Karla's Cottage – Page 211

Frazzled, but happy

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 26, 2010

Agnes Rosebud and I are almost worn to a frazzle by Christmas. But not quite yet, two parties left to go! We'll have to muster some cheer and hang on to that last frazzle of strength to get us through.

Looking at Sugarwings' happy little face is usually all it takes for me. Although a nap doesn't sound bad… I wouldn't mind curling up on the pillow with the pup.

Ever notice, that no matter how soft the surface is, whether it is a couch or a bed, or a chair- that a little dog will always climb up on a pillow or blanket that is lying there? Like the sofa itself isn't quite soft enough, they need a pillow too.

Tonight is our dinner for 21, which is a pitch in meal, so should be easy to make. I'm keeping it simple so I can relax and enjoy the company. I'm still making a few gifts in the studio, then need to re-fluff the space into a dining room. But I'll leave an area set aside for artwork, while dinner is cooking, we'll be making projects out there.

So far, its been the loveliest weekend, ever. Even if I am worn out by all of Sugarwing's excitment and energy. She has stayed all night with us a few nights this week, but tonight is the one when Santa is coming to our house. Her mommy is having a sleepover here too. We are making pancakes again in the morning, along with a salmon quiche after we see what Santa has brought.

Friday morning, we took our fairy grand baby to the restaurant that her Daddy cooks at part time while he is trying to build up his massage/energy work business. Since he had to work on Christmas Eve, we thought we'd come to see him and eat our breakfast there.

Sugarwings ordered a strawberry pancake and her father surprised her with a Santa face on it.

Its the happy little fun details that have made this Christmas so wonderful. Cuddling up to watch Rudolf, painting each other's noses red just like our favorite deer's nose, having a hot cocoa party every night before bed, drawing pictures with a pen shaped like Frosty. Nothing that costs much, but lots of happy Holiday things to do together.

The last few days, an elf has come in to our home and hidden her candy cane that she needs for stirring her hot chocolate. So, she has had to follow clues around the house to lead her to the treasure. After jumping up and down with glee a bit when finding the jackpot candy cane, we pull her table over in front of her pink lit Christmas tree, and have our party.

I hope your Christmas has been one to cherish too. Ours is full of good memories, and more to come. I'd better go color on my Rudolf nose and get busy before the guests arrive.

I've been reading my comments and emails on my magic phone, but haven't had a chance to answer any. Thanks for the Christmas wishes! And that I am wishing the Merriest of Christmas seasons right back at you!

Merry Christmas!

celebrations

By Karla Nathan / December 25, 2010

Wishing you the Merriest of Christmases, from all of the Nathan Family!

Baby pictures!

family, holiday decor, parties

By Karla Nathan / December 22, 2010

Sunday was Girl's Night Out with the moms of my two grand fairies. We brought along this little sugarplum since she never leaves her momma's side.

There is something really nice about having daughters. Now, my sons are the best, and I love them to pieces. And Sugarwing's daddy is the most sensitive, caring man you'll ever meet. He is a good listener and a wonderful person to talk to. I'm always surprised at the wisdom that comes out of his mouth, but crazy boy grew up to be a thoughful man, with an amazing outlook on life.

We'll always have a special relationship and he and I best friends as well as mom and son.

But, I was raised with two sisters and we were always close with our mom. So, I'm used to girl time and missed it, raising two boys.

I am now doubly blessed that I have my boys as well as these girls! Also that my sassy Hippy Chick and my sweet Gypsy Beloved are friends and we can have a laughter filled evening out on the town as a group. We enjoyed it so much, we will make it a tradition and hit the town together again for Mother's Day.

We are all going to be together for Christmas Dinner along with Beth and her family, and my brother-in-law's family (with little Pixie Pie) here in the studio the day after Christmas.

We'll have 21 here for the day, so my table scape will get another workout! I'll be adjusting and squeezing in some tables to make us all fit, but basically, the center pieces will stay the same. They have sure gotten plenty of use this year!

I'm also hoping we can do a craft project while waiting for the meal to begin. Everyone is bringing a side dish, and a friend just sent us a Honey Baked Ham (we call those Pork Candy) so we'll be having an easy meal. And we will pretend that there is no such thing as cholesterol.

There should be time to play too! I bought paper clay and hope to make up some snow balls ahead of time, so we can transform them into snowmen ornaments.

Some of our guests for last Saturday's dinner party brought their pup, from Twinkle's previous litter. Funny to see her next to Agnes Rosebud, who is about a 1/3 her size! They hit it off, though and had a great time together.

(my husband said they look like Danny Devito and Arnold from the movie Twins)

They would have had even more fun, if BUTTON had come…. Beth seemed to think that I don't want dogs at my dinner parties. Like she has never been here before??? We teased her about it all night. I guess she thought it was going to be fancy and dogs weren't allowed. She knows better now and is bringing him for our Christmas dinner this weekend.

Aggie Rose can stop looking so sad when her best friend gets here to play.

Beth brought me this embellished burlap bag filled with Shiny Brite ornament box tags. She has a pdf on her blog for you to print some for yourself too. I've already tied a couple to gifts, they really add a nice touch!

Of course, I still dont' have all my shopping done, so there has not been much to wrap yet… hope you are all done and enjoying this last week festivities before the big day comes!

Fall into winter decor

celebrations, Food and Drink, hand painted signs, holiday decor, parties

By Karla Nathan / December 21, 2010

The dinner party on Saturday night was such fun. The trick was making all the food the day before, so I could just pop the pans in the oven and let them cook till it was time for the party. No fuss at all, I could relax and enjoy my friends.

In the afternoon before they arrived, I had time to make up some little trees to set out on the table, then give away at the end of the night.

This one has a B for Beth.

If all of this set up looks familiar, its because I've been using the same tablescape all season.

These are the same glittered pumpkins that I used for Halloween. I just removed the most overtly Halloween themed stuff, then added some Fall/Thanksgiving things and then when that holiday was over, I added some Christmas flair to the setting.

Like this green glitter fairy from Walmart for $1. They had them in all colors, but had sold out of everyone but green at my local store. But I think it kind of fits the look of my table and adds a punch of color.

Plus, I'll be able to use them again for spring time decor.

Since the basis for the table scape was all neutral, and lots of nature inspired pieces, it seemed to flow from season to season with just a few changes here and there.

Like tucking in some glittered stars-

A few of my bottle brush trees-

Some art work from Romantic White Christmas-

3 French hens (there is another one somewhere)-

Holiday messages of joy-

And more stars, this one is backed with fringed sheet music.

Way back before everything got cold and wintery, I picked these branches of lavender and hydrangea and put them in water. The water evaporated and the plants dried. I have a feeling that this will be on my table till Spring comes around and I can pick some replacements from the garden.

The treat cabinet got a mini makeover for the party, a few vintage ornaments tucked and hung here and there-

And some hand painted signs that I made a while back.

The two signs don't really fit the style of the rest of the room, but they are so colorful, fun, and holiday-ish that I had to add them. With grandbabies around, Santas and Frosties are a must whether they match or not!

This season, I've gotten a lot of use from my treat cart too.

The glittered letters spelling JOY are still on the bottom shelf, but now I've added a strand of lights to them.

The coffee service has been popular through all my parties this month too. For this one, I set out hot chocolate with candy canes, marshmallows, cinnamon sticks, shaved chocolate, whipped cream, and the bottle of 150 year old Grand Marnier as well as decaf coffee.

Its such a simple thing to do. No cooking, no work beyond shaving the chocolate. (I used a vegetable peeler and a big bar of chocolate) but it packs a lot of style and gets a lot of attention from guests. With a store bought cheesecake and a some cookies that the kids decorated that night, it was a tasty dessert for very little effort on my part.

I like to do things the easy way, but make them look special.

I'm VERY lucky, of course, to have the studio dining tables that I can set up and leave as is for a whole season of entertaining and not have them be in the way. If I'd had to take all this down and set it up each time I had guests, I doubt if I'd have had so much company!

Two more parties to go…. Can't wait! One is the day after Christmas so I get to extend my holiday cheer past the 25th, lucky, lucky me!!

I'm linking with Faded Charm and White Wednesdays for this post.

A Christmas Elf

Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2010

This is what happens when I ask Sugarwings to pose. Which explains why most of my photos of her are candid shots!

(you can click on the mosaic to see details in a larger picture)

I'm off to send packages, finish my shopping and wrap presents. I kind of feel like Sugarwings looks in the photo collage. Zip-zip-zipping around. Busy as a bee right now.

Holly Jolly

celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 18, 2010

Sugarwing's school play was cute as can be.

The whole family came out to watch her and Mr. Fin, who sang his little heart out. He was enjoying his moment in the lime light and really got into performing.

Sugarwings, on the other hand, was just having a good time, and sometimes plain old forgot to sing.

This afternoon, I'm getting ready for another holiday party. Can you believe Christmas is almost here??? I don't like to think about it being so soon, because that means it will soon be past too. I want to waller in every moment of the season and soak up all the joy I can. The holidays make me happy as a pig in mud.

If possible, I want to squeeze in another craft day with my local art friends. Last week, some Kansas City buddies came by for a holiday art day and we created these dress forms. Normallly, craft day is individual projects, but this time, we did a group effort and I taught a class on how to build these maniquins based on a Barbie doll model.

Its interesting to see how different everything comes out, when we were all doing the exact same thing. Except for this dress form, she was made with a vintage doll as the model and kind of came out potato shaped. But we added a couple of ruffles and gave her some curves and I think that she turned out lovely. (I've picked up a few tips from years of watching What Not To Wear!)

Since tis the season, some of us decided to transform them into angels. Mine is going to be part of the table decor for my dinner party tonight.

I'd better get busy… We have 15 for dinner and I'm arranging chairs at the studio tables. I've had the Christmas music blaring all afternoon while I finish up a few little things I've been making. But now its time to get the party details in line. Lettuce to wash, appetisers to make, wine to chill.

I made up the food yesterday, veggie lasagna, stuffed mannicotti, and meatballs. Ready to pop in the oven. I also made 4 batches of Christmas cookies and have goodies out for kids to decorate them tonight. Don't you think a freshly decorated cookie tastes better than just about anything else? And kids love to do their own.

I'm off to work! Hope your weekend is a jolly one too.

Angels, fairies, and snow princesses

celebrations, fairies, family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, parties, Sugarwings, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / December 16, 2010

We had a Kid's Holiday Party yesterday and the little ones indulged me with a little dress up play and modelling.

I tried to make the photo part quick so they would think it was fun, then got them back to the main event- goodies, and art projects.

We had hot cocoa with all the fixins, eggnog, brownies, pumpkin bars, veggies, and rollups. It was an early out day for school, so the party was from 2-5, so these weren't meant for dinner, just after school snacks.

We had a couple different projects to do too. I picked up a dozen Santa hats from the dollar store, and a bagful of half price holiday floral pics from Hobby Lobby. There really is a lot of fun stuff on those wire picks, jingle bells, flowers, pretend candies, glittered leaves, etc. I just took some wire cutters and separated all the big sprigs into individual pieces, easy for gluing on to the hats and set out a few other fun tid bits for them to have at too. There is always plenty of extra goodies around the studio to share.

They got to make some chip board ornaments too, and all the mommies each made a couple of those for their trees too.

We ended up not getting photos of all the kids. The boys weren't as interested in posing, and my fairy grand girls were busy with playing and artwork. I can catch them later for pictures, though.

A few years back, I painted a Christmas tree mural on plywood and had cup hooks on the tree branches to sell ornaments off of at antique shows. Now, I bring the mural in from the shed and set it in my living room for the holidays. With a few other props in front of it, it made a good backdrop for the pictures.

This morning, I've been doing some editing to the pictures. I LOVE PICNK!!!!!!!!

Playing with hand tinted photos is almost as much fun as painting, but easier and quicker! And way, way too addictive.

I should be out doing some Christmas shopping instead of playing with pictures.

But can you see why I love doing it so much, when I have such gorgeous little models to work with?

I'll get some prints made and maybe these can be some of my Christmas gifts this year.

Its been a hectic, busy, Christmas packed couple of weeks. Before the trip, I had my book club bash, then while we were in Virginia, we were treated to a holiday office party dinner out with my husband's co-workers.

Since I've been back, I have had Sugarwing's school play, craft day, and his little kid party. Plus a couple of Sugarwing Sleepover nights, and those are a party in themselves….

Tomorrow is a party at a friend's and Saturday I'm having another dinner party.

And do I have presents purchased and wrapped? Heck no.

I thought about shopping while in Virginia, but my family is not easy to buy for. I can't just pop into JCPenny and buy a gift for any of them. They like specialty items, dance costumes, art supplies, hand made stuff, or recycled goodies. So, I've put it off.

Those hand made items are going to be biting me on the butt if I don't get moving on them…. I have hopes to do some small paintings for the kid's rooms.

Waiting till the last minute, then throwing one party after another might not have been the smartest holiday plan…

I'm afraid that by the time I get done with all my parties, and its time to do that last minute gift rush, I'll be feeling like Sugarwings was last night after the party!

(no editing can help this little model, I'm afraid- she partied hard)

Did I mention that there was face painting at the party too? I painted the kids' and they reciprocated by painting mine.

My hair is still a bit crisp from the paint.

One of the few gifts that I bought and have ready to give, has to be returned! I bought matching fairy gowns for Pixie Pie and Sugarwings at Tuesday Morning for $10 each, and Pixie Pie showed up wearing the same dress for the party!

She looks so beautiful in it, I just knew it was the perfect dress for her. But now, what do I give her?

While we are talking about gifts, I need to announce the winner of the 1,000,000th visitor giveaway.

Thanks so much for leaving all the kind comments about my milestone! I wish I had a gift for you all (but as you just heard me complaining about- I don't even have gifts for my family for Christmas yet!)

This gift goes to:

Pat Spone (no blog) Pat, please send me your address and I'll get your gift in the mail.

Holiday goods

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), holiday decor, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / December 13, 2010

We are back from our trip, and had a lovely time. So good, that my jeans don't want to zip up.

We wined and dined, and I was pretty lazy. I thought I'd get out and shop but I didn't. Instead, I hung out in the room, read two books and made up a few dozen felted nests and rosettes.

I'm going to extend the drawing for the 1,000,000th visitor gift drawing. I kept getting the date wrong when I mentioned it in previous posts. Some said the 12th, others said the 14th. Sorry! So, we'll have the drawing after midnight on the 14th

Just leave a comment on this post.

Felted nests and rosettes was a great project for a hotel room. All I had to pack for it were a couple sweaters, scissors, glue, and pearls. There were moments when I missed my studio and would have liked to have access to more stuff, but on the other hand, I enjoyed the challenge of making use of what I had on hand.

Like brewing a quick cup of coffee to dunk the sweater in to give the nests a tone on tone look. The hotel room smelled great with coffee sodden sweater bits draped over the heater vents.

There was also a swath of silk in my bag, and I made up a few roses from that. Using such a fine fabric really changes the results. Its not as easy, the silk soaks up the glue too easily. But its worth the effort.

Some of these will be glued to barrettes for the grand fairies' hair. Others will be used in some collage work.

Once we got home from the airport, we went straight to pick up Sugarwings and got to keep her for 2 nights!

So, since I've been back, I've not got much done… except playing with my fairy baby. Its been COLD, so we stayed put indoors at the play dough table, or baking goodies. We also cut fabric scraps, sewed them up, filled them with beans and created a bean bag toss game with the pink bucket she uses for her watercolors.

(you don't want to see them, neither of us have that great of sewing skills)

But while she played with Pop Pop here and there for the weekend, I skipped out to the studio on my own and decorated a few bottle brush trees, got all my packages ready for today's mail, and added a few new goodies to both shops.

Silly me, trying to sell holiday goods on Dec. 13th….

But there is still time to mail them, so I thought listing some holiday stuff was better than packing it up till next year and storing it till I could sell it then.

If I had been on the ball, I'd have listed all the holiday stuff 2 months ago, but life is too short and there are too many other things that are more fun to do than taking pictures of estate sale Santys.

(not a good attitude for a person whose job it is to take pictures of stuff and try to sell it, huh?)

But mostly, I think that I am so much in the middle of all the holiday cheer myself, that it doesn't feel too late to try to move holiday inventory. I'm still decorating little bottle brush trees.

I wish I had time to make more. I'd like to just sit and glue mercury glass beads onto these little trees all day long.

But I was smart enough to add some non-christmas goods to the shops too.

And Somerset sent back a few things that they had published, so I added those too.

Like this altered book. There is only space for 3 photos on my website, but there are more of the book itself on this post.

I had a hard time pricing this book. I really try to keep my work affordable, but with over 20 collaged pages, and lots of hand drawn detail, this book got a bit pricey. Until I figured out that it was being sold for under $4 per page, then it didn't sound as high!

Tomorrow, I'm having friends over for craft day, and look at this room. Tonight is Sugarwing's school play, so I'll be up late after that, attacking this room with a shovel to get ready. (funny, looking at this photo, what bothers me most are the two brown lamps that don't match the room. Someone gave them to me, I want to paint them white and change the shades)

The play should be really good. Sugarwings tells me that there is a forest and a rocket and bunnies. I can't wait.

The dogs have made their share of a mess in the studio too. Agnes Rosebud looks like she might feel a bit guilty for adding to my work load. Twinkle doesn't care. She is the one who learned how to jump up on my table and throw fun stuff down to the floor for the puppy to play with.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of what is new in the shop. Thanks again for your understanding about my lack of returned emails and comments. Since we've been back from the trip there hasn't been a lot of extra time. But, I've read each and every one from my magic phone and was happy to hear from you! Thanks again!

Pink and more pink

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 12, 2010

I will be away from my desk, and won't be able to answer all comments, but I will enjoy reading them when I get back!

If you have any questions about Romantic White Christmas, you can contact Beth, she'll be happy to help.

Please do, go ahead and shop away in my Boutique and Etsy, I will mail your purchases Monday the 13th (in time for Christmas!).

Also, if you want to enter the 1,000,000th Visitor Giveaway, please leave a comment HERE before the 12th.

Sugarwings has a pink tree of her own, eye level, for her to decorate and redecorate to her heart's content. It can keep her busy for the longest time.

Her tree is in the kitchen, where we seem to spend a lot of time. So, I went with the pink theme she already started and pinked up the rest of the room.

She is really into favorite colors right now and likes to ask everyone what theirs is. She and I both always answer PINK!

There used to be a lot of pink in the room year round, but lately, its been getting more and more neutral, but with pink accents. But this time of year, I can let my pink flag fly!

Really, its a small area that I decorated this way, but the color is so vivid, it really packs a wallop.

And I can't help but smile when I see it.

Hmm, maybe I could use a bit more pink in my world year round after all.

Being walloped with smiles isn't such a bad thing.

Isn't that a yummy millinery bloom? I stuck it in a goofus vase with a handful of old mercury glass picks. A floral arrangement that will last all season.

But I always need some fresh flowers in the kitchen too. Its the one room where it matters most to me.

The local grocery store used to put their older blooms on clearance for $2, but stopped recently. Now they are $4- $6 a bunch, so it still not painful to the grocery bill to add them. Every Monday they mark down the flowers that didn't sell the week before, and I try to get in early enough on Monday to pick some up.

You can tell these are a little brownish around the edge here and there, but for $4, I'm not picky. And this is only half of them, I divide the dozen up and use them in other vases.

This picture was taken at night, so isn't as clear as it could be….

I've wrapped a strand of big white lights with two golden, ivy vines from Hobby Lobby. To that, I tied large, pink, metallic poinsettia leaves (vintage) and dangled a few small, pink shiny brites.

To that, I tied some of my little fairy girls that I used as decorations for the baby shower last month.

Most of my decor this year was quick stuff and will be easy to put away. THIS was not. I'll be sorry I did it about January when I go to take this all down. Too many things wired together! There will be some whining around here when its time to pack up.

Sugarwing's pink tree sits underneath this and I love the way her tree's pink glow is reflected off the metallic leaves.

And she enjoys the fairies. So, its worth it!

A shiny brite dining room

holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 11, 2010

I will be away from my desk, and won't be able to answer all comments, but I will enjoy reading them when I get back!

If you have any questions about Romantic White Christmas, you can contact Beth, she'll be happy to help.

Please, do go ahead and shop away in my Boutique and Etsy, and I will mail your purchases on Monday the 13th (in time for Christmas!).

Also, if you want to enter the 1,000,000th Visitor Giveaway, please leave a comment HERE before the 12th.

This season, I wanted my dining room to be extra festive.

Using what was already on the buffet, I spruced up the display by adding lots of bright and shiny holiday trinkets, a string of white lights, and slapped some wings on the ladies.

Normally, I'm a fairy wing fan, but for Christmas, I went with white feathered angel wings.

I wish I had a large pair for myself, but I'm afraid they'd burst into flames if I wore them.

This lady's dish became a nest of shiny brites with some shredded tissue and a pile of balls.

Grandma's tinsel tree got planted in a wine bucket that I'd had a glittered pumpkin in all fall.

Instead of a star on the top, I hung a strand of pearls.

All of these basics were there already too. I added the lights, branches, beads, and ornaments to the existing display. (Yes, I'm gaudy all year round, but at the holidays, I really flaunt it!)

As much as I love white, silver, and gold, I still need flashes of color. With all the rose pattern and blue bird dishes in the corner cabinet, I thought some pastel ornaments would look pretty up above.

And how could I not set out all of these, just because they weren't neutral colors?

There are too many things that I have and love that I want to set out and enjoy!

No matter how hard I try, I can't restrain myself. I tried to edit, and keep things simple, and on some levels I am much more streamlined than in the past. I have clusters of decor here and there around the house, not in every single spot.

Also, since I did about 90% of all the decorating one night while Sugarwings slept so I could surprise her in the morning, I had to cut back a bit. I wanted it to be over and done with after that one all nighter.

She and I did a few little projects together, and she has her very own tree to mess around with as much as she wants, so the decorating continues daily. I added these vintage balls to my chandelier on another day too.

Maybe next year my decor can be even more simplified and I can squeeze ALL of it into one night of frenzied foofing.