kim

Festive Bacon Wrapped Chestnut Holiday Appetizer

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today I wanted to share this oh so easy festive bacon wrapped water chestnut holiday appetizer with you. Did I say it was oh so easy? It’s actually my first time making them and I ran into a major issue…I’ll explain. Also, there will be links down below for you to click on for more festive Holiday appetizer ideas. No need to go anywhere else friends!

I had heard about these delicious appetizers from friends and family and was finally able to try one for myself at a holiday get together. They were delish! Well you had me at bacon because anything wrapped in bacon has to be good right? (Vegans/Vegetarians need not answer this!) So I thought I would try making these when it came time to join my friends from the Seasonal Simplicity Christmas series featuring appetizers.

As usual, I was making these last minute and ran to the grocery store to get my chestnuts. All the other ingredients I had on hand. I asked for canned chestnuts but there were none so I bought a sealed bag of chestnuts thinking it would be the same. After preparing and baking them we couldn’t wait to bite into one of these and try them out.

My daughter tried one first and when she made a face and tried not to spit it out…I knew something was wrong! I tried one myself only I couldn’t even swallow it!

Needless to say friends, I learned that chestnuts are not the same as water chestnuts! Even when they’re wrapped in bacon!

One is from a tree and one forms on the roots of grass like plants. Water chestnuts are crunchy even when cooked and I’ve eaten them plenty of times in Chinese food. How I got this so wrong is beyond me!

Anyways, I went out and found the canned water chestnuts, prepared and baked them the same way and they were delish!!

So here ya go:

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts:

1 lb. of bacon
1 can of whole water chestnuts
1/3 cup of soya sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
toothpicks
optional plum sauce or dipping sauce of your choice

Start by marinating your water chestnuts in the soya sauce for at least an hour up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to to 375°

3. Cut your bacon slices into 3

4. Dredge each water chestnut into the brown sugar.

5. Wrap each water chestnut in the bacon and secure with a toothpick.

6.Arrange on a shallow baking dish. Bake in a 375° oven for 20 minutes or until bacon is crispy.

7. Eat them straight from the oven or you can choose a dipping sauce of your choice.

These simple and tasty appetizers are sure to become a favourite and a real crowd pleaser!

And today I’m joining some of my blogging friends who are also sharing their Holiday Appetizer recipes with you! Just click on the links below the pictures to be taken to their full recipe.

Baked Brie, Fig, and Walnut Phyllo Cups at The Happy Housie
Classic Cheese Ball Recipe at A Pretty Life
Cheesy Butternut Squash Bites at Jenna Kate at Home
Fresh Cranberry Salsa at We’re the Joneses

Easy Holiday Party Appetizer at a Rooms FOR Rent
Baked Goat Cheese Bites at Modern Glam
Smoked Turkey with Cranberry Orange Muffins at My 100 Year Old Home
Caprese Salad Skewers at Cherished Bliss

Easy Cranberry Brie Tarts at The DIY Mommy
Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board at Cassie Bustamante
Carmelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tarts at Life is a Party
Swiss Cheese Bacon and Beer Dip at Clean & Scentsible

Snowman White Cheese Ball at Tatertots and Jello
3 Ingredient Stuffed Mushrooms at My Sweet Savannah
Easy Christmas Pinwheels Festive Holiday Appetizer at This is Our Bliss
Festive Bacon Wrapped Chestnut Holiday Appetizer at Kim Power Style
Red Pepper Jelly and Cream Cheese Appetizer at She Gave it a Go

DIY Mantel Decorated for Christmas

5:00 am by kim 8 Comments

Hi friends, It’s the most wonderful time of the year again and I’m sharing this DIY mantel I made and decorated for Christmas.

So settle in, grab a refreshment and join my friends and I from the Seasonal Simplicity Christmas Series hosted by Krista from The Happy Housie.

If you’ve followed me for a while you’ll know that I had every intention of adding a mantel as soon as we moved into our new home. I was looking for old barn beams but realized they would be too heavy to install without a lot of tweaking from yours truly…I knew I’d have to make my own lighter version. Well it’s taken me 10 months to do but I made one just in time to decorate for Christmas!

I love It! It’s added so much character to the space and I wish I had done it sooner.

Here’s a picture from my summer tour. It looks so empty with just the TV and fireplace and really needed another element to make it look finished.

Below I’m sharing a bit of a tutorial on how I made the mantel. It’s not a complete tutorial because my camera fell and my lens broke! But you’ll get the gist of the how to. It’s pretty simple if you know how to use a saw and a nail gun.

I started with 3 pieces of non-knotty pine in 1″x 8″x 5′. I had the home depot cut them for me to save time. Make sure you pick straight and non-warped pieces. You’ll need a little extra to apply to each end so one of my boards was a 1″x8″x8′. I also used a 2″x4″x8′ to use as brackets to sit my mantel on.

You simply apply glue on both sides of two boards lengthways.

Place your third board on top

Nail it.

Measure your opening and cut a piece wood to fit in each end.

Glue and nail that piece in. (I used the ends to try out different colours of stains). You basically have a hollow box. The box will sit on brackets I made out of a 2″x4″ which are screwed into the studs. I simply sat the box/mantel on top of the brackets and nailed them in!

You don’t need to do this step but I wanted my mantel to look like one solid piece of wood so I glued on some veneer at each end. I let the glue/veneer dry overnight and then sanded down all the edges. I mixed together 2 different stains to achieve this custom colour you see below. It was actually a pretty easy project!

Even though there’s not a lot of space to use due to having the TV above, I was able to add some garland along with brass candlesticks. My motto lately is “Simple”.

I used two different faux garlands here and just draped them over 3 little nails. I added a battery operated fairy light garland and then added some extra fresh eucalyptus picks. Once they dry out I have some faux ones that I’ll add to it. I love the light and airy look it gives!

Since there are 10 of us this year, I decided to put up only one stocking for my Grandson. I didn’t want to fill the space full of stockings!

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Thanks for popping in! There’s a lot more mantel inspiration from my friends below. Just click on the links.

Blessings,

Kim

Welcome to the fourth week of the Seasonal Simplicity Christmas Series! Today a group of my blogging friends and I are sharing our Holiday Mantels and a few vignette decorating ideas, to help inspire you for the upcoming holidays. Click on the links below each image to be taken directly to the different posts.

The Happy Housie // Cherished Bliss // The Handmade Home
Modern Glam // Craftberry Bush

House by Hoff // Rambling Renovators // Rooms FOR Rent
Jenna Kate at Home // Just a Girl and Her Blog

The Turquoise Home // Sincerely, Marie Designs // Grace In My Space
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia // Zevy Joy

Lolly Jane // Tatertots and Jello // She Gave it a Go
Jamie Costiglio //Southern State of Mind

Place of My Taste // Summer Adams Designs // Life is a Party
We Are The Joneses // Kim Power Style

The DIY Mommy // Two Twenty One // My 100 Year Old Home
This is Our Bliss // Taryn Whiteaker Designs

Amber Tysl // Styled With Lace // Happy Happy Nester
Clean and Scentsible // My Sweet Savannah // So Much Better With Age

Simple and Cozy Fall Home Tour

5:00 am by kim 13 Comments

Hello everyone! I’m back again and sharing my Simple and Cozy Fall Home Tour as part of the Seasonal Simplicity Home Tours hosted by Krista from the HappyHousie If you’re visiting from Jenna Kate at Home, Welcome! I love participating in these tours as they’re basically a one stop shop for all your seasonal decor inspiration. Simply follow the links at the bottom of the post to visit all the other blogger’s tours!

I really wanted to keep it as simple as possible with my fall decorating this year but still make it feel cozy. I didn’t use a lot of the usual fall decor but If you look really close you might find a pumpkin or two! Lol. I changed out the vintage rug in the foyer to this pretty pink and brown one, I love the look and character vintage rugs bring! I used my favourite colour blue, along with mustard yellow and some browns for my colour palette this fall.

The leaves on the trees haven’t changed around here yet so I kept the same green branches out here from spring and summer.

A bit of blue and some branches and a little blue pumpkin. I made this lumbar pillow from a throw rug, you can find the tutorial for that here.

I love this baby blue le creuset dutch oven and it reminds me that fall is a great time for getting cozy and cooking warm soups and stews.

I found these mustard yellow dried grasses at Michael’s and they’re mimicked in the mustard yellow throw cushions in the living room and the napkins I used in my fall tablescape. I love how well it plays off with the blue!

I kept my usual runner out here in the kitchen and it has the blue, brown and mustard yellow that I’ve used for my fall colour palette.

I used some tall pampas grass as well as a fall faux flower arrangement full of fall flowers and leaves here in the dining room. My daughter says it looks like something from the 90’s Lol!

I kept out the faux eucalyptus that I had used in my fall tablescape. It can be kept out all the time with plenty of room for plates as well as food dishes on either end of the table.

Here’s a photo from my fall tablescape post.

We used mustard yellow and navy blue velvet cushions in the living room along with more pampas grass and a hydrangea flower arrangement. We switched out our rug for this vintage rug with shades of brown and beige. The beautiful linen slipcovers in “natural” were custom made for our farlov sofa and chairs by Bemz who make custom slipcovers for Ikea furniture. If you want to find out more about Bemz and these slipcovers you can check out the posts here and here.

I’m loving the new slipcovers. They’re machine washable, fit perfectly and make our fall living room.

Boo tried to get into most of the photos but this is the only one where he stayed still and wasn’t a blur 🙂

I hoped you enjoyed our fall tour!

Next up on the tour hop is the lovely Summer from Summer Adams, you can head over to see her tour..

Blessings,

Kim

This week is Fall Home tour week! All week long talented bloggers are sharing their homes dressed and ready for fall to help inspire you with all kinds of ideas for your own fall decor. Just click on the links below the images to see more…

Sharing with me today…

Wednesday

Home Made Lovely // Craftberry Bush // The Tattered Pew
Town and Country Living // Shabyfufu

A Pretty Life // Amber Tysl // Jenna Kate at Home
Kim Power Style // Summer Adams Designs

And sharing the rest of this week…

Simple Fall Tablescape

5:00 am by kim 10 Comments

Happy Fall everyone! Today I’ll be sharing how I created my Simple Fall Tablescape and when I say simple I mean SIMPLE! I’m also joining together with some fellow bloggers who’ll be sharing their Fall Tablescapes, so be sure to click on the links at the bottom of the post for more fall Inspiration!

This was a simple tablescape to do and I used for the most part, items that I already had on hand. I’m using a bit of mustard yellow in my fall decorating this year so I carried that into the napkins. I left out the pumpkins to show you that you can use simple ingredients to create your tablescape no matter the season. You can see how I decorated a previous fall tablescape using the same elements here.

How I set my Table

Rattan chargers I used rattan chargers to set and highlight my plates but you can use other chargers, placemats, or even table runners. Whatever you have on hand!
Blue Plates I love using white dinnerware because it’s simple and goes with everything (if you can only afford one set of dishes make sure they’re white!). Every now and then I like to throw a punch of colour in the mix and these plates go with the blue that I use in most of my home.
Cloth Napkins Cloth napkins are like the throw pillow of the living room and can add colour and pattern to your table. Even if all your dinnerware is white and you use simple greenery, napkins can add personality. They can be found at every home wear store as well as thrift stores. Instead of using napkin rings, I simply tied a knot and laid them over the plates.
Faux Eucalyptus I bought this faux eucalyptus a couple of years ago from Ikea and I use it all the time. I even used it as part of the floral arrangements for my daughter’s wedding last May! Any kind of greenery along the centre of the table, whether real or faux, adds a focal point and gives your table a festive look. You can use pumpkins or fruit as a focal point and/or adding some fresh greenery/fall leaves from your garden works well too!
Tapered Candles, Votives and Fairy Lights Any kind of lighting elevates your table from the everyday to an event! They’re also budget friendly and easy to find. Even fairy lights can be found at the dollar store. I used these brass candle holders I found from the thrift store. They add height without blocking the view from across the table. The votives were budget friendly and I buy them in cases so that I’m ready for every occasion! I also have multiple fairy lights both plug in and battery operated..they add such sparkle to everything.
Bubble Glasses I call these everyday water glasses my “bubble” glasses! You can use any glasses you have on hand. Wine glasses look pretty and can be used for water too.

Adding all these elements to your table in any form can elevate an ordinary table setting to something special. Even if you only have a few candles and some branches from your garden, you can make it look special! Use your imagination and what you have on hand. It doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to make a lovely tablescape no matter the season.

I made this faux flower arrangement using some faux fall coloured flowers and leaves from Michael’s, along with my faux eucalyptus. It’s a big arrangement, so I placed it on the sideboard instead of the centre of the table. Nothing is worse than trying to see above or around an arrangement to have a conversation across the table!

Along with the faux fall flowers, I added some tall dried pampas grass. It reminds me of all the fall grasses you see growing by the side of the road this time of year. The fall colours, flowers and grasses combined together, add an elegant fall feel to our home. Now all I need is my favourite fall candle lit up and I’m ready to enjoy the season!

Thanks for popping by. I hope you were able to find some useful information and inspiration today. I’ll be sharing my fall home tour next Wednesday so stay tuned for that.

Don’t forget to check out the links below, there’s so many talented ladies sharing!

Blessings,

Kim

Nick + Alicia | Sincerely, Marie Designs | Craftberry Bush | Clean and Scentsible

Home Made Lovely | The DIY Mommy | The Wood Grain Cottage | The Turquoise Home

Rooms FOR Rent Blog | Kim Power Style | The Wicker House | Caitlin Marie Design

Lolly Jane | The Learner Observer | Satori Design For Living | Summer Adams

Taryn Whiteaker Designs | This Is Simplicite

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Custom Slipcovers for my IKEA Sofa

7:00 am by kim 7 Comments

I partnered with Bemz for this post.

Hello friends!

If you know me, you know I love a good slipcover! This white/neutral loving girl has been using them for almost twenty years. You can’t beat the ability to take off your covers and throw them in the wash. It’s like having new, clean furniture all the time. So, I’ve partnered with the wonderful people at Bemz again to make a custom slipcover for my Ikea sofa. Bemz had made me two beautiful slipcovers for my my Farlov Ikea armchairs and I was so impressed with the fit and quality of their covers I knew I needed a new cover for the sofa! You can click Here to see the updated Ikea armchairs.

For those of you who haven’t heard about Bemz, they make custom covers for Ikea furniture that are machine washable and made to order in Europe. If you want to personalize and update your current Ikea furniture, simply go onto their site, find your type/series of furniture and then check out all the fabrics you can choose from. To help you to decide, you can request samples of the fabrics you’re interested in (This will be the hard part because you’ll want them all!) and Bemz will send you up to five samples for free.

The samples above are the gorgeous fabrics that caught my eye but in the end I stuck with the same beautiful 100% Linen in “brera lino-natural” that I had chosen for my Farlov chairs. You can see it up there in the right hand corner. (The struggle was real though folks, aren’t they all swoon worthy?!)

Once you choose your fabric and place your order, your new slipcovers will come in a box in a few weeks. Seeing the mailman drop that box off at the front door is kinda like Christmas morning!

I love this beautiful 100% linen fabric. It comes pre-shrunk and is machine washable…which comes in handy with a grandson, dog and cat!

It looks and feels so much cozier in here now.

When I walked into the living room today I was struck again at how much richer and cozier my sofa looks. It’s made such a difference to the whole space!

Be sure to tune in next week as I’ll be participating in a fall home tour along with 4o other amazing bloggers. I’ll be sharing the living room and more of these beautiful covers just in time for the fall season!

Blessings,

Kim

Coastal Farmhouse Summer Home Tour

5:00 am by kim 24 Comments

Hello friends and welcome to our first Coastal Farmhouse Summer Tour in our new home! If you know me, you’ll know I’ve included my summer go-to blues, comfy white slipcovers along with some natural elements to create a cozy, simple and summery Coastal Farmhouse look.

This week I’m joining along with nearly 40 bloggers who are opening up our homes as part of the Seasonal Simplicity Summer Series hosted by Krista from the Happy Housie. If you’re visiting here from Amber Tysl, welcome, I’m glad you dropped by! Stay tuned for more links below to continue on the tour… You’re in store for so much summer decor inspiration you’ll want to grab some sunscreen and a beach towel!

It’s the first summer in our new home and we’re still adding things here and there. I love having more of an eclectic look and mixing old pieces with new. I want our home to look like something that’s been curated over time in a thoughtful way and have been fighting the urge to have everything now! We’ve yet to add any art or hang pictures as we’re still trying to figure out how we want each room to look and feel. We still need to get a fireplace mantel and I think that will be next on our priority list. You’ll notice that practically all the summer decor items we’ve used are things we’ve already had and I’ve used before. Transitioning your seasonal decor doesn’t have to be difficult or costly! Use what you have and look to the outdoors to bring in some of nature. Simple and easy is my motto!

In our entryway we have this awesome pink and tan vintage rug that welcomes you inside. The side table is a great rustic wood piece to store all the stuff that you need coming and going. Some greens (via faux branches, fresh yard clippings and/or plants) with blue, white and wood, really add to the summery feel in here.

You’ll find a few vintage rugs interspersed in soft summery pinks and blues. They add such history, character and texture to a space.

The kitchen stayed pretty much the same as our spring tour minus a few tulips. I’ve had these faux greens along with our old vintage dough bowl out for a few weeks and they add so much life and texture amidst all the white. Simple and easy.

Most of my ironstone collections is still packed away in boxes until I can make some shelving to hold it all. It’s too pretty not to be on display. I’ve taken out a few pieces here and there along with some of the vintage pitchers. They’r great for holding flower arrangements.

My fiddle leaf fig is looking a little sad in this pic! I have to say that they really have had a difficult time with the move. They don’t like to be moved around or be in direct sunlight ..which we get tons of here.. so I’m trying to keep them happy and nurse them back to life. Adding greenery whether fresh or faux lends itself to a pretty summery vibe. I simply love this vintage painting of Peggy’s Cove. The colours in it are amazing and it reminds me so much of PEI where my parent’s are from.

I love setting a pretty coastal buffet tablescape. Simple, natural elements such as the seagrass chargers with white dishes along with blue hydrangeas are my staples in the summer. It’s a simple and classic coastal farmhouse look.

I found these large ginger jars years ago at a garage sale and use them every summer in my decor. We have a few more blue and white pieces that we’ve collected along the way.

I just noticed that the TV is on in the background in this photo. My battery died while I was photographing for the tour and I sat down while it was charging and got hooked into a Hallmark movie. It fits right in though because it’s about June brides and summer weddings! Lol.

In the living room I added my signature blues in the fabrics, blue hydrangeas and tons of texture with all the jute, rattan and seagrass.

You may have noticed that we removed the glass shelving on either sides of the fireplace. I was either going to put in wood shelving or add some firewood. The firewood was easiest to do and I love the look of it! I may still put some wooden shelves in up above the firewood but this works for now.

I still need to put up a mantelpiece! I’ve been trying to decide between making my own or getting an old barn beam. My only concern with the barn beam is the weight, so stay tuned to see what I decide on. I know it will really help finish this room off.

Nothing says coastal farmhouse to me more than inky seaside blues, crisp whites and some rustic wood! If you’re looking to achieve a coastal farmhouse look, I’ve written a post on the basics that you can find here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our tour and thanks so much for joining us today. For more summer decor inspiration, you can check out all the other amazing bloggers and their summer homes below. Next up on today’s tour is the lovely and talented Rachel from Maison de Pax

Blessings,

Kim

Nearly 40 bloggers are sharing their summer home tours this week! Sharing with me today are…

Thursday

Kim Power Style // Maison de Pax // Jenna Kate at Home // Two Twenty One // Just a Girl and Her Blog

Summer Adams // tatertots and jello // The Tattered Pew // Aratari at Home // Crisp Collective

And sharing the rest of the week…

Monday

The Happy Housie // Rooms FOR Rent // Shabbyfufu // Maison de Cinq // My 100 Year Old Home

Southern State of Mind // All Things with Purpose // Grace in My Space // Love Create Celebrate

Tuesday

Town and Country Living // Taryn Whiteaker Designs // Designthusiasm
// This is Our Bliss // My Sweet Savannah

Rambling Renovators // The Turquoise Home // Clean and Scentsible
// She Gave it a Go //Lemon Thistle

Wednesday

Modern Glam // Craftberry Bush // Setting for Four // Inspiration for Moms // Zevy Joy

Life is a Party // Tauni Everett // Finding Silver Pennies // Sincerely, Marie Designs // Amber Tysl

Spring Tour in Our New Home

5:00 am by kim 28 Comments

Happy Spring everyone and thanks for joining in on the first Spring Tour in Our New Home as part of the Seasonal Simplicity Spring Home Tour Series!

I’ve gotten together with some of my all-time favourite bloggers to open our homes and share some spring, decor inspiration with you all. Special thanks to Krista from The Happy Housie for hosting! There will be links at the bottom of the post from the tours that have been going on all week..you won’t want to miss any of them. So if you’ve just popped in or have come from Leslie at Deeply Southern Home-Welcome! I’m so happy you’re here and hope that you enjoy this stop on the tour.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that after my husband’s brain hemmhorage and subsequent brain surgery last year we had to sell our home. We ended up moving to another city to be closer to our youngest daughter and her little family. We both were looking to buy new homes and decided to pool our resources and buy one together! It’s a much larger home than we were used to and we’ve been loving all the extra room. We’re also in the midst of finishing our basement which will give us an extra thousand square feet of space, I’ll definitely be sharing more of that as it progresses!

Our spring tour in our new home starts in the living room. The living room, dining room and kitchen are an “L” shape open space. There are windows and sliding doors to the backyard all along the back wall and there is so much light in here! We live near the water which is just behind the trees you see in the window back there. Unfortunately, there will be some houses built behind us in a year or so, but for now we’ve got an amazing view. We’ll have some awesome trails along the water to explore when they’re done.

No season excites me more than spring. You can literally smell it in the air and it invokes so many sweet memories. I like to keep things simple and usually start with a good spring cleaning. Getting rid of all the excess of the previous season and storing it all away makes things feel light and bright. I love adding some greenery whether real or faux it doesn’t matter. Spring has taken it’s time in coming this year so we’ve had to add some faux branches and flowers. The fiddle leaf figs are all real though and seem to be loving their new, bright home! We’ve been here for six weeks now and were able to do all our decluttering before we moved in. I love any excuse to change up the pillows and throws and usually use blue and/or pastel colours for spring. My vintage rug “Bea” adds a great shot of blue and is definitely dressed for spring! You can find my previous spring tour here and see how I used Pink!

We’ve been waiting for the basement renovation to be finished so that I can finally empty out the storage unit. I’ve emptied out a few of my things but most of it is still locked away in boxes including my tools that I need to build the mantel that will fit just under the TV. I’m also planning on swapping out those glass shelves for wooden ones. So many plans to make this place feel a little more done!

Nothing screams spring more than tulips and I got a couple of pale pink bunches to help bring in the spring vibe.

For spring I enjoy using fresh pastel colours on the pillows and throws, blue is always a hit with me. I made these throw pillows from some rugs that I found and I wrote a tutorial on how to make them here. Baloo loves to be wherever I am and you may notice him here and there thoughout the tour.

For a table arrangement I added some faux ferns in these plain glass vases to add another hit of greenery.

Our dining room is looking a little sparse while we wait to get my furniture out of storage but I’m not minding the minimalist look too badly! Oh and this light, It was the very first thing that I changed out once we moved in and I love it! The one that came with the home was so tiny you could hardly notice it but this one delineates and fills the space so nicely.

The second thing I did when we moved in was to get this large harvest table. I wanted a place where all my daughters could come with their husbands and have some great family dinners at. It totally fits the bill!

In the kitchen I placed more of the tulips along with a sweet floral scented candle. I think Baloo wants to check them out! I also changed out the lighting in here as well. I love these large lantern pendants in here and overcame my fear of electrocution and put them up myself. Lol! They fit in so well with the chandelier in the dining room.

You can’t have a spring tour without flowers in a market bag! Lol. Once spring finally comes, our little city market square has a great farmer’s market every weekend and nothing feels better than getting some spring blooms along with some fresh baked goods and carrying them around in your market bag!

I couldn’t wait to get a vintage runner for this kitchen! The colours are amazing and I love how this eighty year old rug has managed to keep it’s hits of hot pink colour. It totally makes the kitchen!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Spring Tour in our new home. We’re pretty excited to share more of it in the coming days!

If you’ve been following this Seasonal Simplicity Spring Tour since Monday then you’re at the end of the tour with me. If not, you can start at the beginning of this tour with Krista at The Happy Housie

Blessings,

Kim

Also sharing today…

Thursday

Home Made Lovely // So Much Better With Age // Maison de Cinq
Craftberry Bush // Rooms FOR Rent

Maison de Pax // Zevy Joy // Place of My Taste // Deeply Southern Home // Kim Power Style

And sharing the rest of the week…

Monday

The Happy Housie // The Turquoise Home
Amber Tysl // Inspiration for Moms // Lemon Thistle

Southern State of Mind // Modern Glam
Taryn Whiteaker // A Burst of Beautiful // My Sweet Savannah

Tuesday

Jenna Kate at Home // Sincerely, Marie Designs // Town and Country Living
A Pretty Life // Hallstrom Home

House by Hoff // Tauni Everett // The DIY Mommy // Clean & Scentsible // Rambling Renovators

Wednesday

Shades of Blue Interiors // Finding Silver Pennies // Life is a Party // Bless’er House

Summer Adams// Tatertots and Jello // Paint Me Pink // This is Our Bliss

Swiss Mountain Shortbread Christmas Cookies

5:00 am by kim 25 Comments

Are you looking for the best Christmas cookie to bake for the holidays? Well look no further! I’m happy to be sharing one of my all-time favourites, the Swiss Mountain Shortbread Christmas Cookie. This is an easy recipe to make and I’m sure it will become one of your favourites to make too!

I’m joining together with friends for a cookie hop hosted by Jo-Anna from A Pretty Life In The Suburbs. So for an easy 1-stop holiday cookie recipe list, check out the links at the bottom of this post.

I’ve hosted a cookie exchange for the past few years and my friend Kate always brought her Swiss Mountain shortbread Christmas cookies. Needless to say they were always a hit and everyone’s favourite including mine! They would be the first cookie gone from our immense tray of exchanged cookies and people would always ask for them when they came for a visit.

Since we’ve moved away to another city (more on that later) I won’t be hosting my annual cookie exchange this year but Kate was sweet enough to give me her family recipe so now I can share it with you. Thank you Kate!

Not only is it a delicious melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie, it’s also made with amazing milk chocolate Toblerone bars. You won’t be able to stop at just one!

Recipe:

2 cups (500 ml) unsalted butter
1 cup (250 ml) fruit sugar
3 1/4 cups (800 ml) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (125 ml) rice flour
12 oz. (375 g) milk chocolate Toblerone bars
1/4 cup (75 ml) icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Preheat oven to 325°F (160°c)
Beat butter until very light. Gradually beat in sugar and continue beating until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.
Sift flours and salt together. Stir into butter mixture and combine well.
Chop chocolate into 1/2 in. (1 cm) chunks. Save about 50 of the largest chunks and mix the rest into the batter just until combined.
Arrange mounds of batter on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Press a chunk of chocolate into each cookie.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes in a preheated 325°F (160°c) oven until very lightly browned. Cool in a single layer on racks. Sift icing sugar over cookies.

Fruit sugar is finer than regular, buy it or make it by whizzing regular sugar in a food processor for about 1 minute. Rice flour makes the cookies very tender.

Makes about 50 cookies. Kate says her secret is that once everything is mixed together, she kneads the dough a few times. I used a small 1.5 in. ice-cream scoop to place the dough on the cookie sheets. It’s so easy and makes the cookies have a more uniform appearance.

Unless you’re not partial to butter or chocolate, I’m sure you’ll love these cookies!

Now light some Christmas scented candles, put on some festive Christmas music or your favourite Hallmark Christmas movie, (we have them on non-stop over here) and start baking!

Don’t forget to check out the links below for more great cookie recipes.

Blessings,

Kim

More Delicious Christmas Cookie Recipes:

For more Christmas cookie recipes, make sure you check out the delicious recipes below!

Swiss Mountain Shortbread by Kim of Kim Power Style

German Iced Spice Christmas Cookies by Christina of The DIY Mommy

Slice and Bake Shortbread Cookies by Jo-Anna of A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

Cathedral Window Cookies by Rita of Harbour Breeze Home

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti by Kendra of Joy In Our Home

Cranberry Orange Shortbread by Jen of Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Holiday Crinkle Cookies by Lisa of Fabulous Habits

Maple Shortbread Snowflakes by Laura of one house 2 barns

Ritz Cracker Bark (aka Crookies) by Courtenay of Creek Line House

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cookies by Jennifer of Happily Organized Chaos

Earl Grey Snowball Cookies by Tan of Squirrelly Minds

Gingerbread Cookies by Dannyelle of Life is a Party

Spring Decor Update in the Living Room

5:00 am by kim 11 Comments

Yay for Spring! Today I’m joining together with my favourite Canadian bloggers for our annual Spring Home Tour hosted by Shannon from Home Made Lovely (formerly AKA Design) and Christina from The DIY Mommy. I’ll be sharing my Spring Decor Update in the Living Room and you can follow all the links below to see what everyone else has been sharing for spring, all week long. So grab a beverage, sit back and get ready for tons of spring decor ideas and inspiration!

If you’ve read my previous post on my winter decor you’ll know I started with a neutral pallet in this room. I began by removing the robin’s egg blue pillows and replaced them with these pale pink pillows. Nothing says spring like soft pastels and these pale pink pillows fit the bill. I found the little pastel water colour pillow that goes perfectly with the pink and was just the right amount of colour.

I took out the winter white throws and added this pretty pink throw. Some pretty pink roses and tulips along with the faux green wreaths and we’ve brought in spring!

You can take a closer look at my spring brunch tablescape here and see my previous spring decor home tours here and here.

These voluspa candles are my favourites for spring. The Amaranth & Jasmine scent is like spring in a can!

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Yesterday we saw the first robin of the season heralding that spring is finally here.. whether the weather wants to cooperate or not, Lol!

I hope you enjoyed my spring update in the living room. For more spring decor inspiration from my friends, be sure to check out the links below.

Blessings,

Kim

Monday

Tuesday

So Much Better With Age

The Dreamhouse Project

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Northern Style Exposure

Vinyet Etc

Amidst The Chaos

One House Two Barns

Simple Spring Brunch Tablescape

5:00 am by kim 16 Comments

Hello everyone and welcome to the spring edition of the Joyful Home Tour hosted by Marci from Lemons to Lovelys. I’ve joined together with some friends and fellow bloggers to open our homes with some great spring decor. You can follow along with the rest of the bloggers at the end of this post.

My motto is to do things simply, creatively and beautifully. So join me as I share how I created a simple, creative and beautiful spring brunch tablescape…enjoy.

It’s been such a long, cold and seemingly never-ending winter this year and a tough one on our family. The sooner spring can come the better! Just today I spotted our very first robin which is a definite sign around here that spring is on it’s way!

Along with robins, there’s nothing like pretty pastels to help usher in the spring season and these sweet floral pastel cloth napkins were the jumping off point for this simple little tablescape.

I used a purple throw as a table runner to tie in the purple of the napkins and the tulips. The greenery of the wreath and faux eucalyptus were there from my winter decor and works well in any season especially spring! I’ve used a combination of fresh and faux florals along with greenery here. I think they bring the spring vibe and make the table!

My pink plates and blue pastel bowls fit in nicely with the spring theme and go well with the napkins. You can use white or neutral dishes if thats what you have on hand though.

A nice white jug to hold an easy make ahead gazpacho soup, you can use glasses or bowls to hold this springy soup and a quick and easy store bought quiche would go well together and make a great little spring brunch to share with friends and family! (Soup Recipe coming.)

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You can see my previous Spring Tours here and here.

Thanks so much for joining me today! I’ll be sharing a great gazpacho recipe with you next week and stay tuned for more spring decor on Friday as I join some more fellow bloggers!

I hope you’ll go and check out my friends in the links below. There’s so much more spring decor inspiration.

Blessings,

Kim