Family History Friday (FHF): A Great Project

I saw and fell in love with a darling family history project done by Lisa at “tarnished and tattered”  you can see it here. Can you stand it? I absolutely love it! Wouldn’t it be fun to have our homes full of heirlooms, pictures and crafts that are a reminder of our sweet ancesters. I have my Grandma’s hope chest, my grandpa’s harmonica and an old skeleton key, a beautiful vase from my great-great-grandma, and many other items around my home. Go through your stuff, and see what you can come up with to decorate your home. When I see these special items around my home, I think about my ancestors, and how much I love them. It also gives me an opportunity to share stories about that ancestor, when people ask about my decor. What a great way to decorate!! Happy Family History Friday! Thanks Lisa!! Love, Joy

Christmas Time

I love it, Christmas time, that is!
I thought I’d share with you some of my JOY collection.

I have a joy collection, because my name is Joy
and every Christmas people give me Joys.
So here we go….Ode to Joy



My darling shelf with my snowman collection.
That way I can keep my decorations up until February. I’m a thinker!!!


My tree, not quite finished. And the little manger for the baby Jesus. We have a tradition that we have had since my kids were little. We add a piece of straw to the manger for every kind deed we do for each other. We are trying to make a soft bed for baby Jesus by Christmas morning, so the kids work on it all month. I think it’s a great tradition, especially since Jesus taught us to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Happy Christmas time, everyone!! Love, Joy

Autumn Decor!

My hubby made this beautiful shelf. It hangs near the entrance of our home
and it usually gets the seasonal decor. That way, if I don’t have time to decorate the house much for holidays, I can almost always find time for the shelf. I thought it turned out pretty cute. I love the colors of Fall. It is my favorite time of year!

The hutch in the kitchen is always fun to decorate.

My favorite decorations are the ones you just kind of throw together. I just covered the shelf with things that are the colors of Fall. I collect leaf plates (cause I totally dig them), so those definitely had to be displayed. Almost all the baskets in my home were made by me or my sister-in-laws. I will always love baskets, whether they’re in style or not. (Maybe it’s because of my Native American ancestry) I think they look beautiful.

I love Autumn!