Karla's Cottage

The ladies get a treat

This time of year, once the family has packed up themselves and their gifts and headed home, I am itching to pack up the holiday Foof that fills my home and get my halls undecked.  I am ready to enjoy simple surroundings with items like this elegant bloom.

The opulence in the cottage makes me so happy, until it doesn’t and all of a sudden, it is clutter to me.  Then I right then, right now, want it gone.  Typically, Sugarwings wants me to leave it up til after New Years so I do. Right now, I’m busy with getting ready for the next Good Juju sale, so I am honoring the grand fairy’s request and keeping my priorities in line by making price tags instead of hauling tubs of glittering pretties to the closet.

A compromise in starting the undecking was to clear out the gingerbread houses. When the kids were little, we’d take them to the woods for the fairies to live in.  Now, I had them over to the hens to peck at and enjoy.

I’m not sure how much they will eat, but they do enjoy the novelty.

And I enjoy having just a little less stuff on my dining table.

 

A Family Together Christmas

Like it was for so many of the people across the country, the weather was a big challenge this holiday.  Luckily, we did fine, unlike so many stranded at airports, stuck on icy roads, or barricaded up in cold houses with no heat.

Our discomforts were minor.  My husband’s flight home was cancelled, but he was able to drive.  Our pipes froze, but only the kitchen. After some insulating and blasting a space heater toward them, 24 hours later, we had water.  

I’ve been horrified thinking about all the people stranded at airports. And even worse, on the snowy highways.

I feel so blessed to have had my people with me, all cozied up in our warm house.

We made bath products, gingerbread houses, sugar cookies and SO MANY DINNERS.

Sugarwings made sculpy characters like this gruesome zombie gingerbread guy.  Dewdrop made bracelets.  I made lace Angel wings.

There was snuggling.

Laughing, lots of laughing with the little ones

We decorated the dogs for the holiday too.

Dewdrop decorated herself.

None of the hats or antlers fit little Dorothy, so she was slipped into an elf hat.

My favorite part, though?  The two littlest grand fairies, who are not so little any more, put on swimsuits and had a pool party in the jacuzzi tub.  With rubber ducks, while singing Christmas carols.  It made me so happy to hear their giggles and songs.

With the family spread across the  country, and the littles growing up, I know that these big gatherings  have a shelf life.  


I count my blessings every time my house fills up.

Merry Christmas!

I hope the weather isn’t ruining your holiday plans.  It’s quite a huge storm!  


I’m wishing you warmth, togetherness, and joy.

Glass ornaments as mini carafes

We had our annual holiday bookclub dinner at the cottage last week.  

As I usually do, I set the table with a hodge podge of mismatched pieces, but with kind of a theme.  And I tried a cute trick I’d seen at another party, using a clear glass ball as a mini carafe.

The way I’d seen it done was at a wine tasting and they used small, plastic ornaments. I really don’t know if those are food safe.  So, I bought the big glass ones (at Hobby Lobby on clearance for 60% off), washed them well, and glued on roses that I’d painted onto old sheet music.

At our party, I make the food and friends bring the wine, so I couldn’t pre-fill the balls with wine like the previous way I’d seen them used.  So I decided to use them for water, sitting on a glass of ice. 

Before everyone arrived, I poured one into a cup, to see if it really was a good idea or was just messy.  

Well, so so.

I had over filled the balls, and when pouring the water over the ice I realized that there was just too much in them.  And no where to set the balls down except right back on top of the glass, or they would roll away and flood the table.  

Oops!

 I quickly poured some water out of each ball, leaving just the right amount for the glass.  Ha, I’m glad I checked!

After dinner, the ornaments were party favors to take home.  


I should’ve made everyone take food home too, I made way, way too much.  As usual. I ended up putting this pie in the freezer for when the family comes home for Christmas.  And I served some of the cupcakes at another party. Oh, and I did manage to take care of the rest of the extra cupcakes.  

Somebody had to, right?

A few days after the book club bash, I was hosting a craft day get together.  And the day after that, Sugarwings was supposed to have a cocoa party, but it was cancelled due to an ear infection, poor kid.

Typically, I like to have all of my parties in the same week, so I only have to clean the house once.  And as I take plates out of the dishwasher, I reset the table so it’s ready to go for the next event. The cottage has a festive feel all week when it is party time.  

For the craft day party, I did use wine in the Christmas balls.

Which, come to think of it, probably makes them harder to rinse out if they are meant to be keepsakes. I am not sure if I’ll do this party trick again or not.  I enjoyed it, and thought it made the table festive.  I hope the guests enjoyed it too.

 

The elves are drunk

Some of these elves are from my childhood, others have been collected over time. I’ve always loved the little sprites and one of my favorite memories at the holidays was being allowed to play with the three mouse head elves on the tree.  

Why were the elves mice? That wasn’t a question that I ever thought of back then.

When the Elf on a Shelf craze started a few years back, I bought the grand fairies a couple new ones.  We didn’t really play the spy game with them, they were mostly cuddled, loved, and included in holiday activities.  Like a favorite stuffy.

Now that Sugarwings is a teenager, the elves are getting into trouble  that kid surprises me with various drunken elf scenes and messes.

I bought some of those chocolate liqueur candies and the elves think I purchased those just for them.

I never know where I’ll find a drunken elf getting into trouble.

One seems to be the instigator.

They try to make up for it by doing something sweet.

Bad Girls Christmas

Our annual Bad Girls’ Christmas was again hosted by Angie, in her serene palace in the sky.  It’s on the 8th floor and overlooks the KC Plaza, a wonderful view.

She is a caring hostess with attention to every detail. Everything there is always just perfect there.  Well, everything but my blurry photos.

This one was a bit blurry too, but you can still see the fun!

She lives near Kaufman Gardens so we walk over to see the holiday displays.  It feels good to be surrounded by blooms on a chilly, winter day.  

I brought gifts, Beth loves buttons.

Angie always picks up autumn leaves.

She went all Julia Childs on us and served Beef Bourgignon, and oh man, it was good.  But I’m afraid everyone had to listen to me do my (very poor) Julia imitation too many times.  

I am blessed with the friends I have.  And I know how lucky I am.  When Rich and I were first married, his job uprooted us a lot.  And I had two small boys, one who struggled pretty severely with some disabilities. Those guys both  kept me busy, and between always being new in town, and needing to be with the kids, I didn’t meet many people.

Ryan grew into a delightful, caring, witty man, but his childhood was not easy for him.  I think that his little body could not keep up with his mind, and his frustration about making himself understood, or to do what he wanted caused a lot of turmoil.  


Speaking of Ryan, I felt like I had a surprise visit from him!  An article I was reading mentioned street view on Google maps, and I’d never looked at our home there.  So I pulled it up, and there he was- mowing the field and getting some sunshine.

At first it was shock to see him, but after a moment, I felt a warmth of happiness, almost as if I’d looked out the window and caught a glimpse of him.

After finishing a scrapbook of my pictures of Ryan, I came across something I wanted to add to it with another photo on it.  Then it hit me.

I would never take another picture of my boy.  

So finding this one online was a Christmas gift!

He is always with me, and in my heart.  But I sure miss seeing him on that mower.  Or walking down the sidewalk. Or gleefully throwing his head back in laughter.

Losing a loved one, plus having had those early years of struggle, and loneliness without close friends, makes me even more appreciative of having good friends now.

 I treasure our times together.

Merry

Isn’t that a great word?  Merry and Joy, are my faves for the season.  I made this banner years ago when those pearl letters were all the rage.  I couldn’t find a Y, so bent the J.  

A mini banner over this window says JOY.  But I didn’t photograph it at the right angle.

My halls aren’t quite as decked as they often are, but I felt like I had plenty.

A few trees…

A ton of lights….

A colorful coca set up…

Some elves…

A vintagy, crafty display…

And Shiny Brites galore!

It’s all the shininess and lights that I love so much.

When the days get dark and cold, twinkle lights and reflective surfaces are just what I need.

And look, the Christmas cactus gifted to me last year has bloomed right on time.

 

 

 

These jewelry trees have been so delightful to create!

I can’t believe that I haven’t ever made these before.  But am sooo glad that I did this year!

And I made quite a few.

Most are sold- THANK YOU!

But I will have a few to add to the Boutique.  ( www.karlascottage.com )

I don’t think I even got photos of all of them.  And there are a couple in my car that I brought back from the Good Juju holiday weekend.  I’ll add those to the Boutique this week.

Here are a few that I did remember to photograph.  

After blowing through all of my stashed frames, I started using trays, book covers, and even plates.  It was a frenzy.  The dogs are lucky that they don’t have bejeweled trees glued to their fur.

How to make a tiny snow globe

I cannot get enough of making Sugarplum Fairies.  While I reuse the vintage scans, I never make the same girl exactly the same twice, each is a unique little sprite. 

I wanted some of them to have snow globes and found packages of tiny, round glass jars at Hobby Lobby.  They had tops meant to hang on necklaces, but I didn't want to use those.  

Instead, I thought a button would be cute to use as a base.  There were NO trees to be found that small, but I have discovered that the little bottle brush trees that I bleach and dye are pretty easy to trim to fit.

First step is to put a pinch of glitter or mica flakes into the jar.  Then a bit of glue around the rim.  

After that, I twist my tree into the globe as far as it will go.

The super sharp, Tim Holtz scissors are ideal for cutting the wire of the tree.  I trim it to the edge of the glass.  (Make sure you don't trim it so short that the tree gets lost inside the globe, the bottom should be even with the hole or slightly longer.)

After the tree is cut, glue a button base to the opening.  Having the brush of the bottom of the tree at the very edge of the glass gives you something to glue the button to, and keeps the tree in place.

Aren't they cute as a button? Ha.

 

 

 

$1 garage sale tree makeover

Here is an after close up of a tree I found this summer at a garage sale.  I started with the after, because the before was so ugly, I might have lost your attention.  

It was definitely in the “walk on by” category of garage sale finds.

Here it is in all of its glory.  But if you look closely, there is potential.

Those are little vintage shiny brites that were used on the original creation.  And the tiny, wooden train isn’t that bad. There was a salvage pile, a toss pile, and a package up and sell at the mall pile.  
I also cut off all the non working lights.

The next step in this glow up was white spray paint for a flocked look.  I painted the board it sits on too.  After the paint dried, I carefully spritzed it with spray adhesive and generously sprinkled mica on it.  After it dried, I shook it upside down to get out the loose flakes.

Then, it was time for the fun stuff.  Batting was wrapped around the tree to create snow as well as something to glue deer hooves into.  I cut some sticks from my yard and made trees from them, plus added some bottle brush trees.  

The wood itself wouldn’t have been easy to attach anything to.  By using the batting, I was able to give the skinny legs of the deer and the twigs a better base for glue.  I also tried to cluster them, so I could glue everything to each other for even more stability.

Keep in mind, for any glue project, the surface you attach something to is only as good as what you attach that to.  For instance, if I hadn’t really, really, really glued the batting to the wooden circle really, really good, it wouldn’t matter how much glue I used on the deer and trees.  If the batting came up, they’d fall off.  

So, there was plenty of glue underneath it all too.  And lots oozing about here and there.  I gave it a coat of mica flakes to hide that mess.

The gold and silver packages got reused, and tied up with brown string with little, vintage bells.

There are birds and pinecones in the branches.

And a star on top.  

I like it so much better now.

This tree will probably be at the Good Juju sale today, I still haven’t decided if I’m selling or keeping.

There is an extra sale date for this weekend!  A party on Thursday night.

Then our regular dates of First Friday and Saturday.