Moving to DC

It’s almost time for our "What do you LOVE about your holiday home?" party!

I’ll do my post later Tuesday evening and start linking up as comments come in.

Please remember that you have to leave a comment on THAT post, the Holiday Home party, or I will miss you and won’t link.

And what have I decided to send as a prize? Well here is one of them, this great book, Crowns & Tiaras. I’ll have more party door prizes for guests that day too.

I will have separate drawings for bloggers who participate and for readers who leave comments about what they love about their holiday homes too. I just want to make sure some one from each group gets a prize.

Here is one little tidbit I love about my own holiday home. This welcoming pink glow in the breezeway, where I have wrapped pink lights around an iron garden topiary frame and set it into a wicker plant stand. People get an idea of what to expect from the rest of my house when they are greeted by this!

And there is more to love around here, my dorkies of course. All cozied up by the wood stove on a fluffy pillow staying warm while an ice storm rages outside.

The weather makes it a perfect night to stay in and make holiday candy. I am a fudge creator. I make tons of fudge each year to give away. Beth claims that my fudge is the reason she had to join the gym

I make the short cut, simple to do, nothing to it variety, always perfect, and quick. All it consists of is melting a bag of chips into a can of sweetened condensed milk and then beating it till it is fluffy and pouring it into a pan. Best, creamiest fudge ever. And everyone thinks you slaved over it. Oops, my friends won’t think that anymore, will they? My secret is out. I’m bad with secrets, you can tell by the way I run on and on, I tend to blabber about everything.

I bought these ceramic pans at a garage sale this summer for 25 cents each, never used, still in packages from the store! They are oven and freezer safe, and I will fill them with fudge and wrap them up pretty and give them to friends this year.

So, tonight, I make 14 batches of fudge. I have to have plenty to give away and to feed the family when I host lots of holiday get togethers! I have a 6’4" nephew who is a size 28 waist and can really pack away the peanut butter chocolate fudge. He’ll get a batch all of his own.

Yesterday I showed the 3 slate tables I bought for our Eastern apartment, but didn’t show why I got them.

The tables are to remind my husband of our home here, they match this floor in our entry way.

I laid this tile myself. I don’t know how to use a wet saw (and am afraid of those anyway, I nicked a knuckle on a power saw once and still get the heebie jeebies thinking that I could have lost my right hand!)

Since I couldn’t cut the pieces, I made a mosaic with small stones and 4" tiles throughout the 12" tiles. It really was pretty easy to do, except for the kink in my back from crouching on the floor so long.

I also did some of the trim in this area- it is barn wood we tore out of our 100 year old barn that couldn’t be saved. (That is how I caught my knuckle on the power saw. ) I sure prefer less dangerous projects like painting, or gluing wallpaper!

Twinkle just can’t understand why she shouldn’t be in every photo, so I just humor her.

This snowman tree is from Paula Kay’s home. She was a door prize winner at our last party and sent me a photo of the tree she created this year.

I am really looking forward to our party tomorrow. If you’d like to take a peek at the last one we had, it is here: http://karlascottage.typepad.com/karlascottage/2007/09/what-do-you-lov.html

Here is a photo of something my neice loves about her holiday home- Baby, her cat peeking out of the tree. Twinkle just wishes she could do that with ours.

Hope to see you all Wednesday!

Macho Decor and close quarters

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, family, give away, Hand Painted Furniture, hand painted signs, holiday decor, Moving to DC, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 9, 2007

We are home from our relocation trip. I didn’t see much of DC at all, we were in the burbs the whole time apartment and furniture shopping.

At first, I thought it looked like Anytown, USA with all the chain restaurants, apartment buildings and strip malls, but then realized, that the East is very different.

Burbs in Kansas City or St Louis SPRAWL. Outside of DC, they build UP not OUT. The buildings are high and all the people stack up and squeeze in.

I got a bit homesick for the spaciousness of Kansas, but will learn to live with the high paced, jammed in life style there.

We got a bit homesick for the fairy grand baby too, and went immediately to pick her up when we got back from the airport to take her out to lunch. Of course, we’d been out to eat for every meal since Thursday, but there was no food in the house and it is always a good excuse to go pick up Sugarwings and her family and take them out to eat.

We find ourselves coming up with so many of those little bribes, I mean excuses, to see her.

OK, this doesn’t look like my style, but I took my husband into consideration while furnishing the new place. At first we were going to go with rental stuff. then used, but decided to buy some decent pieces for his place because it is going to have to be his home away from home for a long time.

I got a slate top dining table and matching living room tables for the apartment. All the colors are earthy and the look is slightly rustic. No girly roses at the East Coast Bachelor pad.

I shopped like a woman possessed trying to find the cheapest, yet still stylish things I could find in just a day. It will all be delivered on Jan. 2nd when we go back to get settled in.

Do you have any idea what kind of pain it caused me to buy brand new things from a furniture store and have it delivered???? I just don’t do that. I buy the things no one wants and fix them up.

I know that I could have gotten a sofa table for $3- $20 at a garage sale in Kansas instead of $159 there. Really painful.

But here were my concerns:

no time
no truck
no tools

Of course, also my husband wants it all simple and easy to care for and doesn’t give a durn about Pretty.

He doesn’t notice stuff like in this photo of our Kansas living room, a cabinet from a junk shop ($35) repainted and set on top of a small table from a garage sale ($15) that was painted to match.

Or the mirror from the dumpster above it. Or the free lamp given to me by Beth. I foofed its lampshade and painted it, then set it next to some old chippy paint finials that are serving as candle holders ($5).

So- I know how cheaply I can find things and what can be done.

I am still in pain from going to a furniture store and decking out most of the apartment in one swoop.

Oh well, it will work out. It is stuff he likes and will make him comfy there.

Now on to something more interesting. Joy and Roses!!

I’ve decided what to send the winner of my November drawing, Joy. I know I am a bit late, but with the trip and the open house, she was very understanding about it.

I am also behind on Etsy shipping, but will get all of it caught up and in the mail tomorrow. Thanks so much to everyone who shopped there and thanks also for your patience.

I am sending Joy a JOY sign. It is made from the end of a magazine rack that came from the same dumpster that mirror in the earlier photo did.

She seems to be a person who enjoys salvage and sees the possibilities in a discarded piece herself and I thought she might like this hand painted wreath on something rescued. If you’ve read her blog, you know she has a great eye for redoing things herself.

Don’t forget that we will have more gifts during the What do you LOVE about your Holiday Home? party on Wed. the 12th and that all comments are entered into the giveaway for December too. I love to try to match the gift to the winner instead of just naming something that will be given away at the end of the month. Joy will also receive a little pack of ephemera and doodads for projects.

I had sent Natasha some vintage and hand painted ornaments as well as a Noel banner made up of vintage papers for our trade in the Deck the Halls Swap hosted by Monica. I love the way Natasha has displayed the ornaments on a springlike vine to complement the Australian weather at Christmas.

But wait till you see what she sent to me!!

And to Sugarwings too. Of course, Twinkle thinks everything that the baby gets is half hers.

There is a possibility that Twinks will be wearing this cute little crown that is meant to hang on the tree as a gift to the fairy baby. Either one of them would be adorable wearing it!

And look what else she got- a Santa on a Kangaroo! She thought it was hilarious. That kid has a sense of humor that makes her have deep belly laughs when she sees something funny, and this little santa really struck her funny bone.

She was also given a book about Santa’s summer Christmas, so much fun to read to her and tell her about Christmas in other parts of the world.

Natasha had everything wrapped up so sweetly. And yes, I saved every pink rosebud!

She made a wonderful wooden banner with a matching snowman in glitter, the pink rose bud "cookie", and the 3 little glitter framed wallpaper pictures to go on to the tree.

And she sent Tim Tams. Which we discovered are the world’s best cookie. And I cant find any more around here, I was hoping World Market wold carry them.

And thats not all. A blown glass angel ornament that I immediately hung on my white and gold tree.

Thanks, Natasha! and Thanks to Monica for hosting. What a fun swap. I made out like a bandit on this one. But I do say that bloggers are the most generous people around and if you get a chance to swap with one- DO IT!!

Little Miss Maddy Cat came by to have her Christmas photos taken at my house to use the painted bench as a back drop. I had some trouble with the red eye on this one, but as cute as she is, it didn’t matter.

She and Sugarwings are starting to interact now that Miss Maddy Cat is getting bigger. Sugarwings leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek and it looks like they are about ready to plan a cousins play date together.

Wow, I’ve ran on long enough. I’d better go and mail those packages. Thanks again to all of the shoppers who went to my Etsy Shop and to Natasha!

Oh, Fudge!

Macho Decor and close quarters