#thebravehome | favorites no.1

Image via @jessleeroth

A couple weeks ago I launched my feature hashtag, #thebravehome, over on Instagram and I am LOVING the posts that people are sharing! Here's my first batch of favorites from some amazing people! 

The focus of the hashtag is to celebrate bold, eclectic, fearless home decor, so keep tagging your images with #thebravehome!  I can't wait to see what pops up in the hashtag and stay tuned for next week's feature round-up!

Image via @emsicisum

Image via @houseonasugarhill

Image via @fibre_knots

Image via @kirsten.diane

Gingham Style

I feel like this should've been a farmers market outfit or something more rural, but in reality it was just a brunching-with-friends outfit. We're still waiting for full blown summer to arrive so it was a little chilly today in this dress but it was too cute for me to wait any longer to style up. I imagine once hot temps come to stay I'll probably be living in this light and breezy midi dress (though on me it's nearly a maxi, haha!).

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California Poppy

I'm gonna be honest with you guys... this hat is a Halloween costume hat.  It's one of those new costume items that Goodwill has for sale during Halloween.  It was, like, maybe ten bucks?  And it's chintzy as hell, and I don't even know what the material is, it could even be plastic covered with some black fuzz that makes it look suede-y.  But it's the exact style that I wanted for so long, so when I saw it on one of my thrifting adventures last fall I picked it up.  Someday I'll drop some money on a nice hat, but for now, this one will do.  I apologize to all the artisan hat makers who are cringing thinking about this hat being on my head as an actual fashion item and not a 10 year old's Halloween costume.

What is not a cheap Halloween costume, though is this dress!  I picked this beauty up from Iris + Poppy and it's probably going to be my favorite summer dress.  It's so lightweight, I know it'll be all I want to wear on those days we start brushing up against triple digit temperatures. I've got a discount code for Iris + Poppy, too, so if you want to grab this dress or any of the other cute things they have (I'm dying over the Sadie Jumpsuit!), just use the code AMB-LIZ15 to get 15% off your order!

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Dress : Iris + Poppy | Hat : Goodwill | Sunglasses : c/o Moorea Seal
Necklace : c/o Tribe Jewelry | Boots : c/o CAT Footwear

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Keto Chocolate Cookies

Being on a high fat, low carb diet means that you can sometimes get cravings for baked goods that are off limits.  Luckily I've found some great recipes for keto-friendly goodies and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand the other day when I was having my cookie craving so I threw them together real quick, popped 'em in the oven and was happily munching on cookies in less than an hour.  The original recipe calls for chocolate chips which was the only thing I didn't have on hand, but next time I make these I will definitely be adding those for some additional gooey goodness.

Keto Chocolate Cookies

(makes 12-18 cookies. recipe via peace love and low carb)
Ingredients: 
1 cup natural creamy almond butter
2/3 cup confectioners erythritol (I use this brand)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons peanut butter powder
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon melted salted butter
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/ Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

2/ In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond butter, erythritol, cocoa powder, peanut butter powder, eggs, butter, water, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Using an electric hand mixer, mix until all ingredients are well combined. It will be a very thick dough. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3/ Form the cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch balls. This will produce 12 good sized cookies. You can make them smaller to yield more cookies.

4/ Place the cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. At the 9-10 minute mark, remove the cookies and press them down to keep them from getting to big and cake-y.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place on a cooling rack to allow the cookies to cool before eating.

DIY Modern Pergola Tutorial for under $100

I've wanted a pergola in our side yard for quite a while.  First of all, we've got these hops that grow like mad and I wanted somewhere for them to climb.  Second of all, our side yard is on the south side of our home and it gets real hot over there, so I wanted something to cover the area a bit and provide shade. I saw a lovely, black, modern pergola at Target one day for like $450 and was not about to drop $450 on it, but wanted to create something similar and figured it'd be a pretty simple DIY. Lo and behold, it was!

What you'll need:

Skill Saw
Drill
3 in deck screws
2 10ft 2x4's
2 8ft 2x4s'
4 8ft 4x4's
8 8ft 2x2's
Paint/stain (optional)

01/  Lay your 4x4's down on the ground 10 feet apart and then lay the first 10ft 2x4 across them.  Attach each end of the 2x4 to what will be the top end of the 4x4s using three screws.  I pre-drilled all my screw holes with a bit slightly smaller than my screws just to ensure that I wouldn't split any of my wood.

02/ Once both sides of the 10ft 2x4 are screwed to the 4x4s, tilt it up to standing.  If you have a pal or two helping you (which I recommend), they can hold it up while you build the next side, using the same process.  If you have zero friends willing to help, you can be like me and do it alone, you'll just have to prop your two sides up by lashing them to sawhorses.  

03/ Now that your long sides are up and finished, you can put them together with the two 8ft 2x4s.  Using 3 screws on either end, screw the 8 ft 2x4s into the top end of the 4x4, but make sure the end of the 2x4 goes all the way to the side of your first 10ft 2x4s, otherwise your pergola will be too wide for the top 2x2 slats! 

/04 Now that everything is connected, you can add the top slats.  I just used one screw on each end of the 2x2s and screwed them into the top of the 10ft 2x4s.

05/ if you'd like to add more stabilization, you can put some diagonal 2x4s in each of the top corners.  If you're not too worried about wind, you can leave it as is, as it's pretty heavy, but if you want it to be more anchored, you can either dig holes for the legs to sit in and pour some concrete, or you can buy concrete pier blocks to screw your legs to for a little less permanent of an anchor. 

I also chose to paint mine black to match the exterior of our house, so you could either paint yours or stain it to preserve the wood. 

Rug : Target | Adirondack Chairs : Fred Meyer
Cafe Lights : Costco | Hanging Macrame Chair : Sorbus

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