Joy's Fun Stuff

What are some ideas for decorating on a budget that don't take a miter saw or a zillion hours to pull off? I'm so glad you asked!

These 10 ideas are not spectacular, just simple, funny activities that get everyone laughing and creating some great memories, including the

New Year's is rudely too close to Christmas. But these easy party ideas will help you rock the night. We're talking decoration and a

In an effort to fulfill my life goal of unnecessarily complicating every possible situation, through the years I have spent hours and hours

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

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

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

One year we had some friends with the last name Baire and they had the greatest family costumes for Halloween- the baby was dressed in the most snuggly, adorable bear costume and the hubby and wife had teddy bears tied to their heads like hats. They were the best 3 Bears ever and it was hilarious. I knew right then that we had future Halloween plans. So every year we hash around trying to come up with a creative costume theme that is acceptable to all involved. This is gettin

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

I'm not sure if you knew, but with the Olympics Opening Ceremonies happening on Friday I thought it was time for me to share that I've been in serious training for about a decade now. Before then, it was just kind of hit and miss, but almost 10 years ago I went into hard core, full time training and haven't looked back. Stating fact here, but I'm pretty sure if I went into competition I would take the Gold. Unfortunately the Olympics Federation still refuses to recognize Diap