Monday, March 31, 2014

My Spring Mantel ~



Hello, lovely friends!

Today I'm sharing my spring mantel with you all. 
I love spring even if it is taking its time to arrive this year out of doors it has at least arrived in our home! 



I pretty much just shopped around my home to decorate the mantel this year. 
The only new thing in the room is my area rug that I shared on my Facebook page a few weeks ago.


I'm all about bunnies, eggs, and birds for my spring/Easter decor.

I painted the little pot with Spa Blue acrylic paint by Americana and then glazed it with Brown craft paint by Craft Smart.

I took the bunnies from Olivia's nursery as she can now reach the glass pieces on her shelf. I also used books that I had in a decorative basket that had to be moved due to miss Olivia's crawling explorations around the house (smile). 

The decoupaged stones were from the same table as the books.


Old books from my coffee table that is now gone as well. I bring out the nest every spring now. It was a Goodwill find from a few years ago. I also painted the bird with the same blue and brown glaze as the pot with the eggs in it.



I kept my planter pots their original orange color but I really did think about painting them this year.




I was so inspired by Carol's torn rag garland over at The Polka Dot Closet that I made my own the very same week! You can see her post here. Thank you so much, Carol, for your beautiful inspiration.


 I just used fabric and ribbons that I already had on hand from other projects.


The fabric was from the lamp shade project and the carrots project that I made for Olivia's nursery (I have yet to share those posts).
Some of the ribbon is from our wedding invitations and programs. It makes me smile to think it's all made out of materials from two of the happiest moments of my life...my wedding and my baby!


A closer look at the garland

For the garland ~


My supplies


I cut strips of fabric


And just started tying knots around a string the length of my mantel


My little assembly line of ribbons and fabric. I came up with my design based on the amount of ribbon and fabric that I had. I had much more ribbon than fabric.


I just love our living room all decorated for spring.

Have a wonderful day, friends!


Linking with ~

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Recipe ~ Bacon wrapped scrambled egg pancake cups

Hello, dear friends!

I love making a special breakfast on Saturday mornings to celebrate my husband being home to have breakfast with us. I figure after a long week of work he deserves a little something tastier than a granola bar as he's running out the door. This recipe is amazing!
I changed up the recipe from Kirbie at Kirbiecravings.com. You can see that original post here.

Mmm...bacon!


I always bake bacon instead of frying it on the stove or a griddle or cooking it in the microwave. It's a lot less of a mess. I highly recommend it! I baked a whole package of bacon at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes (I crumbled the rest and am saving it for another recipe). 


While the bacon was baking, I made up half a batch of pancake mix. When the bacon was done I let it cool on a plate with paper towel to sop up the grease. 

I put a thin layer of the pancake batter into 6 heavily greased muffin tins and baked them for 4 minutes.


I scrambled 5 eggs, I could have probably just used 4 eggs. Add a bit of milk, salt, and pepper and you're all set. Don't cook the eggs all the way. You want them to bake the rest of the way in the oven once assembled.


I wrapped 1 piece of bacon around each pancake, pressing the bacon into the gooey batter. Be careful, the pan is hot! Then, I spooned in the scrambled eggs. Lastly, I sprinkled a hand full of shredded cheddar cheese on top.


Bake the egg cups for 8 minutes and you're done!



Just look at that bacon! Everything is truly better with bacon. Not better for you, just better tasting! 


I poured a little bit of 100% pure maple syrup over my second egg cup. Amazing! I am not normally the kind of person that likes different foods (mostly breakfast foods) touching. I always eat pancakes and syrup on a separate plate so I was pretty surprised to find that I liked all of this together. It's not for everyone but I loved it!

Recipe ~ Bacon wrapped scrambled egg pancake cups

6 strips of bacon
4 eggs
Pancake mix

For the bacon - 
Bake the bacon for 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Remove from pan and let the bacon cool on a plate layered with paper towel. Let cool. While your bacon is cooling bake your pancakes and make your scrambled eggs

For the pancake batter -
1 Cup Bisquick mix
1/2 Cup milk
1 egg

Mix well. Pour a thin layer into 6 greased muffin tins and bake for 4 minutes.

For the eggs -
4 eggs
A dash of milk
salt and pepper to taste.
Scramble your egg mixture and pour into a greased frying pan. Cook until eggs are almost done.

Shred about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of cheese

To assemble the egg cups -

Take 1 piece of bacon and wrap around each pancake, spoon scrambled eggs over the pancake, sprinkle cheese on top and  bake at 375 for 8 minutes.

Serve with pure maple syrup and fresh fruit on the side.


Enjoy!

* Just a note ~ I had a little bit of pancake batter left over so I baked 4 more muffins and refrigerated them. I'm going to warm them up tomorrow with a little syrup. Yummo!