2018 Matching Christmas Jammies!

This post is sponsored by City Girl Mercantile. All opinions are mine alone. 

If you've been following along for a while, you know by now that I'm obsessed with matching Christmas jammies for my family. Our first Christmas I had every intention of starting the tradition but I was pregnant and tired and really just wanted nothing to do with clothes... ha! The next year we had Oaklyn and had SO much fun matching! We put them on Christmas Eve and woke up in them so we could open presents in our festive jammies. That has been a tradition ever since. Oaklyn totally got my love of all things festive so she was beyond excited when I told her that our Christmas jammies came in the mail. I was planning on just taking pictures in them and then saving them for Christmas Eve, but she was so happy that I let her sleep in them just this once. Seeing how happy she was and how much she loved them, I may let her wear them a few more times, too. We wear our jammies year round because they're always so cozy and cute! I'm so in love with the style we got this year! This year's jammies are from City Girl Mercantile and may be some of my favorites yet! They are all just a little different but also match so cute! Oaks loves the little polar bear, I love how relatable the sayings are, and Cam looks stinking darling in her footies! I love that they make them just a little different for each size. City Girl Mercantile has a ton of other adorable options, so you're bound to find a style your family loves. I will warn you that even though we love these jammies SO much because they are cute and comfy, you will absolutely need to size up one or two sizes depending on what kind of fit you like. Oaks will be 4 in February and I got her a 5t. Cam is 15 months and I got her size 24 mos. I'm a true s/m and got a small but honestly wish I would've gotten a large. Hunter is a true mens large and wishes he would've gotten an XL. So they're adorable, super snuggly, and arrived in a timely manner... but they for sure run small. If you haven't started many traditions in your family, add this one to your list! It makes Christmas Eve and Christmas morning that much more magical and adorable! Open your jammies, read a festive book, set out cookies for Santa, head to bed, and wake up in the morning snuggly and full of Christmas magic! Make sure to check out City Girl Mercantile's selection!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

1

A Spooktacular Kids Halloween Party

Today we threw a little Halloween party for kiddos and their mamas. It was so much fun to get together and let the kids play and the moms get some real conversation in, ha! But in all seriousness, I think play dates are so fun for both moms and kids. I used to have weekly play dates with my best friends in Utah and we all loved it. I looked forward to it each week because I craved that social interaction with other women. I love using any excuse out there to get together with other moms and give Oaks and Cam the opportunity to interact with other kids sooo a Halloween Party definitely seemed in order ;) 

I wasn't planning on doing this until a couple weeks ago when I walked by the dollar section at Target and saw all the adorable stuff. Honestly, I got most of the decor from the dollar store or the dollar section at Target! The dollar store is probably the best kept secret when it comes to party and holiday decorations. They always have festive decor for only $1, tons of serving dishes, lots of colors of plastic tablecloths, they even have costumes! The rest of it was from miscellaneous stores like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Handmade, or things I already had. For lunch we had regular chili, white chicken chili, mac n cheese, Halloween Pretzels, salad, caramel apple dip with green apples, and some tortilla chips and Fritos for the chilis. For the activities we let the kiddos run around all they want and the trampoline was a huge hit. But, we also made lollipop ghosts with tootsie pops, napkins, and string. I also set out some coloring pages and crayons, and the dollar store had these cute foam projects but they didn't come with anything to stick them together so people just took those home haha. The last activity was cookie decorating! If you have an Albertsons near by they have the BEST sugar cookies, I bought a few packs of those, store bought frosting, and some festive sprinkles. 

The banners and witch hats are from the dollar section at Target. The felt kitties are from the dollar store. The spider web runners are from Target as well as the magic potion wood sign, the geometric white pumpkin, the black boo bowls, and the metal buckets. The black roses, vases, orange twig branches, bats, and spider web bowls are from the dollar store. 

The ceramic boo pumpkins are from the dollar store

Half of the paper fans are pre made from hobby lobby and the other ones I made with scrapbook paper. It's really easy and there's tons of tutorials on pinterest! The little ghosts are from Michael's. The chalkboard is really old but I think was from Hobby Lobby. The balloons are from the dollar store as well as the black spider webs.

The little pumpkin lanterns are from the dollar store and the Happy Halloween tape is from Target.

If you're planning on throwing a Halloween party or just need some festive inspiration, I hope this helped! Let me know if you have any more questions about anything! You can also find both of the chili recipes here and here. Happy Halloween everyone!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

0

Fall Decor Must Haves!

One thing I didn't really understand right when I got married was that you don't have to buy all of your decorations right away.

Oh, and your style will change!

I jumped right into overloading on decorations for every holiday right when we got married and while they bring me so much happiness every year, I most definitely could have gone a little lighter on the decorations the first year ha!

It's fun to get a few new things every year and just collect things over time.

You should see my mother in law's house at Christmas time!

It's seriously amazing because she got a few new things every year and over time ended up with the most incredible Christmas decor stash.

It's so fun and exciting as a newlywed to decorate, but just remember you are going to want to keep getting more every year!

I always forget just how much I love decorating for fall until I get up my decor.

The colors are warm and it just makes it feel so much cozier inside. 

Reds, yellows, and oranges are far from my normal decor style so it's fun to break them out just for a few months of the year to make our home festive.

If you're like me and have a hard time decorating for Halloween, just stick with the fall decorations and carve a pumpkin with your family to stick outside for Halloween.

I hate anything spooky so I just do fall candles, prints, leaves, decorative pumpkins, runners. and some lights here and there!

I decided to put together some fun stuff for you to shop through down below.

There's something for every price range. 

One day farrrrrrr into the future I'm totally getting those Neiman Marcus plates! Oh they are so dreamy!

Happy decorating friends, and don't forget to check out my free prints on my last post!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

0

First Day of Fall! + Prints

Happy Fall Everyone!
If you haven't heard, today is the first official day of fall!
Over here in Utah it's the absolute perfect first day of fall.
Rainy, a little chilly, darker sky, and pumpkin spice candles filling the aisles of target.
I just love this time of year!
I put my fall decor up last night and finished a few touches today.
I usually put it up earlier but being in a new place I had to really think about where I was going to put everything.
Generally, our Christmas decor is up the first week of November, ha, so I put my fall stuff up early too.
However, I was having a little bit of a harder time getting in the spirit this year.
I've kind of been dreading the holiday season knowing how hard it'll be without my father in law.
He always had his iPad out filming everyone, the smell of his famous cookies filled the air, he made a delicious deep fried turkey on Thanksgiving and an awesome prime rib on Christmas Eve, and he always testified of our Savior to bring the Spirit in his home during the holidays.
When I walked into the BYU football stadium for the home opener my eyes welled with tears. I loved going to so many games with him in that stadium and seeing his excitement as Hunter warmed up.
I could go on and on about why my heart is hurting just a little extra but the lightest way to put it is, this season will just be very different.

Okay... Sadness aside.
Let's get back to the fact that I love this time of year!
There's currently a candle going in our living room and I have plans of making chili within the next week.
It's a time for cozy sweaters, homemade soups, fuzzy socks, warm blankies, hay rides, boots, pumpkin picking, costume planning, chunky scarves, extra snuggles, rainy days, and a warm feeling in our hearts.
As I type this, there's thunder outside my window and I can just feel a storm brewing.
I love it!
So, to celebrate the first day of fall, I thought I'd help you get in the spirit too!
I made four printables to add to your mantle or to hang anywhere else around the house!
All you have to do is download and print them.

Print one | Print Two | Print Three | Print Four

Also, if you want a few decorating ideas check out this post for some inspo.
I have so many more fall posts coming your way and I can hardly contain how excited I am :)

Now go get yourself a caramel apple, schedule a fall family shoot with me, make some pumpkin cookies, and sip some cider!

All my love,
Aleigh Joy

Oaklyn's Outfit: Jeans | Scarf (similar) | Shirt (Similar) | Moccs (in black) 

2