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Joy's Fun Stuff

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How to Decorate an Awesome Party on the Cheap: DIY Ideas, Tips, and Examples

Top 6 Easy Ideas to Rock Your New Year's Party with Kids (why is it only a WEEK after xmas?!!)

What's a Cricut, What Can You Make, and How Did I Ever Live Without One?

Halloween Gingerbread Houses are Awesome Fun (even when you cut the crackers wrong)

Halloween Gingerbread Houses are Awesome Fun (even when you cut the crackers wrong)

My oldest 2 boys may not have a single patch sewed on their scout uniforms, but I do Halloween Gingerbread Houses with my kids. As a mom, I cannot do it all and I'm happy to fail at the scout patch thing as to make more room in my life for sugar glued to sugar using sugar. Because, well, priorities. This is one of those fun traditions that the kids get REALLY excited for. But can you blame them? They get to create/gorge themselves with treats and make a spooky project that th

Decorate a Killer Harry Potter Party on a Tiny Budget

Decorate a Killer Harry Potter Party on a Tiny Budget

Decorating for a party doesn't have to be expensive. It does take some planning ahead and a little elbow grease, but this Harry Potter party for my 3rd kiddo turned out pretty fun and hardly cost a thing. I know it might seem like I'm a bit obsessed with the Dollar Tree (see here, here, here, and here) and that they must sponsor my life (I wish), but it's just that they have so many great things for so dang cheap. And for the record I actually purchased some of this party stu

Birthday for Husband: Ways to NOT Mess It Up

Birthday for Husband: Ways to NOT Mess It Up

Kid's birthdays are easy, but I have struggled with the old birthday for my husband, poor guy. It's silly because he's an amazing man who loves me and our kids. But I have struggled. While marriages are complicated and all different, these are some truths I've (slowly) discovered through the years for me with my husband, mostly through trial and error. The emphasis here is on the error. *Disclaimers: 1. Not everyone fits into these generalities but maybe this will give you so

Top 10 Dollar Tree Finds, Part 2

Top 10 Dollar Tree Finds, Part 2

Yesterday I got my oil changed, which is not really noteworthy or anything. But Matt kept the kids and I had a whole hour and a half to my lonesome, and THAT was exciting. Being the wild woman I am, I seized the day and walked a block to the Dollar Tree. Carpe diem, baby. Couple Points here: 1) If you're interested in reviewing my somewhat creepy fascination with this store, Part 1 is here. 2) The Dollar Tree is NOT sponsoring this post. I'm not cool enough for that reality.

Baptism Ideas

Baptism Ideas

Our second was baptized this last Saturday, and man, was this kid excited. The next day he tried to convince us it was really Saturday so that he could get baptized again. He is a character for sure. I've learned a few things on the whole deal and thought I'd pass it on. Purpose First off, as fun (or stressful, depending on your personality type) as it is to do all the extras, baptisms are about being baptized. Wow. So insightful, I know, but it's so easy to forget that. The

St. Patrick's Day Decos: Making Life More Complicated, One Holiday at a Time

St. Patrick's Day Decos: Making Life More Complicated, One Holiday at a Time

We have a trickster Leprechaun that comes here every year. He does all sorts of things here while we're asleep and causes mass excitement. Lucky has done some really great tricks through the years, mischief that has endeared him to my kids and helped placed St. Patrick's Day as one of their favorite holidays. The thing he's most famous for with our family are his decorations. This pic is from a few years back at our old house. We called it the Barney Room. Painting the walls

Easy Family Valentine

Easy Family Valentine

15 minutes. That's how long this bad boy took me to make, and that included googling "hand lettering love" for the cheat on those words. So easy and fast. I like to keep a small stockpile of poster boards in my stash (love you Dollar Tree!) for impromptu projects like this, but this idea would totally work with construction paper or even lined paper torn out from that old notebook in the church bag. Basically, this is a place for each member of the family to write things they

Valentine's Dinner: Make All of Your Wildest Dreams Come True

Valentine's Dinner: Make All of Your Wildest Dreams Come True

I pretty much hate waiting. It's the worst. And waiting to EAT?!! No thanks. When I'm hungry I want food. So when I show up at a restaurant and am told that I have to wait like 45 minutes to be seated, it's not good. My blood sugar is low right then, people! That's why I'm there. Going out to eat on Valentine's Day is not the best. It takes a truly enjoyable experience no cooking + eating + great company + no kids + no dishes and makes me angry. I feel like I've just finished

Party Cheap with the Dollar Tree

Party Cheap with the Dollar Tree

I used to live right by the nicest Dollar Tree. It was so clean and organized and since Target was far away, it became my hangout. They have some great stuff there. They also have a bunch of junk, but we don't buy that. Mostly. And FYI: I'm not embarrassed to say that I am posting my love of the Dollar Tree solely based on my love of the Dollar Tree. They are not sponsoring this post. They do not know I exist. My favorite stuff to get at the Dollar Tree is party supplies and

Twins Baby Shower: Thing 1 & Thing 2 Themed

Twins Baby Shower: Thing 1 & Thing 2 Themed

My sister-in-law is pregnant with twins. Twins. Two babies at once. I cannot imagine. They will be the most darling little friends I’m sure and I can’t wait to meet them. I'm so excited! They were visiting last week and we were able to throw them a family surprise shower. I chose a Dr. Seuss theme: Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Cat in the Hat book, because that is awesome. When planning decorations, I move forward with the main colors. That not only makes it easier to find stu

Homemade Ornaments with the Kids: Perfect Gift for Grandparents

Homemade Ornaments with the Kids: Perfect Gift for Grandparents

Every year we make an ornament and make enough for grandparents and ourselves. I have come to love the imperfection of their sweet little creations. Through the years we've had some pretty cute ones and one that ended up a total dud. DIY Kid Ornament Hacks: 1. Put a date on them. 2. The ones with pictures of the kids on them are so stinking cute. 3. Using an actual photo instead of a pic from the printer is way better. If that's not possible (like if you are my kind of planne

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Halloween Gingerbread Houses

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Gratitude Turley

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Veteran's Art Surprise

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Turkey Stick Puppet

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Tape Masks

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