35 Week Bump-Date

 

Time is flying now. 5 Weeks to go.  Little B will be here before we know it!

She already loves the beach. I can tell.

Nothing a Little Spray Paint Can't Fix...

Confession. I have been totally obsessed with the Nate Berkus show lately and what he calls "outdoor living spaces." Unfortunately, these living spaces often come with a pretty price tag. I just want a little area where we can sit and enjoy the backyard (when we are not at the beach.) My parents were kind enough to give us an old table that was on their deck when they first were married. Yeah, we're talking over 25 years old. Rust and all... (I am still very grateful though!)

Best part? It was free! The glass is in great shape and the metal is just a little lot rusty. Insert spray paint here. I chose teal...surprised?

Price-tag? 3 or 4 bucks. I can't remember. All we needed was a sunny day....

Don't worry about me. I was across the yard using mega-zoom. No spray paint inhalation injuries for preggers.

Peter even looked out for the grass and gave the table some booties so the grass could stay green. While he was at it, I grabbed a few ugly plastic pots my mom had given me (still grateful...promise.) and had him paint those as well...

Don't they look great? I bought some grassy stuff at Home Depot and split it in half...little grass for each pot.

Here is the patio set-up for now. Chairs and umbrella from Christmas Tree Shop. I had a 10% off your entire purchase and their chairs were just under $20 a pop. Competitive with every other store I looked at. The umbrella was $20 as well. Great quality too. Oh and the rug? Well if you could feel it...it's not super "ruggy". It's got a little more plastic feeling to it but dries super quick after rain (Unlike rugs) AND I got it off Amazon with free shipping and it was $55! All the other outdoor rugs were well into the hundreds! We love it. Makes it feel like we have an extra room in the house. Oh yeah and the rug will hopefully prevent some of those dreaded summer time splinters.

Good thing we finished this project this week. We have a few friends coming over for a birthday celebration tonight. Birthday? What? Oh yeah it's my birthday! Gotta go get ready for our shindig. Peter's keeping most of it a surprise...I wonder what we are eating- I'm starved!

Dining Room Progress

Thought I would fill y'all in with a little dining room update since I am sure most of you have been on the edge of your couches/lazy-boys seats in anticipation of the wall demo reveal. Progress on that real soon. Ahem...husband?

So let's recap a little on the dining room journey. Remember what it looked like when we moved in? Want to see the rest of the place with nothing in it? Check it out in our house tour.

As you remember from this post we have never had a dining room and had to start from scratch. We got the furniture on Craigs list and on a crazy Ikea adventure. This is what I wanted the room to resemble from Ballard Designs:

I definitely didn't want those kinda price tags though. Luckily Mommy the sewing-extraordianaire stepped in and took over the slipcover making fiasco. Remember round #1?

Well, she perfected the pattern while I was busy prepping myself for Little B and Arts Fest Beverly!
Look at how nice the slipcovers look!

The best part about them? They can be taken off and washed! Bring on the mess Little B! See if I can handle you...

Ok, as promised here is the progress so far:

Doesn't the back of the hutch match the chairs perfectly? I can hardly contain myself.  The only thing that bothers me terribly is the chandelier in the center of the room. I mean really? Where would you walk if I put the table in the center? Tossing around ideas without moving the electrical right now.  Anyone ever encountered this problem? I also want to add some curtains to the bay windows sometime soon. Thanks to my friend Jill for getting us that cute plant on the table as a housewarming gift. We love it!

Arts Fest Beverly in T-Minus 4 Days!

So many people have been asking me why I haven't been in full force with Cottage on The Coast, my Etsy shop. Well, I have been busy sewing, just not for the shop! Arts Fest Beverly is in 4 DAYS! Wahoo :) This was the first craft fair I did last summer, and it was so much fun! It was so great to see happy customers walk away with things that I made. So, I'm back at it again.

Join us in downtown Beverly from 10-4 where they are going to shut down Cabot Street just for us (well not just Pete and me)! Here is a glimpse of a few of the things I've been working on:

Some items that will be available include: Bib/Burp cloths, appliqued onesies and t-shirts, blankets, pacifier clips, crayon rolls, colored pencil rolls, reusable sandwich bags, and more!

So don't forget to come down for a stroll, support your local artists, and enjoy the summer sun!

All About Cloth

I have been asked by many people in the last few months what our diapering situation is going to look like. I am thrilled to respond: Cloth Diapers!! That's when people look at me funny and reply "haha...good luck!"

Well, that only makes me want to prove everyone wrong. I am so excited to save a ton of money by avoiding "sposies" - as the cloth diapering world calls them. I would love to tell you all that my primary motivation for cloth diapering is to save the planet, go green, etc. Yes, this is an added bonus, and I am thrilled I am helping keep "sposies" out of landfills...really. But let's get real. I am totally pumped to save some serious cash.  Another motivating factor for me is to keep all those chemicals found in "sposies" away from Little B's bottom.

So you decide cloth diapering could work for you. Now what? I did a TON of research and found a cute little shop online that breaks everything down for cloth diapering novices. It's called littleneetchers and they are based out of northern Minnesota. The owners' write-up on "Cloth Diapering 101" had me at hello. They even have a registry where I chose the diapers I wanted and family/friends could help us out.

By far, I found the cheapest option is to use Flip Covers (Picture above) for $13.95 each and Bummis Organic Unbleached Prefolds (Set of 6 for $10). From what I have read, it's worth it to pay a few extra bucks for these prefolds vs. cheapo Gerber ones that are made with polyester and end up repelling "stuff" instead of absorbing.

Lastly, a must have for my stash are the Bum Genius Stay Dry Doublers that you throw in the diaper at night or for heavy wetters. The fleece absorbs moisture and wicks it away from those little tushies, preventing redness.

We are still working out the numbers on all of these beauties. Don't you worry. Peter-I-Love-Excel will probably make us a nice breakdown of cost on these once we get our stash situated. I will be sure to update everyone on our progress. It's exciting isn't it? Hopefully I made someone out there think cloth diapering may be worth looking into. Check out LittleNeetchers.com and ask her questions- that's what she is there for!

New Look!

As you can see...we've been busy. Our Cottage On the Coast has a new look :) You likey?

Oh and look at our new Button:

Exciting things happening around this house.

Little Projects Make Me Feel Good...

I was getting a little antsy this past weekend and wanted to see some significant changes in the nursery. It's all about the details baby. I started by painting this old IKEA frame I had lying around the same color as the trim. I used a staple gun (an essential) to attach leftover fabric from the curtain to the backing of the frame. Then, I simply hot glued these cutesy starfish I had lying around from our wedding to finish the piece!

Next I used some of the leftover fabric from the crib skirt to line this basket I bought at Michael's (with a coupon!). Look at all of the wonderful little things Little B has been given already! Our little swimmer is already kicking around in excitement to play with these wonderful things.

Then I made a few little pillows out of coordinating fabric to throw in the crib until Little B occupies that space...

Look this side of the room is almost done! All we need is that great mobile that I have been dreaming about for above the crib.

 

It's definitely starting to feel like a nursery! 9 Weeks and counting.  Don't little projects make you feel so much more accomplished?