A Joyful Riot

January 9, 2018

How to Paint a Wood Burning Stove

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!

It wasn’t difficult at all, it just took a little trial and error with some products to get the result I needed.

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January 3, 2018

Party Starters! How to Throw a Movie Night Party!

This movie night party rivals the red carpet with DIY free printable flair pins, an easy glittery star marquee light, and three amazing popcorn mix recipes to share!

We saved the last of our Party Starters! videos for last: this colorful and fun movie night party is our favorite one of them all!

We’ve all seen countless movie night inspired parties and popcorn bars in our time (and on Pinterest :D) but we have to say we love how ours turned out. Rather than just gold, red, and black we incorporated fun colors like turquoise, pink, mint, and blue. You may have noticed throughout our Party Starters themes, pink somehow made it into all of them haha! Pink is a very versatile color you know! Or if you didn’t know that, now you do :) We really love how it made each party have its own unique palette and fun vibe.

Check out our other Party Starters posts here: donut party, sprinkle themed party, and pizza party!

The movie night party was the first party we shot on our second day of shooting. The whole video with all of the projects can be found right here. The movie ticket backdrop was probably the most stand-out part and it made the whole corner ready to party! This isn’t a DIY in the video-its just super simple: hang colored tickets (we got ours at Zurchers) with tape from the ceiling to create a colorful background for your popcorn bar!

Here’s a fun behind-the-scenes look at some of the shooting crew and our set up:

For this party we show you how to make a gold glitter giant star marquee light, shrink plastic movie-themed flair pins, and three amazing popcorn mix recipes! We also gives some awesome tips for creating the best popcorn bar ever and setting up your buffet. Click through to see all the DIYs and get links to the videos and step-by-step directions!

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December 2, 2017

DIY Mini Bottle Brush Tree Garland

I’m not going to write one of those posts apologizing for my lack of content creation lately. I’m not. Ok…I guess I am. Machelle has been single-handedly keeping this blog alive while in school with two kids. She is amazing. I on the other hand have no kids and am not in school. But I have a job. That is not a great excuse now that I am typing it out though.

So sorry for my lack of project creation lately. I thought I would ease back into it with a 5 minute project for you all. And I thought that this was so simple it must have been done a hundred times already but I searched and couldn’t find it. So if any of you have already seen one done go easy on me ok!

Bottle brush trees are my favorite Christmas decoration and have been for years. They’re timeless that way. I have included them in my holiday decor for at least the past five years. Last year I got a great deal on a bunch of these mini trees and used them as ornaments on my tree which I loved. This year, however, I got rid of my white Christmas tree (RIP) and opted for a green one. This left my mini trees discarded to the side and I had to use them for something!

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October 21, 2017

DIY Ombre Rainbow Skeleton

I have been wanting a life size skeleton in my Halloween decorations for…as long as I can remember probably! All this season I’ve been on the look out for one that I could afford. I also wanted him to fit in with my other decorations. I always flip flop between wanting fun and silly Halloween decorations and scary ones! I love a good creepy front porch! But, I also love more light-hearted ones, especially since I have little kids.

And I know for a fact my three year old appreciates this rainbow skeleton more than a creepy ghoul or something. And, I definitely love it more too!

How fun is this guy?! I just love him, I feel like he could stay out all year almost haha.

The main thing that was holding me back from this fun project was finding a skeleton for the right price! I saw lots for around $60 and while it seemed like a fair price to pay, it was just too much for me for a very temporary porch ornament. Then I finally made it to Zurchers since they got all of their Halloween out and, not only was it a Halloween wonderland, but they had a full size skeleton for only $30! I was so excited, I immediately nabbed him up and painted him that afternoon.

I think every porch and every Halloween celebration needs an ombre rainbow skeleton. like every. single. one. I would definitely recommend spray paint, so you get that nice blending-mixed look. I just used left over spray paints I already had so there was no further expense for me. But a few cans would run you less than $10 so its still a low cost (and very low effort!) project.

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October 14, 2017

DIY Balloon Dog Halloween Costume

Hooray, it’s time for our first Halloween costume tutorial! And ALSO-my son’s blog debut!! This guy turns ONE in just a few days (somehow), so it’s about time he get in front of the camera for AJR :D

And, really, it couldn’t be for a more-fun post, I just love this costume idea! We’re a litter of balloon dogs! Now, I can’t fold a balloon animal to save my life (to be fair-I’ve never even tried…) but I sure can dress me and my babies like one. This costume is so easy, and I was so happy to have a little photoshoot of my kids and I, even if we’re dressed as colorful dogs haha!

Originally, it was just going to be me in these photos, but then I realized how freaking cute little kids would be as balloon animals and I just had to incorporate them. It sure was harder to make the photos happen, but luckily I had help from my mom (I always have to use a Grandma for costume photos!) and sister in law. And the work was totally worth it-if nothing else, I just get a kick out of my daughters posing and twirling.

A year sure does make a big difference in a toddler! Though the threes have, in general, been rougher than the twos, getting these pictures was so much easier than her costume last year. You’d never know it from the pictures (cus, again, I had Grandma magic) but girl was a little pill that day. This year, she sat still while I drew on her nose and pinned on her tail. Then she happily danced around for a bunch of smiling pictures. I didn’t even have to bribe her with chocolate once! And I mean, Otto is always such a delight, it’s not hard to get some happy photos of him!

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A Joyful Riot

How to Paint a Wood Burning Stove

Party Starters! How to Throw a Movie Night Party!

DIY Mini Bottle Brush Tree Garland

Continue Reading…

DIY Ombre Rainbow Skeleton

DIY Balloon Dog Halloween Costume

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