A Little Fall Decor Inspo + Update

Well hello old friends! My goodness, it has been a while since I've written a blog post! As many of you know, I took a job to be the head cheer coach at my old high school. It was super unexpected and sudden but has been fun to get back into cheer. It has also come with a lot of challenges such as finding a balance between cheer stuff, mom stuff, church calling stuff, wife stuff, and blog stuff... I think it's clear which one got pushed out. But, I don't want to give up blogging! I'm still working on finding a balance and making it all work but I figured the first year coaching would be a lot so this is to be expected. Hunter works his full time job then comes home to take care of the girls while I'm at practice. In a couple weeks he is also going to be coaching the jv basketball team at the same high school as me. Sooo life is about to get even more insane! Oaklyn is in her second/last year of preschool and killing it. Every time I talk to her teachers they speak highly of her and she does awesome on all the worksheets they give her. She's a sassy child so I'm wishing she acted that way at home all the time...but I guess I'd rather her be good for others than me. She's also taking gymnastics/tumbling and loving that. Cam is my little bestie these days. She practically never leaves my side and we both like it that way. She'll be going to preschool next year and it's actually breaking my heart. I just want her to be my baby forever. 

I had fully planned on posting this in September... HA! But I guess better late than never! If you're like me, you already have Christmas on your mind. But if you're not like me, fall will be staying up for another month so I guess this post isn't superrr late. Right? I absolutely love this time of year. Fall is soo much fun. It's still too hot in San Diego so I can at least decorate for fall to feel festive! When Hunter and I first got married I bought a lot of fall decor with really strong and bright oranges. The traditional fall decor with leaves and orange pumpkins. While I don't mind that look, it was really clashing with the way my decor style has evolved so I tried to transition into more neutrals and muted burnt orange. 

Little fall signs are from the Target dollar section a few years ago. Fabric pumpkins are from the dollar section. Friend pumpkin is a chalkboard pumpkin and a friend did the calligraphy. The white pumpkin is from Hobby Lobby. I then bought fall florals and arranged them on the top of the pumpkin to my liking. The wood bead and tassel banner is from Hobby Lobby. 

The wood tray is from a cute local store called Finely Home. The mini fall sign and buffalo check pumpkin pillow is from the dollar section along with the orange ceramic pumpkin. The florals and vase are from Hobby Lobby. 

The grey and white vase is from Hobby Lobby and the stems and ceramic pumpkin are both from Target's fall section. 

Blanket ladder was a DIY and can be found here. Pumpkins are from Michaels and I did the ombre and glitter design on them. Little Happy Fall sign and leaf wood block are also DIY projects. All supplies were found at Michaels. Cotton wreath is from Hobby Lobby.

Metal wall hangers are from Hobby Lobby and spray painted silver. Stems inside of them are from Michaels. Buffalo check fabric pumpkins and wood signs are from Target Dollar Section. 

Little wood signs come in a two pack in the Target dollar section. 

Letterboard and wood beads from Hobby Lobby. Chalkboard from Walmart. Wood pumpkin from Target Dollar Section. "Home" cutout from Michaels and hot glued on. 

Grey and white pumpkins are from the Target dollar section. Cactus is from Shop Liv3. Black Pumpkin is old and I can't remember, ha! Buffalo Check pumpkin was a DIY project. The wood pumpkin cutout is from Hobby Lobby along with the M. I taped sections off and painted the stripes on then hot glued the M.

So there's a little fall inspo! I can't promise it'll be up much longer though... I'm kind of a Christmas fanatic. Anyone else??

Now on to finishing up our family costumes and getting ready for all the festivities next week! I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

1

DIY Extra Large Wood Sign

Okay, this post has been a long time coming and I'm really sorry it has taken so long... but I can't wait to share it with you! I've wanted a really big sign above our bed for SO long but have not been able to find one I love for an affordable price. After searching and searching, I decided it was worth a shot to at least look into making my own. I walked into Home Depot with no real direction so I just walked up to an employee and he helped me tons! You guys won't believe how cheap it ended up being with all of the employees suggestions! It was cheap, easy, and might just be one of my favorite decorations we own! Soo let's get right into it!

What You'll Need:

-A stencil or really good handwriting. I used my Cricut and stencil vinyl to create my own. 

-5.0mm 2'x4' underlayment. It'll be pre cut and really cheap! I found a piece with some pretty natural wood designs. Find one that lays completely flat and stick it in your cart.

-General Purpose Lattice cut into 4 pieces. 2 pieces will be 4 ft and 2 pieces will be 2 ft

-grey wash for the frame

-White wash for the wood

-Black acrylic paint

-White acrylic paint

-Paint brush

-apoxy glue

-Two large sawtooth hooks

What You Need To Do

1) Go to Home Depot and get your supplies. You should be able to purchase everything there. While I was in store, I made sure to take pictures! So here's what you'll need... Also you'll need to cut the lattice. You can absolutely ask someone to cut it for you, but they should have saws out and it's really easy to just cut yourself. 

2) Lay out some plastic trash bags or an old blanket and white wash your big board. After that lay out your lattice pieces and grey wash them. I did a couple coats of each until I found the look I was going for. Let it all dry fully.

3) Lay out your lattice pieces to make a frame on the board. Once you get them all to fit use the apoxy to attach them. I used clean rocks on top to keep the pieces laying flat while they dried.

4) Okay, your board is ready! You have some options here... If you have excellent handwriting, go ahead and free write it. If you have a cricut, create your own stencil. I used fonts from dafont. I used Athena and Italian Breakfast. I did it in three parts, "You Will" (12in across) "Forever" (23in across) and "Be My Always" (20in across). I added on the swirls freehand. I used stencil vinyl and transfer tape to get it just right. I just used black acrylic paint and once it was fully dry, I touched up with white where needed. Your last option is to just buy a stencil from etsy or Hobby Lobby!

5) Once the stencil is removed and all paint is dried, attach your hooks to the back. I did two, one on the upper right side and one on the upper left side. Use a ruler to make sure they are even in height. Then ta-da! Your sign is ready to be hung and will be such a statement piece!

I really hope I covered it all in this post but if not, feel free to reach out with any questions!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

3

Blanket Ladder DIY

Are you ready for the easiest and cutest DIY everrr?? I have been wanting a blanket ladder for a while now. I think they are so cute and such a fun way to decorate and store blankets. I started to look on different websites to see how much it would cost me to buy one and it was absurd! I'm talking hundreds of dollars! And then the cheaper local ones I found were horrible quality or super tiny. That's when I got the idea to make one myself. I'm sure the guys at Home Depot hate me because I'm totally the girl that walks in like "heyyy I have this DIY project I want to do... can you show me how to do it??" Haha but they're always so patient and give great (and cheap) options. So, with the help of my trusty lumber Home Depot guys, this blanket ladder came to life at a whopping $8!! Can you believe that? And if you already have stain, it'll be even cheaper! I didn't take step by step photos because I honestly trust that you'll be able to figure it out based off what I'm saying. Well... hopefully haha. But seriously, it is THAT easy. 

Materials Needed:

(2) 2x4's cut to 76in (if you ask, they'll cut it for you)

(1) 1x3 cut into 4 14in pieces (again ask them to cut it)

1 small can of your choice in color of stain (i did the grey wash)

1 old rag

A drill

LONG screws. Guys, I can't find the box anywhere but I used wood screws and they were probably 6-8ish inches? Maybe a little longer. I'll update this if I find them. But, basically it needs to go into the side of the ladder and through the "steps" of the ladder so it needs to be quite long. 

How To:

Alright so obviously first go to Home Depot and get your wood. I didn't look for the most perfect pieces because I like the "rustic" look. When you get home use a rag to stain your wood. I found that two coats was perfect for the look I was going for. Let that dry completely. Alright, now you need to assemble your ladder. The best method I found was sticking the bottom of your ladder's legs flat up against a wall as if it was standing up so you can make sure they are at the exact length they would be if standing up. That way you can get your "steps" to be screwed in evenly. I put each wood step at 15.2 inches. Then I literally just took the drill and a screw and drilled them together. I went through the outside of the ladder and into the step. Since you wont actually be stepping on it, it just needs to hold together enough for decor to be held on it. Guys, that's literally it. I can't believe how easy it was! It was completed start to finish in a few hours and looks so cute. The blanket is from Cariloha, the sign is from Hobby Lobby, and the bucket is my mother in law's until I find one similar haha.

(If you look close you can see where I drilled the screw in this photo)

I hope you guys liked this DIY! Let me know if you have any questions!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

4

Moving Tips and Tricks With Duck Max

Duck Brand sponsored this post. All opinions are mine alone

We have officially been in San Diego for 2 months!

Honestly, I can't believe how fast the time is already flying by and how quickly everything happened when we were moving.

I absolutely hate moving. It creates clutter, it's difficult to find anything, and figuring out which things should go in which boxes is annoying!

We knew moving while Hunter was in the middle of working two jobs and finishing college finals would be crazy but throwing a crazy toddler and a tiny baby both with colds in the mix made it pretty much impossible ha.

Most nights we stayed up til 1 or 2 am just trying to get things done while both girls were asleep.

This was our first time ever doing a "big" move instead of just across town or something, and to be honest, we felt completely clueless!

I kept calling my mom for advice and we kept learning the hard way how to pack up our lives smoothly.

So, I have decided to create this post to help any of you first time movers have a slightly smoother experience than we did ;)

Here's a few tips and tricks that will help if you plan on doing it all on your own.

Tip 1) Use quality packing materials! Since the entire process was stressful enough, we wanted to make sure our packing materials held up well so we had one less thing to worry about. We chose Duck Max Strength Packaging Tape to ensure our boxes successfully made it from one state to the next in one piece! I was so worried about boxes opening when the moving truck went over bumps or that everything would fall out the bottom when people were carrying boxes to and from the truck. I know that stuff is just that, stuff, but I just wanted to make sure we weren't going to have to replace a million things after this move. So why did we choose this tape over others? Well, it is 100x stronger than acrylic tapes for maximum adhesion and we definitely noticed this to be true! Since we aren't currently in our own place, we have been storing our boxes and opening them to find things we need constantly. It is so nice to be able to re-seal them since it is ideal for heavy duty shipping, moving and storage applications. We were also trying to move on somewhat of a budget. We weren't able to throw thousands of dollars into this move so it was awesome knowing we could get a Value-8 Pack of heavy duty, clear tape for under $20 at our local Sam's Club in the office supplies aisle! Hunter luckily worked for a moving company so we were able to find quality boxes but that is huge too! Make sure those boxes are firm and stiff so your valuables don't get smashed by other boxes. We used plenty of bubble wrap, packing paper, and cushion foam as well! All of this combined with the Duck Max Strength Packaging Tape, made for a smooth move. 

Tip 2) Let people help you! You guys, I had so many people reaching out to me asking if I needed help with the girls, help packing, help cleaning, etc... and I kept turning them down because I didn't want to be a burden. That created a lot more stress on me than I needed and a lot more work for me. I kept complaining about how difficult it was and it wasn't until I let others help me that I realized how much smoother it could have gone. So when someone offers to help, take them up on it! Trust me, it'll help a ton. 

Tip 3) Stop trying to wait until the last minute to pack your kitchen stuff. Oh my gosh, packing a kitchen is a complete nightmare! I was beyond annoyed trying to make dinners and realizing I had already packed something I needed. Or, just leaving things out that could have fit in boxes because I wasn't sure if I needed it. Just do away with the guessing games and pack that kitchen up. We ended up getting plastic cups, spoons, forks, and knives, and paper plates to use the last week so we could pack our dishes. We also got a lot of frozen microwavable things or things that didn't need to be heated up to save the trouble of waiting to pack pots and pans. I tried waiting as long as possible, but once we decided to just pack the kitchen, it made a huge difference. We had the whole thing completely packed and were able to clean it ahead of time. 

Tip 4) Make a plan for moving day. Oh moving day, it's the worst. Basically, just don't plan a single thing other than moving on that day. Trust me haha. Find someone to watch your kids or they will be running mad. We finally just gave in and let the iPad babysit Oaklyn and Cam was little enough to just lay in the swing most of the day. I had wished we were more prepared when things started to get crazy and I could feel myself getting frazzled. Plan which boxes can be taken out first and which furniture can be taken out at which times. Instruct friends on what you need help cleaning and when. Look over your cleaning checklist and make sure you plan appropriately. (we forgot that we needed to run the self clean on the oven and it took several hours, oops!)

Tip 5) Be prepared when everything is gone! Oh my gosh this was comical! We had so much on our minds that we completely forgot we still had to sleep in our empty apartment one more night. Luckily, we had little portable beds for the girls and I kept all of their bedtime stuff out to ensure they were comfortable, but we managed to forget that we had to sleep that night too! I ran out to Walmart and had to get an air mattress, we each had one little blanket because it was all we could find, I was holding up a towel while Oaklyn showered because we didn't have a shower curtain, Hunter had to attempt to fit in the bath, oh it all was just getting to the point of being hilarious. So basically, if you plan on staying another night in your empty house/apartment just make sure you're prepared!

I'll definitely be using these tips for moves to come, but luckily I think that was our biggest move we will have.

We are still unpacking and repacking boxes as we need them and I can't tell you how helpful it has been to have Extremely thick tape for heavy-duty box sealing on hand.

Make sure to head to your local Sam's Club to purchase your Duck Max Strength Packaging Tape!

So, what are your best tips for packing??

I'd love to hear!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

0

Floating Photo Frame DIY

When we moved into our current apartment, I knew it was incredibly temporary,  but it just didn't feel like a home without decorating the way I wanted.

For the first time ever in our marriage, we walked in to a completely blank slate and it was SO refreshing!

White walls in every room made the possibilities endless.

I basically went through everything I had and got rid of a crazy amount of stuff because it was never really my style to begin with, it just worked in our previous places.

I've always loved light and bright when it comes to decor so i knew I wanted a lot of white.

 I also absolutely love displaying our family's memories so I wanted something that held a lot of photos without looking cluttered. 

I had two blank walls that needed some love but none of my old stuff was working.

I shared what I did with one of the walls here, but was torn for a while with the other wall.

I kept resorting to a gallery wall since I wanted a way to display a bunch of photos but ultimately decided against it because I really didn't want it to look cluttered.

Everything I was finding at my usual stores just wasn't cutting it so I decided to make something myself!

I am in love with the way these frames turned out.

They are exactly what I was envisioning.

Ultimately I wanted this DIY to be cheap!

While I am planning on bringing them with us wherever it is we go, I just knew there was a way to make them without breaking the bank. 

I went to Lowes and Hobby Lobby and weighed out all my options several different times and finally figured out how to make all three for around $10.

YUP! You heard that right ;)

So here's what you need and how to do it...

Sorry guys, I totally spaced step by step directions.

What you'll need:

-Wood!  I can't remember the exact name of the wood I used but it was very similar to this one. I believe the ones I got were just under $2 though. I had them cut the pieces into 32 inch pieces and and 12 inch pieces. I needed 6 of each to make three frames. 

-Paint. Use whatever color you want but I just used white acrylic from Hobby Lobby

-Wood Glue. 

-Twine

-Black and white photos. Of course you can do color... but black and white looks much more uniform!

-Hot Glue

-Something to hang it. You can get the cool things like the sawtooth hangers to nail in or a wire but since we're renting I just attached command strips on the back.

How to make them:

1) Cut your pieces into the dimensions I stated above. You may need to sand the edges a little bit.

2) Assemble two 32 inch pieces and two 12 inch pieces to make a frame shape. Then add a little wood glue and apply pressure. This is where I went the cheapest route. Most frames have a 45 degree angle but I didn't have a saw to do that or correct tools to attach the pieces. If you do, then go ahead and go that route!

3) Once the wood glue has dried your frames are done! Haha so easy. I then painted my frames and let them dry but spray paint would've also been super easy.

4) Wrap twine a few times around the top. I wrapped it around the top pieces of the frame twice then strung it down and did the same to the bottom. I then Just took a smaller piece and wrapped it twice around the other side of the middle piece of twine that's used to hang the photos. I used hot glue to make the twine stay in place. I also cut out the backside of the twine since I used command strips and the twine made the back side too bulky.

5) Attach your photos using good ol tape! I got mine printed in 5X5 at Costco and arranged them to my liking before placing the tape. It has held great and will make changing them out super easy!

That's all!

You guys, these frames were so so easy to make and are one of my favorite decorations.

Not only do each of the sweet memories bring a little tear to my eye each time I look, but I love how clean it looks in our hallway. 

I also think it would look great with four or even five frames in a bigger space!

I hope you guys enjoyed this little DIY!

What are you currently working on in your home?

All my love,

Aleigh Joy 

7

God Gave Us Families

When we moved into this little apartment, I had the itch to just start from scratch in the home decor department.

The walls here are white, like I've always wanted, and I felt like it gave me a clean slate to decorate how I've always wanted to.

It has been so fun working on different DIY projects and getting rid of decor that never really was my style, but fit with where we were living. 

I'll be sharing a few of those projects here and there as I finish them, but today I'm so beyond excited to share my personal favorite piece of new decor.

We had two open walls that I didn't have anything for. 

I stared at them for about a month just trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

One thing that kept coming to mind for the front room wall was an oversized print of The Family: A Proclamation To The World. 

I kept coming back to that idea so I began searching for prints on Etsy.

My search took me to Sincerely Us Shop where I literally fell in love with everything I saw. 

Seriously you guys, I want every single thing in their shop!

When I came across their canvas prints of The Proclamation, The Living Christ, and The Articles of Faith I about died because I loved them so much!

It was exactly what my front wall was missing.

I was blown away by the quality and just how gorgeous they are in person.

I mean that grey washed wood, the twine to hang them, and the cutest fonts... yeah they're amazing!

I can't wait to have a place with even bigger walls soon enough because I can only imagine how amazing they'll look!

On top of the fact that these signs are gorgeous and every single one of you needs them... I also absolutely love the reminder they give to my family each day.

Today Hunter said "I love those signs, every day it reminds me that family is the most important thing in life."
I couldn't agree more.

They are the first thing I see when I come in the door, the last thing I see when I walk out, and everything I want to teach Oaklyn and baby C.

The Proclamation gives so much guidance in such a short message. 

Family helps us to progress and develop and each family member is placed together for a reason.

It makes me think of the primary song and the line "God gave us families, to help us become what he wants us to be."

I couldn't agree more.

I know that my family is shaping me into everything I need to be.

The Proclamation is just a simple reminder of how God designed families and how following the design He has for families can bless our lives.

I'm so thankful for my own family and that I have these three pieces hanging on my wall as constant reminders of what we believe, love, and cherish.

So seriously guys, your wall is totally missing these... just trust me ;)

Click here to purchase them for yourself!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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