Memorial Day and 4th of July fireplace Mantle decor Inspo 🇺🇸!

There’s something I’ve noticed over the years… it’s often the smallest spaces in a home, where everyone congregates, that bring the biggest sense of comfort and joy.

For me, one of those spaces is always our family room. And our fireplace mantel is the one thing I change with the seasons to keep our room fresh and festive!

Every Memorial Day and Fourth of July season, I pull out my American Flag painting and style the mantel around it. Sometimes I add bunting, sometimes faux flowers, maybe a few vintage brass candlesticks or woven textures. Nothing overly complicated. But every time I walk past it, it makes the whole house feel a little more festive, a little more meaningful, and a little more alive for the season.

And honestly? I think we sometimes forget that our homes should feel joyful for us, not just for guests.

You don’t have to decorate every inch of your house to make a season feel special. Sometimes all it takes is one beautiful focal point — a mantel, an entryway, a kitchen counter — to completely shift the mood of your home.

That’s part of why I created my custom American flag painting in the first place. A one time investment that becomes part of those little traditions families look forward to each year.

Home is built from those little things.

And sometimes a simple mantel can hold more joy than we realize.

Here are the pieces I use to create this special feeling:

The Flag Art: Merica

The greenery: Saw Grass Bush

The Hearts (I also use these for Valentines day!): Hearts

The Candle Sticks (I use with pretty much every mantle I do): Candlesticks

The Florals (I use these for V-Day): The tulips

The Pink Bushy Flower (I use these for V-day as well): Here

My Rug: Here

The striped Bows: Here

The pink bows: Here

Striped blue and white bunting: Here

I hope this give you some fabulous inspiration!!

xo❤️

M-C

A Valentine's Day Fireplace Mantel

After Christmas comes down, sometimes things can feel a little…. empty. And even a touch sad. But the beautiful thing about decorating for V-Day… is that you can use quite a bit of your Christmas decor that is already handy! We just need to repurpose all that red and add a few ‘spring’ touches :)

Here are as many of the links as I could find to help you have a fun and festive space through February ;)

The ‘Constance’ artwork: Paper and Canvas (above my fireplace is the canvas)

The greenery Garland

The puffy heart Garland

The multi color wood heart Garland

The pink Tulips

The pink bushy flowers

The candle Holders

The velvet ribbon Bows

Multi color twinkle Lights

The LOVE pillow

The HEART pillow

My RUG

There is some ‘stick/pinecone’ glitter garland mixed in that was from my Christmas mantle. I don’t have a link for it, because it is oldish ;)

Let me know if there is something I forgot to add!!

I hope this inspired you to stave off the post Christmas blues ;).

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

xoxo❤️ M-C

Shakshuka - Cook Like You've Traveled The World.

This is one of my family’s favorite recipes. It works for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. It is quick, easy, cheap and incredibly flavorful! This recipe will feed 5+ people. Make sure you are using a big pan.

Ingredients:

• Coconut oil for sautéing. *use any oil you regularly cook with.

• 1 large onions -peeled and diced

• 3 cloves garlic -peeled and chopped

• 1 bell pepper (red, orange or yellow) -diced *if you do not have any on hand, no big deal. Skip it.

• 2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 2 teaspoon sugar

• salt, to taste

• 2 14-oz can diced tomatoes, with juices

• 2 chopped fresh tomatoes

• ½ cup heavy cream *you can substitute with cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese

• feta cheese, crumbled

• 6-8 eggs

• Handful chopped cilantro

1- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and bell pepper and cook, uncovered, for about 5-8 minutes, until softened. Do not brown; reduce the heat if necessary.

2- Add the smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, generous amount of salt, sugar, and all tomatoes. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce is slightly thickened. Cover and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

3- Add the heavy cream to the sauce, and mix.

4- Using a spoon, make 6-8 wells/indentations in the sauce. Carefully crack an egg into each well, being careful not to disturb the yolks. Sprinkle the eggs with salt, then cover with a lid until eggs are cooked to your liking. Once done, remove from heat and sprinkle with feta and cilantro. Serve hot and add bread or pita chips for dipping.

ENJOY!!!!!

xo

❤️M-C