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?

Memorial Day Grill Lovin'

So to kick off summer in style we found it only fitting to buy our first "big" person grill none other than Memorial Day weekend. After talking with countless people and accepting loads of advice (most of which was out of our price range) we settled on this black beauty:

 

 It's certainly not as magnificent as all of the other grills at the Depot...but we were just as thrilled to roll out of there with this on our dolly. But first, we had to checkout. We pull up to the register giddy that black beauty was already assembled for us and the checkout lady asked if we want a 2 year warranty for $12. On an $88 dolla-grill? So what you're saying is we can get a brand new grill in the next 2 years if something breaks? For free? Yes please. Oh yeah and we had a 10% off Lowe's coupon that Home Depot will honor. So essentially we got the warranty for free.

What should we make for our first meal? A friend gave us a great burger idea and here is the recipe I used (I made them in bulk to freeze so we will be happy burger eaters this summer).

Organic Black Bean and Brie Stuffed Burgers

4 lbs. Organic Ground Beef

2 Diced Red Onions

2 Cans Organic Black Beans

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Ground Cumin

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Pepper

  

First I sauteed the onions until they were tender.

Then I combined the meat, onions, black beans, and seasonings.

I added a dollop of brie in the middle of each burger. Did you know you are supposed to press down in the middle of the burger so they cook evenly? Look! I made 20 burgers. Lot's of fun this summer...

 

 Ta Da! Here is the final product. I made up some summer slaw with bok choy and cabbage to go with the burgers. It was the perfect Memorial Day!

30 Week Bump-Date

It was beautiful weather here this week so we celebrated with a walk on the beach. I've had some requests for a bump update. Here it is!

Hope everyone has a great Sunday! We are off to church and the farm and working on the dreaded beam project. It's not so dreaded anymore though. It's coming along but we can't change halfway and call it the "fun" beam project. It's been named. End of story.