Good JuJu – Karla's Cottage

A mini makeover in my jewelry corner

By Karla Nathan / January 6, 2026

In February, I will be having rotator cuff surgery. Knowing that I’ll be one handed and away from my booth for a while is inspiring me to get all of my duckies in a row while I’m still able to work. One thing I wanted to do is lighten up my jewelry corner for spring.

This is the before, which I like. The dresser is the ideal size to display my vintage baubles on, and great storage for backups. But the dark color felt over powering. Plus I hadn’t bothered to rehang anything above it since selling a few mirrors. It was looking slightly uncared for.

For a revamp, I mixed up a faded blush pink paint (consisting of deep rose, white, cream, and grey) then primed my dresser. Between coats of paint and primer, I repainted some darker toned mirrors too. And a couple of other tidbits around my booth, because the furniture was taking forever to dry.

I was slapping paint on stuff all Willy Nilly because there wasn’t anything else to do while waiting.

The cedar wall needed to be a tad more foofy, but I didn’t want to repaint it all, so hung some rose patterned curtains over it. I’m not sure if they did the trick, but it is a softer look.

This is the black mirror from the before pic, now a creamy tone. And while I had my paints out, I pinked up the roses above it.

A year ago, when I first moved into this spot, the week of set up was during a bone chilling freeze. And while the drafty, old warehouse juju is part of is kept warm enough to keep the pipes from bursting, it isn’t exactly toasty inside.

I’d quickly added roses onto the wall, bundled up and left because I was freezing and could barely feel my fingers. But yesterday, the weather was downright balmy for January and the antique mall was a pleasant place to be. While killing time waiting for the dresser’s fresh paint to dry, I worked on the roses that I’d felt were too rushed looking.

It is possible that no one but me will notice the difference, but the little changes made me happier.

For now, I’m letting the dresser sit a few days to get good and dry. It’s a good thing I don’t live closer, because I’m itching to get in there and set up my displays. Since it’s a 40 minute drive, I can make myself wait and give the pink time to cure. Isn’t she a pretty color?

Like I said, it isn’t details most shoppers will notice much. But I think it lightens and brightens the area, which the customers will hopefully feel.

Kicking off the new year with hearts and roses

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / January 1, 2026

After and during our December sale at Good Juju I had a brief window of feeling better from my previous illness before catching another. I had two parties planned that week then needed to redo my booth. I got it about 90% done with the work, but started feeling icky, so wore a mask and kept going.

Catching this virus, as well as the one in November reminds me of why I push so hard to do my set up early and not wait til the last minute. You never know what could come up before the sale. And I feel more comfortable not having that big redo hanging over me.

I was able to finish that last 10% in time, without worries. It just isn’t in my makeup to be a procrastinator And it really isn’t from some sort of perfectionism or obsession, it’s from life lessons learned.

Stuff happens, so I manage my todo list to be prepared just in case.

After set up I was either recovering or having holiday fun, so my days started running together. When I put away all the trees from my house (it took 8 hours, I kinda took my time and made a day of it) I got out the calendar that I typically keep on the table (it had been put away due to the houseful of twinkles and baubles) and was stunned to see how close our January sale was.

There was a moment of panic, then plain ole relief. And maybe some minor back slapping, knowing I was ready for take off.

And seriously, what better way to kick off the new year than to be at one of my favorite places with all of those fun vendors and customers?

Not to mention I get to enjoy a whole new holiday. Valentines!

Yup, my booth is all hearts and flowers, which makes me happy. Because I’m a pushover for any sort of festive decor. I love a celebratory theme.

Because my much put off shoulder surgery is finally scheduled for Feb. 18th, I won’t be filling my cottage with hearts like usual. So I’m going to soak up as much of this theme as I can at Juju. I’m looking forward to our sale.

Jingle time at Juju

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 4, 2025

November’s First Friday Weekend at Good Juju was all about the holidays.

And for me at least, so is the upcoming December sale.

Opinions among dealers vary, with some thinking November is for shopping to decorate your house and December is shopping for gifts. Which I agree is valid, the same theory holds true for selling Halloween decor in September, not October because most people have finished decorating their homes by then.

So while a lot of dealers still have their gorgeous displays for the season and the mall is festive and sparkly, they can subtly up the non Christmas goods for sale too.

I added my crazy quilt stuffies in my own spot. Plus, if you look around, you’ll notice many of my display pieces such as bowls, plates, books, etc are normal every day pieces that I use to hold my items for sale.

I include functional or household items (as well as jewelry and clothing) in the mix.

But for me, I’m probably still at 90% ho ho holidays in the back part of my area.

Part of the front of the space is all jewelry, all the time.

But for now, there is a Yule tide glow over everything. Simply because I adore every thing related to the season all so much. I love making pretties , collecting old Christmas stuff, fixing it up, treasuring it, displaying it, loving it.

Will my sales in December be as good as they were in November? Maybe not, but my set up makes me extremely happy!

Don’t get me wrong, I take my business seriously. But I also am there to enjoy the work, doing the displays, indulging myself and my joy in styling the pieces I make or find.

There is a chance that I go a bit over the top for our two day sale……. it has been mentioned to me.

And when my love of Christmas collides with my tendency to over do- I am not just in my happy place.

I’m sliding into my domain of exhilaration!

More hand made holiday goods for the November sale at Good Juju

Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 6, 2025

Remember the two kitties I made from vintage quilt scraps last month? I had small bits of the fabric left and turned it into stockings.

I made lacy stockings too. These are ornament size, not hanging up to stuff with presents sized. Well, unless you are a very stingy gift giver, they won’t hold much at all. Oh, that’s wrong! Stick a generous amount on a gift card and slide that in!

I also have angels under domes.

Angels with trees on teapots.

An Angel driving a floral jalopy.

Angel statues you can dress up in crowns.

A sweet lil vintage Angel gazing out of a gingerbread house window.

There are lots of gingerbread houses.

And plenty of angels. Not to mention the deer, trees, and Santas.

Oh, and paintings too.

I’ll show more in the next post.

November’s Juju sale will be festive

antiques/junking, Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / November 4, 2025

Christmas came early for me this year.

Extremely so.

I spent millions, well maybe just a few, but it felt like millions, of 6-9 hour days packing away Halloween and decking the halls with Christmas cheer before I flew off to Florida.

And I tell ya, when I got on that plane, I was ready to start my vacation.

People say to me, how nice it must be to only work two days a month. Hmm, not quite the way it goes. Our sale is two days a month, but there is a month full of behind the scenes, hunting, gathering, crafting, tagging, cleaning, and displaying that goes into the two days the shopping occurs.

And if I have plans during the month, my work schedule gets tightly condensed into a few days.

Because it’s important to me to have things ready to roll before I leave, that way I can relax and enjoy my trip.

And yup, I sure did enjoy it! I could kick back, look at the frolicking dolphins from my balcony, and know that when I got home, all I had to do was unpack my suitcase, not my booth.

That made my extra long vacation easy to just be in, live in the moment, not fret about work.

I’ll have more pics to come of the rest of my booth later. The sale will be Nov 7-8 from 9-6 each day in the Old West Bottoms of KC at Good Juju.

Holiday paintings in my booth

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, Hand painted, hand painted signs, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / October 16, 2025

While I’ve been away from my blog, I’ve still been in the habit of snapping pics of what I’m working on. And as usual, my main focus has been my booth at Good Juju, in the Old West Bottoms of KC.

I’m over the moon excited about my November sale’s holiday theme and wanted a noticeable way to sell ornies. Especially after seeing just how many were being brought into the mall by other dealers.

Wow, Juju must have the highest concentration of Shiny Brites in the Midwest. If you’re looking to add some vintage glory to your tree, uhm, I think I know what direction to point you in.

On the rear wall of the booth, my banner is flipped over to the Christmas Cottage side. It was a quick transformation from Haunted Cottage. The pulley system for hanging it made it simple to lower, turn over and hang back up. I did it by myself in a flash.

Well, maybe not like a lightening flash of speed. The canvas is 6×8’ and sorta unwieldy. It isn’t heavy, but a little stiff and bulky.

And big.

I waited until I had all of my leftover Halloween goods packed out of the way and the center of the space was open and clear, then tussled with it a bit. But the pulley process itself was super easy.

Another painted holiday touch is a couple of reindeer I prettied up with pink, white, and glitter.

Earlier this summer, I’d found a set of deer and a sleigh at a garage sale. I sold three of the cuties with the sleigh and saved back two for my decor. I kept the ones in the worst condition and gave them a makeover. They were rather holy, I’m thinking from years of repairs, hanging, and stapling lights to them. I patched holes with calking and changed the look from traditional to cottage chic with paint.

Since the glitter was sprinkled over Elmers Glue, they aren’t exactly good for yard art now. The adhesive for the vintage millinery blooms on their sparkly heads and the old ribbon was water based too. But after 50-60 years of living out in the elements every December, I think these gals deserved a break from pulling a sleigh in bad weather. They can be house deer now.

Or booth deer, I guess. I’m rather fond of them and would not be upset to give them a holiday home in my breezeway after our last day of sales, if no one else claims them.

Hey, thanks again for still reading after the kerfuffle of blog switching. I’ll have more antique mall pics coming plus all the other stuff I’ve been making in the last few weeks. See you around?

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.