We’re having a party – Page 9

How to make miniature book Christmas ornaments

holiday decor, how to's, how-to projects, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2014

As promised, here is the mini lesson on making mini book ornies.

I used paper cut from vintage Christmas cards glued over chipboard for my covers, and card stock for the pages. If your old holiday cards are sturdy enough, you could probably cut the covers directly from them and skip the whole gluing process.

First step- cut out the cover material, fold in half. Cut out three pieces of card stock slightly smaller than the cover, fold in half. (Any size you want to use works fine, most of mine are under 2", this one made from a card is larger)

Glue decorative paper to the cover. The backside of mine was white, but if yours isn't, cover both sides. This is a good time of year to save up chipboard,some pieces that I used were folded up inside a new shirt. Stores often use it chipboard to hold the shape of folded garments. So, as you are opening gifts, don't forget to salvage the packaging materials! (you could also cut up a cereal box)

Add glitter, ink, etc, to your taste. Don't add any 3D elements yet, though, embellish to your heart's content after the book is assembled.

To make the folded and decorated chipboard look like a real book, a piece of decorative tape, as faux binding can be pretty.

Put your three card stock pieces inside your cover, line them up, and punch two holes along the fold.

Tie the pages into the cover with whatever you think looks nice. Here, I've used vintage ribbon.

For a festive look, I like to use metallic pipe cleaners too. But first, I vintage them up a bit.

Give them a haircut and rub the newly styled piece onto a brown ink pad for a tarnished finish.

Next, add a hook (to whatever you tied the book together with) and hang it up.

I used these as favors and to decorate with for my book club holiday party. I think it would be fun to start a tradition of passing around a tiny book at Christmas dinner to have each person write a small message, or just sign their names. Date it, and hang it on the tree each year.

If you'd like to make some bigger books in different styles, I have a tutorial available here.

I'll leave you with some photos of what is new in the Etsy shop, it has been a busy Christmas tree season for me. I just now got around to adding some decorated ones.

Normally, I do get them out earlier…. But it has been quite a holiday season for me. Very fun, very busy!

I have some extra bright trees this year, thanks to Sugarwings. She and I had a dying party the other day.

And we got creative with our colors.

A Holiday Party for my Bookclub and some JOY

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

By Karla Nathan / December 16, 2014

"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.

Romantic Cottage Christmas,extra Kits, and Using the Good Stuff!

cottage, fairies, holiday decor, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / December 7, 2014

As you can see from this winter wonderland of fairies, when I plan a class, I make a TON of the pieces before I teach them. These fairies are from Birdsong 4. And not only was I trying to work out the kinks in the project before sharing the steps, I got hooked. I loved making them.

There were also plenty of sprites to add to the silver tree on the kitchen buffet. (on the right)

I tend to go over board with kit making too.

I whipped up dozens of holiday ornament kits for our small gathering, knowing that they would be great for gift giving and for adding to my online shops.

Our day in the studio was so much fun! I enjoyed having a reason to get the room into its full on holiday glory and then to spend time out there with nice people, listening to Christmas music, and making sparkly creations for our trees.

Here is one of the projects we made that day. If you'd like to make any of these ornies or fairies, the kits are available here and here.

We also made these stuffed, felted stocking with vintage lace.

These are from Shan and Rebecca.

Laurie's was Tiffany Blue. She was my inspiration for making up kits in that color too. (I also had red, white, and pink)

Beth added glittered ballerinas to hers and made one for each of her little nieces.

The kits contain everything you need to make the pretties, but I also had a big table full of extras.

With lots of little embellishments, wallpaper, ribbons, and lace.

Once we had finished the three kits, and had some lunch, we spent the afternoon "freestylin"

Everyone had plenty of supplies and inspiratins to make all sorts of pieces.

From tags, to garlands, to embellished little trees.

(once the glue dries on this one, it will be a glittery masterpiece)

I like the way Rebecca made this paper mache ornie into a mosaic of sparkling papers.

The third project for the day was, "On Gilded Wings" this angel on the left. ( Her skirt is netting I tore from a 1940s bride gown, included in all of the kits.)

One thing we talked about while we glued and glittered, was one of my favorite topics. No, not the grand fairies, although I probably blathered on too much about them, too.

No, we talked about Using the Good Stuff.

I can't emphathize enough, that a project worth your time is worth your best materials. Why save them for something better? Just by using the vintage bridal gown lace, or the soft, old flowers, you have made THIS project better.

I am a big believer in using the good stuff in every day life too. And that doesn't mean it is top of the line expensive stuff either. My china is from an auction for $10. My vintage napkins are from a toss away bag of stuff Beth didn't want. The vases are from garage sales.

And the layered tablecloths (which don't really show here) were hand made by my Great Aunt Caroline and my Great Grandma Nellie. Why keep those things in a drawer, never to be seen? I like to get them out and use them. I added sheet music and a vintage, new stock doily under each plate to protect the cloths, but I figured if they get spilled on, I can always soak out a stain. Or set a vase over the spot next time if can't get the spot out.

But stuck away in a drawer, never being enjoyed and used? That would be too sad.

I feel the same way about my stash of vintage supplies. Why would I buy them to use as supplies if I just decide to hoard them away and not enjoy them???

That is why the tiny crystals on the Santa hats I made for my guests are vintage old stock from the 30s. And the felted wool is hand dyed. The trim is wool roving, not just dacron, and all of those ingredients make the piece just a little more special, even though it is a simple little, silly thing.

Another way to look at it, is that Using the Good Stuff is a gift to ourselves. Women tend to think of everyone else during the holidays. Maybe you need to stop and think of yourself, take the time to open your stash of special items, and make something wonderful for yourself or as a gift. The act of just using the Good Stuff is such a happy feeling, and making presents with your beloved goodies is even better.

This is the season to thing about sharing the bounty.

Don't be a Scrooge, hoarding it all away! Take that special button out of the glass jar, or cut away a hunk from the back of an old gown, or slice into that butter soft velvet and USE IT!

A Fall Wedding in New Hampshire

celebrations, family, flowers, Food and Drink, guncles, holiday decor, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / November 8, 2014

What a perfect place for a wedding! The guncles have been together for a long time and had a commitment ceremony 17 years ago, but now that they can be legally married, we gathered in NH to celebrate with them.

We had a rehearsal dinner the night before the event at Ipswich Country Club. And oh my! It was something!

Great appetisers.

Exceptional food.

Wonderful company. (this is just some of us, I don't have a group shot)

And a serenade from Carol Swarbrick Dries (Aunt Carol). She sang a song that had tears in all of our eyes. We begged for an encore the next day at the wedding.

The air was crisp, the leaves were colorful, and the site for the wedding luncheon and ceremony was ideal for the occasion.

And did I mention that there was carrot cake? My fave! And so pretty with the fall colors. There wasn't a cake stand, but I slipped a couple of box lids from our centerpieces under it and that made a quick but cute, make shift stand.

I was so pleased that the boxes we worked on together to make centerpieces looked so festive in the room.

We also glittered and sponge painted some packages of tissue paper leaves from the dollar bin at Target to sprinkle around the table. And Randy framed a picture of each guest to create name cards for the seating.

17 years ago, we had to take apart two bride and groom cake toppers to get two grooms. Now, the guncles had plenty of toppers to choose from with two grooms. All this one needed was some highlights in one groom's hair and it was ready to adorn the carrot cake.

I was honored to be in the ceremony. The whole time I was up there, I watched Kevin's face and was moved by the emotions he showed.

That man is a treasure and we are lucky to have him in our family, and seeing the love and happiness in his eyes that day, moved me to my core.

I spent the entire day with red, weepy eyes, but a huge grin on my face at the same time.

A Fabulous Craft Day Bachelor Party

family, guncles, parties, Travel, vintage paper/collage art, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / November 5, 2014

Our Sister Trip to sprinkle Daddy's ashes also included a bachelor party for the guncles. They live in Jacksonville, but were getting married the next week in New Hampshire. Our fab friend, Karen, has a home in Mt. Dora, which in my mind was about halfway from where we were staying in Sarasota.

In real life, it was a THREE HOUR DRIVE. And when gettting stuck in traffic on the way home, it was a FOUR HOUR DRIVE.

Still, the day in Mt. Dora was well worth the time in the car, (although I think I would have preferred a sleep over instead of doing it all in one day.)

We got to meet Queen Satine, one of the most delicate and delightful ladies I've ever known.

And experience the loveliness that is Karen's Kozy Kottage.

Not to mention a sneak peek at her new studio in downtown Mt. Dora.

Where prettiness abounds.

I was touched to see her little pink fairy from Birdsong sitting on a shelf there.

And a fabulously embellished angel on the wall that she made from a mini how-to that I did when I was visiting her another time.

Of course, everything about Karen is Fabulous. Just like Guncle Randy. When they get together, fabulousness starts emitting from them like shining bits of fire from a 4th of July sparkler.

The bachelor party wasn't a typical one. Instead of a wild party with cocktails and exotic dancers, we had a craft day.

We were working on wedding decor for the big event coming up.

These large wooden letters are for Randy and Kevin, we painted them metallic and covered them with moss.

Here is one as it was on the mantel at the wedding. We also found the perfect, old hat filled with fall colored velvet leaves and blooms, and took it apart to add a few pieces from it to the letters.

Guncle Randy found the hat on our jaunt downtown to do a little shopping at one of Mt. Dora's cute boutiques. What luck, it was just what those letters needed. And we had plenty of millinery blooms from it to use in our journals too.

My gift for the guncles was an album/journal for Randy to fill with wedding mementos. And I came across the perfect sheet music to use as backgrounds too. Here are a couple of them.

After the wedding, we had another craft day, and I used one to make this for their album.

The craft day bachelor party also included making a garland for the mantel at the wedding, and centerpieces, that I showed you before, here.

Plus home made goodies from Karen's pal and our new friend, Julie. She even made us jams and apple butter to take home.

Thanks, Karen, for the lovely day! And thanks, Julie for the lovely treats!

Lawrence Zombie Walk

holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 31, 2014

The Lawrence Zombie Walk seems to get bigger every year. This season, there were about 1,000 ghouls lose on the sidewalks downtown. Each dead guy pays a fee to get all gorey and join in the march of the corpses, and the money goes to help the Humane Society.

This year, the weather wasn't the best. We like to eat dinner somewhere with outdoor seating and watch the show as the hoard takes over the sidewalks.

But, as we ordered our food, the first drop of rain fell on our heads, so we moved indoors to enjoy our meal. It worked out well, there was live music in the restaurant from Mustard, of one of Sugarwing's favorite bands, Dumptruck Butterlips.

So, we took our time, relaxed, enjoyed the music and the meal, then took a stroll with the walking dead.

We didn't see all 1,000 corpses, but what we saw was plenty spooky.

Some of them had been dead for a very long time.

Here are a couple of blog posts from past Zombie Walks, 2011 and 2012.

There are plenty of zombie families on parade. And lots of strollers. Sugarwings was wishing she was in it. Maybe next year. I enjoy watching it so much, I don't think I'd enjoy being in it as much as being a bystander.

The walk of the dead is earlier in Oct. but I thought I'd save the photos for Halloween. Spooky, huh? Hope you have a spooktacular holiday!

A Fabulous Fall

Dew Drop, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / October 28, 2014

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.

A Pinkie Pie Birthday party and some home made sidewalk chalk

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / August 26, 2014

August is a busy month for us. My husband and I have an anniversary, The Hippy Chick and Sugarwings both have birthdays, and of course, back to school time. Which still irks me, that it comes so early. Am I showing my age by thinking back to school should be after Labor Day?

We have had a lot of celebratiing going on.

So much so, that some days we had to double up on parties. Sugarwings' school's open house was the same night that we went out to celebrate her mom's birthday.

My social calender has been jam packed. A good buddy has the same birthday as the Hippy Chick and turned 50 this year, so we have had a brunch for her and a Girls' Night Out too.

I feel very blessed with all of the special occasions to attend. And to have friends and family around me to celebrate with. My sister also has a birthday this week, but is too far away for me to be there when she blows out the candles.

I miss being there to give her a birthday hug, but I also know that I'm very lucky to have my sisters in my life and that we are extremely lucky to be so close, even while being so far apart. I hope that Sugarwings and Dewdrop will always have this closeness. Whenever they spat (which is a LOT) I always tell them that a sister is a forever friend.

Not that it helps. When someone takes a toy from your hands, or screams in your face, it is hard to feel overwhelming friendship and appreciation at that moment.

The party that our Hippy Chick threw was full of friendship and fun. She let Sugarwings choose the theme, Pinkie Pie, and added lots of pink polka dotted balloons to the park by her house. Simple, colorful, and cute. With old fashioned games that inspired lots of laughs and running.

She provided some fun little giveaways, and made a gluten/dairy free cake with fresh strawberries. Sugarwings and I made some side walk chalk to give to her friends too.

There isn't much to making it, but I think we could have done it a better way. Maybe this post should be titled, "How NOT to make Sidewalk Chalk"

Here is what we did wrong. First, no recipe, no measuring, and no thinking it out. I kind of figured I'd wing it. And I was wrong, it would've been better if I'd paid attention.

First of all, I had no idea that plaster of paris would dry so fast. Our plan was to add the glitter to it, stir in some water, then pour it into a mold and swirl in food coloring to each piece of chalk in the molds.

Well, it was thick as burnt and lumpy gravy within seconds. Seconds! I did not use enough water. I found that if you use more water, it takes days to dry, but it is better than having it dry before you can get it in a mold because your mixture didn't have enough liquid.

And it sets up permanently. This bucket, after soaking for a week, is still coated with plaster. I thought it would wash away if I soaked it, but no, the bucket is ruined.

If you are making this, use something you want to throw away, like a Dollar Store bucket, not your favorite pail.

So, here is how you should do it:

Put on gloves

Add two cups of plaster of paris to a throw away bucket
Mix food coloring into one cup of water (we didn't do this, I figured out afterwards that it would be better to stir the food coloring into the water ahead of time, instead of adding it to the mix later)
Have your silicone molds nearby and ready to pour the mixture into ( you can also
pour the mix into small plastic bowls, and after they dry, break the chalk into chunks)
Dump a whole container of fine glitter into the plaster of paris, mix well
Slowly stir in water
Pour into the molds, let sit for a few days
Remove the chalk from the molds and let them sit for a few more days. Ours took over a week to set up when we did it this way, but the chalk was really nice. And the silicone molds made cute shapes.

PS- happy birthday, Bobbie!

A fairy tea party for grandma

bird song art event, cottage, fairies, family, Food and Drink, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 21, 2014

The day after Birdsong ended, my week was just gearing up! We had family in town visiting, and a new kitten joined our family. His name is Terrance Snow Bell Song Bird Nathan. (Terrance was in the Tinkerbell movie)

The monsoons resumed, and the girls made use of the piles of umbrellas we'd had out on the porch earlier.

Guncle Randy, Karen Hillman, and Crafting Queen Regina were in charge of dinner, while my husband grilled chicken. He had rigged up multiple umbrellas and tarps to grill under, and didn't give up, no matter how soggy the day got.

After a quiet-ish day of hanging in the studio and running people to the airport, we had a big family feast. And the next morning, the grand fairies threw a tea party for Great Grandma Joan who had come to visit them.

They had been talking about her visit for months. And had big plans for the tea party. I'm so glad that I didn't listen to my tired body, and that I rallied for this. It meant a lot to the little ones and a person like Joan deserves being the guest of honor at a fairy feast.

She is a dear lady.

Karen and Randy had whipped up a baked squash dish and a pan of roasted potatoes for our dinner the night before. I remade the leftovers into an egg casserole, made home made cinnamon rolls, asparagus wrapped in ham, and fruit salad (left overs too). Just about everything was a reconfigured dish.

The cinnamon rolls were even topped with extra raspberry icing I'd made for the cake I served for dessert on Sunday.

Did I mention that I bought WAY too much food for Birdsong? Luckily, I had a hoard of hungry nephews drop by to visit me on their way to a white water rafting trip. I filled their cooler with cookies and picnic food.

The little girls set the table for me, tea parties are a great learning experience for tiny fairies. Between their enthusiasm (and the smell of fresh baking bread) we had a table full of guests for our party. At first, it was just going to be a handful of us, no one else could make it.

Festivity can be contaigious, and even my Handsome Husband got into the feel of the event. He went and put on a jacket and tie for the party.

With his cargo shorts.

Regina, Guncle Randy, and Karen all delayed thier trip to Kansas City to stay and toast Great Grandma Joan with herbal tea.

I think this photo is hilarious. The breezeway was pretty much trashed, from Birdsong, a big dinner the night before, and the box of empties from the parties hadn't gone out yet. But it just goes to show that you don't have to make everything perfect to have a good time.

If I'd had to completley clean up from the previous parties, I doubt if I'd been able to squeeze one more occasion out of my hospitality drained soul. So, I just ignored the remnants of it all and partied-on.

From the look on this little fairy's face, a bit of mess wasn't even noticeable to her.

Sugarwings took this photo of us saying goodbye.

It was a fun way to see eveyone off and say thanks to the family and friends who had helped me so much all weekend.

Angie’s Birdsong Eve Birthday Bash

bird song art event, wallpaper, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / June 15, 2014

Some of the nicest ladies came to see me last weekend for Birdsong.

Many come from out of town, and my buddy, Angie, was kind to invite them all to her shop for a birthday celebration the night before our event began.

She invited us to her elegant antique store, and served up pizza with style while we chatted, caught up with each other's news, did some shopping, and a little project with Beth.

Beth packed up her legendary vintage supplies and set the group up with a fun project.

To celebrate Angie's birthday, my family and I made some cupcakes. Lavender is her fave, so we picked some fresh blooms from the garden, made an oil infusion with them, strained it and added that to the white cup cake mix.

yum

Now this is my fave too. It was subtle, not a strong lavender. And when we saw how easy it was to do, I decided I want to harvest all my plants to do this with, and freeze the herb infusion to use year round.

My sister-in-law, Terry, and my son both spent Friday baking and chopping with me. I couldn't have got it all done without them, or without Sissy who stayed up till midnight peeling apples for the carmel apple cobbler.

(Sissy had some advice too, too bad I didn't listen. She kept telling me, "Karkie, those are plenty, you don't need that many apples." But I just kept peeling away. I had WAY too many.)

Birdsong itself is very laid back and casual. It was nice to have a reason to spiff up a bit and have a night out before it all began. And what a pretty atmosphere to have a party in! Her shop is so nice. (so is she)

And she set out a donation box for the Ballard Center and raised $300 for families in need.

While this evening is not an official part of the event, it was a welcome addition and I was so pleased that Angie offered to have us all over for her special night.

And it was soooo fun for Beth to share her stash of goodness for everyone to play with and warm up for the weekend's crafting.

It was kind of her to share her collage skills and time with our Peeps.

And it was extra nice for me, because I was "off the clock." I could relax, visit, and enjoy the evening before we got started on Saturday. I am lucky to have friends who pitch in and do such thoughtful things, aren't I?

I loved having a party to attend!