Karla's Cottage

Delicious dates

How did I go 66 years thinking that I didn’t like dates?  I recently discovered that they are one of my very favorite foods after seeing so many reels about how yummy they are and ways to cook with them.  Those stories made me think I needed to give the fruit another chance.  

I guess I’d only eaten them chopped up in trail mixes and that is a whole different thing.  You miss the gooey, Carmel like flavor and texture that way.

When I was visiting my family in Indiana, I decided to try one of those ideas I’d seen online.  It was simple, no recipe needed.  Slice a date, take out the pit, add a nut and a bit of cheese, roll it in bacon, then cook.

We used Brie and seasoned almonds, but I’d say any number of combos would work, like goat cheese and cashews, or cream cheese and pecans.  

I went sparingly with the bacon, about a third of a slice on each wrapped treat.  And we over cooked them a tad, because I wasn’t paying attention.  But I enjoy a char flavor, so I was happy to have burnt ones.

This is the only time I’ve sampled any of the cooking ideas that I’ve seen, and would probably do it again.  And will  try a few more ways to prepare dates too.

 Although I love them so much as is, that I don’t need to do anything at all with them besides treating them like a piece of candy.  And treating myself by keeping them on the counter in a pretty, lidded dish to snack on throughout the day.  (I guess those are called candy dishes, huh?  Appropriate!)

 

 

In appreciation of a generous friend

A while back, Beth gifted me a bagful of vintage paper scraps, odds and ends, plus a pile of delicious, old linens.

Inside the bag of goodies was a book cover she had started but never finished.

There was wonderful ephemera, original and printed along with pages of cardstock she had stamped too.

And the lace!

Oh! The lace!

 I see fairiy dresses galore in my future.  So many great bits and bobs to craft with.

As a thank you, I finished putting her book cover together into a junk journal she could embellish.  The only item I used that wasn’t part of her de-stash, was this Charlotte tag.

 I decorated the cover with a sweet button card that was in the pile of never ending, vintage goodness and used the two remaining buttons on it as a clasp to wrap a string around as a closure.  It was hard for me to stop at that point. I adore crafting a book, but I wanted her to have fun adding tidbits to the interior.

Thanks, Beth!

 

 

 

 

 

Sewing and concrete

For a person who dislikes sewing as much as I do, I end up doing quite a few sewing related projects.

Like these hand made pincushions in vintage vessels.

There is even an entire shelf of sewing related goods.  Which I do find interesting.  I told myself never try to sell anything I don’t like, because you might just get stuck with it.

There is also a display of pet themed items.  More up my alley than sewing.  But I sure enjoyed making the pincushions  I hope they sell so I can craft more of them.

Another thing that needs to go are these birdbaths.  Not because I don’t like them, I love them, and all of the cherubs, to pieces.  And it might look like I never sell the angels, but actually, I do, I just keeping buying more. I’ve had a steady stream of concrete statues in my booth since Christmas.  

Christmas angels, valentines cherubs, garden statues, I love them for many seasons.


The issue is that these concrete pretties are bad for my torn rotator cuff that I’m too stubborn to have repaired.  And my husband pointed out that it isn’t exactly fair to ask him to haul the hefty birdbaths around either. So, I see some rock bottom sale prices coming in the future if I still have them in my booth.  

 

Reasons behind my displays

It’s that time again!

First Friday weekend is here.  Having a larger space to work in has been such a joy.  I’m kinda treating it like the back half is my “regular space” and the front half is a jewelry boutique plus a small wall to theme out however I like.

This month, that will is set up for spring weddings.  Which is probably a major indulgence of usable space, because just how many wedding gowns do I expect to sell?  But they are lovely, and make a beautiful backdrop.  I allow myself one corner to simply play with and enjoy, not expecting to get a big profit from the goods.

On the other hand, heck yes, I would like to sell them all!  But being reasonable, I know that isn’t going to happen.  But I devoted the entire wall to them any way, because well, it’s fun for me to do.

The jewelry boutique portion of my set up is right across from the Wall of Romantic Weddings.  It will not get much of a redo each month, because it works so well as is.  I rearrange the goods, of course and always bring in new pieces.  But the shelves and lighting stay the same.

My main reasoning for leaving the set up as is seems valid to me.  My typical goods are cottagey/shabby chic and I figure that if the jewelry is buried in the back amidst that, many people who love jewelry, but don’t like cottage style, might walk right on by and not see the jewelry mingled with the rest.

Having enough space to set the goods up as if I have two separate booths helps get shoppers interested in the sparkly pretties to stop to look at them.  Our mall tends to lean toward primitive and funky stuff, so my jewelry displays could easily be over looked if they weren’t along the aisle.

The same theory goes with the beaded plant stakes and sun catchers I make.  Their appeal is more general, so I leave them at the entrance too.

My Royals display is also up front.   It did well last month, so I’m giving it another go around.  Personally, I’m not a sports fan, but I love the way KC supports its team.   Plus, I love blue, but it rarely sells in my space, oddly enough.  With its own separate area, it did pretty good.  

The sale is this Friday and Saturday at Good Juju in the Old West Bottoms of KC.  See you there?

The After of the repainted hutch

Uhm, not my finest photo, but isn’t the hutch looking good? 

Sissy is officially moved out of her cute, beachy cottage and into her new home.  She is still decorating and setting up, but has a strong vibe going, a delicious color theme, and most of her furniture in place.  We worked on some unpacking and arranging while I was there.  Then we realized just how ideally mom’s hutch would fit into her dining area.  But the pastel roses on it would not.

We had some kind volunteers deliver it, then headed to Hobby Lobby for paint and new knobs.

We used her TV stand as an inspiration, but didn’t want quite that much going on, so left the hutch the overall color it already was and only painted the doors and trim in this style.

 
My original paint on the top had a green tint and scroll design, the back of the cabinet was that same green.  It blended well with the changes we made.

I treated the cabinet doors to the same green before adding flowers.

The framing was touched up with bright gold Rub n’ Buff.

This is a photo she sent to me after she started adding her pretties to the shelves.  

I think the piece is going to match her style very nicely.

In case you missed the before photos from my previous post, here is one of the pastel, floral doors I had painted about 20 years ago.  I hadn’t seen the hutch in a very long time, and was pleased to find that I was still happy with it.  Sometimes, art from the past makes me cringe, but luckily, I still loved this one.

Unluckily, that made it harder to paint over.  But once I got going I was fine, and happy with how it turned out.  Sissy has a gorgeous home and I’m glad to be a part of the over all look.

Making over Mom’s old hutch

When I was a kiddo, my mom got a new dining set.  An Early American hutch with matching table and chairs.  I know I was pretty young when the change from chrome and Formica to a maple set happened, and for the rest of her life, she stayed with that piece.

After her passing, I took it home with me and gave it a makeover.  At my house, it got some cottagey themed roses, with hydrangeas, and a smattering of holly hocks inspired by mom’s flower bed.  I brought some holly hock starts to Kansas and plant too, but no luck with growing them.

Here it is in its original wood tones with my sisters in front of it at mom’s.

And at my home used in a magazine shoot.   I used it a while, but while I cared about it sentimentally, it  wasn’t an ideal fit for our home.  At that time, we hadn’t remodeled yet and there was only one wall in the living room it would fit onto, it was too big for the dining room.  A niece offered to give the piece a home and has had it since then.

But now, she is moving to a smaller place, and Sissy is finishing her move into a bigger one, so it now lives at Sissy’s big, new home.

And it’s time for another makeover.  From Early American maple, to pastel Romantic Cottage/Shabby Chic, onto a kinda boho, Sundance style.  I adore Sundance clothes and jewelry, often using them as inspiration in my embroidery and beading.  And was pleased to use  their furniture as a model for painting too.

Sis called the style Southwest, and it’s her house, so she knows what she likes and has, but to me, Sundance is a bit different from that.  It’s western, but more mountain ski lodge than desert adobe. 

Next post, I will show you the third go round of this hutch.