{DIY table number napkins}

Today I'm sharing another simple DIY project we created for our wedding, the custom napkins we created that also doubled as table numbers.  This was definitely one of those projects that was a labor of love.  Table numbers are usually staked in the floral arrangements or set alongside them and you simply have to create one per table, but I chose to make this project which would have the table number displayed on every single place seating.

I fell in love with this project when I first saw it on Twig & Thistle, but I figured it would be way more work than it was worth to create 130 napkins for our guests.  I changed my mind as soon as we decided to do long dinner tables put end on end.  We would still need to assign table numbers to the 13 tables so that guests could locate their seats, but I was concerned that guests might get confused about where a certain table started and ended since the tables were placed together.  These DIY napkins offered the perfect solution and allowed us to make some tables hold more than others by simply making 10 napkins for a certain table number rather than 8 which helped tremendously with the fully assigned seating.

This project took a good amount of time, but the effort required is minimal as long as you have the right tools.  The 3 inch circle punch is an absolute must for this project as is a high quality cotton napkin that doesn't have any texture (i.e. a waffle textured napkin wont work!).  You can see the full instructions and download the file for the numbers over at Twig and Thistle here. 

 {image via Twig & Thistle}

 {we could not have finished this project without the help of chris' mom!}

{for Chris and my seats, we created our crest on the napkins instead of the table numbers since we were pretty sure we would know where our seats were!}

{chicago dining room}

After moving into our new place at the beginning of August, we were able to get most of our rooms set up to our liking and painted within a couple weeks.  The only room that is 99% done is the dining room which is more of a dining "area" since our living room/kitchen/dining room are basically one large space.  I say 99% complete because is any room ever 100% complete?  I feel like I am always tweaking furniture arrangements or adding small decor elements over time, but since our dining area probably won't drastically change any time soon I thought it would be nice to share some photos of it while we work on fully completing the other areas of our new Chicago place...

 {the only new furniture we purchased for our dining room is this pair of bar stools from Ikea.  The kitchen island we had in the loft would not fit in our current layout so we put it in storage back home until we find ourselves with a bigger kitchen layout in the future.}

{Even though we had to give up our beloved island, our new place has this great built in island with an overhang for bar seating convenient to the dining area} 

{So far we have found it useful for setting up appetizers when entertaining in the same way we used to use the previous island.}

{the swan art that used to be in our bedroom seemed to be the perfect size to live on the large blank wall behind our dining table and of course we bought along our bubble chandelier which Chris expertly hard-wired this time around}

{our favorite table and comfy dining chair set up hasn't changed from our last place except that the Pottery Barn rug which we used to use under this table is now being used in our living room.  I am still trying to decide if this space really would benefit from a rug or not.}

 {dinner party set up with the hot pink napkins I picked up in Mexico on our honeymoon}

{my favorite way to have salt & pepper on the table for guests- something about a little spoon feels a million times more chic than an old school shaker or pepper grinder}

{muji's new favorite lookout spot through the large windows alongside the dining table}

{mango, black bean & coconut tacos}

Since moving to Chicago we have had lots of things to distract us from getting too homesick; we have gotten to spend some time off work decorating our place, went on an insane vacation with 20 new friends in the Dominican Republic and have met countless other amazing people who have all moved here for Kellogg.  Regardless of all the fun distractions, I have definitely missed our regular visits to Malo and Mas Malo for their amazing tacos (especially dollar taco night). When I came across this recipe for mango and black bean tacos, I knew it would be just the thing to give us a little reminder of LA.  Even though Malo sticks to the more traditional taco recipes, the sound of the coconut cream sauce on these tacos was too much to ignore.  

The prep time on these tacos was incredibly fast and the end result was a spicy and sweet taco filled with complex flavors from the mixture of jalapenos, mango and coconut.  These would be even better with a carne asada or some soy-rizo.  The coconut sauce alone is something I would love to experiment with drizzled onto other dishes and as a side note the recipe I referenced for this dish yields A TON of the coconut sauce so unless you do intend to use it for other dishes I would recommend cutting it by at least half.