Karla's Cottage

A tub of treasure

Jackpot!
At an estate sale, I bought tub of dirty, dusty jewelry, but could tell at a glance that it was worth washing.  What I didn’t see was that it was vintage new stock, still in original packaging, never worn!

Some even had their display stand.  I was thrilled with this find, but had some more complicated cleaning ahead of than I had planned.  It was important to leave them on their cards, but most were paper and all were dirty.  I gently cleaned each with a toothbrush, paper and all.

Some of the cards were a bit torn up, but most were in decent shape and looked great once I washed them.

In total, there were 155 old clip ons, maybe half of those are bead clusters.  The other half are nicely varied.  I also scored a couple dozen singles or broken bits to use in crafting.  And a pile of eighties pieces that I personally don’t care for, but which might be to someone else's taste. 



Here’s a bonus! Heavily tarnished, chunky silver pieces that have a nice glow once polished.

Overall, it was an exceptionally good garage sailing weekend.  I tended to buy a lot of project pieces and filthy stuff, but all worth the effort.  I’m not afraid of a little cleanup when it comes to bargains.

 

 

A light show in the sky

The Northern Lights were visible in Kansas again!

From what I read, we weren’t supposed to have a viewing here, but when I heard that my family in Indiana was seeing them, I stepped out to look and was thrilled to catch the show.

Tree and I had an adventure together, driving to darker spots to get a better look.  A quiet gravel road nearby was an ideal spot to lay on our backs and watch the skies through our phone cameras. We even saw a shooting star!

I felt doubly blessed. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Another left in the parking lot redo

After an exhilarating shopping experience at Good Juju, the clock struck 6pm and the day ended for Cinderella.  As she raced across the parking lot to her carriage, parked under the I70 overpass, her shoe flew off in the rush.

I scooped it up and remade it.  You can see it pictured here next to her carriage. (Pumpkin)

Cindy, I am sorry if your Prince never found you without this shoe, but hey- finders keepers, right?

It was first spritzed with bronzey-gold paint, then misted with a can of black spray paint.  I covered the soles, inside and out, with vintage paper.

The ruffles are dyed coffee filters, and her wings are from a cicada.  After I took this photo, I thought it looked like she was missing something, so I gave her a glittered, white pumpkin to hold.

Trouble with that was that her arms don’t bend.  So I had to snap them at the elbow and glue them in place with the punkin resting on her sparkly tutu.

 

 

 

I cannot resist an unloved and rejected doll

No one bought this doll from Beth at Juju, so she placed it out in the parking lot where we have extra space for either clearance goods or overflow.  She told me to take it, and I said, only if it’s still there at the end of the sale.

At the end of the day, there she was, forlorn and left in the gravel, overlooked by hundreds of shoppers.

Poor Ani.

Was it the “substance” congealed on some parts of her? Or possibly her crunched in chest?  Probably that look on her face. 

I redid her face in the style of vintage, French sitting dolls.

After vigorously scrubbing off the uhm, substance of some kind.

Next was a  new hairstyle made of angora. I brought the hair forward onto her throat so she no longer had a neck like a WWE wrestler.  

I don’t sew, her delightful princess gown is pieced together from other doll clothes and bits of lace then glued into place.

The only thing missing?  Maybe a crown?  She deserves one to feel better after all the rejection she faced.

Oh, and maybe a bouquet of flowers to hide her muppety looking (but freshly painted) hands. 

A Nightmare Before Christmas combo with a few turkeys thrown in

Yep, it’s that time again.

I am all set up and ready for First Friday Weekend in the Old West Bottoms of KC.

And for October, many dealers have taken on a range of holidays.  We are still featuring Halloween, and autumn, and there is some Thanksgiving decor here and there too.

And for everyone who thinks it’s too early for Halloween, here’s a lil bit of Christmas for ya.  It seems way too early for me too, but in the past couple of years, I did not get on board with early Yule tide wares and my October sales were lacking.  I don’t know why I didn’t just go whole hog holiday, xmas is my absolute fave and I have a ton ready to go.

Fall is not my best theme, well excluding Halloween, that is

I love the Romantic Gothic, spooky stuff.  So I have a combo booth with a different theme on each wall.

Plus my regular jewelry set up and some pretties to go along with that.

These are some of my witch’s brooms.  I still have a big selection of those. Actually even though my Halloween sales last month were good, there is plenty left of it.  I tend to go way over the top when creating for the seasons.  In my mind, as I’m crafting and collecting, my booth must be full sized, not a tiny little half space.

It can look a little crowded, with so much inventory in an 8 1/2’ area.  I’d love to have more space!

But knowing me, I’d just overcrowd that too.

Come and see us if you can, like I said, this month- there is a little bit of everything on top of our regular wares and vintage goods.  Say hi and wish me a Merry Halloween if you come by.

 

Details matter

To be ready for Christmas crafting, I ordered 50 mini deer.  Preferably, I’d like to use vintage, but for how I use them the cost is just too high.  And I doubt my shoppers would notice if they were old or not.

The order came and the little guys were pretty cute, just what I needed.  But I did think the color was a little flat.


So I got out the warm, brown Stays On ink and rubbed some on with an old brush.  I felt like that helped give them some dimension.  

Most ended up coated with glue and a fine, snow-like glitter, so I didn’t replace the white spots.  I’m pleased with how they turned out, it was an easy fix, and so far I’ve used lots of them in my projects.  Yep, I’m full speed on Santa Season decor and have already been building up the sparkly inventory.

Pictures to come, and boy, will there be tons of them.