Bacon Tomato Cups

I want to share a great recipe with you. I made these last week for a teacher's luncheon at my son's school and once again over the weekend for guests visiting.

They are very simple to make and taste so good.

I found this recipe on All Recipes.com I will also share some modifications I have made to the recipe.

You can click here for a nice printable recipe card of the recipe from All Recipes.com, but be sure to see my notes below for changes.

I buy the Grands biscuits which are quite large. I am able to split them into 3 pieces. I roll each piece of dough into a ball and flatten with my fingers before lining the mini muffin cup. One can of Grands biscuits fills a 24 mini muffin cup pan. The filling recipe makes two batches, equalling 48 Bacon Tomato Cups. So be sure when buying the ingredients, you buy two cans of biscuits. Trust me, make all 48 they will disappear quickly.

I also like to use cheddar or colby jack cheese sometimes instead of swiss. You can also use the packaged real bacon pieces if you don't want to cook bacon for this recipe. Do not use bacon bits! Yikes.

Enjoy! Karol

May Baskets

I receive Martha Stewart's Craft For the Day email everyday. Today's idea was so great I wanted to share it with you.

I have heard of May Day, but didn't actually know what it was all about. I did some research and found out that it is May 1st every year. It is not really celebrated in the United States as it is in other countries. I also read that it began as more of a pagan holiday and was frowned upon by puritans. The May Day celebration included the ribbons around the May Pole and hanging baskets of flowers on doors of friends and neighbors.

Whether you choose to celebrate "May Day", or just surprise a nice neighbor, shut-in, friend, or family member with a beautiful fragrant springtime surprise, you can click here: May Baskets ...and read all about Martha Stewart's Craft of the Day with lots of wonderful ideas for sharing your spring blooms and brightening someone's day today, or just anytime really.

Wouldn't it be fun to do this for someone?!

Be Inspired! -Karol

Cottage & Spring Style

I just picked up the new issue of Country Living magazine. As usual, the cover caught my eye. This issue has a lot of great ideas and inspiration for spring decorating, cottage decorating, and entertaining.

As Spring begins I like to add touches of the cottage look in my home. If you like the cottage style then you should visit Country Living Magazine's website and enter their contest to win the cover look of their May, 2008 magazine issue.

Adding a spring/cottage touch to your home can be as simple as displaying a bucket or planter with real or artificial hydrangeas or lilacs as seen in the Country Living photo (left) and in my photo from my living room (below). I also added an antique cracker jar with shells and sea stars, finishing with a round quilted toile placemat.

Be Inspired! ...and good luck if you enter Country Living's drawing! -Karol

Poppies, Daisies, Daffodils, and Jasmine

When asked what your favorite flower is, do you have one? Is it difficult to decide? There are so many beautiful flowers. Some are favorites for sentimental reasons. I like daisies, mostly because they were my mom's favorite flower. To the right is a picture I took of my daisies I had in my yard in Jacksonville. I took this picture several weeks ago, just as I was moving.

My personal favorite is the Poppy. The picture at the top of the page, I took a few weeks ago when I was on a bike ride with my kids. (Go ahead, click on it and see the detail!) We were riding through a garden area and the poppies caught my eye. I don't see them very often in Florida. I love poppies. Their delicate crepe paper-like petals are so beautiful. Their blooms are so large with such small, spindly stems that do not look strong enough to hold up such large blooms, yet they do. They stand strong and tall. Poppies come in so many colors. Vibrant pinks, reds, yellows, and oranges, to softer shades of the same colors. Below are a few more pictures I took that day.

I also adore daffodils. They have special meaning to me. Daffodils are a promise of Spring to people in the North. I have a very dear, sweet friend that likes to talk about daffodils and when they begin to appear. Below is a picture I took the other day while passing by a floral display. Don't they just make you smile?

Last, I will share a picture of my Butterscotch Jasmine I purchased a few weeks ago. Jasmine is an amazing plant. It grows easily, quickly, and has the most beautiful fragrance.



Be Inspired! -Karol

Spring Decorating At The Beach

Now that I am settling in my home I have decorated the front porch for Spring. Just as I shared in my previous post Country Meets the Beach, I am trying to use my country decor pieces while adding a coastal touch.

I made this wreath this morning. I began with a wispy willow wreath from Michael's, a spring bouquet of light flowers, 5 finger starfish from Katheleen's Kottage, and a pretty bird's nest. I didn't wire or glue anything. I just tucked everything into the wispy branches of the wreath. Whenever possible, I like to do that so I can change out items when I would like.

Now that I have officially moved I am now able to use some of my benches to decorate my front porch. To the left of my front door is my favorite teak wood bench. I have added a red star above the bench. I love touches of red here and there. Red is a cozy color to me. I was afraid red would not work with the coastal look I am trying to incorporate, but I have found red looks great and is a wonderful contrast with the muted coastal colors of my home's exterior and interior paint colors.

Then to the right of my front door I have added my weathered antique deacon's bench. This bench will be used for my seasonal decor displays.

My first floor porch area is an "L" shape and wraps around the right side of the home. Around the corner I have placed two wicker chairs and an antique red table for a quiet, comfy retreat.

Last, I decided not to use the "To The Beach" sign I shared about in my Country Meets The Beach post. I wanted something larger and also with some red. I painted my own sign on a piece of scrap wood in the style and colors I wanted. Below is a picture of the result.




Be Inspired! -Karol

Settling In

I have finally, officially, certifiably, and undeniably moved. I have been living between two homes now for almost a year and we finally sold our home. Sadly because of the market it wasn't a good thing financially, but to have some finality in my life it is worth it. I finally feel as if I can settle in our rental home at the beach now. I have all my furniture and things here. Quite a bit is in storage, but the fun part is choosing what to use here.

I love to organize. So as I settle in our home here I am organizing everything. I just wanted to share a few organizational tips that may help you in your home.

First off, let's take a look at my personal sock drawer. Yes, that's right. My sock drawer. I found these wonderful organizers at Home Goods. I miss Home Goods. I don't have a Home Goods here where I live. It really is quite easy to organize your sock drawer like this and keep it like this. It is so nice to just open my sock drawer and grab a pair of socks. No searching for the match. They are all neatly arranged and so easy to find.

Next, my closet. I first learned to reduce my clothing. I used to hold on to clothes thinking I would wear them again and never did. Everything was hung on all types of plastic and wire hangers. Nothing was hung evenly. At my home that just sold I had installed a very nice closet system. I had shelves for my shoes and fold up clothes and a bar for my shirts and jackets and a bar for my pants and skirts. I am now in a rental home and it is back to the lovely wire rack shelving. I am making the best of it and wanted to share how I stay organized in my closet.

Please keep in mind that my closet is small. Which is good. It keeps me from collecting too many things. This closet serves as my clothes closet as well as scrapbooking and crafts so it is pretty cramped. I like to hang my clothes in like colors. I start with skirts, then pants, then short sleeve shirts. I hang all like colors together. This makes it so much easier when you are getting dressed. If I know what I want to wear, it is easy to find this way. I then hang all long sleeved shirts (in like colors of course) and then jackets. Once you organize your clothes like this, it is very easy to maintain. Another tip is to replace your hangers with nice ones. All the same. It can be costly so if you need to budget, just grab a few packs of hangers each week until you have replaced them all. I purchased mine at Wal Mart. I now only use one type of hanger for everyone's clothes in our home. Everything hangs neat and uniform.

Also, the shelves and fabric cube boxes you see are from Target. They work great.

Don't let organizing scare you. Just take one drawer at a time. In fact, if organization does not come natural for you, just start on your sock drawer. Really. Find some organizational trays like the ones I have used. Dump out your sock drawer. Go through all the socks. Throw away anything you will not wear or that does not have a match. Reducing is also part of organizing. Then put each pair neatly away in your cubes. You will be glad you did. Then you can move on to another drawer. And who knows, maybe you could even tackle a closet next!

Be Inspired. -Karol

Emergency Gift Wrapping Car Kit

This is my Emergency Gift Wrapping Car Kit I have in my car. Every vehicle should have one.

Have you ever waited until the day of a party to buy the gift -on the way to the party? Have you ever wrapped a gift in he parking lot of Target?, Wal Mart?, the mall? Wherever.

Do you ever remember to bring scissors and tape? Or did you have to buy ANOTHER pair of scissors or ANOTHER pack of tissue paper, or ANOTHER roll of scotch tape.

I wanted to share an idea with you that will save you time, money, and possibly reduce stress.

All you need is an inexpensive school supply container. The one above is just an old one from one of my kid's rooms from years before that they had to have for school. Most of the supplies you probably have already.

Do not. I repeat, do not cram all of this in your console or glove compartment. It will end up being a burden instead of a blessing.

Suggestions for contents of Emergency Gift Wrapping Car Kit are:

• Small scissors
• Tissue paper in different colors
• Small gift bags
• Gift tags
• Small blank note cards
• Pens
• Permanent marker
• Hole punch
• Curl ribbon or other ribbon
• Scotch tape
  

This handy little kit will save time by knowing you don't need to run ALL over the store to get scissors and tape and tissue paper and ribbon. You just need to get the gift and go!

This little kit also comes in handy just having the scissors, pen, and tape inside for other times. Ever try to take a Barbie out of the packaging in the store parking lot while your daughter is waiting, without scissors?

Be Inspired! -Karol