holiday decor – Page 8 – Karla's Cottage

A book club party with bookish party favors

antiques/junking, Books, celebrations, collections, cottage, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2021

The annual holiday party for our book club was at my house, well, I have to admit that it always is at my house. I tend to hog the date because I love parties so much.

And I love party favors! I decorated the table with the book page/paper ornies that I’d made and sent one home with each person. You can’t see it in this pic, but each ball has a tiny, book charm dangling from it.

Here is the table before my friends arrived.

I have been collecting 49 cent Christmas plates from Goodwill all year, there are a few different patterns, but I like the mix.

It’s all a bit of a mix match. The water glasses almost all are the same, but the silverware, wine glasses, napkins, and plates are all over the place. The placemats are pages from the Grand fairies’ outgrown Christmas books.

Here is what I have learned about hosting a party:

NO ONE CARES IF IT MATCHES!

But they do appreciate an effort to make things pretty for them. I doubt if they cared that the plates were only 49 cents each and were various patterns. Or that to have enough wine glasses, I had to use a very non traditional, purple one.

They might have cared that the pie was a little dry.

Durn it. I used frozen blueberries, but made it the same as I usually do with fresh ones. That just isn’t the same, I love the juiciness of the fresh ones. Frozen requires more sugar, liquid and some lemon, I think.

The peach pie was better. I used pecan flour, eggs, some juice from the canned peaches, cinnamon and brown sugar in it.

This was my first time using Aldi’s crust (I never make my own crust). It was so-so. Not very flakey, and a little dry. I’ll stick with Sprouts, their crust is always ideal. Plus it is vegan, which is good when I am feeding my family.

Also, this might not be the prettiest place to set out desserts, but it worked.

I found some “Vintage Tinsel Sprinkles” at Homegoods and happily glittered all the treats. I love them so much that I had some glittery, festive-ness on my peanut butter toast today. Using my holiday plates.

One very nice thing about my big stack of thrift store plates is that I don’t have to be gentle with them. They are special, but they aren’t worth anything, so we have been using them daily since Thanksgiving.

Dishes are breakable, so I never want to own any that I am afraid of using. I like plates that I can enjoy.

Why yes, that is a white, Halloween pumpkin and glittered Easter egg on my Christmas wreath

cottage, dogs, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 18, 2021

This wreath stays up on my door with some switcheroos throughout the year. I never attach any thing permanently, picks are just stuck through the grapevine for quick changes.

For past Christmasses, I’ve put ornaments in the little nest. Or vintage birds. But I kind of like the glittered eggs that were in there for Easter, so left them.

I also left one of the velvet pumpkins from fall decorating, and most of the pastel, autumn blooms. Some glittery poinsettias and frosted greenery were tucked in around them and I was done.

Lazy and easy, but I’m happy with it.

The rest of the entry way was quick too. Of course a sweet, little Dorothy straight from the groomers adds a pop of prettiness!

All I did was pull up the dead flowers and stick mini trees into the pots. Very lazy. But better than dead flowers, right?

I can be very lazy when I know I am roofing up something just for show, not to sell or to keep for reuse. Like this teensy, flocked tree from Walmart in the flimsy, plastic pot.

For a fast makeover so that it would look nice in my guest bathroom, I covered the pot in sheet music topped with some wrapping paper and added a ribbon and buckle to the rim. Quick, easy, not a lot of thought went into it, but it brightened the pot up.

I’ll probably pop the rhinestone buckle off for future use when the rest get thrown away after the tree is done. I don’t know about you, but I have never been able to keep these things alive to plant outside for spring.

My philosophy is that a small, creative touch improves most things. But doesn’t have to be a big, overwhelming project. Especially at the holidays when we are stressed.

Do what you can and enjoy what you do.

Holiday homes

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 16, 2021

Recently, I had a little luncheon for friends.

I was going to use a tablecloth, but decided to leave it off so I could turn on the twinkle lights taped up underneath the table. But the wood looked stark with the white dishes, so I used placemats made from old book pages put together with metallic tape.

That helped.

It had been such a nice day, out on the holiday home tour, looking at all the festive-ness around town. Then wine, soup, and cupcakes at the cottage to talk about the decorations we’d seen.

I’ll leave you with some photos of the afternoon.

A simple corner

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 14, 2021

There isn’t a lot of Christmas decor going on here, sometimes a little bit is enough.

The cocoa station

Food and Drink, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 12, 2021

Around here, the holidays mean lots of hot cocoa by the lights of the trees, watching Christmas movies.

Since it’s a regular thing, I want it to be convenient. And festive!

We keep all of our supplies together, with trays leaned up behind them. So we pick up a tray, and load it with what we need for our party, then carry it to the tree to enjoy.

I keep a supply of candy canes for stirring, vegan and regular marshmallows, cocoa powder that we can use the hot water dispenser with, as well as cocoa that needs a teapot of hot milk to make, along with teabags, (because I can’t always handle as much hot chocolate as the grandfairies can) and treats.

Some of it is tucked away inside this chipboard box that I turned into a gingerbread house.

This one holds a baggie of cookies.

And there is always whipped cream in the fridge ready for the festivities.

A bit of my holiday decor

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 4, 2021

This year, I got my Christmassy Foof up early.

Again.

Typically, I use the excuse of hosting an art event or being on the holiday home tour for decorating before Thanksgiving. But this year, I just wanted to.

And that is enough of a reason.

For me, it is scaled back, not as elaborate as in the past. But more than last year.

2020 was hard. I needed some sparkle to lighten my load, but I wasn’t up to the full spread.

This year, I decided to set out a few more things.

It doesn’t usually take much time to do, since I pack it all up in a very organized way. But last year, when I dug through a few boxes for bits and pieces, I made quite a mess of all of it.

These photos are of my dining room hutch.

It is a winter forest, with trees, deer and fairies.

And lots of white lights!

I have a love/hate relationship with the battery powered LEDs. Over all, I love them to pieces. They run on remote control so they can be added to hard to reach places or spots with no plugs. They have a timer so they will automatically come on each day then turn themselves off. They have multiple settings and look pretty in any setting.

But oh man- the tangly mess they make! That long, long wire gets all twisty and stuck. Ugh.

But the pros outweigh the cons. I like having lights on this piece, and there is no plug in anywhere, so the battery operated strings make all the difference.

The main part of the house is all that I’m decorating this year, and I’ll have more photos of it later. Some years, I do every single room, and I love it that way. But I am pretty happy with just the downstairs decked. Every morning, all of the power strips are flipped before I even have my coffee, so I can enjoy the twinkling lights all day long.

And that is very satisfying.

How to make folded paper Christmas balls

holiday decor, how-to projects, vintage paper/collage art, wallpaper

By Karla Nathan / November 28, 2021

These layered balls ended up being pretty easy to make once I figured it out. My first ones didn’t come out as nicely, but they got better as I made a few.

My first mistake? Using only vintage papers, and not being careful to find ones that aren’t brittle.

I discovered that the ideal paper is scrapbooking card stock, but since I love the old stuff so much, I tried using some book pages and wallpaper too. Plus, a mix looks pretty together.

Vintage flocked wallpaper is ideal, and some more sturdy wallpapers are too. But most of the antique ones disintegrate when folded.

I used some Xmas wrapping paper also.

If you have a fragile paper you just love, and really want to use, maybe try backing it with card stock first.

These were some that worked for me, as well as some book pages. To test it, fold the paper a few times and see if it cracks. If not, it should work okay.

Cut and fold all of the pages ahead of time, so you have a pile to work with and not have to pause while gluing.

Fold each piece with the most interesting side inwards, so you are gluing the outsides to each other.

Glue one folded piece to the next until you have a stack that looks like this.

Another discovery that I made is that it’s a good idea to glue all of the folded circles together and set them aside to dry. If you try to make the orb while the glue is wet, the paper is more fragile and will easily tear.

While still folded, you can ink the edges.

Add some strong glue (I like The Ultimate) along the folded edge.

Cut ribbon or string, and fold it in half with a loop at the end.

(I used pipe cleaners down the center of some, and it did work, but for me, it was too easy to poke through the papers with it, string or ribbon is better).

Then stick the ribbon into the glue, with the loop at the top and the two ends hanging out of the bottom.

Open the pages.

Apply glue to both half circle sides, then press them together to make the orb. Smoosh them together and there it is! You might need to carefully pick each layer apart, gently manipulate them, and form the circle.

If you get a tear when opening it up, just attach an extra circle over that segment.

You can use the two trailing ends or your ribbon or string to tie a bundle of netting and ribbons to the bottom.

Or use them to tie on charms. Or do both! (I liked the idea of book charms with the old book pages).

How many circles did I use? Well, they are all different. The thinner the paper, the more you need. The heavier papers fill out nicely without as many. And because they are thick, too many makes the stack so high that when you put them together you have a huge gap in the center.

So, about 20 for thin papers, half that much for heavy ones.

An elfin makeover

cottage, fairies, holiday decor, redos

By Karla Nathan / November 23, 2021

This is the after from my mini redo. I had the cottage halls decked and thought I was done, but decided this area wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be.

This is the before. Cute stuff, but for my home, there might have been a tad too much red. And it’s was too busy with lots of small things lined up.

So I fetched this hunk of gorgeous-ness from the studio, glittered up some elves, and moved a few of the guys to another location.

This cabinet was a gift from a Peep, and it is such a lovely piece. It was just what I needed to take away the cluttery feeling of so many tiny figurines together.

The glue is still wet on this fella’s rhinestone buttons. Aren’t these sprites sweet in silver and gold glitter?

I used cream chalk paint over the high gloss red glaze, and sprinkled glitter or mica onto the paint before it dried.

The red felt pants on the other gnomes had a wash of white paint over the bright fabric to made it look pink as it dried.

I had debated whether or not to mess with this, since all the decorating was done, but decided that I’d enjoy it more if I made a few little changes.

And I do!

The life cycle of a pumpkin

Goldendoodle Puppies, Hens, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / February 24, 2021

Last fall, we took a trip to the pumpkin patch, after an extremely LONG time of no regular outings. The grand fairies and I typically had a schedule of getting out and exploring on a regular basis. In the summer, it was the pool, park, zoo, and more. In the fall, we'd go to the pumpkin patch multiple times and host pumpkin craft parties after.

2020? not quite the same. But we masked up, and social distanced our way through the punkin patch, and made the most of a day out. We were pretty happy to be there, too, even with the restrictions and changes that had to be implemented.

We probably bought way too many pumpkins, hoping to have a carving party with Fin and Clover, but the weather didn't cooperate, and we couldn't get together outside, so I made use of the gourds as best as I could.

When the pups were tiny, I liked to do photo shoots with them for their new families, so these were great to use as props for posing puppies.

After Halloween, I spray painted some of them white and added a touch of glitter to the tops, and placed them into flower pots in front of the house. Others got turned into pies.

(The white pumpkins make the best pies, uhm, not the painted white ones, the REAL white ones.)

Now, it is time to clean up the front porch and get rid of the pumpkins who have seen better days. They are squishy and wrinkled, but instead of tossing them out, they went to the hens. The birds don't eat the rind, so didn't even bother with the painted exterior. They went right for the tasty seeds inside.

I guess I didn't have too many pumpkins after all! At least the chickens didn't think so. We have been giving them a couple a week and they are pretty happy with the treats.

A Christmas Surprise

cottage, Dew Drop, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas!

We had a surprise visitors! Dewdrop and her Daddy hid under our tree on Christmas Eve, Sugarwings and I did not know they’d be here.

It just isn’t Christmas unless Sugarwings’ Daddy falls asleep on the sofa with her on his lap.

She was so happy to have him here.

And this goofball brings joy with her wherever she is.

Everyone was enjoying the surprise.

There was pie baking, cookie decorating, fairy wing creating, and candle pouring throughout the day.

On the day before the night before Christmas, Sugarwings and I were missing our littlest, goofiest fairy. She made some purple wings for her baby sister on craft day, and was sad she wasn’t here to give them to her.

We hadn’t set up the tree in Dewdrop’s bedroom, and I hadn’t gotten our big tree out either. We decided it would cheer us up get the large tree out of the closet after all (at bedtime) and she decorated it with all of Dewdrop’s ornaments so we’d feel close to her.

Then, there was Dewdrop and her daddy, sitting under the that tree the next day!

Typically, I spend hours making sure the tree is perfectly decorated. This is the year, that I discovered that it isn’t the way the tree looks that matters. I have enjoyed my mostly naked trees with just twinkle lights and no ornaments beyond some pine cones for Ryan. And I love this quickly set up tree decorated by one grand fairy with my other grand fairy’s things.

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”