how to’s – Page 2 – Karla's Cottage

How to make zombie dolls

By Karla Nathan / September 7, 2022

Recently, I asked around for dolls to turn into witches, and got a number of vintage ones from a friend, as well as finding some while junking. Some were ideal to turn into witches, some were just too nice. The ones in excellent condition with perfect hair will be Christmas angels, and the ones that were a little scruffy became my Halloween witches.

But the beat up beyond repair gals?

ZOMBIES!

Witches can be cute, but zombies need to be creepy. So anyone missing limbs, or with big cracks was ideal to use.

Adorablely cute dolls made sweet witches.

But a crack like this is hard to get past.

I discovered that the cracked face on these old dolls could peel off like the shell of a boiled egg.

Underneath was a rough, porous material that needed just a little sanding to make sure the glue was off before painting.

With appendages, I cracked off some of the “shell” and painted those like wounds.

Same with the torso. I left most of the hard layer on and painted the edges to look like cuts.

After painting the doll, I use old, tattered doll clothes along with some vintage elements to dress her. The clothing gets some tears and cuts plus dirty and bloody paint splotches.

I glued her legs on at odd angles so she would look stiff, like a zombie shuffling around.

All of the dolls were fun to recreate into new looks, but I have to admit, I really got into the zombies!

The Witchie girls were a similar process, but I made sure to use smooth skinned dolls without cracks. If the skin tone was discolored or stained, I painted them green.

They were hard to stop working on, I could’ve made dozens. I can’t wait til it’s time to make the angels too. But for now, I’ll just make a pile of witch hats to sell, the ones I took to the mall were gone quickly. I sold a couple dolls, but mostly, they just got photographed a lot. I think that means people were going to try to create their own? Well, if so, here are the steps to follow.

More about the trip and some tips on pie crafting

family, Food and Drink, how to's

By Karla Nathan / September 4, 2022

One of the best parts of my trip was snuggling my sister’s new puppy and her sister-in-law’s baby from the same litter.

We got to have a junking day too. With photo ops.

Bobbie baked fresh bread that I enjoyed every single day I was there.

One night, Shelli had us over for pizza and I made some mushrooms with items I’d found while at Goodwill and antique malls. The fabrics came from an assortment of sweaters, gloves, pillows, and dresses.

It’s so much more fun to play around with ideas for making the mushroom caps than just buying a yard of velvet. Although, you’d get a lot of little schroomies from a full yard.

I’m always happy to throw in crafting time while traveling, I miss being in my studio and creating. I kinda thought some other people would want to make one some, instead I made some to give to them.

If you want to make your own, the online tutorial is found here.

And while this isn’t exactly crafting, making a pie in Sissy’s new kitchen while chatting with nieces was entertaining for me too. I like to have something to create.

In honor of her new pup, I made a tiny pie with a doodle on it for her. She needed one without cinnamon in it.

Here is how I make my pies, kinda a recipe but more of a guideline:

I use a roll out pie dough in a glass pan. Glass is important to me because I can look through to check on browning.
I flute the edges of the crust and fill it with blueberries. I like frozen ones so I can pack them in tightly. You need an even top to make the crust decorations stay in place.
In a separate bowl I mix a little flour, maybe a 1/3 cup? With 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and some cinnamon. I add lime juice until completely moistened and then pour it over the blueberries. It will be about the consistency of paint.
Then the fun part! On a cutting board, I lay out another unrolled, premade crust and start cutting shapes.
These get layered onto the berries. Think of a lattice pie, some pieces under some over, lots of over lapping. If you don’t have over lapping crust pieces, the little ones tend to sink. To create a design, it helps to have the structure and support of the vines, spirals, and other shapes.

My few days in Indy were way too short. I’m missing my sissies, nieces, and this cute guy.

Tutorials in the Boutique

how to's, mushrooms, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, Tutorials

By Karla Nathan / August 18, 2022

It had been a while since I cleaned things up. Both my Etsy shop and the Boutique were sadly neglected. When I made my Velvet mushroom tutorial, I did a little rearranging. I also marked some of my previous tutorials down.

So if you’d like to learn how to assemble an art journal, craft a mini dress form, create a cuff bracelet (all no sew, by the way) plus a few more- all classes are available at their new, lower prices.

And you can find them all here: http://www.karlascottage.com/category_15/All-items.htm

And thank you to those who have purchased my mushroom tutorial! I love those little cuties and hope you do too.

Steampunk Vintage Violins

guncles, how to's, Travel, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 8, 2022

This could be one of my all time favorite projects. Randy had a violin he wanted to possibly modpodge, but then we got to talking and thinking and planning and brainstorming and getting excited and going through his stashes and well, it blossomed.

He had so much cool stuff to work with! Some was from sister, Terry, who sent him the gears and such, some was goodies he’d been collecting.

We painted the violin black then glued down some lace for texture and painted it too.

Next we picked out what we wanted to add to it, painted those bits and bobs all black too, including some small frames we placed vintage photos in, then covered in paper glaze.

The mat black (chalk paint, so no priming was needed) was very stark, and needed some dimension, so I dry brush silver over the high points of each item.

Once everything was all glued into place, it got aged with more dry brushing of a bronze mixed with sepia (acrylic craft paint).

The brown/bronze really topped it off. (The white is wet glue that will dry clear)

We loved making this so much, we couldn’t wait to start another! This time, ivory with the addition of some sheet music. I still used the gears, frames, keys, etc, but also embellished it with some vintage rhinestone jewels and pearls that I had with me.

Because who doesn’t travel across country in an RV with four dogs and not bring vintage sparklies to craft with?

Genuine gemstone mosaic

cottage, flowers, how to's

By Karla Nathan / February 22, 2022

This mosaic backsplash felt like a huge job, but actually was completed in bits and spurts over the course of a week.

The boards were set out on my table like a jigsaw puzzle that I pieced together whenever I had a spare hour of time.

First, I measured the spot, then I had Masonite cut to fit the area. I drilled holes where I wanted to screw it into the wall, and left those spots blank while adding stones.

Then, I used a sharpie to draw a design that I promptly ignored and started placing stones in posy shapes.

I started with the largest flowers, working out from the center of the board, where the faucet of the sink would be. Then spaced large flowers throughout the Masonite.

Next came medium flowers, then small ones, and finally the darker pearls, petals, and leaves.

The stones are glued down with silicone. After the adhesive dried I brought the mosaic in to see how it was going to look and decide on grout color. I had been proud of myself for having a continuous design in the corner from piece to piece, but didn’t allow for the thickness of the beads.

oops

When I first measured the materials, the boards butted up against each other, now with grout and beads, they don’t. Oh well, caulking fixed the crack, and it doesn’t really bother me too much that the backsplash is about a 1/2” longer than the vanity top.

Grouting was HARD. Really hard, because of the different heights of the stones.

I worked on 6” sections at a time so I could get each bit polished up nice before it dried too hard.

The grout is Bone, and I used a matching caulk to seal the Masonite, trim out the edges, and cover the screw holes. Honestly, I think the flowers would’ve stood out better with a darker grout, more like the color of the board they were on, but I needed it lighter to flow with the rest of the room. And that was important.

Grout can be such a mystery to me. I don’t do enough mosaics to know exactly how the added background color will affect the piece. No matter what color though, it sure makes it look finished and professional. Adding grout to a mosaic is the equivalent of adding mulch to a flower bed. It just makes it look more pulled together.

My sis, Terry, has recently moved and cleared out her craft supplies before going. She gifted me with an amazing stack of jewel filled boxes, that inspired this creation. I had many of the beads myself, but getting her largesse gave me the idea to make a project with it instead of necklaces.

I thought I’d feature a few flowers and use mosaic glass as a background. But once I got going, I loved the gemstones so much, that I made the entire piece with just those. I found bags of real pearls and some other extras at an antique store nearby, and that was just what I needed to complete it. I would hate to know what these gems would cost retail! Terry and I had both shopped wholesale markets and catalogs for the ones we had. Still, this would’ve cost me a pretty penny if I hadn’t been gifted with such pretty beads. Thanks, Terry!

Here is a list of what I used:

labradorite
opal
moonstone
mother of pearl
pearl
larimar
herkimer diamond
quartz
agate
amazonite
topaz
aquamarine
shell
flourite
abilone

A seashell framed mirror

cottage, how to's, redos, Sacred Circus, sea shell fairies

By Karla Nathan / February 5, 2022

After repainting my bedroom, I also moved artwork and mirrors around. This was a mirror that hung in the studio, and it had a carved shell at the top, so it fit in nicely with my beach paintings.

But it was a little blah and a dull tan color.

So I gaudied it up a bit!

I used shells collected on our last vacation, mother of pearl and pearl beads, and Beth gave me a huge box of seashells she’d gotten from an estate sale.

My first move was to lay them out in a pattern to accentuate the carving at the top.

Then removed a few shells and I spread tile adhesive in about 6” areas. Kind of like icing a cake, not the way you’d lay tile on the floor.

It went on nice and thick, so I could smoosh the shells down into it. While it was still wet, I pushed pearls and smaller shells into the adhesive that wasn’t covered by the main shells.

I worked my way around the frame, in those 6” patches at a time.

After it dried, I filled in bare looking spots with the Diamond Glaze and sprinkled crystal quarts chips into it.

It may look like a jumble, but there was a plan. Big shells at the top, then black and gray ones down the sides, starting with darker at the top and going lighter towards the bottom. The very bottom is all cream and white.

I go back and forth, wondering if it is glorious or just too gaudy. But since I do enjoy some over the top foof, I think I like it.

May baskets, that may be a bit late

Corona virus, flowers, how to's, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / May 21, 2020

It might be closer to June than May, but little peat pot baskets are nice any time of year, right?

I didn’t get them delivered by May Day either.

My buddies and I met up for a socially distant walk on a trail, and I brought each a baggie of home made body scrub/bath salts (it can be used either way). I made it with Epsom salts, sugar, coconut oil, and a drop or two essential oil for scent. No measuring, I simply stir with my hands til it feels good, then try it out in the sink to see if it needs a little more of something or another.

The peat pots have pipe cleaner handles inserted into a hole punched on each side of the pot with the ends twisted into place. Flowers were twisted onto the wires.

I glued a bit of ephemera to the front each pot. Then crumpled up some dyed coffee filters and used those as a liner for the bags of salts.

Don’t the filters look like roses blooming in the pots? And, seriously, it is simply three coffee filters rumpled and stuffed into a peat pot. The prettiness just happens on its own, no skill needed.

I keep dyed filters on hand because of their many uses. And the fact that they come in packs of 100, so when I dye them, I do a lot! I have used Rit dye, Fiber reactive dye, watercolor, or just plain old food coloring, whatever is handy. I dip them in and hang them to dry, then stack them up and store in the studio. I love to have different colors on hand to ruffle up and use in craft projects or like this, to line gift packages, instead of tissue paper.

How to make and paint memory foam Squishies

Corona virus, holiday decor, how to's, how-to projects

By Karla Nathan / April 3, 2020

My creative efforts have been kinda low key lately. Because of knee surgery which was harder to recover from than I had expected, I haven’t gone to the studio.

So, I did a little busywork, and some simple things to keep my hands busy.

And to take my mind off of the world wide crisis we are in the middle of. I don’t think I have the mental focus to start a big project, and these little bits of cuteness were just what I needed.

Sugarwings is hooked on watching Squishy makeovers on Youtube, and I told her we could probably make our own little critters. When I went on the long camping trip to Florida, we trimmed up some memory foam pads to fit our camper bed and I saved the remnants.

They were not perfect for this craft because they are not as thick as I’d like and they have a grid pattern cut into the backside. But for our purposes, they were fine.

First step is to draw the design on the foam with a marker, then roughly cut it out.

At first, the cuts are larger, but as I get the shape to come out, they become teeny snips.

When my fairy girl started making hers, she was chunking them up too much and got frustrated. Once I showed her the trick of making itty bitty cuts, she got the hang of it. And soon, my home looked like the scene in Edward Scissorhands where Johnny Depp made snow from paper and created a blizzard.

I use fabric glue to seal the grid cuts that I mentioned, and to add pieces, like a wing or something to them. I try not to do many add ons, I like the challenge of cutting 3D shapes. But Sugarwings enjoys making hers in pieces and then attaching them with glue like they do in the videos she watches.

The kitty has a glued on mouth and nose, but the puppy is all one piece. They can be done either way.

Mine were all made to give to kids to play with and paint themselves. But I wanted to try out the paint myself first to see how it went, so I could offer some advice.

The paint has to be pliable so that when the foam is squeezed, the paint moves with it. You can use puffy paint, or fabric paint. Or make your own fabric paint by adding textile medium to acrylic craft paint. I have heard that you can make your own by using glycerin, but I had used all of my glycerin to make hand sanitizer.

Here is what I discovered: These are SPONGES, so they take a lot of paint!

It soaks right in and makes them hard to decorate. I decided that my best move was to cover them in a solid coat and leave it over night to dry.

Once dry, it was much easier to add other colors and details.

In the scheme of things, these are not anything that were worth much. But, they gave me joy and in my mind, creativity is good for the soul, whether you are making something simple and cute, or a spectacular masterpiece.

A Failed Attempt at being a Fairy God Mother

fairies, how to's, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 10, 2019

This is who I was going for as my Halloween party costume, Merryweather, the blue fairy godmother. We were “Disney Bounding” which meant I only needed a suggestion of the fairy. I had a blue dress to wear, as well as a blue scarf that could replace the cape Merryweather has.

Disneybounding is a subtler, more fashion-forward way for fans to show their love for Disney. Instead of wearing full-on costumes as cosplayers do, Disneybounders dress up in stylish, everyday outfits (known as Disneybounds) that are simply inspired by a particular character.

At the last minute, I decided a hat would be nice. I found this headband style witch’s hat at Michael’s for 50% off, and our flight didn’t leave til afternoon, so I had plenty of time to transform it.

Because, who doesn’t whip up craft projects right before heading to the airport?

The black hat was a gamble, I bought it hoping that the black netting could be cut off and I could go with the silver fabric underneath as a base. And yup, it worked! I pulled off all the existing trims to replace with my own, more god motherly like ones.

I added sparkly tulle, a velvet ribbon and blue millinery rose to cover any black threads or remnants.

What possibly ruined the look was my black eye… And the fact that my dress and hat were sorta vintagey. People thought I was a Haunted Mansion ghost, not a fairy. By adding make up and glitter over the black eye, it probably looked fake.

Although, Merryweather is the bossiest of the three fairies and I am sure there were times when Flora and Fauna thought of smacking her.

I ended up tearing the rose offer toss in my bag (of course I would save that rose!) and putting the hat in the trash after being at Magic Kingdom for an hour or so. Rides were more comfy without the hat and it was just too bulky to carry.

Crafting the Bunny’s Chapeau

family, flowers, guncles, how to's

By Karla Nathan / April 26, 2019

Although Easter has passed, I still have more to show you from the holiday. I thought I'd tell you how we created Guncle Randy's bunny hat.

We started with a magnificent, pink, wool top hat. Which would have been great as is!

But we wanted it to be even more bunnified. So I tucked Easter grass under the band.

Over the band, I wrapped a white velvet ribbon and pinned it in place, then glued one end of the white ribbon to the other end of the ribbon, overlapping a bit. Our issue was, that we didn't know if the hat would need to be returned to its original glory. I don't sew, I am a die hard glue-er. But- we were not sure if we should let any glue touch the already pretty pink hat.

The white velvet ribbon became the new hat band, placed over the existing band and everything was glued to the white one.

Including the wired ears.

Using The Ultimate Glue, I layered vintage millinery flowers to the ribbon, then to each other, building a full bouquet to add more grass, eggs, and bugs to.

My plan had been to use brighter, less tattered flowers….

But the ones I had packed were lost on the flight, due to a broken zipper on my suitcase!!!! (Along with a crop-o-dile, lace, ribbons, rhinestones, Tim Holtz scissors, more flowers, gel pens, and a bottle of glue)

Well, at least it was a good excuse to buy a new suitcase for the trip home! And a much prettier one at that.

Funny, for a person who lost most of her flowers, I seemed to have plenty left. These were packed elsewhere for me to use in the classes I was going to take at the event. I had forgotten that I had a ton of vintage floral packets with me that I had planned on selling on Vendor Night, so there was no shortage of flowers that weekend. I just didn't get to use the ones I had planned on using on the hat.

But I like the way these look, so it all turned out fine.

The sides and back were decorated too. But less heavily than the front.

It was clumsy to try to glue things to the new band and to each other, not to the hat itself, and it is all put together like a house of cards. But this way, if Randy ever wants to wear a plain, pink top hat, all he needs to do is pull off that white ribbon. Everything will come off in a big bundle.

Luckily, this wire and bead posy was not lost in the luggage fiasco, because it fit perfectly into this old knife handle transformed into a boutonniere holder.

My baby bro and I had a blast making these together. Our collaborated projects are always so much fun!