Karla's Cottage – Page 11 – by Karla Nathan

Sometimes ya gotta break a few rules

cottage, family, Food and Drink, games, Halloween treats

By Karla Nathan / September 17, 2024

Sugarwings and I have a strict rule.

You can drink cocoa any time at all. But you cannot have a cocoa party unless you sit in front of a glowing Christmas tree.

Then I saw this teapot at Homegoods, and our rule loosened up.

It inspired a Halloween themed cocoa display.

Complete with a glass cauldron to hold our spoons and rat poison additives for deliciousness. (We did not use the jar to hold any foodstuffs, it’s just for fun)

We got some skelly cups to drink our potions from.

With skelly napkins to mop up drips of blood. I mean, chocolate.

We invited a little witch to join us.

Then added some mood lighting.

The new rule, in addition to the Christmas tree rule, is that cocoa parties can only be held with the proper ambient lighting, ghostly paraphernalia, and a scary movie on the tv.

Skeleton fairies at the cottage

cottage, Halloween treats, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / September 14, 2024

This fall, I hadn’t planned on going full tilt Halloween around the house.

But I’d enjoyed spookifying my Good Juju booth so much, and I had family coming, so I indulged in ghoulishing up a few corners of my cottage.

Most is pretty simple, white pumpkins and crowns, a few glass pumpkins with lighting.

But we have some skellies too. This fairy skeleton is glittered and perched onto a poison toadstool. Her wings were harvested from a cicada and then laminated I think they have a bit of a skeletal look themselves.

I have a good time making decorations for any holiday, but I have to admit that I seriously LOVE the lit, glass punkins from Homegoods I only allowed myself a couple. I’d love to have a roomful.

Of course, you always need witches too.

And funky witch boots.

I’ve sprinkled some glittered crows around too.

This candle was from a garage sale. It isn’t my style exactly, but I liked it. So I guess that means it is my style for spooky season?

Talk about a change of looks for me- get ahold of that shower curtain.

My first seasonal curtain switch, ever. My sister, Bobbie, changed hers out for each holiday. Things like that made her happy, and she had collections for all seasons. On her birthday this year, I decided to honor her tradition by starting one of my own. Typically, I prefer vintage fabric, but I have to admit this makes a statement. And is a lot of fun.

I just might find myself shopping for a Xmas one too.

It looks good in person, you never know for sure when shopping online, but I really like it.

Angels made with vintage half dolls

collections, cottage, fairies, guncles

By Karla Nathan / September 11, 2024

Last winter, I’d made a tree topper fairy for Guncle Randy, using a pin cushion doll. He had a collection of those and brought them to share with me and make some more.

Some we crafted onto empty tp rolls covered in vintage paper to make into tree toppers again, the rest were simply built to hang. Probably on a tree at the holidays?

But not necessarily. We took our bounty of beauties and hung them onto my chandelier to decorate for a birthday luncheon. They aren’t exactly Christmas ornies, they’d just look exquisite on a tree at the holidays.

This one, this queen of all pin cushion royalty, she would rule wherever she was placed. Oh my, what a gorgeous doll she is, no matter what I do with her or how she got jazzed up.

The day before, I’d found this onyx lamp base at a garage sale, it cost under a dollar. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, til Randy sat this woman onto the top of the stone.

Oh my, she found her home!

I started to deck her out for the holidays, but soon realized she needed to be a daily part of my life, so no golden tinsel or shiny brites got added after all.

Thank you, baby bro, I love her!

Fall family and farm stuff

cottage, family, Food and Drink, guncles

By Karla Nathan / September 8, 2024

We had such a nice time with the Guncles! Randy and I even got a full day in the studio together to make angels with the pin cushion dolls he brought to use.

We had a couple of dog walks, enjoying the mellow weather that came with the beginning of September.

Terry and Dale swang by on the way home from their long Florida to Canada drive. It was almost becoming an accidental family reunion. At least a mini one, Rich has a huge family.

We hadn’t planned it out this way, it just luckily happened that Terry and Dale were driving through while Guncles were visiting.

Little Dorothy got plenty of snuggles. She loves it when these guys come to town.

The visit wasnt all just about strolling around, chatting, and cutting up old lace, though. Stuff got done! Rich and Kevin cleaned the chicken coop, then picked apples and green beans from the garden. We peeled until late into the night, cooking and freezing apples for pie.

Rich brought in the honey comb from the hives and we got it bottled up. There wasn’t a big harvest this year, but that doesn’t change the amount of cleanup afterwards. Whether you get one gallon or five, you are still left with a kitchen full of sticky equipment. But also delicious honey to share, so all is good. I made up a charcuterie board that included a bowl of gooey honey comb that was worth all of the wiping down with warm soapy water that the kitchen required.

Speaking of honeycomb, check out this sky we were treated to after finishing the bee job! A sky filled with glowing honeycomb.

We might not be in Florida with fresh seafood, but the Guncles still worked their butts off feeding us great meals. One night was Kevin’s famous grilled turkey burgers, next was Randy’s signature lemon chicken, and then on my night to cook, Kevin took over and made fresh marinara sauce with chicken parm. All I did while they were here was a little bit of bread.

On our final night, Sugarwings hosted a Hocus Pocus cocoa party.

Complete with eyeballs on the cobbler made with the apples from our tree. I might not enjoy the time it takes to cut up all of that fruit, but it was made easier by so many hands, and I loved having loved ones here to share “the fruits of our labor” with.

These two couples who came to see us might technically be Rich’s family, but they each own huge chunks of real estate in my heart and I consider them my sibs too. Thanks for the visit, everyone!

Part Three of the Fall Display

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, Halloween treats

By Karla Nathan / September 4, 2024

Here is part three of my spooky corner at Good Juju, a little less scary than the creepy doll parts, skellies, and poison toadstools.

This side is full of sparkly crows wearing crowns.

And a few traditional fall colors.

Hmm, I think I forgot the price tag on this black metal planter. There are always a few things that slip through.

I brought in my hand painted clothing too.

And a couple of banners.

As always, it’s jammed in pretty tightly.

The entryway features my previously floral umbrellas and white wisteria. Both got spritzed with black spray paint and hung up high along with some witchy hats.

After it was done, I looked up at it and pondered what was missing. Then added a “haunted” sign to the Karla’s Cottage. It’s only on a piece of paper, and not quite where I wanted it, its as high as I could reach from my ladder.

But it made me smile..

The creepiest of the items I have to offer for First Friday weekend at Good Juju

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, Halloween treats

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2024

Doesn’t this baby has a look on its face that says he is a bit shocked to have become a bat?

But I think this ballerina bat seems joyful to keep dancing even after they thought they were done.

All the skellies in my booth got some foofing up.

Including the bride.

I think those owls might actually be love birds, huh?

In honor of the season, I no longer have mushrooms, they are all Poison Toadstools.

They are offered up in a variety of colors and styles.

Some are being used as perches for glittering, crowned crows.

And some are stowed away in apothecary jars for when you need just a pinch of toodstool for your potion.

These genuine stone ones are on leather cords to wear around your neck. I am sure they can be used to ward off some sort of evil.

Or if you are more into growing your own patch of toodstools, maybe you need a plant stake to stick in the dirt with them? Sugarwings and I made up some spooky season inspired stakes that can also double as magic wands.

All year, I have been gathering up creepy goods and making haunting crafts for this sale. I was thrilled to find these very vintage doll eyes.

And a concrete gargoyle to watch over a haunted mansion. (I won’t be too disappointed if he doesn’t sell, I think he’d enjoy staying with me at the cottage).

I’ve made up zombie brooches and bags of body parts, and have bits of dolls.

If you have a poltergeist infestation, who ya gonna call? Well, I don’t know if KC has any ghost busters around, but here is the ideal phone to use if there are.

Oh, and if you happen to have a young vampire in your home, maybe toddler aged, here is a tiny tux for your creature of the night to look his best in.

A Practical Magic inspired corner of my booth

antiques/junking, Good JuJu, Halloween treats

By Karla Nathan / August 30, 2024

It’s a relief when I get my booth set up in advance of First Fridays.

I try to do it right after the previous sale instead of waiting til right before the next one. The only downfall is the dustiness of the old building. Especially on the jewelry, so I wait to bring out the sparklies till closer to the event.

The Halloween theme has been a hoot (and not just from the owls), I’ve enjoyed every creepy corner. I’ve made an effort an effort to have lots of spooky season goods, but also have a bit of a Romantic Gothic Ghosts thing happening. Or more of a Practical Magic look? That is what I call this part of it.

My owl and crow watercolors are set out on a mantel that hangs over wallpaper with a dark and moody, haunted house feel.

I filled the shelf with necessary items that a witch would require to make potions.

While pictures of their familiars peeked out from behind the bottles.

Of course, there is a selection of handcrafted brooms available too. No two are alike, because what witch would want to show up at an event and see another crone riding the exact same broomstick? The embarrassment!

While I was at Good Juju laying out my jewelry to finish up, I took some videos around the shop, and will be posting them to Instagram and as reels on FB. Many are behind the scenes, sneak peeks of booths in process of setting up. If you want to see more around the warehouse, please take a look. I’m Karlanathan on IG.

As summer ends

family

By Karla Nathan / August 26, 2024

Where did the season go? It’s been a laid back, slow summer with flusters of activity on weekends when Rich is in town from his consulting job in Nebraska. While he’s gone, I make a lot in the studio, watch a lot on tv at night, but rarely do much around the house.

When he is back, we go to the dog park, do yard work, I cook a bit, we sit in the gazebo in the evening for a glass of wine and watch hens scratch for worms. Now, you might not think chicken watching sounds like much, but after a day of hard work (Rich does most of that, he works all week then drives three hours home to work all weekend), it’s very peaceful to sit in a shady spot and watch the various hierarchies in the flock play out. There is usually some drama, as well as some sister bonding time between them.

One weekend, Rich picked a couple sinkfuls of our apples, we peeled and cooked them up to freeze. I have enough for pies on the major holidays for the upcoming year. We have more on the tree, and might tackle them this week.

After Rich climbed back into the truck and headed back north, I noticed there were pears in another tree. So I pulled the ladder out and picked the ones I could reach. After getting the easiest ones, I stared up, wondering how I could get more. They are big, solid, and perfect so I didn’t want to miss any.

I tried pulling a branch down toward me, but with my rotator cuff tear along with a fear of heights, I didn’t get far in shaking any free. So I looked up and contemplated it some more.

My branch wiggling must’ve loosened one, because as I stared upwards, one giant, unripe, hard as a brick pear fell from way, way up at the top of the tree, right onto my upturned nose.

With my history of head knocks and concussions, my first thought was, well, here I go again. But nope, besides having an extremely sore face and a mild bruise, I was fine. As a clumsy person prone to accidents, I was pretty proud of the fact that I stayed on the ladder, didn’t get a black eye, nothing broke.

But the other pears are still up in the tree. Mocking me with their deliciousness, taunting me to try again.

I'm not falling for it. I know I was dang lucky to stay on the ladder last time.

The weather for August has been remarkable. I have rarely turned the air conditioner on at all. In the evenings, my cottage in the elm and mulberry trees has a nice breeze blowing through the screens. During the day, my studio seems to mostly stay cool on it’s on. It’s felt more like late September, early October than summery temps.

Weirdly, I feel like this summer just melted away from me somehow, and now all of a sudden it’s gone. Maybe it has to do with selling the boat? No trips out on the lake after 29 years out there? I do not feel like I missed boating, but I guess it did define our seasons.

Maybe it’s grief? I miss my sister, and our calls. She lived a few states away, but we were always in contact. I’m grieving for her, still grieving for my boy. Summer is slipping away, seasons pass, but my heart doesn’t heal.

Well, death is part of life, I go on, I stay busy, I appreciate what I have and what beauty each season brings. What I can create. And the people I have in my life. But that grief is always there.

Today would’ve been my sister’s birthday. But I miss her everyday.

Yep, more bracelets, this time I tried a daisy design

jewelry

By Karla Nathan / August 24, 2024

I remember making seed bead daisy necklaces back in the 70s and thought I’d try to whip up a few more now. Trouble is, I’m not a fan of that type of bead anymore and hoped to use genuine stones.

The trouble with that, was that the holes are too small to get the elastic through twice.

I did have these vintage, Made in Japan beads, and they worked so-so.

But you know what works perfect? Medium sized seed beads from Hobby Lobby.

So I raided the grand fairies’ stash and made Swifty styled ones.

My heart wasn’t in it if I couldn’t play with my beloved stones and gems, so I went back to my own cabinet filled with sparkling delight and made mermaid bracelets for Sugarwings’ mama’s birthday. While I was at it, I made a dozen (or more, you know how I am) Halloween colored ones for Juju.

A Wonderful, Wonder Horse Redo

Hand painted, how-to projects

By Karla Nathan / August 20, 2024

Last month at the Good Juju venue, I had a western/equestrian theme going. In it, I used vintage Wonder Horses.

Here is how it looked on display.

Now that I am done with that idea, I thought I’d reuse them for the holidays, but turn them into more of a carrousel look. First step was primer.

Then a textured white paint as the base, a darker color for the mane and tail, black for hooves. I painted the saddles tan.

The eyes were painted with the same black and tan, then I brushed a coffee colored glaze over the entire horsey, a little bit at a time, wiping off as I went.

To give them the holiday sparkle that I was looking for, I covered the tan “leather” with Elmer’s glue and sprinkled a shimmery gold powder over them. After that dried, I used a silver Rub N Buff to highlight some areas.

The plan is to hang them from the ceiling over the entryway of my booth. I have gold glittered ornaments and vines to use too.

I’ll put dowel rods through the holes, and suspend them from fishing line tied to the rods. This project makes me so excited to decorate for Christmas!

But then again, I always am counting down till I get to do that.