Antique Copper Tub With Lining

We moved into our house last May and I have been decorating still recently. I know it has taken a long time, but we still aren't all the way finished. Our main goals with our space are to make sure that we find things that we absolutely love to fill them- so that takes a little bit of time. Here is the newest addition to our decor that I LOVE!

I had seen this (below) several months ago on Pinterest- it is from the Pottery Barn and costs about $200 (plus a $20 charge for shipping since it is catalog/internet only). No thank you!

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But I love the look of it and wanted something like it to put in my living room to hold throw blankets.

Then a couple weekends ago we went shopping at my friend's Grandmother's antique store and we found this beauty. I loved it so much. I love the copper and how rustic it looks. The inside was a little dirty so I made a liner for it. I added a little bit of embroidery around the top to give it a little more interest.

We love having it in our living room. I am not sure if we will always keep blankets in it or if we will use it for something else down the line.

***Update- I made a tutorial for making this lining!***
I had intended to make a tutorial on how I made the lining, but I forgot my camera at my sister's house- so that isn't happening! If you have any questions about how I made the liner I will do my best to let you know- drop me a line- zoer110@gmail.com



I will be linking up with some of these parties!
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Fresh Guacamole- From Zoe's Kitchen

There is nothing that I like as much as fresh guacamole! And probably nothing I hate as much as "Guacamole Flavored Dip", well I can think of a few things I hate more, but I don't like it at all! I have been making this dip for a long time- I serve it with chips, on burritos, on tacos and carnitas.

A few tips about picking avocados:

If you are going to use them that day, pick avocados that are soft but not squishy.

If you are going to use them later, they need to be semi-hard.

Set them on the counter and use them when they are soft, but not squishy to get the most flavorful avocado!

Fresh Guacamole

3 avocados

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

1 medium tomato, finely diced

1 Tbsp lime juice (this helps keep it from browning)

1 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp finely minced cilantro (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cut avocados in half and scoop out filling with a spoon.

Remove pits but add one to the guacamole bowl (this helps keep it from browning, if you leave this in here the guacamole will stay good overnight, otherwise it will probably be brown by morning)

Add all other ingredients and mix well.

If your avacados are a little under ripe then you may need to mix it in a food processor.

Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste.

Gauacamole is the best if you let it chill about 1-2 hours before serving, that way the flavors can all mix together.

Enjoy!!

I will be linking up with some of these parties!

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Features This Week

Thanks so much for all the awesome blogs that featured my Felt Applique Picture last week! I really really appreciate it!

And thanks so much to Erin for letting me do a geust post on my Felt applique on her beautiful blog!!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Stuffed Pizza Bites- New Food Friday

I am always looking for yummy appetizers to bring to parties and gatherings. I pinned this recipe from Give Me Some Oven via Our Best Bites and I got to try it out this week!

I had wanted to make the pizza crust from scratch and I found this great recipe for half whole wheat pizza dough on Smitten Kitchen here but then I ran out of time so I ended up using refrigerated dough from the store. They were still good and my husband loved them!

Here they are:

Stuffed Pizza Bites

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough

Marinara or pizza sauce

2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

olive oil

garlic powder

Italian Seasonings

mozzarella cheese

toppings of your choice (I just used mini pepperonis, I had planned to do some veggies but I ran short on time!)

Preheat oven to directions on pizza dough- usually about 425 degrees F.

Roll out dough until it is at least 12" X 8". Cut into about 24 squares.

Place cheese and toppings on each square and then bring edges together and seal toppings in.

Place together in greased pie or cake pan.

Brush with olive oil, top with garlic powder, parmesan cheese and italian seasonings.

Bake for length of time on pizza dough package (Usually 12-15 minutes) until tops is golden brown.

Dip in warmed marinara to serve.

Enjoy and try not to eat too many!

I will be linking up with some of these parties!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Yoga Story- Things I Love Thursday

*I have started doing a Things I Love Thursday Series. In this series I just want to share with my readers some things that make my life happier!***

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I love yoga. I love practicing it. I love the way it makes my body feel. I love the way it makes me relax.

I was not always so in love with yoga. When I first started doing it I thought it was weird and I didn't understand why so many people liked it.  I have always been fairly active, I participated in softball, basketball and volleyball growing up. I lifted weights and did a lot of conditioning in high school. When I got to college and didn't have set practices keeping me in shape every day I had to find different ways to work out and stay healthy. I started running, did some exercise classes and tried yoga. I didn't like it and never went back to the classes.

After having some issues with anxiety and IBS it was suggested to me to try yoga for the relaxation benefit of it.  After some (a lot!) of practice, I could get my mind to focus on my breathing, the way my body felt and how my body was moving.  I found myself getting more and more relaxed, and it felt good!

I have practiced yoga on and off for about 5 years now- sometimes I go to a class, sometimes I do videos at home, sometimes I just freestyle at home. All of it makes me feel great!

Yoga was a real life saver a couple years ago when I injured myself while training for a triathlon. The physical therapist said to refrain from ALL physical activity except yoga was ok. I practiced several days a week then and it helped me recover faster!

If you have never tried yoga before I would recommend signing up for a class or trying a video for beginners. One that I really like is available through Netflix instant streaming. It is called Healing Yoga For Common Conditions and I like it a lot for a basic yoga workout.

Here are some of my favorite poses, different practices call poses different names, but these are the names we use in my yoga class I go to.

Downward Facing Dog- Great for stretching out calves and improving digestive function.

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Half Pigeon- Great for stretching out piriformis muscle and releasing tension from your hips.



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Legs At the Wall- Great for improving circulation and improving reproductive function (and it is super super relaxing!)

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What types of exercise do you love??

Have you tried yoga before? What did you think?

Hope you are all having a great day and thanks for stopping by!



Golden Retriever Emboidery- on a Zippered Bag!

There is nothing I love more than giving handmade gifts. For my sister Ellen's birthday I made her this cute embroidery of a golden retriever. She has a sweet golden retriever named Indy, so I thought she would love it! I got the pattern from penguinandfish's Etsy store. I love all of her patterns- they are adorable!

I did the embroidery on 28 Ct cream Lugana- love this fabric!! The other thing I really like about the embroidery is that I used a verigated thread for the details around the edge.

I finished the pattern off into a bag using the Zipper Bag Tutorial that I posted about a while ago.

Interestingly enough, the fabric I used was from the same type of pants I used for my nephew's bag- just a different color!

Happy Birthday Ellen! Sorry it was Late!

Here is a picture of her dog Indy when he was a puppy- I think the embroidery pattern captured him perfectly!

Linking up With some of these parties!

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PostCard Wall Art

Do you ever find projects that you started a long time ago and never finished. Recently I was organizing my craft room and I found several projects that were half finished. Some of them I thought, "Wow, I am never going to finish this!" and this one I thought, "I can finish this one soon!"

On our honeymoon we went to the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon and Washington. We stayed in a little cabin and did a lot of fun things in the area. At one of the shops there I saw these postcards and I really liked the look of them. I decided to buy them with the plan of using them in some house decor.

Fast forward 3 1/2 years later and I found them stuffed in the bottom of my scrapbooking tote- so I decided to add some matting and a frame and put them up!

It was super easy, just some measuring, cutting and matting and we have some cheap, meaningful wall art for out in the living room!

The best part is we visited all of the places from the postcards!

I will be linking to several of these parties!

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Fish Foil Packets- From Zoe's Kitchen

When I am looking back at my blog I realize it looks like I eat really unhealthy! Most of the recipes I share are treats and appetizers that really aren't very good for you. But I do eat really healthy foods too (mostly actually!), so I have decided to make more of an effort to add healthy recipes to my blog too!

This recipe is one of my favorite ways to prepare fish in the winter. I definitely prefer it on the grill in the summer but I am not going to fire up the grill when it is this cold out! I got this recipe from the book Clueless in The Kitchen which my mother gave to me in college. It is a great cookbook for teens and young adults because it has simple, healthy, and inexpensive recipes to help young adults learn how to cook.

Fish Foil Packets

1 lb white fish

(I used catfish, but you can use tilapia or any white fish from the store)

1/2 onion

1 cup baby carrots

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

olive oil

salt

pepper

parsley

oregeno

garlic powder

Heavy Duty Foil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Thinly slice onions and chop carrots into coins.

Roll out about 6 pieces of aluminum foil- about 12" X 12" each.

Place in 3 piles, 2 layers of foil in each pile.

Divide fish fillets into 3 even piles, place fish fillets in one layer on Aluminum foil.

1 lb of fish will make 3 packets- if you have more fish you may want to do more packets.

Add onions to top of fish in all packets.

Add Carrots and cheddar cheese to each packet.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle each of the seasonings onto each packet.

Wrap top foil layer and fold in edges so it forms a flat, rectangular packet.

Then wrap the second layer of foil the same way.

Place packets in preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

Unwrap foil on largest packet to check if vegetables and fish are done. The vegetables should look cooked through and the fish should temp out to 145 degrees F.

Remove from Packet and place on plate- the best part is there are no messy pans to clean!

Enjoy!!

Linking up with Some of these parties!

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New Food Friday- Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies were just amazing! I decided to make them last minute for a Cotton Bowl watch party and wow was I surprised how good they were. I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen here. I only changed a few things- I used crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy and I didn't add the peanut butter chips, just mini chocolate chips.

The best part about these was that they were super moist. The peanut butter and chocolate were delicious together. Luckily they all got eaten at the party so I didn't have to try and resist them at home!

Peanut Butter Cookies-
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (I used chunky)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 1 Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside

In large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until smooth. Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips.

Place sprinkling sugar on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookies sheets. Using a fork lightly press with criss-cross pattern.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. They may appear underdone, but they aren't.

Let cool on cookie sheet for a minute, then let cool completely on rack.

Enjoy!!

I will be linking up with some of these parties!

Also Linking up With Pinned It- Made It!! Here is my original pin.



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