caps in velvet.

Someday, I’ll make another shiny glass piece.

It was a week full of friends, how lucky! I had craft day with Beth, mosaic day with the group, plus had a gathering at the cottage to write postcards to send to swing states reminding voters to skeedaddle to the poles on November 5th.

My political opinions are strong, but my main one is, get out there and vote, no matter what your opinions are!

My Mosaic Group Friends and a New Adventure for Seashell Fairies

friends, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / July 24, 2024

My buddy, Shanna, has hosted a mosaic group in her home studio for years. Its always nice to bring a project and visit with friends.

Not too long ago, she switched it up and rented a studio with our pal, Mary. The group continues in this new location and we have the same members plus a few others joining in.

As artists, we are often working alone. So, an opportunity to hang out with friends while creating, catch up on each others lives, chat about books, restaurants, travel, hear some funny stores, or commiserate over problems, well, that is something I feel lucky to have.

Seeing what’s up with others’ work is inspiring too.

Even though I’m not a mosaic artist, I love the medium. Every once in a while I take on a glass project, but typically, I bring some other, small portable job I’m in the middle of.

This summer it’s been a lot of mushrooms, or beading. I really wish I could attend the group more weeks, but I am pretty sporadic about attending. It’s on a Friday, and that seems to be a hard one for me. Not just First Fridays each month at Juju, but other weekends for travel, or who knows what. Fridays just are a busy day for me.

So, when I get a shot at being there, I make my best effort to pack up a tub of supplies (typically only forgetting a few things I’ll need for the afternoon) and skeedaddling across town to see what everyone is working on and hear about what’s up with who.

Technically, I guess this is a mosaic craft. I decided to make some sea shell fairies that aren’t washed away by the waves, so I took a basket of shells to work on last week. (Oops, after taking the photo, I realized the right wing wasn’t right, so I flipped it around while thinset was still goopy).

These little sprites are something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. On one of my sister trips with Bobbie and Sissy, when I was feeling really bad due to a concussion, along with the anniversary of Ryan’s death, we explored Passe Grille Beach after a walk through the Don Caesar Pink Palace.

The beach we were staying at was low on shells. When I visit Indian Rocks, I always scrounge to find enough to make just one little fairy to leave on the sand.

But this spot? Holy Moly!

Now, the shells I found aren’t what most beach goers are looking for. I like odd shapes and broken pieces, and this place was ankle deep in those. I filled bags with heads, wings, arms, I was in a fairy makers dream location. The terrain was rocky and the beach itself wasn’t as inviting, the parking was awful, but it wasn't crowded and the views were spectacular. My sisters patiently hung out while I climbed around boulders and searched for just the right bits and pieces.

So here I am, a few years later with these baggies full of memories of a special day when my family went out of the way to big sister me, using one of our limited vacation afternoons to take me someplace to gather art supplies. Sis had brought her post cataract surgery sunglasses to help with my concussion headache and Bobbie, who had some mobility issues, hung out with me while we walked this rocky shoreline that wasn’t easy to get around on.

I’m still experimenting with the right technique to transform my fairies into a permanent piece of art. And thanks to my sissies, I have plenty of shells to work with. Each one I create will hold special feelings from our day on the beach.

Indigo

friends

By Karla Nathan / July 21, 2024

My friend, Diane, offered to teach a group of us how to do indigo dyeing.

It’s a complicated process that is far removed from regular tie dye.

The vat requires ongoing care, that reminds me of feeding sourdough bread starter.

Diane brought all sorts of doodads and clips and taught us about different techniques. We used more than rubber bands, there were clips, zip ties, pvc pipes as resists.

One cool trick is using wax thread to pull gathers into the fabric to make designs.

After the resists are added, you dunk the fabric in the vat. It comes out a murky green but air starts to turn the dye blue.

The pieces need to hang for about 15 minutes, then get double rinsed The water finishes the color transformation and the murky green is gone, leaving the traditional indigo tones.

For deeper colors, you repeat the process. I kept redoing the bottom of this shirt for an ombré effect.

And I love the way it turned out!

Thanks for the fun morning, Diane!

A gilded afternoon

friends

By Karla Nathan / June 22, 2024

Days off seem to be far between for me, but this one made up for a lot of missed ones.

I spent an afternoon being spoiled.

First, a luxurious lunch with friends.

Then cake with champagne in gilded surroundings that were filled with remarkable collections of vintage beauty.

So much magnificence to see that I could’ve used up an entire iCloud storage allotment on my phone with photos.

Every inch was filled with something even more elegant than the space next to it.

And then, there was more.

And more.

Each displayed with artistic genius.

And with the thoughtful eye of an experienced collector.

All set out with a true love of special things.

Thank you, Marilyn, for your generosity and hospitality. Thank you, Melissa for the lovely luncheon, and to the whole group for a delightful day of laughter and fun.

An indoor garden party

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

By Karla Nathan / June 14, 2024

Two dear friends, Angie and Beth, had birthdays in June so I threw a party for them.

It was a landmark number for Angie, so a large celebration was in order.

The party itself was on Beth’s actual birthdate.

The birthday girls made the guest list, and also helped with some treats and wine. I told them I was throwing the party FOR them, but they wanted to help, which was very nice.

Both brought wines too. And Beth put her husband, Jeff, on ice duty. Don’t you hate to buy bags of ice? Paying for ice is a weird pet peeve of mine. I just hate buying the stuff.

Beth said she had a good ice maker (mine is so tiny) so Jeff dumped it into gallon bags everyday til she was able to fill a cooler with so much ice she could barely carry it.

A couple weeks ago, I’d gotten lucky at an estate sale and scooped up dozens of teacups for twenty bucks. The plan was to use pretty cups and saucers for the herbal fruit and lavender ice tea, plus for the wines.

And I got to welcome back the Treat Cabinet! This large wardrobe spent many years in my studio, filled with goodies during get togethers. When we redid the room, it was moved to the breezeway for a boring job of storing patio cushions.

But for this one day of glory, the cabinet was back in its element, filled with tea party essentials.

I hung this old, embroidered, tea towel on the inside door of the wardrobe. It had been free in a box of junk a friend was discarding. Perfect!

This birthday celebration as meant to be a tea party in the garden.

I’d had lovely weather all week while tending to my flowers and getting ready for guests.

Then, bam, the night before, a heatwave came with a vengeance.

I’d always planned on keeping the food inside the house anyway, but I was disappointed that we couldn’t have the garden as a place to hang out.

(Angie made this trifle. Why are they called that when they are not mere trifles, these types of dessert are magnificently lovely).

If I’d known in advance that the heat index was going to be in the danger zone, I’d have brought chairs and tables indoors. But friends made do, and used what they found. I carried in a few extra seats from the yard, but many had made themselves comfy on kiddie chairs already. They didn’t seem to mind.

We had a full house, but in a good way.

So many delightful people! And flowers! Many sweet friends brought bouquets, so it was like an indoor garden party with all of the pretty blooms.

Including blooming cookies from Catherine.

We filled the studio too. I had a mini craft project set up for everyone, so guests were spending time out in the workroom to do those. Once again, I could’ve brought in more chairs, but we seemed to make do with what was there. With my bad shoulder, I’d have needed help before the party to bring in extra seating. Rich had helped me set up the patio, but he was out of town when temps started going way up into unbearable numbers.

The project was making fairy garden stakes. It was self explanatory, and simple to do, so the ladies were on their own making them. I wish I’d taken photos of their pretties when they’d finished. There were lots of sparkly wishing wands completed.

Another timely garage sale find was this metal picnic basket. I used it for the cheese and cracker display. I think that now that the party is over, I’ll be filling it with teacups and taking them to Good Juju to sell in July’s First Friday weekend.

Although, this get together was such a good time, maybe I should keep them all and use them again for another party?

Things that made me smile

friends, Good JuJu, Hens

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2024

Last summer while out garage sailing, I came across a box of garlands for five bucks. There were more, and I shoulda bought them all. It was late in the morning, after hours of shopping and my purse was lighter than I’d started out, while my car was much fuller. I was being practical, because the flowers are just decor, not resale items or supplies.

But man, don’t they add a spring time feeling to the space? And they are a quick and easy change, I simply drape each one over the hanging hooks. And presto-chango I have a dramatic new entry to my booth.

I’m very glad I snagged these sweet roses, seeing them hanging makes me smile.

Another thing that brought me a big ole grin? Beth gifted me this spectacular apron that she made! Perfect for adding pizzazz along with practicality to my Juju work days. I tried wearing jackets with pockets, but honestly, nothing beats a work apron for carrying my essentials. And this one is so soft and pretty, plus, it’s pockets are quite deep.

Thanks, Beth!

My buddy, Angie, also had a gift for me. A big bag of broken and junk jewels from both her and her mom. I used the beads salvaged from vintage necklaces to create bracelets.

And look at this! A lucky four leaf clover, a gift from nature.

How can you see this firework candle coming across the restaurant and not have a big smile on your face? Wow, I was impressed by the spectacle this added to my friend’s birthday celebration.

Last, but far from least, our peeps are busy growing and being adorable. So far, so good, no deaths. It isn’t easy raising chicks, but we haven’t lost a single one. They are getting cute and learning to play chase, all of them crazily and frantically following the bird with a worm in its beak. It’s my favorite game.

I hope your week is full of smiles too. You have to find them wherever you can, those little things mean a lot.

2023 Book Club Christmas Party

cottage, friends, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2023

One of our bookclub members, Margie Carr, wrote a well received book about early, influential leaders of Kansas City who lived in a one block area.

I fell in love with the cover’s photo of two of the girls from that street.

Margie gave me permission to surprise our members with hand crafted ornies using this picture. The gifts were part of my centerpiece, and everyone got to choose their favorite one to keep.

With my trips to Indiana to be with my family while my sister is ill, I’d originally had to cancel the party, but was able to reschedule.

After a lot of last minute shuffling around, and voting on what dates the most of us were available, we managed to get a good chunk of us together on one night just a week before Christmas.

For a bit, it didn’t look like it would come together, that is such a hectic time of year.

Luckily, a date worked out, and I even had time to go to the grocery store for supplies and make pot pies to serve.

The Christmas tree pie didn’t turn out as good as the snow guy. You could kinda tell what it was, but the crust sunk in a little as it baked.

I’d even made a grid behind it for support and it still sank a little. You could still tell it was a tree, and actually, bubbly gravy over the crust is pretty dang tasty, so no problem.

This is a night I look forward to each year, and I was so happy that we all were able to get together.

Our club is filled with funny, informed people who make interesting dinner guests. Plus, it’s a great excuse for me to set the table!

And they brought beautiful desserts.

I had such a nice evening, thanks for coming, to all who were able to make it.