Home Decor DIY | A Joyful Riot

10 Easy Crafts to do while in quarantine

April 15, 2020 ·

Most of us have been staying at home for about a month now. And a lot of us are likely looking for ways to fill the time, trying to find time away from our children (who we love and adore!), or are wanting to relieve the stress of our current situation. If any of those are you right now, an easy craft that requires few supplies might be just what you need. Unless you have already been crafting to your heart’s desire and just need to veg out and admire crafters out there. Totally ok too.

1. DIY Lyric Pillow Cases – Commemorate this time by making a pillow with the lyrics of the songs you are listening to on repeat.

2. Confetti Post Card – Make these and send them to family or friends you haven’t been able to see in weeks!

3. Oversized Scrunchie – No one is washing their hair often now, throw it up with a cute handmade scrunchie.

4. Toilet Paper Roll Horses – I know we are all short on toilet paper right now but if you have any extra rolls, this is a cute craft you can do with kids!

5. Watercolor Napkins – upgrade any plain napkins or linens you already have.

6. DIY Lemon Shoes – If you get bored, grab some shoes and decorate them with lemons.

7. Desk Organizer – With so many of us working from home, make it your own space by DIYing a new organizer.

8. Rainbow wall hanging – Hang this in your window to spread cheer during this pandemic.

9. Clay Jewelry – You don’t have to an expert at working with clay to make some gorgeous new jewelry.

10. Llama Bobbins – The cutest way to organize your thread or yarn.

Otto’s Playful Nursery Reveal

May 28, 2019 ·

A playful boy’s nursery with turquoise details, vintage finds, special prints, and a diagonal plywood focal wall. Neutral with a dash of boyish fun and color!

Can it still be called a nursery if the child sleeping in it is a toddler? haha! Trust me, it will always disappoint me a little that Malissa’s baby, who is 2 full years younger than mine, got his room done first. But you know what? That just describes my life since Otto came into it.

Otto really truly has my heart but man! He is wild and wiggly and sure has made things difficult to accomplish. Before he was born I had at least a dozen blog posts photographed and pretty much ready to post. And it took me almost the entire first two years of his life to get them up. I’m sure that describes most people’s experience with their second child!

So here I find myself, with a two-year-seven-month-old and I finally just finished his first room. Two days after I photographed it, he climbed out of that crib for the first time. So if I had waited one week longer, it wouldn’t even look like a nursery anymore. But does it still look like one with that child walking around it!?

Christmas home tour!

December 20, 2018 ·

There is nothing unique about loving Christmas time but truly there is no better season! Even all the decorations are just so much better than any other holiday. I love how cozy my home feels during the holidays and always want to snuggle right by the tree. This year I could not wait to get the tree up and I even put it up before Thanksgiving. I couldn’t help myself – I wanted to put it up with Pierce so badly. Obviously he wasn’t much help since he is only two months but putting it up with him and his dad was such a wonderful experience. Even though everything we do this holiday season is more for me than him I cannot wait to experience every sweet moment with my little love.

Here he is lounging in front of our tree! I cannot believe how big he already is. I get emotional just thinking about it. Before I was a mother and I heard other parents talk about being sad when their baby grew out of clothing or got bigger I thought it was quite strange. I just didn’t understand it until I went through it myself. So you better believe that when I went through his newborn clothes and packed them up that I cried. I love seeing the strides he is making but it is bittersweet.

It is so fun to see him stare at objects and the lights on the tree are already one of his favorite things to look at. The other one is his daddy.

Pierce’s Pastel Gender Neutral Nursery!

August 30, 2018 ·

This pastel gender neutral nursery has a ton of fun little elements perfect for a baby boy or girl!

I am so thrilled to be sharing baby Pierce’s nursery! I am less than 2 weeks out from his due date and he really could arrive at any moment so I am beyond happy that his nursery is all ready. By the way, being over 38 weeks I now realize why pregnant women always are saying they’re ready to be done! I have had an easy pregnancy so far and I cannot really complain. I don’t know if my body is lacking hormones or what but I have had no nausea and almost no complications. I still have had migraines and definitely had a lot of days where I was exhausted but compared to the horror stories I’ve heard from a lot of other mommas I feel so blessed. However, now that I am feeling huge, uncomfortable, have daily aches, and have been in my third trimester the entire summer in humid D.C. I am glad I only have a maximum of a few weeks left. Plus I cannot wait to finally meet him! (But don’t worry mom I don’t want him to arrive early).

Now I am not someone who can wait for the entire pregnancy to find out the gender – kudos to those of you who can! I am the person who opts for the blood test at 10 weeks so I can find out as early as possible and start shopping and planning. When I got the results back at 12 weeks I initially thought it was too early to know. But then one minute later I changed my mind. I did wait 2 days for my amazing friend Dorothy to make a gender reveal cake and do a small family reveal over video chat though. That is the extent of my patience.

Since I knew the gender so early I had planned for a nursery that went with a boy. However, now that it is complete I think it really could work for a girl as well and thus would be perfect for those who want a more gender neutral space or who are waiting to find out their baby’s gender. Like I wrote in my inspiration board post I went back and forth on styles for a few weeks before Machelle gave me the idea of using pastels. I focused on blues and yellows and think that the color combination is perfect for a boy and I love how it all turned out. Greg was just so helpful as well – painting the nursery with me, putting up the crib, etc. I initially thought I would have the nursery all done by the end of my second trimester. Looking back on it this was quite an audacious goal and I still had a lot of buying, organizing, and planning to do in my third trimester. At least everything is all set up before he arrives. I know I won’t be using the nursery for months since he’ll be sleeping in a bassinet in our room but it makes be feel better knowing the space is ready.

How to Paint a Wood Burning Stove

January 9, 2018 ·

If you have an old wood burning stove that you no longer use, turn it into a beautiful focal point by painting it a bright color!

A while back, I shared my craft room featuring this painted wood burning stove which is my favorite part! I’ll forever be hopelessly in love with turquoise and so, even though I considered a few other colors, I am so happy I went with my favorite! I think the bright, happy color adds just enough to this space so that not a whole lot else is required on the walls or windows around it. I’m so lucky to not only have a space with such a fun piece in it but that I can basically do whatever I want to the pieces in my space! I’ve mentioned it a few times before but my house will eventually be torn down so in the meantime I’m painting all the things!

Give a DIYer her freedom and it’ll be her first thought to paint the vintage fixtures haha. But, I really wasn’t sure exactly how to do it and I definitely learned a few things along the way. The first thing I tried did not work out. And I honestly couldn’t find any help online. I tried searching for a multitude of different things and nothing had the help I needed! Eventually I chose my own products and figured it out and I couldn’t be happier!