I hope you are having a lovely holiday!
Full of hugs…
Special moments…
New traditions…
Special treats…
Silly times and laughter…
And love.
Merry Christmas from all of us, here at the cottage!
"Merry" used to be my favorite word this time of year.
But now, I kind of like "JOY."
It is this silly elf's middle name and that has made it my favorite seasonal word.
Plus, we could all use all the joy we can get.
I hadn't planned on Sugarwings being here for book club, but her daddy had a chance to go camping with his buddies. (Even though it was going to be EIGHTEEN DEGREES THAT NIGHT!!!!!!)
So, I picked her up after school, and we ran some errands, then came home to foof up the house for the party. She was glad to help, but I was worried about her being on her own all evening while I entertained.
She had no problem with it and was excited to dress up like an elf to greet the guests (she is all about the costume, no matter what the occasion is)
I set up a table of crafts in my bedroom in front of a TV full of holiday shows to watch on the DVR. First of all, she never gets to craft in the bedroom in front of the TV, and take food in there too. Double forbidden fun.
Of course, there was some hot cocoa spilled on the chair, but hey, why use slip covers if you don't plan on pulling them off to wash them?
I guess these photos are pretty similar to the previous post, showing the dining room all set up for a party. But since this is an evening gathering and that was a luncheon, maybe they are different enough to show?
I love to use lots of twinkly lights when I have a party. The ones on the table are wrapped on gold branches and are battery operated. (bought on clearance after Christmas last year, 75% off)
I've added lots of layers of table clothes, and some lights under the table too. This time, I have vintage curtains as a table skirt and the string of lights show more. Usually, I have a regular table cloth draped to the floor, and get a softer glow. But this look is kind of fun too.
I chose the wine for the pretty labels. And it was good, too, and very affordable. It's nice to find a tasty wine under ten bucks.
I kept the food simple, like brie sprinkled with rosemary and wrapped in puff pastry, with a side of fig jelly and crackers. That is one of the easiest things to ever make, but sure looks special.
Another trick I have for elevating an ordinary dish is to, well, elevate the dish.
Here, I've set a compote of chicken salad on a plate, and set that on a cake plate, making three levels.
This compote full of dip makes this veggie tray more interesting than it would've been if I'd had it served on an actual tray. And lining the bowl with ruffly kale made it prettier too.
The three vases of flowers (left over from my last party) are also on different levels. I turned a bowl upside down to set one vase on to lift it up.
The cheesecake is a regular cheesecake, but I added a hand full of chopped pecans to the graham cracker crust, and then mixed in some of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Carmel Sauce into the batter. When it was done baking, I drizzled a little more on top.
One thing I should have done was to take some leaves out of the table, but I can't do it by myself and my husband was out of town. There is too much space between the dishes. since it was a small gathering, I didn't have a ton of food out, and it was spread out a bit too much to look its best. But that is just nit picking, huh? I doubt if my friends were gossiping about how much space I'd left between bowls…
For party favors, I made tiny, glittered books out of vintage papers. I'll have a mini how-to coming up soon if you want to make some yourself.
We have the sweetest, most forgiving, grand fairies. I let them down, big time, by forgetting an important item on our Holiday To Do List.
We have BIG plans for the holiday season this year. I want to do something special every week of December with them. (these gold flecked sugarplum dresses will be getting a workout for this month)
Between holiday crafts, gingerbread house building, and cocoa parties, we are also going to Breakfast with Santa at Lionsgate Country Club, to the Lawrence Community Theater's showing of Mary Poppins, and to see Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer at the Coterie Theater in Crown Center, plus the Festive of Trees, and some other fun outings.
One item on the list that I'm really looking forward to is following a map of holiday lights around town.
But, do to a major effing-up on my part, our schedule of fun events didn't get off to a smooth start. The girls and I talked all week about going to see Rudolf. Then the night before we planned to go, I discovered that my tickets were for that day,not the next.
Yep, missed it.
But see Dewdrop's sad face? That isn't about the play. She simply gets tired of too many hugs sometimes… and Sugarwings is a full on, heavy duty, non stop hugger.
Those girls were soooooooo sweet when I explained that I'd made a huge mistake on the date and we missed the show we were looking forward to. I didn't hear one single complaint, and no tears fell down cheeks. I was so pleased and proud to know how understanding and appreciative they are. We do a lot of fun activities together, but if I thought they were acting like spoiled brats over these outings, we sure wouldn't be doing them.
It is good to see that my grands are big hearted and that they felt bad for me because I was sad about mixing up the dates. Neither of them felt bad for themselves. (So of course, I felt even worse about my major mistake!)
So, we decided to find some fun out there some where and headed to Kansas City, even though we were not visiting with our favorite ruby nosed deer.
Those little fairy girls didn't care where we went, they were thrilled to wear their new gowns (from Ross Dress for Less for only $18 each) and hang with the old folks for the day. Especially hanging with ole Mr. Claus.
He is set up at Crown Center in Crayola''s Santaland, with lots of giant crayons to climb on.
And a little crayon house to twirl in.
We went out to lunch, walked around the mall, (where neither one even asked for a toy) and did crafts at the Crayola store. Then, later a movie. All in all, a fantastic day.
( this is the photo before doctoring on picmonkey, where I used bokah stars to lighten it, wrinkle remover to take out the background, eye tint to remove the last bit of fuscia from Sugarwings' hair, eye tint to soften the banner and the red lights, plus some snow.)
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm hoping that as you read this, my house is all decked and my turkey is roasting in the oven. But for now (I write these posts ahead of time) I can just day dream of juicy turkey and all the trimmings while thinking about what I'm thankful for. And hoping to get time to get the tree out and the 6 overflowing boxes of sparkling goodies piled onto it….
While the furniture is moved around to make space for the upcoming tree, we decided to take advantage of the space and have a dance party. I looped a strand of rope lights around the room, gathered up the grand fairies, and hit the button on what my husband thinks is the world's most annoying toy.
It's loud, it's obnoxious, and WE LOVE IT. That is, the girls and I. Not so much their grandfather. But he will dance with us. I bought it for half price and with a 30% coupon off that price at Kohls. And I think the ten bucks is a much better investment than the two year gym membership that I bought. This little machine is a big workout.
We are learning to dance, "North Pole Style." Here I am shovelling snow. We also get to chase snowflakes and catch them on our tongue, go ice fishing, jiggle like Santa's tummy, and plenty more cool dance moves.
(I bought these slinky,fuzzy jammies at the same 50% off, then 30% off sale at Kohls, and have been very popular with Dewdrop when I wear them. She thinks I am some sort of a human stuffed animal and won't stop petting me.)
I think she is pretty snuggly too.
Enjoy your turkey and your thanking. I know I have a lot of things to be thankful for.
And if you are in the mood to get ready for the holidays, I have some kits available (with more to come).
I'm calling these Tart Tin Tassels.
Both kits are available in the Boutique.
Along with these fairy kits from Birdsong. Wouldn't they make adorable Elves on Shelves???
I'm doing that with one of them this year.
I'm also planning to fill a silver tree with them.
Or if you'd prefer to buy something ready to go instead of making it, I've got one ornie listed in the Etsy shop and hope to get more up soon.
Also, I have seats left in my Romantic White Christmas workshop at the studio on Friday Dec. 5. Maybe I'll see you in Lawrence??
Around our house, princess frocks and fairy get ups are daily clothes. But the grand fairies still wanted to wear their pink ball gowns to some Halloween parties.
Our Hippy Chick and I both fancied up too. I was a white witch, she was a pixie.
My costume makes more sense with the hat, right?
We headed to the annual Ghost and Giggles party at Lions Gate Country Club.
Where Sugarwings was chosen from the audience to be Lulu the Clown's helper, and insisted that her baby sister come along.
It made my night to see her share the props for the magic trick. Since Dewdrop wasn't officially part of the show, there weren't enough glasses to go around.
It;s good to have a big sis to watch out for you and share.
We had a hay rack ride, games, a clown show, with balloon animals, and of course, great food. I always love the menus at Lions Gate.
It has been the most lovely fall. My flowers are blooming like crazy, tomatoes are still ripening on the vines, and we've had one party after another.
The city of Lawrence sponsored an Enchanted Forest at the nature center with woodland characters along a trail through the woods, and ponies to pet when your walk ended.
It was only $3 to attend and everything there was as cute as can be.
This was one of my favorite characters, a bald eagle in a giant nest, who had a bucket for kids throw stuffed fish into. There was also a Big Bad Wolf roaming the trails, challenging all the kids to a howling contest.
I think I might have won. Dewdrop and I both had a pretty good howl, though.
Afterwards, we had a little gathering to watch the Royals. I'm not a sports fan myself, but my husband sure is.
When I arrived in Florida for my sister trip, the shuttle driver who took me to my rental car asked where I'd flown in from. I told him, and he said, "Kansas City! That is HOT right now" I told, him, no, it was warmer in Florida. He spent the rest of the drive lecturing me on having some pride in my local team.
So, on the shuttle ride back to the airport at the end of my trip, when I ended up with the same shuttle driver and he asked where I was going, I went along with Kansas City being HOT and didn't bother to mention I hadn't noticed.
My husband sure noticed. He is loving the Royals. So, I fixed him a special meal, for his little get together and even wrote "K C R" on the pastry wrapped, rosemary brie, with rosemary leaves.
While I'm loving every minute of the fall parties, perfect weather, and cute costumes, I'll leave the sports watching to him.
But I did eat my share of the baked brie.
I hope that your Halloween week is an enchanting one too.
With lots of laughs.
Plenty of silliness.
And time to slow down and enjoy watching the leaves float down from the trees before you have to start raking them all up.
We have not had the best luck with kitties lately. Poor Terrance Snowball disappeared. Our other cat, was distressed and lonely, so we got a kitten for her (and for Dewdrop, who is a major cat person),
Dewdrop named her Cocoa and loved her. Then, one morning, I woke up to find the tiny baby dead. We don't know why. I was able to maneuver Sugarwings out the door, and off to school without seeing the body, so that we could sit down and talk about it later, not right before class started.
When Dewdrop and I went to the pumpkin patch, she had spent a lot of time holding this kitty with the pumpkin colored eyes and heart shaped nose. So, I called Pendleton's Country Market to see if they had any kittens available and found out that this kitty was looking for a home.
Sugarwings and I took a trip out to the country to get the new cat, and of course, spent some time playing while there.
Her favorite part was the corn bath. It was an extra large horse tank filled with shucked kernels, and she couldn't get enough of it.
First of all, it is great for jumping in.
And you can bury yourself in it, roll in it, or just sit back and enjoy it.
I played in there for a long time with her, but got a bit itchy after a while. She was enthralled and stayed about an hour.
I'm afraid I got a bit slap happy while she dwaddled in the vat of corn.
I was finally able to coax her out by mentioning the slingshot. This place is a year round, working farm, not just a pumpkin patch. Farmer John culls the veggies that are going bad from the good stuff he takes to market and has the bad ones in baskets by the sling shot, so that you can test your skills in flinging rotten apples or eggplants.
There were some issues with getting the cat into our carrier, but all in all it was a great day. And Dewdrop has named her new kitty, Pumpkin Pie. She remembered her from the previous trip there and was thrilled ot see her.
Her little heart is broken over losing Terrance and Cocoa, but having Pumpkin Pie to snuggle has helped. I hope this sweet kitty is here to stay, and is still around for ages like our previous, old barn cat. It hasn't been easy to go through this revolving door of kittens for the last couple of years, after having the same old tom for over a decade.
Wish us luck, please. And Pumpkin Pie too, she probably needs it more than we do.
The mermaids at the Renfest have a new grotto. Last year, they were plopped into a sad tank of water.
Now, they have a magical pond along a woodland trail.
Complete with a treasure chest filled with baubles to share with princesses who come to call.
As always, the Renfest provides the perfect backdrop for Sugarwings' fertile imagination. It is a beautiful location in a hilly wooded area, with a fairy tale village amidst the trees.
With fairies to meet.
Who like to frolic with guests.
And queens who love to dance with with visiting royalty.
We spent a lot of time playing a board game with the hand blown glass marbles.
And visiting the livestock.
This pony was named Sugar. That seemed to be a good fit.
I'm afraid I didn't catch the name of this lady.
Poor Sugarwings always ends up poisoned by some bad apple, every where we go.
Luckily, she felt better and was able to have a turkey leg for dinner.
Her Daddy was there, selling hand made magic wands and alchemy pendants.
In his free time, he and Miss Tree did some acrobatic yoga.
Sugarwings joined in.
I did not. But I did share the turkey leg.
There was dancing around the maypole too.
And pirate wenches in pink.
The only thing missing? Little Dewdrop. I hope to get a chance to take her this year too. She and Sugarwings have matching gowns, and she is just dying for a chance to rock hers too. (These pink gowns are from TJ Max and only $29 each. What a steal. Knowing Dewdrop, she will be wearing hers nonstop till it looks more like the "before" version of Cinderella's dress instead of the one the fairy godmother gives her.)
Sugarwings' dress already is heading that way….
When I made this book, I had no intention of making a book. Sometimes that happens. My son and I decided to clean out the fairies' closet. Sugarwings was a dedicated dresser upper (and still is) but had outgrown many of the play clothes.
Dewdrop, enjoys dress up tremendously, but is picky about her ensemble. She has one or two faves and will not try on anything else.
So, we decided to donate 5 bags (yes, an outrageous amount of dress up clothes!!!!!) from their stash to a thrift shop so other little kiddos could pick things out in time for Halloween.
Most of the stuff had come from thrifts anyway, so it was kinda like taking them home again. Or just borrowing them for a bit.
Anyway, in the closet was an old prom dress that I've adored since I bought it at a garage sale a few years back.
Here is Clover wearing the dress a couple of years ago in a photo from another album that I made.
When I saw the gown buried under a pile of fluff and nonsense under the bed, I decided to reclaim the it for myself. And HAD to go and make a book, right then and there.
I transformed an old cabinet card into a book, with a simple little trick and this lovely fabric. Most of the books I've done for the tutorial aren't sewn, and this one isn't either.
But in cutting up the dress, and using existing seams, it looks like a sewn cover.
Of course, I had to use some vintage wallpaper too! And I just happened to have the perfect shade of old velvet ribbon to add to the book.
This book is for sale. All of them will be, as soon as I get them listed in the Boutique. I've not done it yet, even though I have tons of photos to use. But I have been selling some through enquiries by people who have seen the pictures.
This one will be $55 if you are interested, just email me at karlanathan@sbcglobal.net. (postage included in the US) sold, thanks for all the interest!
Or, if you'd like to make a similar book yourself? Directions for turning a cabinet card into a journal are available here.
We haven't had access to the Fairy Berry Trail for a while. First, a big storm turned some dead branches into widow-makers, dangling from the top of the trees. Then, my husband and son did some dangling from the treetops with the chainsaw, and trimmed it all up, leaving piles of debris blocking the trails.
This week, we cleared it up and repaired the Fairy Tree House by rebuilding its walls from the downed limbs and some grapevines.
It kind of looks like a big brush pile behind those two large trees.
One of those trees has grown crookedly down, to form a roof. We entwined branches into a dome shape over the crooked branch, creating kind of a igloo shaped structure.
Here is a picture looking through the archway "door" into the room. And a picture of one of my dogs sniffin the other's butt, apparently. Sorry.
After all the branches were in place, we wove fresh grapevine in and out of them to anchor it all. Hopefully, as the vines dry, they will keep the branches in place. The vines were laden with clusters of grapes, so I'm crossing my fingers that they will drop seeds and more vines will grow up the walls that we built today.
The grand fairies have always loved their tree house, but it is even more beckoning now. Very cozy, with full walls and a roof, made up of woven branches with sunshine peeking through. And I created an archway entrance out of grapevines, that is low enough that an adult needs to duck to get in, but just right for the kiddos.
After a day of construction, well, most of a day. We trimmed up some other trees and cleared the paths in the woods while we had the chainsaw out, but a big part of Sunday was needed just for building the tree house.
Anyway, once it was done, I decided it needed a little something. So, got my paints and thought I'd turn the big knot hole by the entrance into a face.
Then, I thought, no, some eyes looking out from the darkness.
That morphed into two sets of eyes, with the lower ones looking up.
And that made me think of the two fairy girls who will be playing in that tree house.
So, I thought I'd make the faces into those girls. This green sprite is supposed to be Sugarwings.
And here is Dewdrop.
Outside of Lawrence, halfway to Tonganoxie, there is a sea of gold, stretching out as far as the eye can see.
I've lived in this town for over 20 years and this was my first visit there. How could I have been missing out on walking through the rows of sunflowers? What was I thinking?
While I always thought it sounded pretty and that I'd like to go and see the flowers in bloom, I had no idea that the field would have such an enchanted feel to it.
Lots of families were there, all taking photos, probably a dozen cars full of people. But, the moment you step into the rows of flowers and are swallowed up by the blossoms, you are alone in a world of yellow and green, lost in the rows of looming giants.
How strange, to be ten minutes outside of the city, and amidst at least 50 other people, but feel so isolated and hidden.
But not in a scary way, it is a magical feel. No, an enchanted feeling. That is the only way to describe it.
I grew up in the middle of an Indiana corn field. Walking into the corn, and into the sunflower field is similar, but the flowers are so much prettier and special. I loved playing the corn when I was young, and could lose myself in the stalks, or find a hiding place to lay back reading a book for a few hours with my Irish Setter as a pillow.
The sunflowers had me reminiscing about those days in the Hoosier corn fields, but as much as I enjoyed those times out in my brother-in-law's crop, this was something different. At some points, we were completely hidden away, with flowers topping 8-9'. Other spots, they where shorter, or there was a slight hill to stand on and we could see acres of yellow off into the horizon.
I think my girls shared my excitement. I don't know how you could walk out into the vastness of the field and not feel the magic.
In some spots, there are clearings, that beckoned me to grab a dog for a pillow and bring a good book to hide out with for a while. I could have easily spent hours in one of those little rooms with green walls.
And then, there would be places so dense, we had to back track and find a new route through, and we'd wonder just how far we'd wondered from the car, just to find out that we were actually only ten feet from the road.
And woven all about the stems, were blue morning glories, the color of our Dorothy's gown.
We discovered that sunflowers weren't just to admire, you could also play with them.
By plucking out a few seeds, you can make happy faces, we wanted them to look like they were laughing, so they would feel as happy as we did.
I hope that others walking through the field see our sunny faces and smile back at them.
Sugarwings made a happy face too.
The fields are free to visit, anyone is welcome. The farmers ask that you leave them as you found them, take out your trash, and pay a dollar each for any flowers that you pick. There is a donation box to help the land owner defray the costs of the field.
We paid for the ones we defaced (well, really we "faced" them) and we picked a couple too.
I hope to take Dewdrop there for a few pictures too. I think she'd look cute in a fairy gown. Being dwarfed by the towering blooms makes a perfect backdrop for a fairy photo shoot.
Plus, I just can't wait to get back there myself.