Christmas trees and bells and stars...

and we even threw in a few dinosaurs. :)

1. nephew Trenton

2. nephew Eli (this was the biggest smile he could conjure up at 8:30pm)

3. goofy face Gentry

4. cookie scarfing Isaak

Our first movie

The laundry did not happen last night.
But the good news is I stayed up way too late making my first family movie.
**All clips (yes even the stretched out wonky ones) were taken on my iphone and iMovie was used to create the magic.

The boys think they are now famous movie stars.
And I'm not telling them otherwise. That's called bribery folks.
Movie stars let their mom take as much video as she wants to.
And they don't cover their faces or pick their underwear out of their bottoms.
(yes that did happen but didn't make the final cut)
We're still working on our "movie star" etiquette. 
Things like this take time people.

probably not

The holidays are simply my favorite time of the year.
And as the boys grow older I find myself falling in love with their awe and excitement and watching the sparkle in their eyes as each new day of the season unfolds.
Thanksgiving was spent lounging around with family and eating way too much.

From left to right
1. Gentry with cousin Olivia
2. Me with sister Hannah
3. My mom and pops
3. Cooper

We visited the Christmas tree farm on Saturday and I think Isaak asked us at least 10 times if it was indeed Christmas time. 

We even visited Santa Claus, who while waiting for the photographer to get ready, kept prodding both boys to tell him all of the things they wanted for Christmas.
When they each would name one item, he'd ask, "What else?" over and over.
C'mon Santa!

Gentry is full of curiosity noticing that Santa's beard was just a bit shorter this year and asking things like, "Why on earth would some of my friends think that their moms and dads could be Santa Claus?" I took a deep breath, afterall 6 years is too young not to believe! 
He then followed up by exclaiming, "I heard the reindeer on the roof last year mom, so I just know that he's real."
Phew.
The rest of the weekend we spent digging out Christmas decor, hanging lights, trimming the very prickly tree, making big messes, and ignoring the heaping pile of laundry that never seems to go away.
Maybe I'll get to that tonight.
Probably not.

just around the corner

With Christmas just around the corner, I'm beginning to gather ideas for gift giving and exchange parties. Funny exchange gifts are my favorite.

I love these plates from Fishs Eddy. So cute.

And this rug from Urban. Hilarious. I need it.

                                   

These custom wall decal photo gifts from Pinhole Press are totally adorbs.

Everyone needs one.

I spent a long time ooohing and ahhhing over everything they sell.

Go check em' out.

                           

and this kid sized tool set just like daddy's is pretty rad. I scoured the web and found nothing else like it.

What kid wouldn't want to fall asleep in a real life teepee? House inhabit hand makes these. Coolness.



and finally I can't talk enough about how much we love our Kiwi Crate! 

I've already bought a subscription for my nephews Christmas gift.

It's a craft box subscription that comes once a month. The crafts are amazeballs. 

Our last one contained a shadow puppet kit with mini flashlights.

For some reason flashlights are a slice of heaven for little boys.

Mine will entertain themselves with one for hours.
**If you buy using the link above you get $10 off your first order!!

This weekend we'll be catching up on orders in our shop, having dinner with friends and begin to prepare for our Thanksgving feast.

Happy Friday friends.

perfect party favor: elastic hair ties

i'm a bit crazy over this next DIY project.
i'll be using these for gift tags and party favors this holiday season.

first i found a cute saying and typed it up in a fun font.
i printed it out on a heavy cardstock that i could feed through my cheapie at home printer.
no fancy computer programs necessary.
i just used Word and figured out a way to print three on a page.
next I cut the cardstock and tied my elastic strips to make the bands.
i know you can buy fray sealer, but it was 10pm at night and i wasn't going anywhere.
so i improvised and used a lighter. very safe, i know. :)
easy and stinkin' cute!

i buy my glitter elastic here, but i'm sure you can find it locally at a craft store too.

Thrift Store Lamp Makeover

It's friday. And almost Thanksgiving. My favorite!!
I thought a fun tutorial was fitting for a lovely fall day like today. :)
I purchased a cheap brass lamp and plain shade at the thrift store for $6 total. And I forgot to take a picture. :|
I have several burlap sacks leftover from a previous project.
I started by cutting those into about 2 inch strips. (but i by no means measured)
I think I used about three burlap bags. ALOT of burlap!

I then just folded them kind of in half and scrunched and glued with a hot glue gun. Over and over and over again. :)

You can kinda see the ugly shade peeking through in the photo above.

I spray painted the brass base with a white flat spray paint first and then used a high gloss salmon colored spray from Lowes for the final coat. 

Here are some close ups of the final result. 

And here is the pic from Instagram. Follow along with me @joyjustbecause

Happy Friday friends!

A Winner...Finally!

So so sorry for the delay.
The winner of the $50 Anthropologie gift card
is..........................

Amy from Not Your Average Baby Blog!!!

Congrats Amy! 

Check out uur toothbrush holder here!
Browse our Etsy shop here!

And now I'll leave you with a spooky story by Gentry. ;)

Just For Fun

I'm pretty much always snapping photos. Because that's what I do. :)

Things that make me smile and laugh and dream about the possibilties.

Like this big hunk of fabulousness.

It could be an amazing piece of art or a table. 

Oh the possibilities.

This chair was pretty lovely too. The color and the style. 
It was from the 1920's or something crazy like that. I think I need it.

This piece made my heart stop. In a good way.
This sweet little thang may just have found a new home.

I walk by this wall every single day. Isn't she lovely?
 It makes my walk into work a little bit happier.

And this was a funny text from my SIL. It made me wrinkle my forehead at first.

And then I got nervous. 

And then I laughed. 

She was joking. 

Phew.

Happy Hump Day friends!

Never Believe

We think what Victor is doing with the Leap Year Project is pretty rad. He's been one of our hugest supporters and we are thrilled to support him right back.

"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world.
For, indeed, that's all who ever have."
Margaret Mead

A Cop and a Robber

The Halloween fesivities have begun and oh the fun we are having.
Such a wonderful time of the year to have littles that enjoy dressing up and being silly.
This past weekend we gathered with friends to carve pumpkins,
we danced to spooky music and played in our last football game of the season.
October always reminds me that the holidays are right around the corner.

**There is still time to enter the contest to win a $50 Anthropologie gift card. 
Find out how to enter here.

Oh Anthro!

Several months ago Anthropologie contacted us via our etsy shop. 

We were in shock and thrilled and nervous all at the same time.

After working through all of the details and perfecting each toothbrush holder we are pleased to announce that you can buy your very own Tyler Kingston toothbrush holder online here.

We are so very thankful for this awesome opportunity. (And still a little bit in shock!)
To celebrate we are giving away a $50 Anthropologie gift card to anyone that shares the above photo (or a link to this post) on Facebook, Twitter (tyler_kingston), Instagram (@tylerkingstonwood) or Pinterest. 
So share it, tweet it or pin it and then come back here to leave a comment telling me that you did so. 
I'll pick a winner at random on Friday, October 26th.
(Make sure you leave your email address so that I can reach you if you win!)
GOOD LUCK!

Shine Baby Shine

currently on repeat...

Color Run 2012

Today we ran the happiest 5k on the planet. That's what they kept saying. :) 
The Color Run. 
Soooo fun!
I really wish my boys could have been there to experience it.
I thought they were a bit too young this time. Maybe next time.

We did run it with my parents and sisters. They thought it was cool too.
We started out without our phones...and then when we ran by the car we all grabbed them. We didn't want to miss out on all the colorful photo ops. 
This was us waiting forever for it to start. 15,000 people were waiting.
I was feeling kind of goofy. And a little crowded.  :)

The girls...

so much fun...

Starbucks sounded good to all of us after it was all over. We had a few strange looks. :)

 The color soaked right through my socks and tennis shoes. 
 I had to scrub and scrub. They will be blue for awhile!

It was a good day. 
The bottom line is you can't take a bad photo when everyone is covered in paint.
And that is cooool.
One lesson for next time: We forgot to bring towels to lay over the car seats for afterwards. 
The leather is now rainbow instead of grey. :)

Live

The Secret Keeper

Happy Father's Day to my Daddy 

and to my baby Daddy. 

via

afternoon at the beach

Oh my...it is difficult to think that my Gentry is turning 6!
And even harder to grasp that I am now 30. Today. 
Say WHAT?!
This can't be right?!
I still feel 22 so I keep telling myself that's what matters. :)


This past Sunday we celebrated another year by hosting a beach party.
It was a perfect summery afternoon spent with our closest family and friends.

 

Perfect Baby

Happy Birthday Gentry Tyler!