A Joyful Riot

a large gathering of happy things

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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DIY Ombre Rainbow Skeleton


Make a colorful ombre skeleton for Halloween in just one quick step!

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!

Make a colorful ombre skeleton for Halloween in just one quick step!

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.

Make a colorful ombre skeleton for Halloween in just one quick step!

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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DIY Balloon Dog Halloween Costume

family balloon animal costumes DIY orange pink blue dogs

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

mom and me halloween costume colorful balloon dogs

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!

DIY blue dog balloon dog balloon animal halloween costume DIY pink balloon dog halloween costume for little girl DIY family balloon animal costumes DIY orange pink blue dogs

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.

family balloon animal costumes DIY orange pink blue dogs

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!

DIY blue dog balloon dog balloon animal halloween costume DIY

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DIY Lawn Flamingos in Halloween Costumes!

DIY lawn flamingos in halloween costumes halloween lawn flamingos

Eeeeeek! I am so excited about my newest Halloween decoration/the cutest little lawn flamingos I’ve ever seen/this post! haha, I sure hope this post makes up for the colossal break we’ve had since the last post. I kinda think it might….I mean..Halloween lawn flamingos in costume

Look at these little cuties! So last year I saw several people sharing around skeleton lawn flamingos and they were so awesome! I was thinking how cool it would be to have a whole fleet of them in my yard for Halloween. But then, I thought “why not make them all into different Halloween-themed things?!” A flamingo can dress up just as good as a human can and I believe this post proves it!

Halloween lawn flamingos in costume

And in the end, I didn’t even make a skeleton haha! Honestly, it seemed like more work than I wanted to do and I wanted to put out a wholly unique set of Halloween lawn flamingos. So! We have a black cat, a ghost, a devil, a mummy, a superhero, a witch (probably my fave!), a jack o’ lantern pumpkin, frankenstein, bride of frankenstein, and a hippie (ok, maybe this one is my fave!).

I’m pretty enamored with these little guys! I think any one of them would be a great addition to anyone’s Halloween decor but the whole party of em is pretty dang fun, wouldn’t ya say?!

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Party Starters! How to Throw a Sprinkle Party!

Sprinkles, sprinkles, and more sprinkles! With a decked-out ice cream bar, homemade sprinkle recipe (and free printable labels!), and a sprinkle-covered letter backdrop, this party is sweet all over!

Is there anything cuter than sprinkles?! Like, in the world of party supplies at least. You just cannot go wrong with a smattering of sprinkles! So we were totally on board when food.com wanted this to be a theme for one of our Party Starters videos.

Even better-we didn’t just cover everything in sprinkles, but we had a full-on ice cream sundae bar! And it was basically the ice cream bar of your dreams let me tell you! We seriously had all the fixin’s you could ever want on your ice cream: syrups, mini candies, crushed cookies, cherries, and of course SPRINKLES!

While prepping for this shoot, I basically bought every variety of sprinkles I came across. How could I not?! Jumbo sprinkles, colored sugar, rainbow chips, nonpareils, we had it all! But, my personal favorite definitely had to be the homemade sprinkles we made ourselves! Did you know you can make sprinkles!? I love the idea of whipping up a custom mix for a party. Kinda like a signature cocktail, but a signature sprinkle mix :D

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