Karla's Cottage

Flocks of fun

Have you ever made cake pops?  They are way too much fun.  I saw them in a book my hairdresser showed to me, and was instantly intrigued.  I looked over the details, and it seemed pretty simple, so I tried them immediately when I got home.

I made mine slightly different from the cookbook (by Bakerella). 

Here is what I did:

• First, bake a white cake, let it cool, then crumble it in a large bowl.
• mix in a half a can of white icing (the cookbook called for a whole can) with a beater
• Form small balls, I got 36 from one cake, warning- these are calorie dense!
• Keep in fridge till needed, then pop a few in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before dipping.
• Melt almond bark in a deep, narrow dish. I used a measuring cup.
• Dip one end of lollipop stick into melted bark, then freeze them.
• Have something set up for the balls to drip and dry on before you start dipping them in the almond bark. I used an upside down egg carton, with holes punched in each egg shape.
• Don't leave the balls in the freezer too long. That is why I stuck them in there in shifts. If they get too cold, they fall off the stick.  I worked in groups of 8 or so at a time.
• I formed the balls into bird shapes right before sliding them on the stick and dipping them. The stuff is like play-dough, so you can form simple shapes very easily.
• Let dry, then decorate. Sugarwings and I have a vast sprinkle collection, so I had lots to chose from.  Bakerella has lots of ideas, and themes. I kind of made up my own. She also has lots of recipes and flavors to try. I stuck with white.

After the topping set up, I wrapped all of my baby birds up gently and stored them in an air tight bowl, then froze them till my guests arrive for Birdsong.

My home is beginning to look like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, birds everywhere!  Here are the name tags I made for the event, all ready to go.  I hope our antendees like them.

Sorry I won't be answering emails or comments, but I will be taking breaks to read them.  And I will have a gift for you from the event, I'll draw a name from all the comments this week and next.

 

Birdies

Birdsong weekend is here!  I'll have lots of photos of the gathering to show you, but in the mean time, I have pre-posted pictures of the prep work and decor I've done around the house for it.

Instead of spending a lot of money on decorations, I went with stuff I already had, and kept the costs low for the students.

I am extremely lucky to be able to host a workshop in my own home, with little over head costs.

Because of that, I am able to pay the teachers very well, and provide home made food and tasty treats for all of the attendees.

One night, I am ordering pizza, instead of cooking, because I want to be able to hang out and have fun too.  My handsome husband was kind to offer to grill that night, and I almost took him up on it, then I realized, I'd still be in the kitchen half the night doing side dishes and clean up. 

So, pizza it is.

Other events I've been too, like Kim's and Jenn's, are  beautiful beyond belief.   I love attending them, and appreciate all the detail and love that goes into all the decor.  But for my own art gathering, I'm keeping it simple.

There will be little birdies everywhere, but I haven't spent one penny on buying anything to decorate with. (of course, I probably have too much stuff already, according to my husband)

This is going to be casual, laid back, and relaxed.  I hope my guests enjoy the weekend and feel at home here at the cottage! 

Please check back, there will be new posts to read.

Sorry I won't be answering emails or comments, but I will be taking time to read them.  And I'll chose a name from commenters to give a Birdsong memento to later on.

All spiffed!

Its an amazing event, that only happens on very rare occasions. Its something so elusive and and fleeting, that I just have to snap pics when it actually occurs.

My whole house is all cleaned up at the same time!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I've shown millions of photos of my house. You are probably sick of them, but for me, its a beautiful and special thing to see- cleanliness.

Fresh guest towels are hanging, the floors are shiny, and nothing smells like dog pee.  (I'll always miss my little Bookie guy, but man, is it nice to have his pee gone. I was a non-stop mopper while dealing with his illness)

Soon, I'll be welcoming a flock of Birdsong attendees, and I just hope that I can keep the house spiffy till then. Wish me luck!

I'll be busy getting ready for BirdSong this week,sorry I won't be answering emails or comments, but I will be taking time to read them.  And I'll chose a name from commenters to give a Birdsong memento to later on.

April Showers bring May Flowers Sale in the Boutique

Are you tired of my Nesty/Birdy blathering? I tend to be an enthusiastic person and I'm pretty excited that Birdsong is just around the corner! So there will be a few  more posts with more stories of Birds coming.

I'm almost ready for it, and am so far right on schedule.  So I'm taking Thursday off to head to my favorite flea market with Beth.

Today, I'll pack goodie bags, and finish little odds and ends.  Friday is food shopping and cooking.

One of our sponsors is Mary Green, Queen of Ephemera. I asked her if she had any game cards with letters for sale and she showed up with a whole bagful of alphabetical cards and had separated out all the N,E,S, and Ts for me to give to the students to use in their banners.

My plan for the mini vendor night was just to wrap up a few millinery packs to sell. But- once again, I got carried away.  Since I had to move so much out of my studio to make room for classes, I decided to use vendor night as a clearance sale so I didn't have to move as much stuff back into the studio again.

Most of it, is stockpiles of things that are waiting to get their photos taken so that I can list them online.... so if they don't sell during our party, I can always add them to the Boutique. Others are things that just need to find new homes, since I am not setting up and doing shows like I used to. I've got lots of less than 1/2 price items to sell, and plenty of $1 things too.

Not to mention those flowers that I originally planned to sell that night.  And since that is what I do, I made up way too many packs of flowers.  I'm adding all of these to the shop today.

I won't be able to ship anything till after this weekend, which fits right into a special I am going to have.  My April Showers Bring May Flowers Sale.  Free shipping on all millinery for the month of May, with more flowers being added throughout the month.

Just purchase your posies as usual, and I will refund the postage after packing them up to mail.  Sale starts NOW.

I'm off to go and work on adding flowers to the Boutique and fine tune some details for Birdsong. I'll leave you with some pics of Sugarwings hopping down the Bunny Trail on her Easter Egg Hunt last Sunday. 

It was too chilly to dress her in a frilly dress, so she is wearing a warm, brown sweater and pants. I called her my little Chocolate Bunny.

Not procrastinating??? Wow, what a good idea!

The treats just keep on rolling in!  Hope sent these for our goodie bags.

Look at how pretty they all look together.  Each delightfully decorated match box is filled with presents too.

Heidi, has sent  these lovelies for us, and they were not only wrapped up beautifully,they came with a hand made card, and a sweet fabric rose for me.

Thanks, Heidi!!

Jeri decorated a small bag for  us, then added trinkets and papers inside each of them.

The generosity in blogland never ceases to amaze me!  I have a full list of sponsors on the side bar of this blog and of Birdsong.

My teensy story for Romantic Homes is done and turned in, I'll let you know when it appears. I'm honored to be in that magazine again.  Here is how I foofed up the treat cabinet for the article. Its not quite how I'll have the goodies displayed for Birdsong, but close. 

It feels good to have so much ready ahead of time, and my family was nice about helping with the set up, and patient with our garage redo, with all the items from it stored (in the way) out in the detached garage.

By getting the house ready so far in advance, I've been able to relax and  teach our little one how to play pool, and have Sugarwings come to stay for Easter weekend.  Its not easy to be a non-procrastinator, but it sure is worth the effort!

Sorry I won't be answering emails or comments, but I will be taking time to read them.  And I'll chose a name from commenters to give a Birdsong memento to later on.

Happy Easter!

  We are having a quiet Easter this year.  Well, quiet meaning that we aren't having a big family gathering and dinner for dozens this time. Sugarwings spent the weekend and that isn't exactly quiet.

Saturday morning started with egg coloring.  And I guess you'd have to say that she and I aren't what you'd call tong users when it comes to dying eggs. We prefer getting our fingers in the colors instead of using the dippers that come with the kit, and we like to use paint brushes to spiff up the shells.

Not just the eggs get colored either.   When you have all those lovely dyes in front of you, and only a couple dozen eggs to dip, it hurts to waste it all. So we did some experimenting and found that the egg dye is beautiful on the unfinished wood of a bird house.  (We had picked up this princess castle bird house at Michaels)

And it makes stuffed rabbits pretty too.

Not to mention Dorky heads. Yep, little Agnes Rosebud started it. She jumped up on my lap and put her nose in the dye to see what it was. Of course, how could we resist painting the top of her head with a paint brush dipped in purple? 

Hope your holiday is a Hoppy one too.

Sorry I won't be answering emails or comments, but I will be taking time to read them.  And I'll chose a name from commenters to give a Birdsong memento to later on.

The B&B is open for business, but no monsters are allowed!

 I'll be busy getting ready for BirdSong this week, please forgive me for not answering comments.  I'll be taking the time to read them, tho!

The two attic guest rooms are all aired, fresh linens are on the beds, and I'm ready for my guests.

During Bird Song, my pal Lisa who is teaching will be staying with me, as well as another good friend, Sherry.  I'm not sure yet, but another friend  might be joining the slumber party too.

I wish I could have invited more friends to stay, I love company. But it would be too hard to treat guests well, while trying to take care of the whole workshop, meals, and everything else that I'll be whirring around doing.

I've warned the ladies staying here that they'll be on their own, I'll be zipping about taking care of students all weekend.  But they are the sort of people that I know will be able to make themselves comfy and at home and I won't have to worry about.

Both of the guest rooms are in attic areas that we "reclaimed".  Finding unused space and claiming it as living space is a cost effective way to make your house bigger, especially if you can do some of the work yourself.

All of it was done on a shoestring budget, but we sure got a lot of bang for the buck.  We have lots of company, so extra rooms are good  to have.

Each room has a rose theme, mostly because I can't resist buying anything rosey at garage sales, and I paint roses on too many things, like this desk and the shutters.

And this chest of drawers.

There is an extra twin bed in Sugarwing's room too.

Notice that the chandelier is missing its shades?  It once had decorated shades, trimmed out in fabric roses.

But one night, while tucking my fairy grand baby in, she said, "Grammy, can I tell you something?"

I said of course, and sat on her little pink bed next to her, and she told me that when I left the room, the light became a monster. 

I said, "A monster? Honey, there are no monsters at Grammy's house. I don't allow that."

But she insisted and pointed at the shades. So I took one down and brought it over to show her.  She said it was pretty and that she liked roses.

 I asked if she was okay and understood that they were just lamp shades, and she said, "Yes, these are pretty.  But when you leave the room, they are monsters."

Well there is no arguing with that.  So down they came.

  

Sorry I won't be answering emails or comments, but I will be taking time to read them.  And I'll chose a name from commenters to give a Birdsong memento to later on.

The fairie's surprise

Recently I discovered the gardening junk at the Dollar Store and filled the Fairy Berry Trail with a gaudy cartful of rainbow-ey things.

Sugarwings was coming to spend the day with me, so I hurried out and filled the trail with the decor to surprise her. She thinks that the fairies decorated it for her.   I never  get the credit, but I don't mind.

What on earth would  my life be like without my grands?  I'd be doing something yucky like actually getting some work done instead of hanging rainbow wind socks out in the woods.

I'll be busy getting ready for BirdSong this week, please forgive me for not answering comments.  I'll be taking the time to read them, tho!

When the heck is Easter anyway?

  

My Easter decor has been up way too long, already.  And when is Easter even coming? Its late this year, and I got all geared up for it way too early, back in March.

Mid March even. 

Every year, I'm excited to pull out the fluffy bunnies and  pastel pretties to welcome Spring.  Its kind of a spring cleaning ritual for me, and I like to decorate my chandelier for the season, as  I wipe down the crystals on it.

Its always a fresh, clean, exciting feeling to have all the decorations out,  but this year, I think it was a bit soon for all this fluff and I'm tired of it before the bunny has even come to hide his eggs.

Most of it is stuff I love, and more springlike than Easterish.

Usually I use my springy decor for the whole season, and just add the vintage bunnies, lambs, chicks, etc to it for the holiday itself.   But I guess I didn't realize I was more than a month early for all the bunnies and their pals, and added the pastel guys way too soon.

Why is it that I adore having Christmas decorations up for as long as possible but not Easter?  And last fall I had pumpkins (white glittered ones) every where for months and loved it. I never got tired of either.

But I'm ready to rip the ears right off the rabbits by now.

Yet, at this point, I need to just ride it out. Easter is finally just around the corner.

 

Plus, Sugarwings loves it all so much.  She wouldn't like seeing Grammie go postal on the holiday decor.

One thing I really am enjoying is Picnik's "bunny tone" editing tool.  Pretty, huh? I loved  this photo of Sugarwings and my handsome husband, but it was blurry and dark. Using Picnik turned it into a keeper.

 

I have a feeling that when I get to fill Sugarwing's basket and hide her eggs, that my Easter Joy will return.  But for right now, its a struggle to not gag when I see a china lamb. 

Maybe I need some Cadbury eggs therapy.  Nothing like an infusion of that elusive, annual treat to make a person appreciate Easter time!

 Please pardon me for not visiting with you. I'm busy as an early bird chasing worms trying to get ready for my Birdsong art workshop coming up. 

A little Zero Dollar decor and knowing when and where to use the Good Stuff

All is going well with my prep for Birdsong. My studio is spiffed and rearranged to fit all the guests.  I've been doing some Zero Dollar Decorating around the room too. 

Today, Agnes Rosebud and I went out to the fence line and cut down some wild grape vines to wrap around Loucinda, and then I added some flowers and birds to the vines.   My goal is to make things nice without blowing the budget by using what is on hand to decorate with.

Soon, I'll be packing up gift bags and baking goodies.  That is, if I don't wrench my neck by trying to give myself a pat on the back for being so ahead of schedule....

These gifties are from my buddy, Lonnie. She packed up 25 jars of mica flakes for all of the attendees. 

And Miss Mitzi has gifted the girls with yellow yoyos.  Actually, they are not all yellow, I was just on an roll with my alliteration pairs and yellow just fit.

The generous bags are stuffed with all sorts of bright colored old fabrics to work with.

Thanks, Lonnie and Mitzi!

There is a full list of sponsors on the side bar of my blog and on the Birdsong blog.

Saturday, I spent the day with Beth and the Other Karla. We hit estate sales, went to lunch, then worked in Beth's craft room.

My big, to die for purchase of the day was this French Net table cloth.  oooohhh, its pretty.  And only 20 bucks!  I'm going to use it in the treat cabinet for the photos I'm taking for Romantic Homes.  I'm a big believer in using the Good Stuff, in my art and around my house.

It doesn't do you much good to own something then pack it away.

But, I'm not sure that I want to leave this glorious bit of lace in the treat cabinet to be dribbled on by coffee and red wine.  I think I'll fake it for the photos, then find a safer place to use this, its just too nice to let it get ruined.  And a table cloth needs to be washable. I use vintage, pretty ones, but they have to be something that I can wash a dropped brownie off of.

 

I also got some padded hangers in satin and velvet.  While I was in the middle of setting up the studio, I took a break to play, and foofed them up a bit.

Most are listed in the Boutique now.

I used the Good Stuff on these. Aren't they pretty flowers?