Mom Life – Joyful Messes

DIY

How to Reuse Christmas Decorations

Now that we have finally wrapped up from the holiday season, we have officially transitioned our home decor from the holiday explosion that it was, to a serene winter escape. But, not only is it incredibly time consuming to redecorate your home every season, but it also can become financially straining over the years. In such a modern and fast-paced society, it can feel as if we need to keep up with the rest of the world on essentially everything, even our home decor. Unfortunately, many of us may not have the money to drop on brand new decor each time the season changes, especially after the Christmas season. Instead, many people have been adopting a “Do it Yourself” attitude, and finding small hacks to save money and make use of what they already have lying around the house. So, as we make our way into the new year, hold…

DIY

Must Try DIY Journals for Pregnancy and Postpartum

Filling the gaps in my mindset, confidence and defined will to achieve my goals as a pregnant mom and breastfeeding mom can be very rewarding. One of my favorite ways to accomplish this is by creating some unique and fun daily journals for both pregnancy and the postpartum journey. Each person’s journey is quite unique and every pregnancy for that matter can be completely different from the last. In my experience, all three of my pregnancies were completely different and yet, notably memorable. Keeping a journal of my discoveries of my own personal habits, food preferences, aches and pains, new developments in the baby as it grew inside my womb, and other interesting facts helped make my pregnancy and postpartum journals a true treasure by the time I was through. Design Designing my personal DIY journal for pregnancy and postpartum has been loads of fun and extremely self-satisfying. First I…

Fitness

Baby and Me: Exercise Ideas for Moms on the Go

Sweating, panting, being practically exhausted, and feeling out of breath is not the way to accomplish trying to lose the postpartum baby weight, or staying in shape with your little one in tow. There are so many fun and affordable ideas and methods to getting fit and staying trim while on the go with a new baby along for the ride. There’s no reason to get bent out of shape (see what I did there!) in the process. Everything begins with a little ingenuity, spunk, and determination to keep a daily routine that is flexible and can adapt to whatever environment you happen to be in that day. It doesn’t matter whether you are out at a park visiting with some friends who have little ones playing on the playground, or if you have to meet an executive client for lunch. You can find unique ways to work in some…

Homeschool

Educational Activities to Help Improve Toddler Math Skill

What an incredible coincidence! My little toddler just flips over and he noticed that mommy just happens to have a whole box of them in different flavors (superfoods to the rescue!) to use in our mini Math lesson today! Do you ever plan ahead and prepare to enrich the life of your toddler with fun and engaging lessons about Math? If you do, great! Give yourself a pat on the back right now, momma! Those extra steps to prepare our little ones for their life ahead filled with twists and turns and lots and lots of math, are vital stepping stones to their future success! I’ve got three kids that are all excellent at math and I know it’s partly because of early, purposeful lessons to kickstart their love for math, and to give them a strong understanding of many of its principles. Another great trick is to understand with…

Mom Gear

Happy Holidays Mom: Must-Buy Items For You!

The Holidays are so magical when you have little children. Old movies take on a new light. Simple games, decorations and songs bring a sense of peace and joy. We’re learning the words to Rudolph right now, and its amazing what learning a song does for a little mind. It can also be stressful for moms to put everything together. Get the tree. Put up the decorations. Shop for all the presents. Hide the presents. Re-decorate when the decorations get destroyed. Find a piece of ornament in child’s mouth….it can be a whirl wind, but I have a fun post that just for us. These are must-buy items for moms. They aren’t too expensive, and I know at least one of them you will love and bring some sparkle to your holiday soul! Here’s 6 Little Things Holiday List: Mom Edition Milk Frother: You don’t know how this will change your…

DIY

12 Gorgeous DIY Christmas Decor Tutorials

I love attempting to make my own gifts and decor. Even if it doesn’t turn out, I have a sense of accomplishment knowing I made it myself. I also love the process of creating something, so here I have some totally gorgeous DIY Christmas decor tutorials to really make your home magical this year! If you love DIY, you will also love my post, The 10 Prettiest DIY Christmas Gifts You’d Never Know Are DIY. That one is huge on Pinterest now, so make sure to save it for later! DIY: MINI CHRISTMAS TREE TOPIARIES by Joanna Gaines DIY PAPER BALL ORNAMENTS by Nalle’s House DIY SEQUIN PILLOW by The Proper Blog GLAM HOLIDAY BAR CART by Bliss At Home DIY CLOCK ADVENT CALENDAR by Thrifty and Chic DIY ADVENT COUNTDOWN by Sisters Suitcase Blog DIY CHRISTMAS TABLE DECORATIONS CENTERPIECE by A Piece of Rainbow SHARPIE & DROP CLOTH…

DIY

The Top, Gorgeous DIY Christmas Decor Ideas on Pinterest

I enjoying buying and making my christmas decor. I do a lot of shopping at the dollar store, get some staples and Walmart and Michaels, then have fun making little things to spice up the house. With Thanksgiving break this week, I love to use the extra time with the boys to make things together. Of course their idea of craft-time lasts about 5 minutes, but sometimes I can get them to sit for an activity for longer than 20 minutes. In my search for DIY holiday decor, I found some AMAZING tutorials on Pinterest. I thought I would compile all the best tutorials I’ve found on Pinterest! The Best DIY Christmas Decor on Pinterest: DIY Snowy Frosted Candles: I saved the video here because I thought it was so simple and easy to watch and do! DIY Christmas Centerpiece by a Piece of Rainbow: Winter Pom Pom Wreath by…

DIY

7 Tips To Have A Fixer Upper Holiday from Joanna Gaines

Well Joanna of HGTV’s Fixer Upper is really somebody I look up to. She is insanely creative, completely humble, and totally successful. In my attempt to be a better creative, I’ve put together a tutorial to decorate your home with all the Fixer Upper feels. Let’s let the obsession roll, and I hope this helps you achieve your inner Joanna dreams. This post contains affiliate links. First Tip: Create A Focal Point HGTV writes about how one of Joanna’s favorite tips is to create a focal point. When talking about the holidays, this usually means the mantle or where the Christmas tree is. Then, you can decorate around the focal point to tie the rest of the home together. Take a look at this set up Joanna did for the Magnolia House B&B: photography by Rachel Whyte What I love about this area is the simplicity in colors. The tree…

DIY

Beautiful + Simple Herb Holiday Wreath

I’ve been so excited to decorate this year for the holidays, but you know what?? I can’t decide on an aesthetic!! I’m struggling to take a direction on whether I do a modern, minimal look, classic Christmas or soft and elegant. I was itching to do at least something, so I made these super simple wreaths. They are part natural and part artificial. I used natural rosemary as the main greenery, so they smell amazing and faux berries and flowers. Here’s what you need: Macrame/Hoop Rings: I grabbed mine at Walmart, which were the wooden for the more bohemian/natural look, and Amazon has the pretty metal ones. Get the wooden ones on Amazon too. If you want to use the traditional wreath wires, the dollar store has them! Floral Tape: I actually grabbed mine at the dollar store, and it was not that sticky, so this one is probably way…

Fitmom

How To Maintain, Not Gain Weight Over The Holidays

Many mamas just accept weight gain during the holiday season, and plan on losing that way once January hits. It is much easier to enjoy the holidays if you want to be able to eat all the cookies, all the comfort food and just live in stretchy pants. If that works for you, then go for it! But, you don’t have to go one way or the other. If you aren’t losing weight, you don’t need to be gaining weight, you can just maintain your current weight! And, it actually isn’t that hard because your are already set at that weight, so if you kinda stay in your routine and caloric intake, you don’t have to go through the weight gain and weight loss roller coaster! If you are a breastfeeding mama, it can get super easy to binge on all the cookies, choclates and sweets because we know breastfeeding…