Karla's Cottage – Page 285

I Heart Potatos, and I Heart Beth’s House too!

antiques/junking, jewelry, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 14, 2007

You know a day has to be a good one when it begins with a heart shaped potato! Now is that a good luck charm or what?

After scrubbing the lucky tater and tossing it in the crock pot with the roast, I went to see Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ and give her the birthday gift. She added this painting of Maddie to her shelf with the painting of Milo along with the Christmas ornaments I had painted their portraits onto as gifts last year.

This is a little charm I made and tied to her package. I had made a dozen of these, vintage paper, an added word, some glitter and a pile of diamond glaze into an oval bezel that I soldered jump rings to. This is the ONLY one that turned out! On the rest, the diamond glaze never set right, it is still milky. It has been months, I keep thinking it will clear up, maybe it will. I keep checking to see, and the words are slowly appearing like the message in a magic 8 ball.

These Marie Antionettish boxes were sitting next to Beth’s computer. She has them listed on Ebay right now, and they are even prettier in person!

I love to poke around her house, she has the coolest displays.

We each bought one of these chalk ladies on a junk day together. I sold a couple and kept one in my bathroom to hang jewels on. I wish I had bought more, there were a bunch of them for $10 each. Some were guys though, I only like the females. The males had hats. And they were pilgrim hats. There is something not right about a naked guy in a pilgrim hat.

This is the mantel in Beth’s living room, she has such deep, rich colors. We painted a gold and bronze faux finish over the china red walls, I don’t know if it shows up too well on this picture, though.

I’ll give you a sneak peek at her tiara. I wanted to add lipstick to the glass head, but we had other things to do.

My tiara is not nearly as far along as hers. I need to glitter it up and add the fooferific stuff.

I’m always touched to see things I painted years ago on display in someone’s home. I gave this to Beth a few Christmases ago, along with a bunch of home made fudge (my specialty).

After messing with the tiaras, we went to Mission Road Antique Mall to redo Beth’s booth, that once upon a time, we shared. I miss working on it with her, so she lets me come and play sometimes. I’ll show photos of it later, we did it in a red, white, and blue Americana theme.

This photo is of Terry’s booth, she ships over containers of wildly expensive and beautiful things from France.

We had to go and visit my old booth there and see if the floor was still the way I left it painted. I miss my ‘garden stone’ floor.

Well, time to check the crock pot and see if the heart shaped potato tastes as good as it looks.

Don’t forget to enter the charm drawing by leaving a comment. And check out the last post if you are interested in a magazine article of your home.

Crowning around

how to's, paintings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 13, 2007

If anyone thinks their home would look good in Country Almanac, Romantic Country, Small Room Decorating, or any of the other Harris Publications, please contact me about some sample photos.

Today is Beth (my buddy)’s birthday, and tomorrow we get to play all day. A redo of her booth at the mall (its always fun to rearrange things!) then lunch (I hope she picks Pei Wei-its her birthday, so I don’t want to interfere with her choice, but honestly,what food is better than Pei Wei???)

I wrapped up the ATC sized painting of her dog in a vintage magazine page that I got in the pack from Cheryl. It had a picture of cake on it, so I added a recipe for ice cream that was in an old cookbook I got garage sailing a couple weeks ago.

I topped off the package with a tag I made with a sparkling B for Beth, over some pattern covers (she likes anything to do with sewing), hand tinted with acrylic paints and distress ink. At the bottom of the tag, I glued "early plastic" leaves next to a vintage green button and added a crystal to the center of the button. I used the same crystals on the crowns of the two models in the picture.

Where do I store my crystals for projects? Well, one time I decorated a pair of jeans with crystals on the pockets. The jeans got paint spilled on them so are now work pants. Whenever I need a crystal, I reach back to the pocket and peel off a crystal to glue down to what I am working on.

I am still trying to figure out the tiara I am making. I hand painted some flowers on pink paper to cut out and use on it, but am not sure how or where, just wanted to have some ready if needed. You never know when you’ll need a hand painted flower to embellish something! I also glittered up the vintage grosgrain shoe clip that I thought might work on the crown. I’ll see tomorrow how it all pulls together, Beth and I will be working on them then.

I usually run on and on and on, but this is my 2nd post today, plus it is time for "Rescue Me"!! I am going to eat a bowl of Breyer’s Vanilla ice cream with Magic Shell and a fudge brownie and stare at Dennis Leary on the TV. Not a bad night! (I did go to the gym today, so don’t think too badly of me)

Don’t forget- any comment enters you in the drawing for the rose charm for June!

Rockin fairies

fairies, flowers, give away, how to's, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 13, 2007

After my 100th post yesterday, I wondered, will I run out of things to say or to show? Then I realized how easily entertained I am, and I knew I’d always find things I thought were interesting. Now, whether, other people will find it interesting too and keep reading, well, that is another story, isn’t it?

My sons found this rock when they were about 8 and 10, whiel we were on a camping trip. I will never know which boy found it, because they both took credit for the find and half killed each other trying to give it to me. I guess they have always known that I am truly entertained and excited by odd details, like a rock shaped like a heart. It might be the sweetest thing they ever gave to me, (except the fairy grand baby, of course).

Baked potato shaped rocks might not be as wonderful as heart rocks, but this one still deserves a spot in my collection out in the yard.

But a crystal rock is really special! I filled a back pack with these on a hike up in the hills North of Little Rock. What a gorgeous place, we were up on a hill over looking the town, it was serene and quiet, felt very desolate and private, but down below you could see the town of thousands of people. The ground sparkled in the sunlight, there were crystals everywhere. I just wished I wasn’t such a wimp and could carry more.

Have I lost you yet? Hope not, because I want to show the beautiful fairy that I got in the mail today from Heather!!http://prettypetalsboutique.blogspot.com/ It was part of our mini fairy swap, and I promptly hung it up in Sugarwing’s room.

I hung Heather’s fairy in the alcove that I have painted with faux brick.

On the wall, are 2 fairy themed shadow boxes that I made. I found them on clearance at Marshalls for $2 each, because they were so ugly, filled with plastic mini corn cobs, for some reason. So I took out the corn, repainted the frames and added the assemblage stuff.

I often find art supplies in the clearance aisle of non-craft stores. Or goodwill, or the trash, or a garage sale, etc.

The sparkling fairies hanging in the window are from the clearance department at TJMaxx. I spray painted some branches white, added glitter to the paint while it was still wet, and screwed them to the wall over the window.

To the branches, I tied ribbons with teeny flowers on them and added a few fairies for a unique window treatment.

I love the Fat Grandma fairy best! Maybe it is her pink hair?

I got some gardening done today, didn’t just walk around and aimlessly take photos of rocks.

I keep my most used gardening things in a pot in the breezeway on a table I have mosaiced.

The pot was painted by a friend, Vickie Howard. This isn’t her typical work, it was donated to a fund raiser as a center piece and I bought it there. Her work is pretty classy. If you buy a print somewhere like JC Pennys or another department store, it is often her painting used in the frame! Or if you buy holiday paper cups or popcorn tins at Target or Walmart, she was likely the artist!

Today, I got started on my tiara swap. Here are some things I pulled together for it. The black grosgrain vintage buckle already has received a coat of glitter and looks good.

The child’s head band has wire twisted on it to make the crown shape, and has been primed white.

Tomorrow, I am taking the bundle of supplies with me to Beth’s house http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ to work on them together.

Today is her birthday (I will enter you into my drawing for the rose charm- TWICE for each "happy birthday" comment you leave on her blog!!!)

So, tomorrow, I’m helping her redo her booth at the antique mall, then we are going out to lunch and doing some glitter gluing after. We might be able to manage to squeeze in a few estate sales on the way!

12,165 hits * 4 months * 100 posts * countless new friends *

give away, jewelry, paintings, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 12, 2007

So, today is my 100th post! Time for reflection? I’m not a very reflective type(although, I do like shiny objects and those sort of reflections).

Here is a list of what I love about blogging:

1- Well, I started doing it to promote my business, to show my paintings and use the blog to feature some Ebay things like these drawer pulls. I am not a frequent Ebayer yet, am still learning. And there are lots of nice bloggers who offer advice!

2- I keep up with my family who live far away. I sometimes feel like I am talking to them when I write. Sissy sends me photos of some good junk she finds and I can share that too. She just got this fairy tale book at Goodwill.

3- I am motivated to get things done! Not that I always need that, I do tend to keep busy. But I also have been known to not do anything creative for days on end, but with the blog, I am often thinking about what I can post tomorrow and that can be an incentive to work on a project instead of reading a book. But it won’t stop me from watching too much TV, nothing can get in the way of my TV addiction!

Here is the garage sale cabinet I picked up on Saturday when I was out junking with my friends. It needed a slight re-build, since it was in pieces. I re-enforced the back, added trim and repainted it while I was at it.

4- Have I mentioned the friends???? Great people that I have so much in common with and enjoy "talking" to. Big hearted and generous people too. Natasha http://natashaburns.blogspot.com/ arranged a mini fairy swap for me when I told her I was bummed about missing the fairy jar swap I saw on so many other blogs. Here is what she sent. Looks to me like it is just perfect for Sugarwing’s room. So many people gave me advice, added me to their links, and welcomed me when I started. I’ve met with nothing but kindness and friendship since I started doing this. The community was a bonus I never expected at all.

5- Having giveaways! I love doing the gifties and treats! I think I will always have one going, leave a comment, enter the giveaway for this month!

6- WINNING GIVEAWAYS!!! I have been lucky enough to win a few so far too. I won this vintage paper pack from Cheryl Connell. http://fromthepines.blogspot.com/ Look at all the great stuff she put in it!

I also won this tag with a card and some goodies from http://whispersofinspiration.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html I used it in a journal I made about our vacation.

7- Swaps- swaps- swaps- swaps!!! Yep, another addiction. A May Basket was my first swap and now I am joining them right and left. I am working on a tiara and a match box this week.

And look what I got in trade for one of my measley little charms! Michelle http://www.ginghamworld.blogspot.com wrote that she’d like to swap and I told her I liked her bags and the color pink. She sent this beautifully wrapped hand made bag as well as this pearly "K".

Not only that, there was a cute heart pin in the package. My sister, Bobbie Sue’s last name is Valentine, and I have a fondness for hearts.

See what I mean about the generous people I meet??

8- Comments! Why do you think I bribe you all with give aways? I LOVE TO GET COMMENTS. ( I’d do the give aways anyway, but I am not above using them as a bribe!) I love to leave comments too. You’ll see me scattered all over the web on comment pages. I like to sometimes go to a comment page from a favorite blog and click on every single name there, checking out their sites and leaving comments on them all.

9- Which brings me to How much money I have saved on magazine purchases! I read blog after blog and it is so much more satisfying (and cheaper) than buying a stack of decorating magazines. Hmm, should I say that since I sometimes write for magazines??

10- Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ and I get to talk and gossip about the blog people we know like they are neighbors just down the road.

11- Sugarwings! Well, actually, my fairy grand baby is just the best thing about every part of my life, so I had to include her here. And my blog is a wonderful spot to show off photos of her.

You have no idea how hard it is to hold back on the granny urges to have an All Sugarwings, All the Time- blog. I could just stare at nothing but her. I found this little rose bud dress for her at a garage sale for $1, so she and I played dress up and took pictures in the garden.

Scents, Roses, and a Drawer full of Bubbles!

antiques/junking, flowers, give away, jewelry, paintings

By Karla Nathan / June 11, 2007

99 posts, almost 4 months, 11,912 hits and counting! I had no idea when I started this blog what it would turn into, or mean to me. I thought I’d use it only to show more of my work to clients. (like this rose painting that I did and then turned sepia in photo editing and this yard long rose painting I did on a door panel)

But, I soon learned, that not only did I get to show and sell my work, and have my family living in other states keep up with what I am doing, I was now in a wonderful social network of people who enjoy, crafts, art, junking, and just plain old surrounding themselves with pretty things!For my 100th post, I think I’ll do list of what blogging means to me

I can tell you right now, though- I LOVE GIVEAWAYS!!!!!

Not only winning them (yippee) but doing them. I think I will try to have one going all the time.

For June, I am giving away one of these hand painted charms. Out of the 30 that I made for the charm swap I am in (I LOVE SWAPS TOO), I have these 3 left over. (The other two are for sale $10 each plus $2.50 postage, if you are interested)

Oh, I forgot to show you a few gems from my garage sailing trip with my life long friends who came to visit this weekend.

I found this book to read to my fairy grand baby, for $3.

We will both enjoy the pop up flowers on each page, but I might save reading it to her for when she is better at looking at things with her eyes instead of her mouth.

And CRYSTAL BUBBLES silver ware!!! A huge box full, maybe 3 sets? Or more, I didn’t count them, for mearly five buckaroos.

So many that my drawer barely closes. I will need to weed a few out and save aside for later.

I often get comments about how much I can get done in one day. Well this silverware drawer is one of my little ways of prioritizing my life. Why sort silverware??? I dump the whole basket straight from the dishwasher to the drawer. I’d rather spend time on something else.

The silver ware, the book, all the fun things I bought out junking with my buddies will always remind me of them. Much as a song will bring you back to the first time you heard it, or a scent will remind of of what you were doing when you smelled it.

Michelle Ward http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/ brings up that subject in this month’s challenge: "Whats that Smell?"

It is a coincidence for me that this is the challenge for June. I have recently started using scent on my packaging. If you received anything from me lately, and still have the envelope, let me know if it still smelled pretty when it arrived!

I went downtown Lawrence, KS to a cute shop that allows you to make your own scented oils. I mixed up a few old fashioned flower and vanilla ones. For years, I would add a single drop to the inside of an antique dresser before I sold it to combat mustiness and add a happy smell. Now, I am using a drop on the corner of each envelope I send out to someone who purchases my work, hoping to bring a smile to the recipient before they even open the package.

High School Hi Jinx at nearly 50

antiques/junking, parties, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 10, 2007

My friends are on their way back to Pendleton and my sides are still aching from all the laughing we did this weekend. It was like we were 16 year old school girls again.

It was a weekend full of silliness and fun. This photo just about sums it up. Out on the lake, we were waved over by the patrol for a routine safety check, but my friend, Madonna, who was facing the officers was waving back to them, like they were best friends passing by, not realizing we were being flagged over. So, I just kept driving and we just kept laughing and talking- until the red lights come on and they call out to us to stop.

Those poor officers never knew what they were in for. Lori offered them cocktails, we asked them to pose for photographs, and chatted with them about where they were from, what they were doing, got their entire life stories. Those boys had a deer in the headlight look in their eyes when they drove off.

There was a giant music festival going on at the lake campgrounds this week. I think that Lori’s tie dye shirt is what caught the officer’s attention out on the boat. They must have seen the bright colored shirt, heard the loud laughter and thought we were a bunch of stoners out joy riding!

Here are some signs up at the entrance to the park. Words to live by everyday!

We were able to park in a cove and listen to the music off in the distance. At almost 50, that is a beautiful way to attend a concert! Floating on a calm lake, enjoying a breeze and some sunshine, watching a blue heron along the edge of the water, and hearing a blues band play in the background.

We also had hours and hours being pulled in the inner tubes behind the boat. 3 of us along with my 14 year old niece, managed the trick of jumping from one tube to the other, back and forth at full speed.

On Friday and Saturday mornings we did some garage sailing.

My best purchase is this cabinet for $50, slightly in need of some repairs. I have to attach the top back on to it. Not hard to do at all. I don’t know if I will repaint it or not, I like it as it is and hope to use it in my kitchen next to the fridge to keep my garbage can in. But I have to wait till my husband goes out of town to bring it in from my studio, he HATES it when I get new furniture. The poor man would live with a bed, a couch, and a recliner if he had his way. Well, I guess he’d need his pool table too.

The etched mirror was $10, but well worth it. The white vintage basket was $1 and the linens were only 10 cents each! Two weekends in a row, scoring dime linens!!!

This blown glass frog paper weight will be a gift for my brother-in-law when he comes to visit next month. It was $2, and just made for his collection of frogs.

I met a lady who has been a cake decorator for 35 years who was selling a box full of old items she didn’t want, for only $5. This is just a fraction of it.

I’d like to paint flowers on the cake cover.

All the cake toppers looked looked vintage to me, some older than others.

Sugarwing’s first birthday will be in August. Maybe I will make a tradition of using these little angels on numbers each year for her cake, starting with the blue #1.

Or maybe she’d like a circus carousal with a yellow monkey? My son’s nickname for his little fairy girl is Monkey Stuff.

Speaking of my little Sugarwings (who also got a haul of goodies from the garage sailing adventure), I miss her, since I have been so busy. Her hippy-type parents are at the music festival out on the lake today, so I will get to babysit. That will help me today, I’m sad about my friends going back home to Indiana. But I’ll have my fairy grand baby all day and we’ll have some new adventures of our own.

2am Fairies, and Fun with History

fairies, Food and Drink, give away, paintings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / June 7, 2007

My friends are here! And I learned more about the town I live in this afternoon than I have in all the years I have lived in Lawrence!

A couple of them are history buffs and Lawrence, KS had a major civil war battle take place here.

Of course, I knew about "Quantrill’s Raid" and the devastation of that battle, but not details. Like this stone house, that I have been in before, when a friend was renting it. I had no idea it was one of 6 houses that survived the sacking of the town. We picked up a map from the Convention and Visitors Bureau and took the self guided tour to the historical sites.

I told them that the only times I drove around and looked at the homes in Old West Lawrence was when there were garage sales there. They liked hearing about the sales, so we are going to get up early and go to some tomorrow.

Speaking of early, they didn’t arrive till about 4am! I stayed up and painted while I waited for them, was too excited to sleep. I knew that if I sat down to watch TV or read, I’d be OUT. So I painted a while.

BETH AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU ARE READING THIS! http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ If you leave a comment to tell Beth Happy Birthday on her blog, I will enter you in my drawing too!!
I painted a little ATC card size portrait of Beth’s dog, Madison. Beth’s birthday is this week.

I also painted this fairy. I don’t know if she is done, I think I’ll foof up the painting a bit, add something later. And her ear is weird. But hey, it was 2:45 am!!

Everyone is napping now, I will go pop a casserole into the oven now so dinner will be ready when they get up. I made tortellini with grilled chicken, broccoli, rep peppers, Alfredo sauce and layered it with cheeses. Its ready to go, glad I made it last night, since we spent the day chasing down historical sites!

Hey, don’t forget to leave a comment to enter my charm drawing for June, any comment or email will be an entry!

Bargain Flowers, Rosey Lamps, and Lurking Fairies

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, flowers, how to's, paintings

By Karla Nathan / June 6, 2007

More flowers from the $1.99 clearance bundles! I bought these two days ago, and they still look fresh and pretty. I think I’ll get the better part of a week out of them, what a deal.

These are in the guest bathroom, ready for company. And I even made time to clean the shower after all!

I placed the large bunch in a jug I made YEARS ago at one of those paint it yourself ceramic places. Probably 25 years ago?? Maybe I can call it vintage??? The little kitty planter is definitely vintage, and just big enough for 2 rose buds.

Bookie, my dorkie, is on the wall in a frame my friend made. She thought he was so cute, he was her picture that she displayed in the frames to sell them! I loved it that way, just as she had them on display and kept her photo in it.

One last bouquet of pink roses by the door in my kitchen. I certainly feel like I got my money’s worth from the clearance flowers. There are vases with fresh blossoms in every room of the house now.

Tonight, I made a lampshade to fit this light in the guest room. Actually, I didn’t make it, I embellished it. A plain white shade came with this shiny brass lamp.

I primed and painted the lamp sagey-pale green and wired a sparkly bird to the base.

Then, I took pads of distress ink in pink and ‘old paper’ and rubbed the white shade down to age it a bit and take the bite out of the glaring white.

Next, I painted teeny roses in soft pink with minty green leaves scattered around the shade. All were simply done, the roses are barely a twist of the brush, one color, no detail. Almost like drawing a cinnamon roll. but pink.

After using a hair dryer on the paint, I coated the entire shade with clear acrylic top coat, and sprinkled sheer glitter all over it. Then dried it with the hair dryer again, and glued white fringe to the bottom and beaded fringe to the top with "The Ultimate" my favorite glue.

Hot glue would have been easier, but I always burn my fingers with it. So I used clamps to hold the fringe down as it dried and saved the skin of my finger tips.

The lamp is in place upstairs in Sugarwing’s room. I have it behind a big comfy chair perfect for us to cuddle up in and read together.

Her story books are in an old doll house that I found at a garage sale and painted white. It opens from the top instead of the back like most doll houses. I placed a pot of colorful silk flowers in the back and keep Sugarwing’s books in the front.

Next to our cozy reading chair, we have a bigger doll house to fix up together as my fairy grand baby grows older and wants to work on it with me. Right now, it is merely painted a blush pink with a green roof. I have fairies peeking out of the door and windows watching and waiting for Sugarwings be big enough to come and play.

My guests will be arriving soon, they are driving in from Indiana where we all grew up together. This weekend will be like the slumber parties we used to have through Jr high and High School! Except with alcohol. Well, I hate to admit it, but there might have been some of that in high school too.

Meandering thoughts on roses and Meandering paths in the garden

antiques/junking, fairies, flowers, paintings, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / June 5, 2007

Once again, my local grocery store had $1.99 a dozen roses on Monday! At those prices you can fill a house with them!

Actually, this bright pink bundle contained a lot more than a dozen. I used them in the matte white dog planters here in the guest bathroom and also up in one of the guest bedrooms.

Isn’t that a perfect pink for this room?

I placed a goody filled pot by the bed as a surprise. I added some chocolates too, that seemed to be the finishing touch that it needed.

The other guest room upstairs got pale, blushy pink roses.

The painting on the wall behind the daybed is an old one, not one that I painted myself.

I used the painting for a photo shoot that I did for Romantic Homes, and thought I would sell it after the article, but I just never could. I even had a lady call me from Florida after reading the magazine and offer to buy it.

I have made copies of the picture, maybe I should find some old frames to paint white and pop some prints into them?

I bought white roses for the dining room.

There were bunches of other flowers for $1.99 too. I divided them up and used some with a few of the roses in kitchen window.

That is the one place that I will ALWAYS have fresh flowers. I spend too much time cooking and washing up at the sink to not have something lovely to look at. If there are no markdown flowers and I have nothing to pick in my yard, I will indulge in at least one single bloom to put in the window to enjoy while I chop and peel at the sink!

I don’t have a green thumb, but I sure try. I have learned that I can cut ivy from my garden and grow it in vases of water, not dirt. So, I always have ivy in pots and vases in the window too. Potted plants don’t live long in my home, but sprigs of ivy or pothos seem to do well in just water.

Speaking of green thumbs, I had some help in the garden today. Sugarwings spent some time eating dirt while I set up a series of soaker hoses in and around the tomatoes.

Marigolds are planted to line the stepping stones that I use in between the veggies.

I started collecting stepping stones years ago. A lot of the garden step stones are cheapy, 90% off clearance ones from Hobby Lobby at the end of the season.

All of these stained glass mosaic stepping stones are from art shows, where I have been able to trade a necklace I made or a print of my paintings for a stone.

I just planted begonias to line the walkway, they are still quite a bit puny. Try to imagine them all full and flowering!

With my lack of a green thumb, that is the only way they’ll get to that point, is by imagination.

This is my favorite, but then, you might have guessed I love fairies.

Plus, I got this at an art show in Pendleton, Indiana where I grew up, so it is sentimental to me.

A friend made this one, I added a bit of paint to age it.

This round one is from Walmart!

I had to dig a trench to help the water flow away from the house. I turned the mucky project into a curving path, and filled the area with rock. then, I lined the path with white dessert plates.

Well, I’ve shown you a painting that is an antique, flowers from the grocery and stepping stones other people have made. I feel like I should show something I did myself!

This is a fairy watercolor using plates as a border like I have done in front of my own home.

I’ve probably ran on long enough, but don’t forget you can enter the charm give away simply by leaving a comment or email this month. And as many times as you’d like to leave one, too, they all count.

Plethora of Packages and Presents

jewelry, swaps, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / June 4, 2007

While packing up fairy swap and other items that needed to be mailed, I decided I should be sending something to my family too!

So, I made up little packets of photos of our visit to see them all, added a hand made charm to each bundle and tucked a sweet little quote about sister hood into each before tying them all up with pink tulle bows and black velvet ribbons.

For my friends that are coming to visit on Wednesday, I cut some more sisterhood quotes out of the same book, but to these, I added a drop of vanilla rose essential oils and then glued down a vintage button.

I have made up flower pots to welcome them to my cottage. Inside are the scented quotes, magnets I have made from old jewelry, a white crocheted doiley, a floating candle shaped like a flower and wrapped in white tulle, and a pair of earrings.

I made the earrings for them from colored pearls. I don’t know how pearls get colored, but I like the result. They are genuine pearls that I bought in about a dozen colors or so. I kept them simple by just adding them to silver French hooks.

All of the earrings are wrapped in vintage newspaper quilt patterns I picked up when I was on vacation in Indiana. The date at the top of the paper says 1929 and 1930.

The earrings are hung from a business card, then wrapped up in the old paper and tied with raffia. I’ve added my buddie’s names in gold pen to the package before gathering up all the gifties to add to the pots.

Photo copies of my favorite watercolor, "Blue Hydrangeas" are glued to the terra cotta pots with gel medium, after backing them with a bit more of the 1929 newspaper.

This day has been a lot more fun than it would have if I had spent it cleaning house like I should have done. Between wrapping up bundles to mail, posting, blog reading, and making gifts, I read some of the 1929 articles, including some reviews of Lon Chaney as the Phantom and the lurid details of Joan Crawford’s brother’s ugly divorce. I’m sure my friends will be happier with presents and Hollywood gossip that I picked up, than they would be with sparkling light fixtures.

Although, they have never been out to visit and now that I am out of time, I am having second thoughts and wondering if I should stay up all night to clean so I can make the house look good……….