holiday decor – Page 19 – Karla's Cottage

Some Cottage Christmas pictures

By Karla Nathan / December 3, 2016

Our cottage is feeling festive, even though the decorations are slightly streamlined from previous years. I spent a good part of a whole day setting up trees and little holiday vignettes like these reindeer figurines on moss. The day included a lot of breaks, plus a trip to buy a few strands of lights, so it was a lite work day, but I'm happy with how much I got set up.

It was exciting to have a new room to deck! I bought a flocked, white tree (half price at Hobby Lobby) that is the perfect height for the nook by the fireplace. Sugarwings did the math to see how tall it would be while sitting on a table (to keep it above the danger zone from Honey's exuberant, but destructive, wagging tail.)

It is not only the ideal size, it is a happy compromise on color scheme for the kids and I.

They want colorful lights, I like white.

It has been a dilemma for years.

This tree has a button to push that changes the lights from rainbow to plain white! So the grandfairies can enjoy all of the colors during cocoa parties in front of the tree, and I can have my serene whites when I want them.

I have to admit, the multi toned twinklies are a nice option to have. I love the white lights, but this look is fun.

Of course, I always wonder just how long those built in lights will last. On my old tree, I had to add extra strings as the permanent lights proved to be not so permanent after all.

I hadn't planned on keeping my old white tree this year, since I had a spanking new one to set up. But I realized that I had plenty of space (we LOVE the new addition!!!!) and I decided to toss the bottom section of the old tree, and keep the top part to create a table top tree for the living room.

The small table between the rooms is our cocoa party area. It is perfectly located with a view of both white trees, as well as the TV, so we can watch Frosty or the Grinch as we sip our cocoa and stir it with a candy cane.

We made our own cocoa mix with baking cocoa, organic sugar, chocolate chips, and vanilla beans in the blender. It's so creamy and rich when we stir it into warmed milk poured from a floral teapot, that we hardly need marshmallows. But we throw a couple in anyway because it's all part of the ceremony.

Around here, tea parties and cocoa parties aren't just about the treats. We love the traditions of getting out the good teacups, setting the table pretty, using the silver spoons from my mom and Great Aunt Caroline, then passing the dishes of toppings around the table while practicing our best manners.

Well, Dewdrop still is in it just for the treats, but she is only in kindergarten, she'll learn soon enough that it is the holiday traditions that make the season special. Sugarwings and I are teaching her.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures around the house.

The Halls are Decked!

By Karla Nathan / November 30, 2016

Typically, the day after Thanksgiving, I delve deeply into the boxes of holiday goods that I've been waiting to decorate with. Sugarwings and I have a saying, "Respect the Bird." Which means that we hold ourselves back from tumbling headfirst into Christmas until after the Thanksgiving turkey has been eaten.

This year, I was a bit slower, it was Monday before I got around to tackling the trees.

I set up quite a few, slowly but surely, and by the end of the day, I was ready to kick back, eat some Thai take out and enjoy the lights.

Thank you for all of your kind comments and messages about my health. My heart is beating as it should, the procedure worked, which is great news. I'm feeling a tad worn down but am rallying a bit more each day.

There will be some more photos of the holiday decor soon. I'm using my infirmity as an excuse to be lazy for now.

Giving Thanks

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 24, 2016

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday, with many thanks to give.

My list is so long, I don't even know where to start. From little things that brighten my day, to the goliath, mega meaningful things that make up our lives. Itsy bitsy, or large and looming, I'm feeling very lucky on many counts. I think I'll make a little list of some of the things on my mind right now.

1- I successfully dried hydrangeas for the first time in my life!! Yay!! And they are beautiful, autumn colors that make me smile.

2- I feel better. I've been sooo sick for quit a while and the cure was almost worse that the problem. But I'm on my way back and actually feel almost like myself again.

3- GRAND FAIRIES. Seriously, what could be better?

4- Well, the whole family does bring me a lot of joy. And I'm thankful for my husband who brings us all together.

5- My sibling trip to Florida, I'm lucky to have extended family to love and laugh with.

6- Pupeesh! I am so blessed that Dorothy came back to live with us after her time away with Auntie Beth and Uncle Jeff. Honey is growing up and becoming a pretty smart dog, and seems to be more gentle with the little dogs now. Dorothy feels safe in her own home, and I'm happy she is back.

7- Friends- BFFs who always get me and make me laugh. The buddies down the road that I get together with for a cup of coffee and linger over for hours, and the ones who fly in from afar and gather for a weekend of giggles.

8- Did I mention family? Grown up sons are a very special thing. Ryan has become my right hand man this summer while I was so ill, and Adam can fix anything with a hug or a screw gun. Plus, he brought a circus full of people to love into my life, he has brought a passel of ladies for us to love and welcome to our hearts.

9- A fireplace to sit next to and read. We are loving our new room, and the roaring fire with two leather chairs to relax in and warm our toes.

10- Circus tricks and those who do them. Not only entertaining to watch, but fun to try. What an exotic and interesting lifestyle my family has taken on. Yet another reason to love the new room, with the apparatus hanging from the ceiling. And I've enjoyed trying a sample of them myself.

Seawitches

holiday decor, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 20, 2016

Our Sister Trips to Sarasota always include crafting time. And lots of Halloweenish witchy things too.

This year, we turned some black hats covered in sheer fabric into seawitch hats. I dyed them before I packed, and threw bags full of goodies into my suitcase for doctoring them up. (witch-doctoring, I mean)

I whipped mine up fast, thinking I would be using it as my beach hat all week, since it was so comfy and soft, plus had a wide brim to keep off the sun.

Once it was shell and flower laden, it wasn't nearly as comfy. It tended to list to the heaviest side. So, not a good sun hat, unless I wanted to tie it on like a bonnet.

While they didn't end up being our full time beach hats, we still got to play around and wear them sometimes.

And they made great silhouettes against the sunset.

And some of our condo neighbors told us they liked them too. And we overheard others whispering, as they pointed at us, "Those are the ladies that turn into witches!"

Of course we do! Being a sister seawitch is the BEST!

Happy Halloween!

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / October 31, 2016

Halloween decor at my house is witchy and white pumpkin-ish.

Mostly black and white, but with a little color. Not much in the way of orange.

These mini pumpkins are on a candle ring. I got them at a garage sale for a quarter and spray painted them white. They can stay out til it is time to deck the halls.

Same with these velvet ones that I stitched up. I'll put away the little witch, but the pumpkins will be out for Thanksgiving.

This is a plaster one, made by my pal, Tami.

Besides sitting out a few witchy goods, I try to warm up the rooms for the season. Heavier throws on the sofa, deeper colored pillows, along with rusty and wine toned mums make the cottage feel like autumn has arrived.

Plus a touch of spooky, of course!

Have a happy Halloween, everyone.

Pumpkin Party

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

By Karla Nathan / October 27, 2016

For breakfast the other day, we had pumpkins made from mandarin oranges. It took (literally) seconds to do. The sections of oranges stack up easily, and I put a cashew on the top as a stem.

The grand fairy ghouls didn't have school on Friday, and I was about to fly off to Florida for my annual sister trip and would be missing Halloween with them, so we thought it would be a good idea to have an early celebration. There was bobbing for apples, making caramel apples, crafts, and pumpkin painting.

The girls were surprised to find their craft area in the studio decorated with all the garish Halloweeness colors that they love.

We live in a house that features white pumpkins that I display all fall, so the kiddos get extra excited when I let loose and do the traditional, flashy stuff that makes them so happy. Throw in a few dollar bin crafts and they were happy as any little ghoul can be.

Me too.

I'm going to miss them while I'm away.

A couple of Witchy girl banners

holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / October 16, 2016

Last Halloween, I was enamoured with making witchy girl banners. And as October was progressing this season, I felt the urge to conjure up a couple more.

And I still love making them.

Especially creating little skirts or embellishing the gowns with vintage fabric and trims.

Or making the magic wands. That is my favorite part.

No, wait! My favorite part is making the brooms! I love going out in the yard, finding a stick to trim and adding the "straw" so that my enchantress has a broom to fly away on.

Maybe I just plain old love making these. Last Halloween I was whipping them out nonstop. This year, this is probably it, I've got a couple of trips planned and have been busy with finishing up the remodel plus some entertaining.

Hopefully, I'll be able to make Sugarplum Fairy banners for Christmas, they are every bit as much fun to sparkle up and glue together. In the meantime, if you'd like a witch themed banner made with lots of vintagey goods, you can find these two here.

Coffee Filter flowers for Valentine’s Day

flowers, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / February 13, 2016

To celebrate the holiday, Sugarwings asked if we could throw a craft day party. I try to do these for other occasions too, some years we have one for every holiday, other years are hit and miss. It is always a good excuse to clean up the studio and hang out with good friends. so if I can make a party happen, I'm glad to do it.

And it is such fun to see Sugarwing's excitement and to watch her little wheels turn as she plans a soiree. We made a couple of trips to craft stores, and she picked out all the supplies needed to make cards.

The menu was all her idea too. Of course, Conversation Hearts were a main treat.

Along with Ghirardelli chocolate dipped strawberries.

Sadly, about an hour before the party, I got a call from her, in tears because she was ill. Our poor, fairy baby had a fever and had to cancel. Luckily, her Nurse Mommy had a day off, and was there for her.

Which meant she was in very good hands. (Here comes a bragging moment, and a big one-) Her mom, our Hippy Chick, is on the nominated list for "The Best of Lawrence" voting for Best Nurse in town!

And that is a big deal, isn't it?

After talking to Sugarwings, I talked to her daddy and discovered that Kia, my Faux Granddaughter, was ill too. So, no family for the big party. Dewdrop is in NC with her own mommy, and the rest of the bunch were taking care of sick kids.

I was down for a bit, sad that my girl couldn't come to the party she had planned out, but I'm leaving it all set up and letting her throw another one for her family, and I had a lovely day with my good friends and their kids.

Lots of cards to spread Valentine love were crafted, and we also made some coffee filter flowers.

Here is a vaseful at a point when I thought they were done.

But, I decided that they needed something more, and figured out that a kid's marker dipped in water was great to give the petal edges some color.

Watercolor paints work well on the petals too.

I added some leaves pulled off my favorite old hats too.

Much better!

They were so much fun to make, that I'm also having one more coffee filter craft day too. Plus, I have dyed HUNDREDS of filters…

Twinkle really needs to learn to not be so curious when I'm dying things. She always ends up with a polka dot on her head.

It's been a few days and the color is barely fading.

I bought two packages each of small, medium, and large filters, and dipped them in fiber reactive dyes. Once they were done, the amount seemed to quadruple.

I'm going to need more friends to help me use these up….

Or I could just sit and make flower, after flower, after flower. (this is the same flower I showed painted and using a marker on. Big difference, huh?)

Because they are addictive and beautiful. I seem to have the best luck with peonies, I wish my roses turned out better. And I find it hard to work with the dang floral tape.

Why is it even called tape? It has very little stickiness, which is basically tape's main ingredient.

But the flowers are really pretty easy to make, we all had some beauts. The kids might have even out-flowered the adults.

The hardest part for me was adding the wire stem with the floral tape. I discovered that it was better to use artist tape to hold the flower onto the wire, then cover it in the green tape.

It still wasn't perfect. I'll need to do some research before friends come back to make more flowers with me.

If you want to make some, there are so many how-to videos and guides online, that it probably isn't worth my time to give you any directions. This site has links to many different tutorials. I tried a variety of styles, some easier than others. I gave up on the Martha Stewart ones. They are unbearably beautiful, but not a quick process.

The joy of the other directions was that they are so simple and look like you spent a lot of time on them, when you really didn't.

I'll let you know if we figure out any good shortcuts or tips when we make more. I'm glad to be having more parties!

Our Christmas

celebrations, Dew Drop, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Food and Drink, holiday decor, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 26, 2015

I hope your holiday was full of joy. We had some fun experiences, and plenty of laughs. With lots of hugs.

We started out our two day, holiday extravaganza with a nice, long walk in the woods on Christmas Eve.

It has been mild weather, ideal for a light jacket and some time in the trees.

Albie took that literally, and showed off his climbing abilities. That boy loves to climb trees.

Dewdrop likes to be a damsel in distress waiting to be saved from her perch in the branches.

And her Pop Pop is always happy to step in and help her down.

Katie's girls are as adventurous as Albie and showed off their circus skills by straying off the path and up the branches at every turn of the trail.

Of course, when you hang out with trapeze artists and circus performers on a regular basis, things usually get interesting.

We also had a big, family yoga session before our dinner Christmas Day.

Which soon led to a human pyramid.

Or two.

Or three. (Although this one is only 2/3 human)

Notice that I am not in any of the piles? I was in charge of Santa Hats and photos. Somehow, I wasn't added to the stacks of people, I think my reputation for clumsiness is pretty well known.

Our Thursday was full of exciting deliveries, there were presents being left on the porch all day! One was a package of steaks which came with DRY ICE packed in it.

I was intrigued by the dry ice and used it to create a mini fog machine in this old, silver coffee pot, with the mist flowing from the spout and around the evergreen branches. (Adding rubbing alcohol to the block makes clouds of swirling fog rise from it)

We also tried making sushi on Christmas Eve.

Tried pretty hard.

Then my husband got us some take out.

It was a little like the Bumpas' hounds ruining Christmas dinner in A Christmas Story.

On Christmas morning, we had evidence of the Jolly Old Elf's visit, by the tracks of glitter left on the floor. And I have a feeling, I'll be seeing remnants of that holiday magic for the rest of the year.

The evening ended with Elf and Nightmare Before Christmas, after a big poker tournament where Ryan won 40 bucks from his cousins and was beaming with pride.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures of our celebration, and wishes for a happy holiday season to you too.

You’d better watch out…

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 24, 2015

Do you do "elf on the shelf"? We haven't although, I adore those little vintage elfies. When I first heard about Elf on the Shelf, I thought it sounded like a blast, those elves were faves of mine as a kid and my grand fairies love them too.

But then, I started thinking about how they are watching you.

All the time.

No matter what you do.

And they MOVE.

From one room to another.

And pull pranks during the night.

Not that I think elves are spooky. Elves are related to fairies and my whole family believes in fairies, (except my husband who thinks he has to be the voice of reason around here).

We all love elves. And while I really get a kick out of seeing all the clever poses on Facebook and Pinterest about what those goofy lil guys get up to during the night while kids are sleeping and the sprites can take a break from watching the children's every move, I don't think I want the pressure of eyes watching us around the house and reporting back to the North Pole.

So, all elves are welcome here, but not as spies. Just as friends.

I'll leave you with some Christmassy pictures of the cottage, and I'm going to go wrap last minute gifts now.

Merry Christmas!