Karla's Cottage

More from our cottage gardens

I tend to junk up my yard and home with old stuff.

And that makes me happy!

 

 

 

 

 

May Showers Bring June Flowers?

Quite a bit of May and into June, it rained.

And rained.

Then rained some more.

I dug some trenches to have the water run away from the house in a few places, but this river was created by the dogs running back and forth to bark at people walking on the other side of the fence.  I needed to dig out a tunnel under the fence for it to drain, and then, this raging river became ideal for redirecting the water away from our home.  

But just imagine the mud we have had to deal with from all of the dog’s hard work in crafting this trail!

We are so lucky it has only been mud.  So many places are flooded or damaged by the tornados.

I hate to even admit this, but the rain hasn’t been all bad at the cottage.   We seem to have decent run off, and haven’t had problems with it, once the torrents streaming across the yard subside and drain away.

We have been gifted with  lush, overflowing flower beds as an after effect.

Our yard has never been better.

We have also put a ton of work into trimming, planting, and cleaning up too.

And my studio redo made me so happy that I wanted some changes outside too.   This swing got a fresh coat of paint, and moved from the big yard that has been taken over by Honey and Sugar, to a cozy spot where it is  getting used again.

This corner got  a big refresh, I added two rose bushes, a viburnum, some other shrub (whose name I have forgotten), and ten bags of mulch.

I also planted this little perennial that will bloom in pink.  My husband said that we should support a local farm/nursery that had tornado damage.   He loaded up his chainsaw and gator to spend an afternoon cleaning up there, then picked me up to go shop at their garden center. 

We have always loved that farm, in the fall it is a pumpkin patch and we have had many happy memories of tiny grand fairies playing there.

If buying a few pots and flats of plants could help them out, I was in.  We even bought a few for our son’s home.  

I am very proud of my handsome husband for volunteering his time.  He is a nice guy to not only go to help but to also suggest supporting their business. 

 

Crafting the Bunny's Chapeau

Although Easter has passed, I still have more to show you from the holiday.  I thought I'd tell you how we created Guncle Randy's bunny hat.

We started with a magnificent, pink, wool top hat.  Which would have been great as is!

But we wanted it to be even more bunnified.  So I tucked Easter grass under the band.

Over the band, I wrapped a white velvet ribbon and pinned it in place, then glued one end of the white ribbon to the other end of the ribbon, overlapping a bit.  Our issue was, that we didn't know if the hat would need to be returned to its original glory. I don't sew, I am a die hard glue-er.  But- we were not sure if we should let any glue touch the already pretty pink hat.

The white velvet ribbon became the new hat band, placed over the existing band and everything was glued to the white one.

Including the wired ears.

Using The Ultimate Glue, I layered vintage millinery flowers to the  ribbon, then to each other, building a full bouquet to add more grass, eggs, and bugs to.

My plan had been to use brighter, less tattered flowers....

But the ones I had packed were lost on the flight, due to a broken zipper on my suitcase!!!! (Along with a crop-o-dile, lace, ribbons, rhinestones, Tim Holtz scissors, more flowers, gel pens, and a bottle of glue)

Well, at least it was a good excuse to buy a new suitcase for the trip home! And a much prettier one at that.

Funny, for a person who lost most of her flowers, I seemed to have plenty left.  These were packed elsewhere for me to use in the classes I was going to take at the event.  I had forgotten that I had a ton of vintage floral packets with me that I had planned on selling on Vendor Night, so there was no shortage of flowers that weekend.  I just didn't get to use the ones I had planned on using on the hat.

But I like the way these look, so it all turned out fine.

The sides and back were decorated too.  But less heavily than the front.

It was clumsy to try to glue things to the new band and to each other, not to the hat itself, and it is all put together like a house of cards.  But this way, if Randy ever wants to wear a plain, pink top hat, all he needs to do is pull off that white ribbon. Everything will come off in a big bundle.

Luckily, this wire and bead posy was not lost in the luggage fiasco, because it fit perfectly into this old knife handle transformed into a boutonniere holder.

My baby bro and I had a blast making these together.  Our collaborated projects are always so much fun!

A Song of Spring, sign ups are open

Registration is open for our Springtime class at the cottage, with Karen Hillman and myself. 

I will be showing you how to use watercolor markers to create sweet, little images in your art journals or to frame. And speaking of framing, everyone gets a small frame to embellish and pop your finished painting into.

Also included is a set of watercolor paint markers, a watercolor notebook to practice your techniques, and I will draw a little bluebird for each guest to use as a guideline.  (Or you can ‘wing it’ and draw your own.)

My talented friend, Karen, will be making “Felicity the Flower Fairy” with us.  Everything pictured is provided, (including the darling, bisque dolly) you will need only your glue, tools, and any personal bits you would like to add.

Karen will also walk us through sugaring violets and mint leaves to enhance your holiday baking.  You will need to bring a food safe paint brush and will go home with a prettily wrapped, vintage plate to hold your scrumptious flowers.

 

Date:

Saturday, April 20

Place:

Karla’s Cottage- Lawrence, KS

Cost:

$115

Includes:

Lunch, beverages, goodies

Karen’s kit for making Felicia the Flower Fairy

Fresh cut violets and mint leaves, and the ingredients to transform them

A set of watercolor markers, a hand done drawing, a watercolor notebook, frame and embellishments, and an instructional chart 

 

I hope we will see you there! The class size is limited to the amount of antique dolls Karen has on hand. Anyone who has contacted me already will be given first priority, in the order that I heard from them.

 Please  email me at:

karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

to join in on the fun we will be having Easter weekend in the studio!

as before, return guests, (Peeps) get a ten percent discount)

 

Food full of love, with a room full of hearts and roses

 As always, I got a bit carried away with the theme for the party....

Hearts, EVERYWHERE!

The freshly baked rolls  were baked in heart shaped muffin tins.

As were the cupcakes. But it wasn't all that clear unless you looked at the bottom of them.

Rainbow carrots were even cut into hearts. 

(That might have been the moment when I realized it had gone over the top, it took longer than I thought it would, even with Kia helping.  But it was kind of fun, even if it probably was not a good use of my time)

Of course, there were cookies cut out as hearts.

The Dove chocolates and Cadbury eggs aren't hearts, but they are "lovebird" themed.

The treat cabinet was strewn with hearts and roses from top to bottom.

Red isn't typically my color, but I do enjoy pops of it at Christmas and Valentines.

Especially when the red is rosey.

And while this calendar page on the Treat Cabinet door isn't purely Valentine's themed, it is from Jan.-Feb. and seemed to fit in perfectly.

Hearts made by Beth are hanging on the other door.

And LuWanda is dolled up in rhinestone birds on lace with a flocked wallpaper heart.

We had fruity iced tea in the Treat Cabinet, and in the kitchen, I set up a hot cocoa and hot tea station.

But to be honest, this is always here.  We like to have the ingredients we need for tea or cocoa ready to roll. And the lace hearts? Those are year round too.  I  hung them up for Valentines Day a couple years ago and couldn't bring myself to take them down.

The chair covers were a very lucky find. I was at an estate sale for a closed catering business, and these brand new, never used, pink, pretties were only $1.50 each!

I almost didn't buy them, then came to my senses.

They were exactly what I needed, right?

Beth had just given me the pink napkins that match them, and the Guncles gifted me with the plates.  Lots of sharing and love went into the table top.

Including flowers from our newest Peep, Amy.

Now that our day full  of Peeps has passed, I think I need to throw a Valentine dinner party to enjoy all the decor some more. 

I do love Holidays and all the pretty things that come with them. 

 

 

 

 

How to make hot glue roses by Sugarwings

Recently, Sugarwings has been creating with a glue gun, for hours, every time she comes over.  She makes a lot of things with it, some odd, some cool, but these? I was impressed.

The translucent glue makes a delicate looking petal, doesn't it?   She is using them for pencil toppers, and painting the tips of the petals with nail polish.  

The pencils are wrapped in ribbons, and have gift tags on them, since we have plans to give them away, but I've also asked her to make some for me on dowels that we will wrap in green ribbons and use to fill a vase.

She asked me to do help her put a tutorial together, and I took photos of each step.  I'd found this vintage gown at an estate sale (for $1!!!) and we thought it would be fun to do a dress up photo shoot for the the crafting session. (And I am always happy to have an excuse to take photos of this sprite).  

She has put the pictures into an iMovie and was planning to narrate it, but hasn't had a chance to get back to that since she started, so I'll add the video later.  For now, I'll give you the directions, as told to me, with the photos, in case you'd like to make some roses of your own.  

Just in time for Valentine's Day!

She says is it very important to let your glue gun warm up, and wanted a photo of her waiting for the glue to get hot.  She uses a low temp gun and likes the longer sticks.

The glue is squirted onto parchment paper.

Fold the paper over the blob of glue, and burnish it flat.  She is using a toy spatula from a Play Doh kit here, but I've also seen her use a pencil as a rolling pen.

Cut a strip of the flattened glue.

Roll up the strip of glue and attach to the end of the pencil (or dowel) with a dot of more glue.

Make more flattened glue ovals, and cut them in half. 

The straight line is the bottom of the petal that will be glued down, the curved sides are the tops of the petals.

Roll another piece of flattened hot glue around the center spiral.

She trims it as needed at this point.

And adds rows of petals.

It is a messy job, and you need to use pressure to hold the flower on and form it, which is why low temp glue guns are the way to go!

When done, touch the tips of the petals with nail polish.

Lovely!

Here are a couple of tips from me, not from her.  I haven't made any myself, but I did help with painting.  I think that the roses could benefit from a trimming with sharp scissors to get some of the chunks and strings out.  But I didn't interfere with the ones she made, some have more places that could use a trimming than others.  

When I painted the flowers with her, I had a Q-Tip dipped in nail polish remover to smooth out the color a little.  I thought it made the bud more natural.

The blooms are also beautiful as is, with no color.  The strings and glue chunks aren't quite as noticeable that way too.

To wrap the pencil, I used tacky glue around the base of the flower and about an inch or so down the side of the pencil, and tightly wound the ribbon around the pencil into the glue. I tied a bow of ribbon over the top and added a tag.

Now, I need to give these away.... hard to do, but I have been promised that she will make more for me to fill a vase with! Thank you, little Grandfairy.

A pretend Christmas gift

My husband loves recliners.  I hate them, but love him.  

We found a compromise! I love these chairs- and they recline!!

They are from Pottery Barn (typically out of my budget, but these were worth it).  They have velvet fabric in a neutral tone, and each are big enough to hold an adult watching a show with a grand fairy next to them.

Much bigger than what I'm used to in this cottage, but I think they will fit just fine when the trees are down, those take up some space.  I ordered them a couple of months ago, but they arrived a couple of days before Christmas, so I pretended they were a gift.   

Thank you, Santa!

Christmas is all tucked away now, safely resting until next year.

The new chairs have helped distract me from being sad about my house going from light, bright, shiny, and decked from top to bottom, back to non Christmas normalness.  And I've added some greenery to the rooms to bring back brightness in a different way. There is nothing like a fresh house plant to make you feel better when winter is at its darkest.

PS- I am thrilled to announce that I will be teaching a class in Florida at Karen Hillman's Cozy Castle!!!!!!!!! 

Details here  

I'll be posting photos and more info soon.  I hope to see you in sunny Florida for a day of friendship, creativity, and fun with my ruffly wings and romantically inspired autograph book projects.

 

Also, the ruffled crepe wings and the signature book workshops will be offered in my Cottage Studio on Jan. 26th. Email me if you want to come and play!

Karlanathan@sbcglobal.net

The Plaza Lights- from a very special viewing point

Our pal, Angie lives in an apartment overlooking the KC Plaza with a glorious view of the holiday lights.

The view inside is pretty dang great too. Angie arranged a delectable feast of loveliness for us after a day out together, lunching, shopping, and laughing. 

The city looked magical from her window.

It was a day filled with pretty things.  

And fun photo ops.

With some silliness thrown in.

I wore my favorite, new Santa shirt (AGAIN, it seems to be my uniform for December along with my decade old, red velvet coat), and found a set of placemats to match it.  But since they cost more than the shirt did, I didn't buy them.  Actually, besides lunch, and a bag of old fashioned, hard candies, I didn't do much purchasing. Just browsing and enjoying the over the top, holiday displays the stores had out.

We went to the Kaufman center to see the trees and flowers, which are a major mood enhancer this time of year.  When the Kansas landscapes are grey, brown, dreary, and dead, it is heartening to see flowers in bloom. I bent over and got some deep whiffs from the pots of white stock and the sweetness of the blooming plants really made me happy inside.

I'm rarely a red or green person, and don't decorate my home in these colors for the season, but I do love pops of these festive shades in jewelry or clothing in December.  So, I made myself some silver earrings with red and green semi-precious gemstones. While I was at it, I made enough to pass out to friends too, and took some to lunch that day for Beth, Karla, and Angie to choose from.

In the past, I've painted ornaments as little gifties for friends, and it was nice to see that Angie has some of them on her sparkling tree.

Her home is perfectly coordinated, and she has such a gentle touch with decorating, it is always an honor to see something I'd made in her home.

She crafted gift bags filled with everything we'd need for a winter's night of relaxation at home. (Wine, chocolate, and a good book!) and topped the package with this sweet collaged image. 

It was a special day, ending with an even more special evening. I'm blessed to  have good friends who could take a day off to simply enjoy the season with me. 

 

 

Honey Harvest

Last year, we hit the honey jackpot. 

This year?

Not so much.

I'd prepared for another huge harvest, and bought not only our normal sized jars, but also these mini bears to give as gifts.

We only filled one of these, (to save for Dewdrop) and very few larger ones for the family this year.

The set up isn't any easier to get an abysmal number of bottles than it is to have a bountiful harvest.  It took a day to get it all ready then cleaned up for this slow trickle.  And this year, there were 3 hives instead of just one.  

I guess the drought over the summer was hard on these poor little gals.

 

Kansas Sunflowers

While Guncle Randy was here, I took him sightseeing, Kansas Style.

I am not a native Kansan, but have embraced it as my home. And I adore the endless vistas of fields of sunflowers in the late summer, or pumpkins when fall arrives.

This year, the drought slowed down the sunflowers, but there were enough in bloom to show my Floridian, baby bro the Kansas scenery that I love.

We almost didn't stop, it was a little bit out of the way on our trip home from the flea market.

But I am so glad we made the effort, it was a fun side trip, and well worth the short drive.