holiday decor – Page 3 – Karla's Cottage

A Christmas Collection Over the Years

antiques/junking, cottage, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 23, 2024

Yummy, huh?

Guncle Randy had a boxful of these vintage beauties and sold them to me for a sweet deal.

My plan, and it was a good one, was to keep a couple faves and sell the rest.

Oops!

Somehow they all landed on my own tree! Who could pick a favorite from them? Too pretty and full of vintagey goodness.

My home is filled with good intentions. This is a bench I paid my son to build for me, I painted it and planned to sell it. 20 years later, here it sits, still in the cottage. That banner was made to sell too, I kept it because I love the word, MERRY.

When I was first in the junking biz, there was a revolving door of inventory that I’d decorated with then sell and replace. Over time, I appear to have gathered bits and pieces that never leave. These mirrors, each with a rose theme, have found a home here and seem to be permanent.

There are some things that just seem to fit where placed and deserve to stay there. This cabinet is the perfect size for this wall.

As is the hutch that sits near it. But what about the holiday decor? As I was arranging Christmas decorations this year, I was pondering that.

What makes something “a keeper”? Often, it’s a gift, or from the past.

Other times it’s something I made at a friends’ gathering.

Or a project I made that no one bought. Same with inventory I bought to resell, and it just got overlooked and is still here.

Sometimes, there are special, family items, like these snowflakes my great aunt made.

There are even pieces I found in trash along the road, like this broken buggy.

All I know is that, whatever the origin, heirloom, trash, hand crafted, unsold inventory, gifts, all of it- when they come together to fill my home- it feels like Christmas.

Confessions from a Christmas Tree-aholic

cottage, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2024

I like Christmas trees.

Lots and lots of them.

Very many lots and lots of them.

After collecting and crafting ornaments for a lifetime, I have plenty of Foof to throw on the trees too.

So different areas of the home get divided up in to themes. This is my woodland corner. It seemed suitable to have by my husband’s fireplace. This trio is all from Walmart, they have affordable and attractive ones there. And I like mixing mine up, with this spot holding three narrow ones in various heights.

My dear lil deer belong by the silver forest.

At a garage sale this past summer, I scored this ombré pink tree for five bucks. It’s on the dog kennel and while it would’ve been clever to cover it in pet themed ornies, nope- it is filled with shiny Brites and putz houses.

Here is another metallic one from Walmart. It is champagne toned instead of silver.

The theme on top of this cabinet is silver and gold with cherubs.

My embellished violins are out all year, but I think they add a nice touch at the holidays too, so leave them displayed.

In the living room there are multiple mini trees on top of the wardrobe that holds the tv. And a nice, fat, white, tabletop one filled with hand made pieces by the sofa.

Here’s more minis on the mantel.

This is the baby pink tree that used to be Sugarwings’ as a child (theirs is now a silver one decked out in Nightmare Before Christmas and kept by their bed.) That kid has moved on from pink, but I haven’t, so now it holds a few of hand painted balls from over the decades.

Hmm, somehow I missed getting photos of my main, big tree (and I have to admit, a few other small ones).

But here is my newest fave- a simple white tree with a single strand of teensy lights to enjoy while I soak in the tub of my newly repaired and revamped bathroom. There might be wine involved while gazing at this tree.

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.

A few new pieces for Good Juju

Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 6, 2024

Our bonus shopping day at Good Juju in the Old West Bottoms of KC was super busy!

And while I made sure I was very well stocked for our five dates for holiday sales, I felt like I needed to make a few more pieces for the last two days.

So, for this First Friday weekend, I crafted a couple boxes full of new pieces.

Honestly, I probably had plenty of goods.

But if I have an excuse to make something, I'm gonna take it!

A Santa redo

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 15, 2024

As much as I enjoy turning neglected dolls into fairies and angels, I also get a kick out of Santa do overs. This guy got mink trim and a glittered tree. Then an angora beard.

I emptied his bag of cheap, plastic toys and replaced them with mini Shiny Brites.

Here is his before look.

I hope Santa Claus enjoys his makeover and remembers me when Christmas Eve rolls around. I’d love to get a stocking filled with candy and treats!

Thanks to everyone who came to see me this weekend

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 4, 2024

We had an action packed weekend at Good Juju.

Although we were right on the tail end of Halloween, you’d never know that only the night before, trick-or-treaters are ghouls were roaming the streets.

On November 1st in the aisles of our store, it was full on Christmas time.

My booth was probably 60% handmade holiday decor, 35% vintage Christmas, and a mere 5% other stuff.

Now, don’t quote me on this numerical division, it’s just a guess. What I’m saying is, I doubled down hard on the holidays myself.

I love every moment of Christmas decorating and crafting, so am thrilled to have five days of holiday sales at the venue this season.

Not only our First Friday weekends in November and December but a bonus shopping day on Saturday the 23rd.

And you know me, I went all out, over producing since I was doing what I love.

So I will need that extra day to get rid of, I mean market, my inventory.

No worries about you coming to see us on the last date of our holiday sale and not finding anything. We are overstuffed, especially me. I still have a table filled with goods in my studio to bring in, and most likely will have so much extra that I’ll be packing it up for next year too.

That’s the nice thing about vintage goods, or arty goods made with vintage style and ingredients. There is no expiration date. A fifty year old item will just be even better fifty years from now, right?

An elf on steroids

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 1, 2024

It’s my favorite time of the year for creating! I’ve been whipping out tree after tree, angels, ornies, and more. Santa’s little helpers have nothing on me, I could out tinker them any day.

This season, I might’ve gone overboard…

But I kept thinking, okay that’s enough, but wait, just one more?

So of course, I’d make ten more.

Who am I kidding- I’d make twenty more!

How could I possibly let any dove go unglittered and crownless?

Or leave a stack of tulle in a pile when I knew it deserved to be a tree?

No old, broken dolls were going to the Island of Misfit Toys on my watch, they needed a do-over.

And wings!

Just because vintage satin balls were missing a way to be hung, didn’t mean they couldn’t be glued onto a wreath. Someone had to do it and that someone was me.

No candleholders were going to be left empty and bereft of use. They needed to be topped with sparkling trees and tiny deer.

Same with the boxfuls of lanterns I’d gathered at garage sales all summer. I was not going to let a single lantern go unlit. They were stuffed with twinkle lights, trees, deer, and any other glittery item I could shove inside.

See what I mean? I couldn’t stop. Luckily, our foundation is collapsing and we have a major reconstruction project to start today. That will finally stop my uncontrolled holiday crafting obsession.

More about that later. Ugh.

Come and see us at Good Juju for First Friday weekend today and tomorrow to see some of my creations. We also have a single bonus day to be open on the Saturday previous to Thanksgiving before our next First Friday weekend on 6-7.

A Nightmare Before Christmas combo with a few turkeys thrown in

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / September 30, 2024

Yep, it’s that time again.

I am all set up and ready for First Friday Weekend in the Old West Bottoms of KC.

And for October, many dealers have taken on a range of holidays. We are still featuring Halloween, and autumn, and there is some Thanksgiving decor here and there too.

And for everyone who thinks it’s too early for Halloween, here’s a lil bit of Christmas for ya. It seems way too early for me too, but in the past couple of years, I did not get on board with early Yule tide wares and my October sales were lacking. I don’t know why I didn’t just go whole hog holiday, xmas is my absolute fave and I have a ton ready to go.

Fall is not my best theme, well excluding Halloween, that is

I love the Romantic Gothic, spooky stuff. So I have a combo booth with a different theme on each wall.

Plus my regular jewelry set up and some pretties to go along with that.

These are some of my witch’s brooms. I still have a big selection of those. Actually even though my Halloween sales last month were good, there is plenty left of it. I tend to go way over the top when creating for the seasons. In my mind, as I’m crafting and collecting, my booth must be full sized, not a tiny little half space.

It can look a little crowded, with so much inventory in an 8 1/2’ area. I’d love to have more space!

But knowing me, I’d just overcrowd that too.

Come and see us if you can, like I said, this month- there is a little bit of everything on top of our regular wares and vintage goods. Say hi and wish me a Merry Halloween if you come by.

Skeleton fairies at the cottage

cottage, Halloween treats, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / September 14, 2024

This fall, I hadn’t planned on going full tilt Halloween around the house.

But I’d enjoyed spookifying my Good Juju booth so much, and I had family coming, so I indulged in ghoulishing up a few corners of my cottage.

Most is pretty simple, white pumpkins and crowns, a few glass pumpkins with lighting.

But we have some skellies too. This fairy skeleton is glittered and perched onto a poison toadstool. Her wings were harvested from a cicada and then laminated I think they have a bit of a skeletal look themselves.

I have a good time making decorations for any holiday, but I have to admit that I seriously LOVE the lit, glass punkins from Homegoods I only allowed myself a couple. I’d love to have a roomful.

Of course, you always need witches too.

And funky witch boots.

I’ve sprinkled some glittered crows around too.

This candle was from a garage sale. It isn’t my style exactly, but I liked it. So I guess that means it is my style for spooky season?

Talk about a change of looks for me- get ahold of that shower curtain.

My first seasonal curtain switch, ever. My sister, Bobbie, changed hers out for each holiday. Things like that made her happy, and she had collections for all seasons. On her birthday this year, I decided to honor her tradition by starting one of my own. Typically, I prefer vintage fabric, but I have to admit this makes a statement. And is a lot of fun.

I just might find myself shopping for a Xmas one too.

It looks good in person, you never know for sure when shopping online, but I really like it.