Good JuJu – Karla's Cottage

Creepy clowns, cutesy ghosts, and more

Good JuJu, Halloween treats, Hand painted

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2025

My booth is ready for guests next weekend at Good Juju’s First Friday weekend.

There is a full display of Halloween inspired paintings hat I made on our Florida trip in July.

If they go over well, I have lots of ideas for Christmas paintings too. And I’ve been setting aside old book pages that will coordinate with the themes.

This scary clown might be my fave.

Although the way it is displayed doesn’t really show it off.

I have a clown shelf on this rack, and I’m thinking of a little redo before the sale.

Haha! I think I just said that I was all set up and ready for our weekend, didn’t I?

There is always room for a little tweak or add in!

It’s four more days till our sale, so I think I’ll zip into KC today and do a mini shuffle. I found some more clowns at a flea market and they are “dying” to be a part of my creepy set up.

Hand painted seasonal banners for Good Juju

cottage, Good JuJu, holiday decor, parties

By Karla Nathan / August 27, 2025

The banners are hung!

Yes, multiple banners! The original one in this photo stays where it is, right behind the new ones that are hung on a pulley system so they can be lowered and switched.

For now, it’s Haunted Cottage for September and October First Fridays.

Painted onto the backside of the Haunted Cottage is a Christmas Cottage.

All I have to do is roll it down with the simple pulleys, flip it over and haul it back up.

It’s tempting to paint a whole slew of these canvases and switch them up continuously. This Halloween/xmas one will do me til January, and I can go right back to my original one if I want to. That would be the practical thing to do…………….

Around the neighborhood in the Old West Bottoms of KC

friends, Good JuJu, Travel

By Karla Nathan / August 16, 2025

Typically, when I go to the West Bottoms, I’m working at Good Juju.

Or popping quickly into another open shop during First Friday weekend. And that is rare. But the other day, Beth and I decided to check out a restaurant nearby and do a bit of exploration after a crew meeting.

The old buildings covered in graffiti and chippy paint have an allure that made us want to take some equally alluring photos of ourselves, making use of the gritty, textured backdrops.

I see photo shoots going on in the area all the time for senior pics, engagements, or just for fun. And after walking around the neighborhood, not just driving by, I can feel the attraction to the ambience of the weathered paints.

See, doesn’t the background make us look like tik tok beauty influencers?

One thought that kept recurring to me, was how did anyone reach some of these areas with their spray paints?

Some of the graffiti was arty, some fun, all interesting. But over all, I prefer the natural wear and tear that time provides on the surfaces.

The local businesses had some interesting details that they added too.
Like this restaurant we chose, called The Ship, with a whole ocean/cow town theme.

Yep, ocean/cow town.

Sounds oddly random, like the owners threw a bunch of themes written on slips of paper into a hat and plucked two out, then said, okay, this is it.

The place was hopping, with a live country band and 20-30 yr olds dressed up in their best cowgirl outfits whooping it up on the dance floor.

I'm afraid we were more sightseers than patrons. At my age, a loud bar is interesting to peek at, but not where I want to sit and talk during dinner. Maybe we can go back on a night when there isn’t live music. I did mention my age, right? Ha! Getting me to stay out after dark in Kansas City is a rare occurrence. I enjoyed our night out (we drive to a tapas place, and I didn’t get home til after ELEVEN PM), but the odds of dining out at night in KC again soon aren’t great.

Jammy time in front of the tv calls out to me pretty early on most evenings. But it’s good for the soul to get out and explore sometimes. I recommend a walk through the Bottoms to get out of your own rut if you’re in one as deeply as I am.

How to make Goblin wings

Good JuJu, holiday decor, how-to projects

By Karla Nathan / August 12, 2025

Guncle Randy gave Sugarwings a skelly, and I asked to borrow it for booth decor. But first, she needed some foofing up. Jewels and a skirt helped, but this gal needed wings.

I wanted wonky, messy wings, more hobgoblin than fairy. I used coat hangers to form them, and left them slightly crooked. Then wrapped them in shiny duct tape, in a bulky, not too perfect way.

I roughly cut out a piece of cellophane, sprayed it with adhesive, and then folded it over a wing.

After firmly pressing both sides together, I used a heat gun to finish the adhesion by melting the front to the back. I let the heat gun burn holes through the wings here and there too. Then jaggedly trimmed off the excess and hit those raw edges with more heat to curl up.

They looked pretty good, but I wanted them more sinister than sparkly, so misted their edges with black spray paint.

This went so well that I decided to make a few more pair to sell too. I think the skeleton looks complete now. I’ll wire them into place and hang her from my ceiling.

A haunted cottage painting

Good JuJu, paintings

By Karla Nathan / August 6, 2025

Before we even had August’s sale at Good Juju, I was making big plans for September and October’s events.

The back wall of my space is brick, and I cannot hang anything on it, so I had previously hung a big Karla’s Cottage banner down from the ceiling beams to fill the space. Well, I got to thinking that I need a Karla’s Haunted Cottage sign for Halloween, but the spot is pretty hard to get to,

After consulting some people whose minds think in a more engineering way than mine does, we came up with a pulley system to hang seasonal banners without going to much fuss to change them!

I immediately got to work painting a 6’x8’ canvas drop cloth with a spooky theme. Now that it’s done, I’ll flip it over and paint a gingerbread cottage on the back of it. I’m excited about all of the possibilities.

A drop cloth is nine bucks, I need about 8 hours to prime and paint it, and can do artwork on both sides. Heck, I’ll be wanting to switch them out every month!

Hmm, my time might be better spent making things to sell, not just display. But dang, this was fun to do.

First Friday at Good Juju for August

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / July 28, 2025

That slappity slap sound you might be hearing from afar?

That is me clapping myself on the back for getting my booth ready for the August sale before hitting the road for our vacation.

First step was removing a lot of the colorful bits I had displayed for summer and creating a neutral scene.

Over the years, I’ve learned that people don’t visit my little corner to buy much in the way of traditional fall colors.

So with a slight nod toward Autumn, I’m mostly focusing on summer’s last bit of glory.

Most of the roses are packed away, with just a few remaining blooms.

After our Independence Day extravaganza, I only had one week to tear down, redo, and fill in, then pack and leave for the trip.

At first, I told myself that I’d only do a minor makeover. And I drove to Kansas City with that in mind.

Next thing I know, I’ve moved every single piece of furniture in the space.

You know what I honestly need? A job redoing booths for other dealers.

I’m honestly overwhelmed by all the shopping, tagging, sorting, storing of the inventory.

The best part is when I get to play with it all and set it up.

Not as much the hunting and gathering part.

Oh, and making stuff! I love that. And the guests, I really enjoy working on the floor, talking to customers about what they are buying and how they’ll use it.

Over all, the great parts outweigh the sucky parts of the job. I suppose that is typical of most lines of work.

As soon as set up is done for the current month, my mind is flying ahead to the next before we’ve even had our sale. So, yep, it’s hard for me not to totally redo even when I don’t have time, or even really need to.

July at Juju on the 4th

Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / June 30, 2025

Good Juju’s First Friday weekend falls upon the 4th of July holiday.

I have no idea what that will mean to us.

Will we get a bigger crowd Friday morning because people have the day off and want to come in before their festivities begin?

Will we have crowds on Saturday from everyone bringing out of town guests in for something to do?

Or will the walkways be silent because our shoppers are too busy shooting off cherry bombs at picnics to come and see us?

Well, I can guarantee you that we are ready for the big crowds, none of our dealers phoned it in, thinking we would be slow.

The shop is looking good, and we are ready to welcome our guests.

As we always are, each and every month. I’m continuously blown away by the efforts our dealers go to in making fabulous displays that change for each sale.

Only being open 24 days a year can make sales a crapshoot anyway. What if the weather is bad? What if there is a big event or holiday?

But then again, what if our guests say, “Gosh I’m really busy, but I just have to pop into Juju to see what’s new this month, I only have two days to get there!”

Whatever you spend your holiday doing, I wish you a happy 4th!

Let’s call it a seaside Fourth of July vacation look

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / June 5, 2025

In the front, probably little more than third but not quite half, of my booth, I have a mini boutique set up with mostly jewelry. I carry vintage, handcrafted, and silver, and have displayed eachcatagory separately. Sorta.

In that area, across from the jewelry, I also have a rack of wedding apparel, and vintage clothes.

I keep clear totes in my garage that I pop seasonally appropriate finds into throughout the year as I snag them at sales. Red, white, and blue doesn’t exactly match the rest of my decor, but that was an easy problem to solve by placing the collection on one of my little jewelry shelves along the aisle at the front of my booth.

I have quite a few patriotic items this year, then fill in around them with anything that fits the color scheme.

Festive! All I need are some firecrackers and a sparkler or two.

On another wall, I’ve gone with a seashore theme.

I’m a fan of beachiness year round and have my bedroom filled with shells and ocean paintings. So, to me this isn’t exactly seasonal. I think a pop of beach goes well with the entire cottage look anytime.

As far as the antique mall goes, I usually save it all up for summer to make one big, “splashy” look.

A few jars got filled with shells and a simply decorated tie was put around their top.

And look at this delightful little sunbather I found. My sister gave me some beach signage that she was done with and it helps complete the seaside atmosphere.

I am particularly happy with how everything came together this month.

A garden party theme for June at my Good Juju booth

antiques/junking, Garden, Good JuJu, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 2, 2025

It’s that time again!

Good Juju in the Old West Bottoms of KC’s First Friday weekend is this upcoming Friday and Saturday from 9-6 both days.

For a fun, summertime display, I hung these hot air balloons and vintage wallpaper banners that I crafted on a snowy day last winter.

I was saving them for this big garden party styled look and they are exactly as I’d hoped it would be. Festive, isn’t it?

Here is the view from the front of my booth looking at the back half.

I also covered lampshades in vintage lace.

The crystal sun catchers are hung with a mini spotlight on them and a small fan causing a gentle breeze that makes them move slightly.

Here is a closeup of one of the banners. I think I have about a dozen or so. Most are hanging, but I left a few where they could easily be picked up if someone wants one.

I’ll show you the other sides of the booth in upcoming posts. I have a revamp on my June wedding corner, some beachy goods, and of course, loads of jewels.

Ahead of the game

Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / May 29, 2025

Boo!

Yes, I do own a calendar. It may still be Spring, but with a busy summer ahead of me, I’m already full tilt into fall and holiday projects to sell in my booth. Gotta have a jump start on those things and be a few months ahead, right?

Please excuse the messy pictures, I didn’t set these guys up for proper pics. They looked so cute as is, sat down where I’d left them to dry, that I took photos of them right then and there. Cluttered background and all.

My buddy, Beth, gifted me a stack of old hankies, most lacy or embroidered. At first, I was going to make ghosts to hang from black umbrellas on the ceiling of my booth, but realized all that lovely lace would be wasted, it wouldn’t have been easy to see up high like that.

The plan changed to making the cutesy spookies into standing ghosties instead.

Then, I figured, they’d need a face. I was going to use a black marker to do those typical blob eyes and open mouths you see on cartoon ghosts. Then switched to a finer point marker and drew pretty faces. That wasn’t quite enough, they needed blushing cheeks. (Pictured with marker and blushed cheeks)

But I didn’t like the way the marker bled. So, another change, I painted the eyes with acrylic paint, staying with black and white.

And maybe some could have green, purple, or blue eyes?

My simple booth decor project soon became an all day painting session. Another reason why making holiday decor months ahead is smart. If I’d left this til the last minute, they’d have missed out on being darling creatures and would’ve spent the after life just as flying hankies.