Karla's Cottage

A Gingerbread Cottage Christmas

One thing we look forward to at the holidays is Family Gingerbread Night. I buy the houses at the after Christmas clearance sale stacking them up to use for the next season, and we save up sugary decorations for years.

Literally, years.  No one is even tempted to taste any of it, the candies have been around so long.  We like to mention as we are using the pieces that some are older than Dewdrop.

Especially the bright colored, hard, coated pieces.  Those never die.

This was the year that Sugarwings’ house design grew up.  We started making them together back when the kiddo was about two, and would work on the house throughout the month of December, glopping layers upon layers of goo and goodies over it until you’d never know there was a structure underneath.

 That continued every Christmas, with the goal being to get as much stuff on the house as you could.

But this season?  The grand fairy really put some thought into the styling, and even added a snowman party to the creation, with a tub filled with soda pop as refreshments.

Avahni’s was a crazy cat lady’s house.

And we had a Pokémon hospital.

My favorite might be my son, the carpenter’s.  His is the one on the left corner.  A pile of lumber waiting for the the house to be built.

We leave the supplies out so the work can continue as needed, I put them on a light weight folding table that we can shove out of the way if we have to.

But maybe pushing the table in front of the stairs wasn’t the best idea?  It became a doggie buffet.  

oops 

Gingerbread wasn’t our only edible art. (Well, technically, we do not ever eat the gingerbread, but as far as media goes, I think the houses are in the “edible art” category, right?)

Thia brought over supplies to craft fruit and chocolate bouquets that were delicious, vegan, and lovely. Plus, the shape cutters and other items needed were gifted to me, so I can make my own bouquets in the future!  Thanks, Thia!

And then there is this cottage creation.  We started work on transforming my husband’s office.  Fresh paint, new floors, blinds, light fixtures, and furniture are all in the works.  Photos to come, for sure.  

Simple Treasures and Dealing with Grief at the Holidays

2020 was such a wreck I almost didn’t decorate for the holidays.  But with a grand fairy around, one whose year was as bad as mine, I needed to.  

And the twinkle of lights during a dark winter is very uplifting. 

So I did some holiday foofing, and was glad that I did.  But when I found the bag of pinecones that Ryan and I gathered on a walk, the recollections of that day wrenched my soul.

We’d had Sugar with us, and we were in an area we called The Danger Zone, because there were so many squirrels.  Balancing a squirrel crazed dog on a leash while trying to fill our pockets with pinecones, and having them fall out every time we bent over made us laugh til I cried.

And I cry now, just thinking about it.

But it was a fun memory, one to hold on to.  So, last year, I put out just the trees with lights and pinecones in honor of him and how much we laughed that day while picking those up.

I will always have a tree decorated with pinecones for Ryan now, and use them throughout the house.  

Every day is hard when you lose a child.  But little things, like a pinecone, that can bring back flashes of a very happy day, are treasures that can help.

I have added his picture to one of the pinecone trees, and I love this one because it shows his caring and kindness.

I have used a bit more red around the house too.  It was his favorite color.

And I have done mosaic glass on vases that flowers were delivered in after he died.  They have flickering candles inside and make me think of how many ways he lit up my life.

This is our second Christmas without him.  Sometimes I am shocked that so much time has gone by.

Other days, it feels like he has been gone forever.

I look at Molly, watching her grow from a wriggly little pup into a lovely dog, and realize that Ryan never even met her.  She is a living symbol of my time without him.

I can just hear his voice if he knew we kept this pup from the litter.  He’d probably say just what his brother did- are you crazy!? You do not need another dog!

But he’d have loved her to pieces.

She and I go for long walks on the sidewalks Ryan and I followed and some days we stop at the Danger Zone where all the pinecones fall and I tell her about him.  She is a good listener.

There are so many happy stories to share.  And so many pinecones covering the ground.  Each is a reminder that nature renews itself, life goes on.  That the little, simple things are what is important.

 

 

Another party!

It’s the season for celebration, right?

I have been making the most of it and doing every activity, party, gathering, fun thing I can think of.

And I was lucky to have some fun, local Peeps who could join me for a craft day.  My studio could use the laughter, it’s been a quiet place lately.

We had a luncheon, lots of snacks, and lots of fun.

I’d made up some little kits to work on.

And had a few other bits and pieces for projects.

And people brought their own things to make too.

Glue was flowing, scissors were snipping and it was so nice to have guests to share my space.

A book club party with bookish party favors

The annual holiday party for our book club was at my house, well, I have to admit that it always is at my house.  I tend to hog the date because I love parties so much.

And I love party favors!  I decorated the table with the book page/paper ornies that I’d made and sent one home with each person.  You can’t see it in this pic, but each ball has a tiny, book charm dangling from it.

Here is the table before my friends arrived.

I have been collecting 49 cent Christmas plates from Goodwill all year, there are a few different patterns, but I like the mix.  


It’s all a bit of a mix match.  The water glasses almost all are the same, but the silverware, wine glasses, napkins, and plates are all over the place.  The placemats are pages from the Grand fairies’ outgrown Christmas books.

Here is what I have learned about hosting a party:

NO ONE CARES IF IT MATCHES!

But they do appreciate an effort to make things pretty for them.  I doubt if they cared that the plates were only 49 cents each and were various patterns. Or that to have enough wine glasses, I had to use a very non traditional, purple one.

They might have cared that the pie was a little dry.

Durn it.  I used frozen blueberries, but made it the same as I usually do with fresh ones.  That just isn’t the same, I love the juiciness of the fresh ones.  Frozen requires more sugar, liquid and some lemon, I think.  

The peach pie was better.  I used pecan flour, eggs, some juice from the canned peaches, cinnamon and brown sugar in it.

This was my first time using Aldi’s crust (I never make my own crust).  It was so-so.  Not very flakey, and a little dry.  I’ll stick with Sprouts, their crust is always ideal.  Plus it is vegan, which is good when I am feeding my family.

Also, this might not be the prettiest place to set out desserts, but it worked.

I found some “Vintage Tinsel Sprinkles” at Homegoods and happily glittered all the treats.  I love them so much that I had some glittery, festive-ness on my peanut butter toast today.  Using my holiday plates.  

One very nice thing about my big stack of thrift store plates is that I don’t have to be gentle with them.  They are special, but they aren’t worth anything, so we have been using them daily since Thanksgiving.  

Dishes are breakable, so I never want to own any that I am afraid of using.  I like plates that I can enjoy.

 

 

 

Why yes, that is a white, Halloween pumpkin and glittered Easter egg on my Christmas wreath

This wreath stays up on my door with some switcheroos throughout the year.  I never attach any thing permanently, picks are just stuck through the grapevine for quick changes.

For past Christmasses, I’ve put ornaments in the little nest.  Or vintage birds.  But I kind of like the glittered eggs that were in there for Easter, so left them.

I also left one of the velvet pumpkins from fall decorating, and most of the pastel, autumn blooms.  Some glittery poinsettias and frosted greenery were tucked in around them and I was done.

Lazy and easy, but I’m happy with it.

The rest of the entry way was quick too.  Of course a sweet, little Dorothy straight from the groomers adds a pop of prettiness!

All I did was pull up the dead flowers and stick mini trees into the pots.  Very lazy.  But better than dead flowers, right?

I can be very lazy when I know I am roofing up something just for show, not to sell or to keep for reuse.  Like this teensy, flocked tree from Walmart in the flimsy, plastic pot.

For a fast makeover so that it would look nice in my guest bathroom, I covered the pot in sheet music topped with some wrapping paper and added a  ribbon and buckle to the rim.  Quick, easy, not a lot of thought went into it, but it brightened the pot up.  

I’ll probably pop the rhinestone buckle off for future use when the rest get thrown away after the tree is done.  I don’t know about you, but I have never been able to keep these things alive to plant outside for spring.

My philosophy is that a small, creative touch improves most things.  But doesn’t have to be a big, overwhelming project.  Especially at the holidays when we are stressed.  

Do what you can and enjoy what you do.

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday homes

Recently, I had a little luncheon for friends.

I was going to use a tablecloth, but decided to leave it off so I could turn on the twinkle lights taped up underneath the table.  But the wood looked stark with the white dishes, so I used placemats made from old book pages put together with metallic tape.  

That helped.

It had been such a nice day, out on the holiday home tour, looking at all the festive-ness around town.  Then wine, soup, and cupcakes at the cottage to talk about the decorations we’d seen.

I’ll leave you with some photos of the afternoon.

 

A simple corner

There isn’t a lot of Christmas decor going on here, sometimes a little bit is enough.

 

The cocoa station

Around here, the holidays mean lots of hot cocoa by the lights of the trees, watching Christmas movies.

Since it’s a regular thing, I want it to be convenient.  And festive!

We keep all of our supplies together, with trays leaned up behind them.  So we pick up a tray, and load it with what we need for our party, then carry it to the tree to enjoy.  

I keep a supply of candy canes for stirring, vegan and regular marshmallows, cocoa powder that we can use the hot water dispenser with, as well as cocoa that needs a teapot of hot milk to make, along with teabags, (because I can’t always handle as much hot chocolate as the grandfairies can) and treats.

Some of it is tucked away inside this chipboard box that I turned into a gingerbread house.

This one holds a baggie of cookies.

And there is always whipped cream in the fridge ready for the festivities. 

 

 

 

 

 

Scenes from St Louis

We took a mini trip down the road to the other side of Missouri and visited St Louis last week.

Our first stop was The Hill, where we walked around and enjoyed the pretty day, bought goodies at an Italian market, then headed to lunch to meet long, lost family.

My husband had a sister he had never met!  She brought some of her relatives and we had a great, getting to know you chat over pasta.

Then a quick stop at Forest Park before heading to the Chase Hotel.

OMG

I have always loved this historical hotel, but at Christmas?  

Wowzers.

See my grin?  I was in my element there.

We had wine with delicious appetizers before heading out to the Jason Isbel concert downtown.  After that big (and eventful) lunch, we didn’t need much of a dinner.  But this hotel was one of our old haunts, from the days when Rich worked in St Louis, so we wanted to enjoy the lounge for old time’s sake. 

I am not a big fan of concerts.  But this one was in a 100 year old theater, you know the kind with all of the gold trim and red velvet curtains?  It was a decent sized venue, but felt intimate. Plus, vaccines were required.  

My husband would go watch live music every week if he could, poor guy, he probably wishes he had a wife who was more fun.  But I did enjoy this show, especially the opening act, Strand of Oaks.  Their lyrics came from a life of hurt and healing. This one epically touched me:

Jimi and Stan in heaven
Making friends going to shows
In my dreams I just hope they're having a blast

Jimi found Stan in heaven
Sitting in a sun filled room
All the galaxy in view
Jimi and Stan

Back in life I wonder why we hang around so long
For me it's all the songs I haven't found

We're born with flaws, conditions
Generational anxieties
Just screaming look at me
It's all for show

But not Jimi and Stan
Not Jimi and Stan

Now I don't have my buddy
He knew me so well
It's hard to be happy
Or even go out
Without Jimi and Stan

Our trip was quick and ended with a breakfast at St Louis Bread Co., which I remember discovering there years ago and thinking it was just wonderful, before it became Panera’s and spread nationwide.  I had to stop when I saw the original sign out front.

 

 

A pet portrait

This is a sweet girl that I painted for a friend.

 

I have enjoyed doing more paintings this fall and hope to continue the trend into the new year.