Karla's Cottage – Page 20 – by Karla Nathan

Another Santa Redo and a possible mink hunt

By Karla Nathan / November 17, 2023

I rescued another Santa Claus, this one only one foot, instead of four feet high. So he was a bit easier to redo. I’d love to restyle more little St Nicks, but I’m nearing the end of my white mink stash. I’ve been using it for tiny collars on the dolls I remake into angels too. A little bit goes a long way, and I’ve been tearing up that same tattered stole for years, but now, it’s time to either start hunting minks or find another craft.

For the Santas, I always start with ripping off the ugly patch of white fuzz that passes as a beard and replacing it with curly goat’s hair. I cut away the hat, reshape it more to my liking (or make a new one) the replace it’s fake fur trim with mink.
Now, I’m not against fake fur at all. The problem is that on these dolls, it’s usually the cheapest, ugliest fake fur that the manufacturer could get away with. There are some types that would be perfectly nice, but this stuff usually is so bad that it couldn’t even be good enough for carnival prize stuffed animals.

The jacket trim needs to go next, as well as the plastic belt. For this guy, I added a panel of very old lace down his front and cut a strip of creamy suede to wrap around his bowl full of jelly, I mean, belly. It fastens with a mother of pearl buckle glued into place.

Sometimes I use fur around the cuffs too, but since my supply is low, and also because it was pretty, I made cuffs of tattered velvet. I was lucky with the jacket he wore, it was white brocade with silver thread and I kinda liked it, so left it as is. Some stains and bad spots got covered up with the lace then velvet and the coat looked good as new.

He got a bleached tree to hold. Its base is tied with a velvet ribbon so there was something stable to hold the glue when I put it in his hand. Plus it’s a nice touch.

Since I am not a sewer, the Santas, like all of my fairies and angels, are glued into place. I would be kicked off of Project Runway for sure, but it seems to be okay for these dolls, they have no complaints. And I hate sewing, but love designing clothes for dolls from bits of vintage scraps. So this is what works for me.

Magic time with family

family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 14, 2023

My Florida trip was a week long, divided into three separate adventures that each went by too quickly.

After a spectacular Guncle evening, Terry and Holly picked me up in Jax to drive to Orlando. And you know what happens there, right?

Disney Magic!

They treated me to the Grand Floridian, and its reputation is well deserved. So many subtle, understated and sweet nods to Disney classic movies while keeping its Grand and classy ambiance.

A grown up trip to the parks can be very laid back and comfy. I had two mornings on the balcony with my coffee to relax and simply enjoy being there. Very different than my typical trip, trying to squeeze in as much as I possibly can from the crack of dawn til I fall in bed after midnight.

Although, our first night did go pretty late, but we didn’t get started til evening, and once arriving at Mickey’s Halloween party, we ambled about and took our time. We managed to eat some of the special goodies, do some trick or treating, and practically walk on to every ride we wanted to go on. Lines were minimal, the weather was perfect, friends were delightful, it could the most ideal night at Disney that I could have. (Even though I missed the grandfairies.)

We had discussed Halloween costumes, but that frizzled out, Terry was moving into a new home, I was redoing my studio. Then I thought I’d order Sleeping Beauty Fairy shirts with our names, but instead of Merriweather, Terryweather.

Ran out of time, though. So I looked around town the day before leaving to find Hocus Pocus matching shirts, no luck.

When Terry arrived, I was happily surprised to see that she’d found a trio of cute Sanderson shirts for us!

Terry and Holly are ideal partners at the parks, both love the place as much as I do. They’ve been multiple (zillions) of times, so aren’t rushed, or worried about missing anything. We can check out attractions we’d like to see, or just snack at Epcot Food and Wine and chill out.

I got to see the new, Moana area, and can’t wait to take Sugarwings to it.

And we lucked into a walk up reservation at the new space station restaurant.

We were seated in the lounge, which I discover was another lucky break. There, you have a view of the entire room, and the astronauts working outside the windows. Plus the menu options are better, no set choices.

Holly and I were able to split a meal. And look- a Mickey shaped fillet!

Our time together was as wonderful as the dessert. Thank you, Terryweather and Holly for such a treat of a visit. You guys bring the magic with you!

Guncle time craft day

guncles

By Karla Nathan / November 11, 2023

On my recent getaway to the sunshine state, my first stop was Guncleland on Sweet Cherry Lane.

We had one night to make enough ornaments to fill a small tree, but well, we got a little side tracked.

In a fun way of course.

There were doggies to snuggle, interesting neighbors to meet, and fresh, delicious piles of shrimp to savor. Oh and wine, there was of course, wine to drink as we chatted, caught up, and giggled.

But serious crafting too! We’d worked on embellishing old violins when the boys came to KS in September, but Randy wasn’t pleased with his. He liked the wood grain, and was glad he hadn’t painted it, but felt that it wasn’t pulled together.

We gave it a quick makeover by removing some of the decor, and adding sheet music. Over that we stuck to a wings and roses theme to make it feel more cohesive.

There was a broken German figure on his desk, and some wings, and well, lots and lots of intriguing bits and pieces to sift through. I gathered what was in front of me and made it into this fairy to hang on his tree.

Then we moved onto some more traditional holiday goodies. I’d brought a few vintage card scrap pages from an album, he had wooden discs from Hobby Lobby.

We didn’t talk about a color theme or style, we just started making ornies.

I’d also brought some of my Nutcracker images that I’d been using for my Good Juju display. So their tree will have quite a mix match of hand made pretties, won’t it?

We could’ve used a few more days of this, I love crafting with my baby bro and being with his sweet family in Jax. Our time was way too short. But I had more adventures to come all jammed into one, way too short, week.

Venice Beach seashell fairy

fairies, family, sea shell fairies, Travel

By Karla Nathan / November 8, 2023

My trip to Florida was just the best. It was broken up into segments, a Guncle visit with crafting, Disney with Terry and Holly, then beach time with Sissies, Aunties, and sweet nieces.

We stayed at Turtle Beach on Siesta Key, and while I loved the company, I wasn’t thrilled with the beach, my shelling was limited until we took a day trip to Venice to hunt for shark teeth.

Hey, I do not mean to sound down on Turtle Beach, it is a lovely spot. I had just never stayed there, and expected a similar experience from further north on the island where we usually stay. It was so nice to be directly on the water and to walk right out on the sand.

Venice just happened to have more shells. And Shark Teeth, too! I found a couple but was more interested in making my beach fairy there.

And I found a treasure trove of broken shells to use. I think the wings are some of the nicest I have ever found. I was tempted to pocket them, but I like to leave my Faye behind as a thank you to nature, and pulling off her wings did not feel right at all.

Lots of shells do come home with me, but those haven’t been used to create my little friends yet. I did gather up a lot of potential fairy shells last year to make resin shell fairies at home, but they are still packed away, waiting their turn to get Pinocchio-ed into being.

Nutcracker Ballet Creations

antiques/junking, fairies, Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 4, 2023

Over the years, I’ve collected ballet slippers, and this overflowing box of daintiness inspired a theme for one corner of my booth.

So I kept my eyes open to other items to fit in with a Nutcracker Ballet design.

I was thrilled to come across this toy solider outfit!

Then came across wooden nutcracker cut outs, perfect to embellish with vintage, sparkly bits, paint, and even white mink.

My grand fairies have out grown (in size and desire) all of their little pink tutus and dance costumes, so I felt like this display was a fitting farewell to the items.

One garage sale I visited this summer had these ballerina prints. I added paint, glitter, and gemstones to them for a new life.

I made sweet, candy colored trees and sugarplum fairies, gathered up crowns and crafted some of my own crowns too.

My booth is SMALL. So the ballet goodies are all cozied up in a cabinet together with a little table in front. Sugary sweetness is pouring out of every inch.

To pull it together, I copied sheet music from the show to use as back drops.

There are hand painted and embellished little nutcrackers too, but I don’t think I got photos. Here are some ornaments I made with character images, glitter, and vintage paper.

This was such a fun idea to take and run with for the holiday. I’ll let you know how it goes over at our First Friday weekend (which is still going on today). And I’ll leave you with a few more pics.

November set up for Good Juju

Good JuJu, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 1, 2023

This week is First Fridays in the Old West Bottoms.

I was going for a winter wonderland look.

In front, I have traditional reds and greens with an old fashioned, childlike feeling.

One corner has a nutcracker ballet theme.

Besides the wooden, flat Stanley style, nutcrackers that I painted and embellished, I collected tutus, figurines, and decorated ballet slippers.

There is one cabinet across the booth that is still devoted to fall with some Thanksgiving flair.

This wall is centered on Trees.

And lots of them!

Here is a view of the fall section. And my empty boxes and tubs next to it, oops.

These lanterns are filled with mini trees, deer, and snow. I should get some close ups of my favorite creations.

Wait a minute, who am I kidding? They are all my faves! I love decorating for Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

Good JuJu

By Karla Nathan / October 31, 2023

For the October sale at Good Juju, some of us dressed in costume. I’m always excited to have a reason to wear my witchy ball gown.

And to do some face painting.

I hope your Halloween is filled with spooky fun!

Return to the night of the Living Dead, the Downtown Lawrence Zombie Parade!

Food and Drink, holiday decor, Ryan, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / October 29, 2023

Over the last decade or so, October has come to be the month when I take a trip.

So, I often miss the downtown Lawrence Zombie parade.

I’ve gotten to go here and there, when the timing is right. And the weather too. Typically, KS can be at its best on a late, October evening. But could also be an onslaught of freezing rain, so you never know.

This year? Perfection! And half the town agreed. The streets were as full of living people as they were of the dead.

We were lucky to find not only a parking spot, but at seat outside at a favorite restaurant so we could eat dinner while enjoying the invasion of corpses.

That’s where our lucky streak stopped dead in it’s tracks.

The line was so long to get a bowl of ramen that we were given a number to be called out when it was our turn to wait to order.

Just about then, the lunch ladies stumbled by, but we stuck with our plan to wait and eat later.

It was too bad we didn’t get to slurp noodles and pretend they were guts, but hey, you can’t win them all.

And it was such a gory, good time. We didn’t mind waiting for dinner.

We sat back in our perfect seats, guessed the back stories of the ghouls as they strolled by, and critiqued the acting.

Some of even the littlest kids were quite committed to their part.

But to me, it seemed like the people who were into it the most were grown men.

Many walkers chatted away with others in their group. Some played the part well, though And this gal was on her phone. Or was she purposely doing that because teenage girls are teenage girls weather zombified or not.

And teens do love their phones. I can imagine that even turning wouldn’t separate a young girl from her device.

When the walk was winding down, we tried to do a call in take out order for food just in case, but the wait was still quite long. And when we spied that the line was dwindling, we checked inside to find out they were out of noodles.

I don’t know how many zombies paraded through Lawrence, but we watched them lurch by for about an hour and a half.

They start at the south end of town, about 11th street, walk up one sidewalk to 6th, then down the other sidewalk back to their crypts, or cars, or wherever they end up.

We noticed that many of them trickled into the downtown bars and restaurants after their hungry march, so the options for takeout just got smaller for us.

As we looked into the windows of restaurants we passed on the way to our car, we saw them full of hungry zombies.

We figured we’d be cooking at home, then noticed there was a lull in the line at Chipotle.

I mentioned that I’d only eaten there once since Ryan died, it had been a favorite of his and held too many memories for me. Back in January, Sugarwings had the idea to eat burritos and watch zombies on tv on Ryan’s birthday, and it had been emotional, but satisfying.

So we thought it was fitting to pick up a bag of food there to take home with us and watch something scary at home while eating in honor of him. We walked right up to the counter, just to see the line immediately fill up behind us as the horde poured in to feed. One more lucky stroke for us, and Sugarwings said Ryan was with us and had guided us that way. He loved zombies and burritos, we would celebrate him with a dinner of Chipotle and more walking dead.

I was so glad that everything about the evening worked out like it did. We almost didn’t go because someone, not naming names here, was late with a bit of schoolwork.

I told them that I really, really wanted to be there on time to get a seat, and reminded the kid of just how much I loved this event. I said, “You know how much you love sea turtles? I feel that way about zombies. They are my favorite animal. I’m sorry there isn’t a sea turtle parade to take you to, but you could finish your homework and take me to the zombie parade .”

Homework was completed, we got seats, parking, and even dinner. (By the way, Sugarwings has some pretty good grades that need to be mentioned, I’m proud of that and they way the homework got finished in time).

It was my idea of a lovely, fall evening.

A visit with Peeps

friends, studio tour

By Karla Nathan / October 26, 2023

My friend, Maggie, was visiting from the west coast, so I hosted a craft day with local peeps in her honor.

Everyone brought their own crafts and a side for lunch, I made a meatloaf and bread.

Angie made this lovely trifle with fresh whipped cream, which tasted even better than it looked.

Over the years, I have discovered that sheets of white poster board work best on my craft tables to cover up all of the stains and wear.

Previously, I’d either taped down craft paper, or used throw away table cloths.

To dress up the plain white, I make placemats of scrapbook paper with names.

And some quick little doodles.

Of course, once we get to making things, you don’t even see the table. If you’re doing it right, that is!

I was working on Xmas goodies. My booth is all set up, ready for the November First Friday weekend, so now I’m making stuff to refill it for December.
It was exhausting to redo the space immediately after the October sale, but there is no way I could comfortably leave on vacation without having it complete before taking off.

After getting my billions of buckets of holiday inventory tagged and arranged, I was finally able to relax and enjoy a sweet day with friends. I was sure ready to sit back, snip and glue while chatting. Just perfect!

And thank you, Angie for the white roses, all wrapped up so special.

Fall at the Cottage

cottage, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / October 23, 2023

With this week’s trip to a Florida, I’ll be missing some Halloween time, so I figured that I’d take advantage of friends visiting to spook up my house a bit.

The black and white violins that Guncle Randy and I made on his visit are still on the table, so I used them as part of the decor, added pumpkins, ravens, and then hung the ballerina bats above it all on the chandelier.

And anything looks better under glass. I love to fill my cloches with seasonal things.

The mushrooms have been renamed “poison toadstools” for October.

And OMG, look at the gourd shaped like a swan! It’s a dark, almost black green that I’ll keep for now. Next month, I’ll paint her pearl white and add a crown for winter.

My decorations were pretty easy. I have one drawer that holds my autumn stuff, plus a few pumpkins I also use to give my Good Juju booth some fall flair.

Just enough to give the house a little pick me up. That helps on these days that are getting a little chilly and shorter so that I’m inside more.