Bonfire Party

 Spring is here! Flowers, warm weather and the promise of many memories to be made in the sun. The season of entertaining, BBQ's and pool parties, and picnics at the lake. Last week we had a bonfire, so we thought we would share it with you.

We try to make everything as healthy as possible here at the Cottage even when it comes to Smores. So we served organic marshmallows, Organic graham crackers, dark chocolate, sweet tea (hey you can't live without it in the south!), water and nitrate free beef hotdogs.

We served the tea in this adorable drink server. We bought it a few years ago at Sam's Club.

Tasty bits of organic chocolate waiting to melt in your smore.

Crisp sweet organic graham crackers await your creation.

We used this little bucket filled with ice for a cooler for guest who would rather have water.

We got the Smore station  a couple weeks ago at Sam's Club also- I really love it! It's perfect for so many things, like sandwiches and other finger foods. Oh and- oh well another post! I'm sure you will see it quite a bit this summer.

Don't forget the skewers for roasting! We used our shish kabobs sticks. We picked up those cute little glasses from Target. Aren't they perfect for this?

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#Bonfire #FamilyFun #Party #PartyPlanning #Events #SmoreStation

A Day At The Rodeo - Bold Enough Challenge

We spent Saturday night at a the Bold Enough Challenge Rodeo in Gallatin. We had such a good time, so I thought I would share some of the photos with you. 

Cowboy in the clouds.

Strawberry Preserve

Canning is a big part of our summer here at the Cottage and we always do it as a family. We all cram into our kitchen (which always seems tiny during the summer) . Some of my favorite summer memories happened in the kitchen with a boiling pot and bowls of anything from tomatoes to peaches.

One year we were canning apples and Brianna woke up and came down to the kitchen, we had a big stock pot full of apples ready to be canned. Brianna happened to not see it and long story short she and her Winnie the Pooh PJ's ended up sitting in the pot... It was so funny! This is one of our favorite preserve recipe. I don't normally like strawberries unless they are fresh, but this is so good!

2 Pounds (4 Cups) Fresh or Frozen Strawberries 

4 Cups Raw Sugar 

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

Remove stems and slice strawberries. Combine berries, sugar and lemon juice. Let stand until it gets really juicy (about 10 minutes). Slowly bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly almost to gelling point. As the mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking, Remove from heat, if needed skim foam of the top. Ladle hot preserves into hot jars.

Leave 1/4 inch head-space. Put on two piece lids (these usually come with the jars from the store) or reusable lids. Process for 15 Minutes in a boiling water canner. Remove to a place they can cool safely with out damaging anything (we use several thicknesses of towels on the counter).

Make sure the jars are not touching. Once cool label & date and store in a place where they are not in direct sunlight. And enjoy!

Summer Drinks

Summer is finally here! And we at the Cottage are very excited, so we thought we would share a few of our favorite summer drinks with you. We love sitting on the porch on summer afternoons with a cup of something cold and sweet. 

Green Lizards 

This drink is so refreshing and yummy! Mrs. Cottage's sisters use to make this when she was growing up in California. It's a great twist to make simple lemonade a little more fancy. 

3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

1 Teaspoon Lime Juice 

16 OZ. Water

1/3 Teaspoon Stevia or to taste

3 Cups Ice

1 Mint Leaf
Pour into the blender and blend. Serve in whatever cup you like we chose an empty canning jar. 

Lemonade

Is there anything more summery than lemonade?  This is so fun to serve in mason jars with a slice of lemon. 

3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

16 OZ. Water 

1/3 Teaspoon liquid Sweet Leaf Stevia (or to your taste)

Serve with several ice cubes. 

Iced Coffee 

32 OZ. Cup filled with ice

2/3 Cup Coconut Milk

1/4 Cup Cream

1 1/3 Cup Coffee 

 2 Tablespoons B Grade Maple Syrup (to taste)

Whipped Cream

Stir well and top with whipped cream.

Sun Tea

Sun tea is something that is a staple in California. There is nothing like a nice glass of cold tea.  This is a light tea that tastes great with a wedge of lemon or even an orange served on ice to make it extra cold. 

1 Gallon Spring Water

Favorite fruit blend tea (you can also use black tea or green tea)

Stevia to taste 

Serve with several cubes of ice. 

What's your favorite part about summer?

Sea Side Living Room

I have been working on a project in the living room since August.  I was trying to make the living room a bit nautical like a sea side cottage. Cool colors and white covered sofas and some home made wide striped cushion covers.  I may not live by the ocean anymore but I can pretend, right?  Well, life got crazy, then horrible, then sad and now it just sort of is. A blend of sad and hope that the future will be better.   Well anyway, I decided to finish what I started.  I am so sorry it is so late and now on the 2nd day of fall here in the U.S., I am doing my summer living room post.I actually started with the couches.  I found them on the Ikea website and loved them.  They are the Ektorp white slip covered sofa and love seat.  I had been looking for awhile on Craigslist for these sofas or something similar but I could only find a dark gray or a reddish color and that was not at all what I wanted for my seaside shabby chic kind of cottage feel. 

These sofas are great. The slip covers can be thrown in the wash and hung out to dry in the sunshine as they get dirty and it is as easy as can be.  The Table in the first photo is a set of wicker plant stands with a wooden shelve from the cabinet in the master bedroom that was extra.  It makes a great little table. 

The end table I got at an auction that friends of ours had when they moved to Africa.  I used Annie Sloan's paint on it and you can see the process that I used here.  The lamp I found at a thrift store and bought the plain lamp shade for it and dressed it up with fabric roses that we made and applied.  I have a post here about how we did it. The shell frame we bought at Ross and the photo coasters we got at Belk for my mom for a Christmas gift.  The slipcovers we made with white and dark navy blue striped fabric that we had in the house.  We usually use the fabric for bunting at the 4th of July but I thought I would use it for these to make the room a bit festive for the summer. Under the table is a fabric lined basket full of books to read as you sit and relax on the couch. The back wall is covered in 8x10 photographs of the family.  

I went through and picked the ones that made me smile or had a sweet memory attached to it.  The frames are mostly a mismatched batch of oak frames that I spray painted to look similar.  The last four are frames that we bought at Ross and painted. The oar we bought at Burke's.  We bought one for the baby's room as well but it is red and is holding his sailor hat and his nautical towels. The large brown side table is from a yard sale.  It is a restoration hardware table I believe.  On the table is a drink holder that looks like a large canning jar.  We bought this last summer at Sam's Club. There is a basket on the table with sea shells from a long past trip to the sea and a picture of our family apple picking in the orchard. The wall unit holds some of our favorite things,our love of many books and beautiful nests that we have found while gardening with blown out quail eggs.  

The jar at the top of the wall unit has blown turkey and chicken eggs topped with a nest of quail eggs. The table is a piece we found at a yard sale and the chairs we found a listing online on Craigslist.  The end large chairs we found at Ross.  The candle holder on the table came from Kirkland.                On the fireplace, we have a garland of shells and star fish that we got at Big Lots a few years ago.  On the mantle, there is a sailboat that we found at Burke's that added the sea side feel.  The large framed mirror above the fireplace we found at a yard sale in our neighborhood.  It used to be gold but I used Annie Sloan's paint and made it shabby chic. Click HERE for the post on how I did the mirror.  The paint on the walls is called Crocodile Tears and if anyone is interested in using it I will find out the brand name (I can't remember right now). We know that we use the no VOC paint.  

 
We bought a vinyl piece for the photo wall. It was sort of the inspiration for that wall.  We bought it at Hobby Lobby. You can sign up on the website for coupons and they will notify you of sales.  The coupons are on average 40% off.  Love that store! You can get some really beautiful things there on sale for great prices.  We have a couple of them locally so we have never used the online store.  This was our first time using the vinyl lettering and although we were a bit nervous it was really pretty easy to do.  Just make sure that you lay out the wording as it goes before you do it on the wall so you don't get confused as you are putting it up on the wall.  

 Tutorials:

Rose Lamp
Shabby Chic Table
Shabby Chic Mirror

A Cottage Surprise Party

Last week we decided to throw my best friends Aubrey and Anna and their little sister Ella a surprise party before they go back to Africa. They haven't had a birthday party since they moved there two years ago. Ok, so I'm really bad about doing things last minute (I got it from my dad :) ) well this might have been one of those things. I decided to do it sitting in traffic with Mrs. Cottage. So the next morning Mrs. Cottage and I with Baby Cottage tagging along ran to town to pick up some party supplies and a cake as well as gifts.

What I used:

 4 rolls of streamers (2 white 2 Purple)

4 star balloons 

1 package white balloons

To make the balloon tower you need a long piece of string and balloons. Blow up your balloons then knot the rope around the end of your balloons spacing them about two hand breadths apart. Use a tack to hook it to the ceiling and if you want use tape to hold the other end down.

Present time!!!