parties – Page 6 – Karla's Cottage

Craft-a-thon

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), how to's, how-to projects, parties, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2010

Thank you for all the puppy names you suggested! There were some GREAT ones, and it was hard to chose. But one theme stood out and I went with it. I know I said I'd announce winners today, but I don't have photos ready yet, so it will have to wait.

But this photo is a hint.

Also, thanks for all your well wishes for Twinkle's health. She is not happy about being taken from her pups, but the Dr. says no more nursing. The babies are old enough to eat puppy food, but I do have to get up during the night to give them fresh food, they need to be fed every few hours.

The only good thing that came of the terrifying 45 minute trip to the vet's office, while Twinkle was near death, was that we decided to keep a puppy. It was just too frightening to think about breeding her again someday, so we thought we should have one of her babies live with us forever.

Each of us have our favorite. So, I'm not sure which one yet. Sugarwings' vote is for Dorothy, but I have a feeling that she can be swayed. There are two that I don't think I could live without…. But we already have three dogs, we don't need 5. And that really would just be heading towards the sheriff knocking on the door wearing a gas mask to deal with the stench, and telling me that the county is confiscating my 50 animals that have taken over the home and made it smell so bad that neighbors have complained. (Or so my husband thinks.)

This tiny girl is one of my choices. The other is the spotted guy. He is just too perfect to let go. We all have a soft spot for him.

When I came across this dress in the studio, Suzanne and I were giggling like kids and having such fun playing dress up with the pup and taking her photos. Both of us were just howling with laughter. Which describes quite a bit of our Creative Cottage Girls Weekend. It was a joy to have Suzanne stay here with me, she is an excellent house guest, we never ran out of conversation.

I'd made up scrap packets for everyone, then sat out lots of other supplies on one of the dining room tables in the front of my studio. Beth generously brought boxes of fun stuff from her stash too.

First, we all covered bird houses in vintage papers. This one is mine, but I think its not quite done yet. Don't you think that Charlotte needs fairy wings?

In February '08, I did a tutorial on blinging out a birdhouse. If you'd like to read it, and try one, I've added it to the list of free tutorials on my side bar. Just click on the "tutorial" flower button to the right and it will take you there.

Before everyone came, I warned them that I don't craft in a sassy sundress, and that the weekend was just casual and relaxing, we were all there to chat while we made things and just hang out. No classes or group things, everyone was on their own to rifle through supplies and come up with their own creations.

It seems like every time I see an arty gathering on other blogs, everyone looks like they are going to a wedding instead of a craft-a-thon. And the tables look too pretty to work at. Not here, these tables looked like work stations. And I think it was successful because we were all still cutting and gluing and talking long after dinner was over.

There is so much crap good stuff in my studio, that I told everyone not to bring anything, I'd supply it all.

But my pal Angie brought jewels and Beth brought lots of old pictures and papers. I was glad, because its so much more inspiring to play with other people's supplies and I had a good time going through what they brought.

We ended up making not only birdhouses, but tags, and cabinet card note books. Beth had a big box full of the old cabinet cards and showed us how she takes out the photo, adds watercolor paper, then sews it up into a book and embellishes it.

This one is Debbie's.

And this one is Suzanne's.

Of course, a big part of the day was playing with the little guys.

The weather was beautiful, we worked with the doors open all day, and were able to have dinner outside. Debbie brought Pearl, who seemed to enjoy wandering in and out, but she wasn't so sure about the pups.

Pearl liked to keep her distance as much as possible. But she warmed up to me and I think we might be friends now.

After all the running around, the babies were plain old worn out!

I have more pictures of our lunch at Carol's amazing farmhouse, (I felt like I was stepping into the pages of a magazine at her 1860s dreamhouse!!) and shopping at the Curious Sofa. But for now, I need to go and watch the last episode of Lost before I accidentally hear any details from someone. I didn't have a chance to see it last night, but its taped and waiting for me. I hear it calling out to me and can't resist another minute.

ps- Hi, Wanda!! It was nice to meet you!!

Twinkle’s shameful secret???

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / April 14, 2010

Aren't they sweet? Yorkies are always born black with tan, like an itty bitty Doberman. You don't know until they shed their puppy hair and their adult coat grows in if they will be silver or black. Those are the only accepted colors for this breed. Sometimes as babies, they have a little white patch on their chest, but it turns tan or blond as they get older. There is not supposed to be any white on a full grown Yorky.

So, imagine our surprise when we saw this! My first thought was, "Twinkle, you dirty girl, what have you been doing? Sneaking out the windows at night after your family is asleep???"

This pup does NOT look like a Yorkshire Terrier at all! I've heard that a litter of pups can have different fathers for each baby, but she was not unsupervised at all, and Teddy is her only man.

After checking with Teddy's family to be sure they didn't have a beagle or some other spotted male hanging around, I surfed the web and read about Parti Colored Yorkies. These colored dogs are controversial and not very common. Looks like some people are purposely breeding them as designer dogs, but I don't think they are recognized by the AKC even though they are full blooded Yorkshire Terriers, they don't meed the breed standards.

They can turn up in a litter if both parents have the recessive gene for this abnormal color.

Here is a picture I snagged from one of the Parti-colored dog breeder's sites. I think they are just cute as a bug, and am excited to have one of these little "special" guys!

Yorkies have the funniest, goofiest, sweetest personalities. And there is something about the way they look at me with that silly expression on their face when they want to tell me something, that first made me tell one of our dogs that she was acting like a dork. Since then, I've always called them Dorkies.

I raise well loved, socialized, cuddled and nurtured babies. They aren't show dogs, they are pet quality dogs, and I do my best to give them a head start on being a wonderful pet. Lots of attention, lots of varied experiences. They play outside, they play with kids, they play with cats, they spend every day with me in the studio while I work, and are about as social and ready to face the world as any pup can be.

(Another pic from that breeder's site)

So, I don't mind that our parti boy isn't to breed standards on color. I don't expect any of my dogs to win any trophies. But I do expect them to adore their new owners and be great companions.

I have a feeling that this parti boy will get tons of extra attention and cuddles and be an even better dog than most of my babies. And I sure hope Twinkle forgives me for calling her a dirty girl.

Plus, we LOVE parties around here. So a parti pup is right up my ally. And we don't mind showing some individuality. He'll fit right in here at the Cottage!!

Our Cupcake and Tea Party was a blast yesterday. As soon as the pups are big enough for company, I'm going to throw another one, and make sure all the puppies get held and played with by the kids.

Sugarwings had a good time at the party. Since we were in the studio, she slipped over to her art table and did a little painting before coming to the table to create her cupcake. Funny, she worked so hard on making it beautiful, she didn't care a bit about eating it. A true artist!!

I'll have more party pictures and more puppy ones too, later on. For now, I need to go see who was voted off on Idol. That show is getting better, I'm glad I didn't give up on it earlier in the season.

Before I run, I wanted to let you know that Peat Pot Pretty C
harlotte Fairy kits are available in the Boutique now. As well as a new shipment of Charlottes!

I could use some friends… be my friend and have a chance to win a prize!

holiday decor, housework, parties

By Karla Nathan / March 27, 2010

Have you seen this post of Amy's?

She posted it a couple years ago, and it was so good, I'm glad she recycled it. It gave me an idea for a craft night project that was simple and fast and really cute. I had friends coming over to hang out in the studio and thought I'd offer supplies and a project for anyone who wanted them.

I glued vintage paper on plastic eggs, and my little buddy, Adeline Grace, a friend's daughter, made these. No one else was in a crafting mood. Addie was prolific, and got more and more creative as the night went on. I asked her if I could be her Grandmother, we seemed to have a lot in common.

It was nice of my friends to indulge me and let me make things while we talked, sipped wine and ate treats. And good to catch up too. I've had the most AWFUL week, just a lot of drama going on behind the scenes that you don't want to hear about. An evening to catch up with friends was just what I needed.

And it spurred me to clean up my studio, which I also needed to get done.

Do you ever find yourself starting a project as part of a clean up? I'd got this shelf at a junk store for $3 and wanted to make it over. While I had the spray primer out, I thought I might as well paint this statue too. Someone had added some garish colors to it at one point (so I got it for half price at an antique mall).

Using the steps in my side bar on how to paint furniture (listed under tutorials), I sprayed primer, glazed and top coated them. If you don't count drying time, I'd say that it all took less than 20 minutes to do.

When I first saw the shelf, I knew it would be a great space saver on my desk. It allows me to have more supplies within reach, since I now have two levels.

The desktop is not quite done, I'll rearrange things a bit better when I have more time. I was more concerned about clearing the table tops off for my guests to have a spot to work at.

The big work tables really aren't very attractive and the plan was just to use two smaller tables, then bring in the folding tables when I had company and needed more space. But it has become a habit just to leave all the tables up and keep them covered in clutter. I might rethink that plan after my next two craft days coming up this week.

When there is that much flat, open space, its hard to contain myself. If there is a spot empty, I fill it.

It would be easier to plan craft days if I had the tables stored in the garage and could set them up just when needed. Which is the opposite of what I had been thinking before, that I should just leave them up so they would be ready for guests. Nope, if I leave them up, I have to spend a couple hours unloading them before guests show up!

During clean up, I took a break to blog browse and saw that my friend, Mary, had added Google Friend Connect to her blog. Now, for some reason, I thought those were only on Blogger, not Typepad, so I never added one.

She also is having a bribe gift to readers who sign up. Well, I'm not shy about bribes, so I'll offer one too!

If you sign up to be my Google Buddy, I'll enter you in a drawing to win one of these Peat Pot Pretties with vintage millinery.

Like I said, I've had a VERY rough week. I could use all the friends I can get. Thanks!

The Tiniest Dancers

antiques/junking, celebrations, fairies, family, parties, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 23, 2010

When I found these teeny little ballerinas, I was just charmed by them. At barely an inch, they are just as dainty and sweet as can be. I didn't get many of them, just a few to add to the shop along with some of their big sisses, and a few for me to use too.

It was a girly day for the Boutique. I added fairies, ballerinas, Charlottes and Alices.

Don't you just love the badly painted faces of the OLD cake topper ballerinas? So ugly they are cute.

This shipment of Charlottes is of all eensy weensy little girls. Each is every bit as dainty as that tiny ballerina, at about 1 inch long.

I scrubbed at a couple to see if the dirt comes off, and most of it will. But I am leaving it on, in case the new owner likes "patina" as much as I do.

They are just so tiny and sweet.

Kind of like these two, the sweetest little dancers ever.

We had a little tea party so Pixie Pie and Sugarwings could open the gifts that were sent to them by Debra Ganas. They loved them!! Thanks, Debra!!

Sugarwings loves her cuddly dog. But I made a mistake in my Swap Book notes and only wrote down that there was a gift for Sugarwings next to the giver's name, not what it was, because it wasn't open at the time. So, I won't know what is from who!

How rude of me. I'm sorry.

She has a couple more to open, and tomorrow is my Sugarwings Day, so she and I will spend some time enjoying the thoughtfulness of the givers.

You know that feeling after a holiday, or big event when all of a sudden, its over and you wonder what you are going to do with your time? That is kind of how I am feeling right now, I miss the Alice Tag Book Swap!

So, today I made up a book of my own tags, plus a few kits if anyone would like to make a book.

Peat Pot Pretties with Fairies

fairies, magazine pictures or articles, parties, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / March 6, 2010

Not all of the Charlottes went into my Boutique for sale, I kept a bowlful for myself. And I do have more on order, but have not been able to find them as dirt cheap as I did last time. I found a decent price and will still be able to sell them to you at a price you will like, but probably not one so cheap that I sell over 100 of them in a matter of hours…

I'll let you know as soon as they arrive, and will probably sell them in sets, since everyone bought more than one. (Its easier for calculating postage that way.)

They certainly are a fun little supply to have in the studio. I have plenty of plans for Charlotting up some projects. For now, I am making Fairy Pots. To each, I am adding a flag with the name of a guest for my Baby Shower Tea Party Craft Day on Tuesday. I will set a potted fairy in front of each plate as a place card.

Each little fairy girl has been dressed in vintage millinery flower petals to make a skirt. I've added hand made, sheet music wings and "planted" her into a little peat pot. No two are alike, but I've stayed with a white, rusty brown, and cream palette. A couple have some faded pink, like this one.

The little pots are collaged in pages from old books. Lisa sent me some fairy pages that were just perfect, and I've added some other elderly text too. I've sugared and inked the pots after gluing on the paper.

When I decoupage, I never use Mod Podge. That stuff just isn't good in the Midwest, seems like in July, anything that it has been used on feels sticky. For this, I used Elmer's.

Then, I've topped off the pot with curly moss and bunches of flowers plucked from my old hats.

These pots will be part of the photo shoot I am doing on Monday with my buddy, Carol. Then, I'm doing double duty by having a party the next day and just keeping the table set overnight, which works out perfectly since we don't have little Sugarwings on Monday night. If we did, there is no way I could pull off having a table set for a tea party and not letting her in on it! She'd be insulted.

After Tuesday, these peat pot pretties will be for sale. If you'd like me to reserve one for you ($25 plus shipping) please let me know. I can write whatever name you would like on the flag. Or maybe just "Spring" or "Fairies", or "Welcome"?

When I get started on something its hard to stop, so there are about a dozen of these. Plus, this was my last arty project that I needed for the photo shoot, and I knew that when I was done with these, it would be time to clean the house. It was much more fun to play with Sweet Charlottes than to tackle cobwebs and wax floors.

Ugh. I'm off to clean. Sugarwings is here to help me, we pretend to be Snow White cleaning up after those 7 messy little dwarfs. That helps a bit. Although it is a bit disturbing when she keeps repeating, "Dirty, dirty, dwarf." Somethings not quite right about that.

Lighting

Chandeliers, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), paintings, parties, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / January 17, 2010

Remember the rugs I want from Curious Sofa? I am still jone-sing for those, but right now, they aren't available in the size I need for the kitchen. My house is big, but my rooms are small, in the old part of the house. And this is AFTER removing some walls!

I found these plain bamboo mats at Old Time Pottery for under $25 each. They are far, far, far from the quality of the ones at Curious Sofa. Those have wider, more solid planks of bamboo, more floor like than this. These are pretty light weight, and are a temporary solution for me.

To foof them up a bit, I drew on them with a brown Sharpie marker. It was an easy, quick project to do, I just sat on the floor and doodled away while Sugarwings and Twinkle played with toys next to me.

The reason I love the bamboo rugs for my kitchen to start with, is that they are low maintenance. If something spills, or mud gets tracked in, just sweep and mop them, and its a speedy clean up. But, I don't have to worry about as much filth showing (and with 3 dogs, a 3 year old, and a lot of grown men in living in this country house, there is plenty of filth!) because they are darker than the horrid light colored tiles we have.

By the way, if you are ever tempted to install cream colored flooring, just whack yourself over the head with one of the tiles instead. DO NOT give in to impulse!! I regret it daily. No matter how clean my house is, those floors always look bad.

(please don't tell Twinkle that the photo is of the rug, not of her, it would break her heart.)

I'm wishing we'd gone for darker tile, or even a really dark stained pine plank…

Soft lighting helps, though! Last night we had a dinner party, and I made use of all my lamps.

The overhead lights got turned off and I switched on all the smaller lamps and lit candles instead. (this rug still needs some Sharpie doodling) There is something about the soft glow coming from the corners of the room that makes me fall in love with my home all over again.

When we built the cabinets, I had electrical outlets added above them. There is one in the corner cabinet too. In that one, I drilled holes to run an extension cord up through, so I could have a little 25 watt lamp on each shelf.

And of course, you can't beat candle light either. I use this old chandelier with no wiring ($4 at a flea market) and the sockets perfectly fit tea lights. Previously, I used candelabras, till I realized that they are always in the way and block the view of the person across the table.

Tea lights don't drip, and burn for just over 2 hours or so, just right for a relaxed dinner with friends.

The snow still has not melted around here, and I have decided to give up on waiting. So I trudged through it to claim these garden chairs I wanted for the breakfast nook. Much better! The hand painted Victorian chairs are now in the studio, and I think this corner is much less sweet. I loved the chairs, and I loved the curtains, but when I got those great new lace panels, I realized that I needed some juxtaposition, or my house would look like a little old lady lived in it.

Well, I might be getting old, but I hope to not let my house reflect it… Some contrast, and some junk help keep a home whimsical and not fussy.

The Snow Princess

Books, celebrations, Chandeliers, fairies, family, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / January 10, 2010

Things are still icy around here and I am still too big of a wimp to go outside. If it is below 10 degrees, I just don't think a 3 year old needs to be in and out of the car, and even though I am feeling better and over my bug, I didn't want to be in and out of the car either.

So we decided to make the most of a snow day, and have a Snow Princess Tea Party. We got all dressed up for it.

Well, kind of. One of us did at least. I'm wearing my husband's long johns, two sweaters, hair that hasn't seen a fixin in days, and a black lace "wicked witch" jacket.

The idea came about when we were out in the studio and I realized that cabin fever was really getting to both of us, if I was letting a baby play with power tools. So, I started to make up a story about snow and princesses and fairies, and it turned into a 3 hour adventure for us both.

(Notice the new chandelier? It was out in the studio, I used it for lighting for above my jewelry display at shows, now it is staying in the kitchen. My son and I hung it last night- More Zero Dollar Decorating!!)

We scoured the studio for props, and made up the story as we went along. I covered Sugarwing's little table in layers of white and slipped pillow cases over our chairs.

After creating a snow princess crown, she decided that I should wear it instead of her. Sadly, she isn't a hat person. But that is okay, she usually indulges me in so many other ways, that I can forgive her for not playing with all of my vintage hats with me.

And what do you serve a snow princess? All white foods. Snow ball candy (yogurt raisins) were the hit of the day.

Here is the story:

Once upon a time there was a golden haired, happy little princess who loved to dance and sing in the sunshine. Every where the sweet girl went, flowers bloomed and birds sang with joy, just to be near her. Butterflies and fairies flit about above her just because she was so fun to be near. And her warm, kind heart always drew them to her.

One day, a nasty gnome who liked to spend his days in darkness and gloom heard the boisterous laughter of the happy little princess and all of her flying friends. This nasty gnome hated happiness and his ears ached from the sound of glee that was coming from the friends dancing and singing in the blooming garden.

He crept closer and peeped through the hedgerow to see where this hideous laughter was coming from. And he saw the pretty princess twirling and leaping in the flower beds. The sight of such playfulness brought pain to his eyes to match the pain in his ears. He couldn't take seeing and hearing anything as beautiful as this little girl. To him, it was not beauty at all- it was torture! He had to stop it.

So, he pulled out his crooked, magic wand and waved it through the air, then pointed it right at the happy little princess and cursed her with a spell to put a stop to all the singing.

The sweet princess suddenly felt a chill. She looked to the flowering ground beneath her silk clad toes and saw the flowers wilt and frost form over them. Quickly, the pond that was filled with long necked swans started to turn to icy slush, then freeze into a solid sheet of ice. As the princess looked up, a fat flake of snow fell right onto her once rosy, now pale cheek. She smiled at his sparkling crystal beauty, even as she felt herself growing cold.

All around her, the birds, and fairies, and butterflies flapped their wings trying to warm themselves as their world became covered in ice and snow and the sun was buried behind a gray cloud of doom.

As the nasty gnome still peaked through the ice-crusted hedges, he almost smiled. But he couldn't because he had a heart colder than any block of ice. But his ears no longer ached from the sounds of song and his eyes were no longer in pain from the sight of joyous dancing.

Because, the pretty little princess who loved playing in the sunlight, slowly turned into a snow princess. Her golden hair became as white as a blizzard and she was as frozen as the ice on the pond.But as she became a statue of snow, her face froze in an expression of wonder and delight as she saw the sparkling snow flakes fall.

He trudged away, feeling satisfied with his spell, knowing that her friends would fly away to someplace warmer, leaving the princess cold and alone like he had been his entire life of 568 years.

But as he left, he looked over his shoulder, expecting to see a flight of fairies, butterflies, and birdies deserting their princess. Instead, he saw something different! All the creatures fluttered around her, staying close to bring her what little warmth they could. The littlest fairy gathered herbs to make tea to warm her, as the swans plucked their down feathers to cover her frozen limbs.

Because the sweet princess had such a loving and kind soul, no one would leave her. Even though they were so cold and had wings to fly away from the frozen garden back to sunshine, they stayed with their snow princess. They would not stray from her side no matter how cold and miserable they were!

Maybe it was the tea that started to warm her. Or the fluffy swan's down? But she knew that it was the love her friends showed her that warmed her heart and melted the ice that held her captive. All the love and caring freed the happy little princess and broke the evil spell the nasty gnome had cast.

He saw the sun coming back out through the clouds and the flowers shaking off their frost and reopening their petals. He heard singing, even more loud and joyous than what he had heard before! This time, he ran as fast as his stubby, gnarly legs would take him, far, far away from the horrid sounds. He ran straight to a cave deep inside of a hill where he could hide forever in the darkness and gloom where he belonged.

A rainbow appeared in the sky as the ice storm cleared and the snow princess thawed. She felt the sun on her skin, wiggled her toes in the soft dirt of the garden and grinned the biggest, happiest grin she'd ever grinned before. But from that day on, her hair stayed white as a blizzard and was never the color of sunshine again.

When she saw her reflection in the pond, she was reminded of the nasty gnome and his evil spell. But she was never frightened when she remembered that day. To her the white hair was the color of the downy swan feathers that her loved ones tried to warm her with. Her memories of that cold, cold day were of the love and caring that she shared with her friends.

Whisked away

Books, fairies, family, give away, paintings, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 17, 2009

My Handsome Husband whisked me away to Chicago for the night to see our favorite musician, Lucinda Williams in concert!

Typically, I'm not a concert goer. Too bad, my husband loves them, and would really appreciate it if I'd go with him to more shows. But Lucinda is such a favorite of ours, and the setting was a more intimate club, not a big convention center or stadium. We had great seats, and she is so real and down to earth, I'd go to a lot more concerts if they were as nice as this. Not too loud, not too crowded, just right. Geez, do I sound like an old fuddy duddy? But, I've always been like this even in high school. I'm just not a concert person.

Even though the hall was all black and set up with typical stage lighting and paraphenelia, I had this pretty view above our table. The building used to be an old theater and they were smart enough to save the intricate plaster work on the ceiling when they remodeled it.

Before the concert, we went out to dinner at Art Smith's cozy little restaurant, Table 52. I'd seen him on Top Chef Masters, and if you've ever read my blog, you know what a tv junkie I am, so I was excited to go to a place I'd heard of on one of my regular programs. I was as excited as Sugarwings would have been if she'd gone to Arial's grotto for dinner.

And not only was it a lovely place to eat, the food was amazing. And I do like good food.

The next day, I flew home just in time to make it over to my friend, Angie's house to be a part of a surprise party for her. She had NO idea that we were all in her home waiting for her, it was so cute to see her reaction and to see all the love and caring that her family put into the planning.

See the painting behind us? She
got it at an estate sale, and took it to Antiques Roadshow. She was
told it is worth $8,000, not bad for a $30 estate sale piece, huh?

Why do I show bad photos of myself? Yes, I was pretty tired, (and look it, too) after two days of travel and being stuck in Chicago traffic, and waiting at the airport for hours on standby, trying to get back a bit early so I could be home for the surprise.

But honestly, NO ONE would look good next to Angie, she is such a beauty.

I guess you could say she is the fairest of them all.

Tonight, Sugarwings and I are having a girl's night. Its just the two of us and we are going to spend it watching Snow White and making caramel apples. She loves to act out her favorite parts of movies, so I bought her this gown to wear and I am prepared to be the wicked witch. I am always assigned the scary parts, the wicked witch, a flying monkey, or the big, bad wolf.

In the meantime, I have a few hours before she gets here for our Snow White Festival and will start assembling the Grumpy Fairy books. I'm extremely happy with the paper quality, and color. But am not so happy with the mountain of work ahead of me, binding them all myself.

Especially since I decided to hand glitter highlights on the pages. Stickles is a wonder product, and the sparkles won't rub or flake off like gluing down regular glitter, so I think this is the answer to getting Sugarwing's wings to look sugary and not having glitter all over the reader's hands.

I'll let you know if I ever get any ready to sell… I hope to have them in the Boutique in time for holiday shopping, and also have some to take to Silver Bella. But I will for sure have one ready to give away for the October Giveaway.

All comments all month count for the prize. (I do appreciate your comments!)

Painting roses and a balloon hunt

celebrations, Food and Drink, parties, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 17, 2009

Thanks for all the happy birthday wishes for Sugarwings! I think she had a fun day, at least I know that I did!!

She and her daddy picked us up at the airport, and that was the best homecoming ever, to see her face light up as she ran to us. Well worth getting up at 4 am to fly home to spend the day with her.

When we got back to the cottage, she and I baked some cakes. I used a regular brownie mix, but added a can of pears in light syrup (whirred in the blender) and a cup of applesauce, and 2 eggs, no fat or water. She got to push all the buttons and do all the mixing herself, so she didn't care if I was trying to healthy it up a bit.

We also "painted" roses. We used some clear corn syrup and food coloring, then she got to dip away, and add colored sugar sprinkles to each one.

These are the white icing roses that I saw Andrea show on her site, and had her take me to find some for myself when we were out shopping one day, the are really pretty and I just love using them!

.
When her little cousin, Pixie Pie came by to help decorate, they got pretty serious with getting the cakes just right.

But it is hard to stay serious when there are sprinkles to shake! Most photos are a blur of hands whirring through the air and sprinkles flying everywhere.

And so much for adding healthier ingredients to the cake itself, the tops were so goobered up with colored sugars, three kinds of sprinkles, marshmallows, squeeze tube icing, and painted roses that you could explode in a burst of sugary happiness just looking at them!

Sugarwings took her cousin on a walk along the Yellow Brick Road, but most kids her age aren't as informed obsessed about Oz as our fairy baby, so Pixie Pie wasn't too impressed with that after all the icing fun.

She did enjoy the Fairy Berry Trail, though. There was a butterfly balloon for each of them tied to branches out in the woods.

But first, they had to search for them.

The balloons were from the Dollar Store and I don't think there could be a better bang for the buck than the joy we got for $2 out on the Fairy Berry Trail with these balloons.

It was certainly a fun way for me to spend my fairy grand baby's birthday. I can't imagine a better party. Not big, not flashy, just some simple sugary pleasures and a walk in the woods. I think I want to spend my next birthday on the Fairy Berry Trail too….

A fine feathered mess and some mosaic madness

antiques/junking, family, Food and Drink, give away, parties, Sugarwings, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / July 11, 2009

Sugarwing's Princess bed is coming along… but there have been a few hold ups. Its painted and pretty, that part was easy. But- a regular crib mattress wouldn't quite fit, so I am custom making one. Now, I might have mentioned that I hate to sew- but I seem to get stuck doing it a lot. Well, as long as it is a straight stitch and there are no zippers or buttons involved, I can do it. But I complain a lot!

Add in two bags of feathers and 3 bags of poly-fill fluff, and I have to tell you, it does become any more fun. I am sewing a giant, fluffy pillow for her out of waterproof, flannel backed fabric and trying to get more feathers in it than on the floor. (I bought two down filled pillows on clearance for $7.99 at Tuesday Morning and am using that for part of the stuffing. The pillow cases that came on them are going to be cut up into ribbons, they are silk!)

After that, I'll need to custom make the sheets! I think I'll go with giant size pillow cases.

Oh, but she is worth it!

Before our trip to the zoo, we threw a fairy tea party for Sugarwing's little cousin, Pixie Pie, who just turned two this week.

Then, all the grandparents took the cousins to the zoo. Because the heat was so bad and there had been storms earlier in the day, the place was deserted, like a private playground for these little fairy babies.

I don't know why this was set up at the zoo, but we came around a corner and there sat a jump house. Like I said, the park was our own private play ground, so we wriggled in under the flaps and jumped away. Mostly we just fell down and laughed till our sides hurt.

There is nothing more fun than being a grandma.

Well, garage sailing is pretty fun too.

I had sugarwings till almost noon today, so could only get to a couple sales. But I found some goods, and at one estate sale, I had a long conversation with the family after seeing a billion old patterns. Now, I am not a pattern person myself, but I love old trims. I figured if there were patterns, there were sewing supplies, and they said yes there was. They just didn't think anyone would want them! They said they would give me a call and get a box to me.

For the July Garage Sale Giveaway Prize Pack, I found a little bit, not much. A doily, a bag of buttons, and a pretty button card. I also bought a bunch of ribbon roses, not new, but still nice to use. I tied up a bouquet of them to add to the giveaway. All comments, all month are entered, and I will add more to the package each week.

See, these ribbon roses aren't the same as the vintage millinery that I love so much, but they aren't bad at all. I'm just a bit spoiled by finding old ones so often.

There was a big bag of buttons at a small sale that didn't even look like it was worth stopping at. But since I hadn't been to many at all and it was late in the day, I wasn't being picky, and I stopped anyway. I was glad I did, not because I particularly need more buttons, but because they are always nice to find anyway.

I listed this bunch in the Boutique. There are some sweet ones in the group.

These miniature farm animals too. Aren't they cute? I kept part of the set, some little wooden houses. I want to paint them up and glitter them to use in Christmas decor. I think they are pretty old from the looks of the other things at that sale, but can't say for sure. The person selling them said they were her Mom's and she played with them as a kid.

OK, gotta go. stupid Typepad keeps locking up my screen! Plus, I can't ignore that giant pillowcase waiting to be made so that Sugarwings will have a new Princess bed waiting for her. (I found floral king sized sheets for 15 cents each today too, and am using those to make the sheets for the new bed).