Sharing some easy patriotic front porch ideas to spruce up your porch for Memorial Day, 4th of July or Labor Day!
Welcome to our front porch, summer edition! With the summer holidays approaching, I wanted to add a touch of red, white and blue to our front porch. But I didn’t want to spend a fortune. I’m showing you how to easily create a patriotic front porch using some things you may already have on hand and just adding a few little seasonal accents.
And as always, I’ve linked everything so you can shop and re-create the look!
How to easily create a patriotic front porch
For the door
I already had a boxwood wreath on the door. So rather than get a whole new wreath, I just added some red, white and blue ribbon.
Linking my wreath and some red, white and blue ribbon below.
You are not going to believe that I actually got both of these mats from Aldi!
I love the look of layering mats so I’m linking some ones I found and love!
Faux Plants
I had bought these faux hydrangeas back in March for our planter boxes. The quality is so amazing, they even feel real! The blue color is so beautiful for summer!
To fill your planter boxes, I like to take paper shopping bags and crumple them up and then put them in the box to add some height. Then I put in these faux ferns and then added in my faux hydrangeas.
I got these car flags from The Dollar Store which work perfectly for the planter boxes.
I’m linking some of the things I used for my planter boxes below so you can recreate the look.
And in just a few minutes with a few touches, the porch was transformed into festive Americana that can be left out all summer long!
4th of July is right around the corner and this Fireworks Ice Cream Brownie Sundae is a fantastic dessert to celebrate! Thick and fudgy red velvet brownies with a cheesecake swirl are topped with a festive ice cream that pops in your mouth. Scroll down for my recipe and more 4th of July ideas from my friends.
If you are coming over from my friend Donna at An Organized Season, welcome!!!! I loved all of her creative patriotic ideas! I hope you will stick around awhile and be sure to subscribe to the Our Tiny Nest Community!
Fireworks Ice Cream Brownie Sundae
For those of you who are local to Upstate New York, you probably agree with me that Stewart’s has the best ice cream around! In the summer, my boys love their fireworks ice cream, with the cherries and pop rocks so I decided to try making my own using my easy homemade no churn ice cream recipe.
This ice cream is perfect on it’s own served in a bowl or cone but I decided to serve it on top of my red velvet cheesecake brownies for a special patriotic treat! Everything can be easily made ahead of time so that you can just serve and enjoy your festivities!
Start by making the fireworks ice cream
For the ice cream:
Ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt
1/2 jar of maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
1.) In a large mixing bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks start to form.
2.) In a separate bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and salt
3.) Gently fold in the sweetened condensed milk mixture into the heavy whipping cream until combined.
4.) Fold in the chopped cherries and pop rocks.
5.) Spoon into a loaf pan or pyrex container, cover and freeze.
Next prepare the Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
For the brownies:
1 cup butter
2 cups semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
6 eggs
2 Tablespoons red food coloring
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups of flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
For the cheesecake filling:
16 oz of cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2.) Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper or spray with non stick baking spray.
3.) Using a microwave safe bowl, combine the butter and chocolate and heat at 30 second intervals, stirring in between until it’s completely melted.
4.) Add the granulated, brown sugar and eggs and whisk until combined.
5.) Add the vanilla and red food coloring, whisking until combined.
6.) Next add the flour, cocoa, and salt, stirring until it is no longer lumpy and the color is perfectly red throughout.
7.) Scoop about 1 cup of batter and save for later. (You will use this to put on top).
8.) Spread the remaining batter into the baking pan.
9.) Prepare the cheesecake filling by creaming together the cream cheese and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl.
10.) Add in the flour and mix until well combined.
11.) Incorporate the eggs and vanilla extract mixing well.
12.) Spread the cheesecake batter on top of the red velvet brownie batter.
13.) Dollop the reserved red velvet brownie batter on top.
14.) Using a clean toothpick, swirl the layers back and forth to create a marbled look.
15.) Bake the brownies for about 45 minutes, the top should be shiny, and the edges slightly golden. The center may be a tad jiggly but that’s ok.
16.) Cover the pan with foil and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
To serve the Fireworks Ice Cream Brownie Sundaes
When ready to serve, I like to eat these red velvet cheesecake brownies chilled. They are so fudgy! Slice each brownie into squares and place on a plate or in a bowl. (I mean look how thick!!!)
Scoop the ice cream on top.
Add some sprinkles and enjoy!!!
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For more of my favorite Red, White and Blue recipes check out
Fudgy red velvet brownies with a cheesecake swirl are topped with a fun red, white and blue homemade ice cream that pops in your mouth for a festive dessert for 4th of July, Memorial Day or Labor Day!The best part about this recipe is that everything can be easily prepped ahead of time so you can just serve and enjoy!
If you’re looking for a cute way to decorate your front door for the summer, this DIY Patriotic Door Basket is so simple and classic. I like to switch up from front door decor from time to time and change from my wreath to a door basket. The thing I like about the door basket, is that you can switch out your flowers as the seasons change. (For more door basket ideas, click here to see this spring and Easter door basket).
Patriotic Door Basket
You will need:
door basket (mine is sold out but scroll down to see a few I linked below)
