We’re having a party – Karla's Cottage

An Augtober Birthday

family, Food and Drink, Halloween treats, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2025

Welcome to Augtober!

I have been neck deep in Halloween decor getting ready for September’s First Friday weekend at Good Juju.

So when Sugarwings’ birthday rolled around, I was already full on Fall in August. And that kid loves spooky season, they keep their Nightmare Before Christmas tree up in the bedroom all year.

It was a natural progression to turn the birthday party into a Summerween bash with themed foods. Including a dirt and worms buffet.

The birthday celebrant spent all week using a silicone mold to make chocolates, enough clear ice cubes for water glasses, and plenty of fruity ones for our signature mocktail of the evening.

Plus drawing faces on the outside of the cups, filling them with layered ice creams, wrapping and freezing them so they’d be ready to serve for guests.

We dined on Monster Mac n Cheese.

Watermelon shaped with cookie cutters.

With crescent wrapped mummy dogs as the main dish at a fancy, sit down, adult dinner party with some friends.

Oh, and a Jack-o-lantern spewing out guacamole.

Why is Jack green instead of orange? At Summerween, you carve watermelons instead of pumpkins.

I was prepared to buy six small melons for us to cut up as a party activity, then we discovered that Walmart carries foam ones. With pink insides!

I’m sure the hens were disappointed to not get a ton of extra fruit, watermelons are their fave. But this way, we got keepers that could go home as party favors with the guests. And the foam punk-melons didn’t attract fruit flies like the real ones do.

After dessert, the kids, well, not kids, maybe young adults? Had a scary movie marathon and sleep over in the office/den upstairs which Sugarwings had decorated with tissue paper ghosts hanging from the ceiling.

Watching my Grandfairy turn 19 was a mix of emotions, but after seeing this get together, I knew that no matter how old, this person will keep their fun loving, silly side and always be my adventure buddy.

A Cottage Christmas Open House

celebrations, cottage, Food and Drink, friends, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 18, 2024

Angie, Beth, and I cohosted a holiday get together at my house last week.

We had planned for plenty of food, and generous guests brought delectable goodies too.

It became a true feast!

And a feast for the soul too.

I loved having a houseful of festive friends filling up my space and my heart too.

Dorothy got plenty of attention and spent her days choosing which laps she wanted to visit. The hooligans, I mean, big dogs, were banished up to Ryan’s apartment.

Because they’d have loved to be climbing onto laps too. It’s not as cute when a 60 pounder does it as it is when a 6 pound dog wants attention.

Two nights earlier, I’d made dinner for my book club buddies, then Rich was out of town, Sugarwings was at mama’s house, so the cottage was already for party number two. I just shifted the extra tables around and brought in chairs from the studio.

Since I was on my own for a couple of days, well except for said hooligans, the house stayed cleaned up. I did need to re-mop, but with 2 doodles and a golden retriever that is the story of my life. I’m a full time mopper.

The outdoor tables with lights strung underneath worked well for the dinner party on Tuesday and just as well for Thursday afternoon’s gathering. They are my new favorite hosting trick and I’ll be wrapping lights under them all the time in the future. It will be a nice bit of sparkle for a summer night’s garden party too.

The cocoa station got beefed up for the day too, and we set out some tasty liquors plus whipped cream to mix in with the chocolate.

I might’ve gone overboard on the cocoa packets. But as much as Sugarwings and I enjoy our parties by the tree, plus with family coming, it might not be too over the top.

I feel quite blessed to have had these fun ladies all come to our party. Most were from Kansas City, so had to make a drive to get here. I appreciate them making the time to come and celebrate with us.

Holiday party season, part one

celebrations, Food and Drink, friends, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 13, 2024

An event that I look forward to every year is our book club Christmas party

We do a book exchange, have dinner and wine together and just take time to chat.

I try to come up with party favors to reflect the season. This year I made stretch bracelets in genuine stone beads the colors of the holiday and used them as napkin rings.

Dinner was slow cooked beef with red wine gravy, rice, and sweet potato/squash casserole. Plus a salad. I realized at the last minute that I forgot to buy salad dressing, so whipped up a cranberry vinaigrette with the berries I’d bought to serve as a side dish. Lucky I had them available, huh? Plus, now that is my new favorite salad topper. I boiled the cranberries in orange juice with cardamom, then whipped it up in the blender with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and fresh thyme, from my flower bed with a little salt and pepper. The blender made it almost creamy, I guess that is called emulsified?

Typically I make the entire meal, but this year I asked if friends could bring desserts. What a great idea! These bon bons were sorta like cake pops, but even better.

And who knew you could make cookies with tumeric? Oh my, what a treat.

We have a large group, which meant I had to be creative with the seating. Instead of setting up a folding table, I brought in my two glass topped garden tables. Our special farmhouse table that we had made has a an epoxy river running down the center and lights below it. To match that, I taped up some lights under the glass of the two I brought inside and I really loved the outcome.

Then we had a few cancellations, and ended up not needing either one. Oh well. It’s party week and I am using them again for the next group, so am glad to have carried them into the cottage before it got so cold outside. It all worked out. In the meantime, I was playing musical chairs, switching up place settings as each person dropped out.

In my world, the best time to host a party is the same week you just had one- you only have to clean your house once! I had a great time with the book club and am looking forward to part two with the next group.

A garden wedding in the Appalachians

family, flowers, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / September 23, 2024

Where can I find a chandelier crystal this size? I was mesmerized by it.

Although that exceedingly large, rainbow filled, spectacular prism of light was not the only detail that caught my eye at this old, Victorian home.

The gardens were charming, too and made an ideal location for the wedding of the homeowners. Both of their personalities shone through each design choice.

Especially the sentimentality and love for family that they both share.

One corner of the dining room was filled with photos of the couples’ families. This is the bride’s great grandmother.

The bracelet the bride wore was also worn in that portrait. And her ring? It is two wedding rings from their parents melted down and recreated into this new piece by her mother, a metal smith.

Constant reminders of the pair’s love of art, are sprinkled through the house and grounds. Paintings from professional artists who are family members and friends, collections of hand crafted coolness, and creative DYIs done in preparation for the wedding and to fix up the home.

Their dedication to an artful life stood out to me in the small things too. Like placing star shapes around the picnic table as a resist before power washing it, leaving a two toned, star sprinkled table afterward.

Hydrangea booms tied together into heart shapes lined the driveway.

Centerpieces were constructed of bowls of moss with figurines perched on top.

At the lovebird’s table, the moss was topped with- lovebirds. Tiny, and subtle, but fitting in with the theme of the night.

And did I mention that she made her skirt? It had major sparkles going on, with 3D flowers that don’t show up well in my photos, but sure did in person.

While I was busy oohing and ahhing over the multitude of great ideas, sweet details, and artwork that caught my eye, I still noticed one big thing that stood out more than anything else.

Happiness.

It was a crowd full of people that loved Mark and Allie, people who were so happy for them.

Summerween

family, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / July 15, 2024

Dewdrop came to visit! And Sugarwings is back from North Carolina, so I hung up a welcome back garland and planned a Surprise Summerween Party.

We made zombie finger cookies to snack on.

And carved watermelon Jack-o-lanterns,

I unpacked a tub of Halloween decor to set up when they got here after their 14 hour drive, and we relaxed by the glow of the pumpkins while watching a scary movie.

Our movie was Abigail, about a vampire ballerina, an excellent choice.

We left the decorations up for the week, so the party goes on.
I hate to think of it coming to an end. My plan is to soak up every minute of this visit and spoil these sweet, lil punkins, I mean, melons, as much as I can while we are all together.

An indoor garden party

celebrations, Food and Drink, friends, Garden, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 14, 2024

Two dear friends, Angie and Beth, had birthdays in June so I threw a party for them.

It was a landmark number for Angie, so a large celebration was in order.

The party itself was on Beth’s actual birthdate.

The birthday girls made the guest list, and also helped with some treats and wine. I told them I was throwing the party FOR them, but they wanted to help, which was very nice.

Both brought wines too. And Beth put her husband, Jeff, on ice duty. Don’t you hate to buy bags of ice? Paying for ice is a weird pet peeve of mine. I just hate buying the stuff.

Beth said she had a good ice maker (mine is so tiny) so Jeff dumped it into gallon bags everyday til she was able to fill a cooler with so much ice she could barely carry it.

A couple weeks ago, I’d gotten lucky at an estate sale and scooped up dozens of teacups for twenty bucks. The plan was to use pretty cups and saucers for the herbal fruit and lavender ice tea, plus for the wines.

And I got to welcome back the Treat Cabinet! This large wardrobe spent many years in my studio, filled with goodies during get togethers. When we redid the room, it was moved to the breezeway for a boring job of storing patio cushions.

But for this one day of glory, the cabinet was back in its element, filled with tea party essentials.

I hung this old, embroidered, tea towel on the inside door of the wardrobe. It had been free in a box of junk a friend was discarding. Perfect!

This birthday celebration as meant to be a tea party in the garden.

I’d had lovely weather all week while tending to my flowers and getting ready for guests.

Then, bam, the night before, a heatwave came with a vengeance.

I’d always planned on keeping the food inside the house anyway, but I was disappointed that we couldn’t have the garden as a place to hang out.

(Angie made this trifle. Why are they called that when they are not mere trifles, these types of dessert are magnificently lovely).

If I’d known in advance that the heat index was going to be in the danger zone, I’d have brought chairs and tables indoors. But friends made do, and used what they found. I carried in a few extra seats from the yard, but many had made themselves comfy on kiddie chairs already. They didn’t seem to mind.

We had a full house, but in a good way.

So many delightful people! And flowers! Many sweet friends brought bouquets, so it was like an indoor garden party with all of the pretty blooms.

Including blooming cookies from Catherine.

We filled the studio too. I had a mini craft project set up for everyone, so guests were spending time out in the workroom to do those. Once again, I could’ve brought in more chairs, but we seemed to make do with what was there. With my bad shoulder, I’d have needed help before the party to bring in extra seating. Rich had helped me set up the patio, but he was out of town when temps started going way up into unbearable numbers.

The project was making fairy garden stakes. It was self explanatory, and simple to do, so the ladies were on their own making them. I wish I’d taken photos of their pretties when they’d finished. There were lots of sparkly wishing wands completed.

Another timely garage sale find was this metal picnic basket. I used it for the cheese and cracker display. I think that now that the party is over, I’ll be filling it with teacups and taking them to Good Juju to sell in July’s First Friday weekend.

Although, this get together was such a good time, maybe I should keep them all and use them again for another party?

2023 Book Club Christmas Party

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By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2023

One of our bookclub members, Margie Carr, wrote a well received book about early, influential leaders of Kansas City who lived in a one block area.

I fell in love with the cover’s photo of two of the girls from that street.

Margie gave me permission to surprise our members with hand crafted ornies using this picture. The gifts were part of my centerpiece, and everyone got to choose their favorite one to keep.

With my trips to Indiana to be with my family while my sister is ill, I’d originally had to cancel the party, but was able to reschedule.

After a lot of last minute shuffling around, and voting on what dates the most of us were available, we managed to get a good chunk of us together on one night just a week before Christmas.

For a bit, it didn’t look like it would come together, that is such a hectic time of year.

Luckily, a date worked out, and I even had time to go to the grocery store for supplies and make pot pies to serve.

The Christmas tree pie didn’t turn out as good as the snow guy. You could kinda tell what it was, but the crust sunk in a little as it baked.

I’d even made a grid behind it for support and it still sank a little. You could still tell it was a tree, and actually, bubbly gravy over the crust is pretty dang tasty, so no problem.

This is a night I look forward to each year, and I was so happy that we all were able to get together.

Our club is filled with funny, informed people who make interesting dinner guests. Plus, it’s a great excuse for me to set the table!

And they brought beautiful desserts.

I had such a nice evening, thanks for coming, to all who were able to make it.

Kick starting the season

friends, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 5, 2023

My favorite season is here and I’m taking advantage of every fun offering available, to soak up as much holiday joy as I can.

One annual tradition is to view the Holiday Home Tour with friends.

This year had a banner crop of festive flair to walk through. Every house I got to see was a winner. But I didn’t get a complete tour, I’d over booked myself (I just can’t say no to any holiday event- if there is Christmas fun going on, I’m in the middle of it!)

Sunday was no exception to my seasonal excess, we started the day with a coffee date with friends, then the home tour, next A Christmas Story musical with Sugarwings, and finishing the night with a holiday movie with the kiddo.

Was it too much for one day? Welllll….. probably, but worth it.

A couple days before, friends invited us to Snow Globe for dinner, and even though I was already swamped, we said yes.

Ounce again, worth stretching out my time to add some extra fun. It was a great night out.

Plus, I’ve had First Friday weekend at Good Juju which was two long days of excitement that felt like a party itself.

We’re barely into December and I’ve been blessed with so many glittery get togethers, that I’d consider myself lucky and fulfilled if these were all the festivities that I got to experience.

But lucky me- I’ve got a craft date with friends this week, our Book Club dinner and gift exchange coming up, and I’m trying to find a good time to have some friends over. Not to mention my cocoa parties in front of the tree with my grand fairy, and the way that sprite makes every day feel like it’s special.

Yep, beyond blessed.

And maybe a tiny bit tired.

Once again, that was wine in the teacups

celebrations, cottage, flowers, Food and Drink, friends, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 15, 2023

To celebrate Angie and Beth’s birthdays, we made plans for a day out, and I offered to make brunch first. But then, Angie picked up an estate sale to do, and between that and all of her other obligations, her time off for a whole day disappeared. Our date switched to lunch and I decided to serve it in the gazebo to make it special.

Hmm, not the best picture of us, but you get the idea.

We had wine in our teacups, and drank it with our pinky fingers crooked while wearing floral garden hats and speaking in a British accent, of course.

I draped a little, round table in layers of clothes, and brought out the floral china.

The weather cooperated with perfection, but just in case, I added a fan and extra sun umbrellas to the space.

Teapots were filled with $1 flower bundles (our local Kroger always marks them down after the weekend) and I made place cards with “Angela” and “Elizabeth” instead of Angie and Beth to be extra fancy.

But “Karla” doesn’t come with a fancy option.

So I used the name my dad, Hubert, had written on my original birth certificate.

“Huberta”

As in Huberta Josephine Downey.

Yep, that was my name. My mom changed it to Karla Jo. Not nearly as much to roll off the tongue. I think I could’ve grown up as a Bertie, or Birdy? Instead I was always Karkie Jo.

The silk flower umbrellas from my April Showers Bring May Flowers theme at Good Juju got another go round as garden party decor. I’ve left them up outside a while, they somewhat survived a 24 hour deluge. I’m not sure how many more uses I’ll get out of them, but I have enjoyed every bit of our time together so far.

We had dipped strawberries and lavender honey dark chocolate for dessert.

I fixed honey butter toasted croissants, individual quiches, and fruit salad.
Even though it was their birthdays, Angie brought sparkling soda and Beth brought a salad.

Happy Birthday to two of the funnest people around!

There was wine in the teacups

celebrations, cottage, Food and Drink, friends, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / May 21, 2023

Last Tuesday evening, I hosted a Mother’s Day tea party. A friend recently lost her MIL, then right before the holiday, her own mom passed unexpectedly. As I planned a get together for her I realized that none of the guests’ moms were still alive.

I thought we should honor all of the lost mothers and asked for photos of the ladies.

Then I picked some flowers from my yard to tuck into tussie mussies.

The plan was to sit outside by the fire and order pizza.

But I wanted a real tea party style gathering, so I made food instead and set it out on the table with the pretty dishes.

This tiered stand from Hobby Lobby, years ago (they still have them) always comes in handy. On a daily basis, it holds fruit, but when company comes, the fruit goes in a bowl and this is used for serving food.

Earlier this month, I found a metal lamp base on a flea market dollar table. It made an ideal holder for a stack of salad plates.

My table is oak, and not the look I wanted for a spring, flowery party. But it’s also huge, and I don’t have tablecloths to fit it. So, I covered it in a painter’s drop cloth and layered these rosey placemats (50 cents from a garage sale this week) on top.

Focaccia bread isn’t exactly a tea party staple, but I baked it to look like a flower garden.

And how lucky were we to get a perfect spring evening? Just cool enough for a fire, but not so chilly that we’re had to be close to the fire for warmth. It was more for atmosphere.

The table was a generous and exceptional hand me down from my sis, Terry. And oh my. It is a dragon mosaic made from genuine stones and can feature either a fire or umbrella in the center.

We just love it. I call it my fire breathing dragon table.

And I love my friends. I’m glad we had a night together to honor our moms and to sip wine from teacups.
I think I’ll make this a tradition. You are never too old to miss your mommy.