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Hello and welcome to my blog! I’m so glad you’re here! Please pour yourself a cup of tea, coffee or like me, sip on an ice cold Passion Tea Lemonade!

My name is Kendra and I am happily married to my very best friend, my biggest supporter and encouragement. He goes along with all of my crazy awesome ideas and I know I couldn’t run this blog without him! He is there for me when I need to meet a deadline, when a project doesn’t go as planned, or when technology frustrates me to no end! I’m the luckiest gal in the world!

We met fourteen years ago when I applied for a job where he was the manager…. I was smitten from the moment I met him! He interviewed me, hired me, asked me out and we fell in love! (Not as quickly as it sounds though! 😉 We will celebrate our 16th anniversary this year and I’m so thankful for him!

Our two greatest blessings in life are our sweet children. We have a precious, rough and tumble boy who is the life of the party and is scatterbrained just like Mama! Our daughter has the most infectious laugh and is thoughtful and sweet to the core. Needless to say, they are our world!

This blog is my creative outlet where I share our DIY projects around our home, a recipe that our family loves and other décor ideas!

Some random things I enjoy:

• Redoing furniture –  I enjoy taking an old and neglected piece and bring it back to life with a brush and a can of paint!
• Thrifting and garage sales. I’ll take these two any day over the mall.
• Camping. I love, love getting away and camping with our family! Even if it means being unplugged and without wifi, I’m okay with that 🙂
• Reading. I have a weakness for a good book… and can hardly put it down once I pick one up!

More than all of these though, I love my family and am blessed with the greatest parents in the world and my sweet siblings and their families.

Above anything else, I love Jesus and my greatest purpose in life is to serve Him. I am nothing without Him.

Thanks for taking the time to visit! I hope you stay a while!

Adding wallpaper or a wall mural to a room is a quick and easy way to update any space! Happy summer, friends! Hard to believe we’re almost at the end of July! I haven’t shared here in a while but… Continue reading → A beautiful collection of Christmas inspiration- from home tours and DIY gifts to centerpieces and tablescapes, there’s sure to be something to inspire you this holiday season! It seems so fitting that we are wrapped in a winter wonderland outside… Continue reading → Sharing 5 great tips to ensure you get the most out of your trip to Silverwood Theme Park !!! Location & Ticket Information Amusement parks have become a summer tradition for our family. Back in June when we were making… Continue reading → A delicious, old fashioned pudding cake with a crunchy top and creamy fruit bottom. There’s something about home-grown fruits and veggies that make food extra special. We don’t have a garden right now, but we do have a very faithful… Continue reading → This post was sponsored by Pool Supplies Canada and contains affiliate links. All opinions about their amazing products are totally mine own and I only share products that I use in our home and love! Please see my full disclosure… Continue reading → Happy May, friends! How did that actually happen?! How 4 months managed to sneak by, I’m not at all sure, but May is such a fun, fun month! It’s the time to start planting! Now I know many of our… Continue reading → Sharing how to decorate DIY farmhouse shelves without spending any money on new seasonal decor. Is your home decorated for spring yet? Or maybe you don’t do much decorating for this season? The other day I drove by a house… Continue reading → It’s an exciting week here at Joy In Our Home… 24 of my blogging friends are joining me this week as we share lots of inspiration for spring. Here’s what’s coming this week: DIY’s on Monday (that’s me sharing today!)… Continue reading → All of a sudden, I can feel spring in the air. The snow is melting and for the first time in months, I shed my winter coat and long sleeves for some lighter spring clothes. This crazy cold stretch is… Continue reading → Installing shiplap in our laundry room and learning some things along the way!  Gmorning friends and welcome to another update on our $100 Room Challenge! (I know this post is a few days late but I cannot get my pictures… Continue reading →

Faux florals have come such a long way and I’m excited to show you how to make your own using beautiful faux flowers!

This post contains affiliate links. Please note, if you buy anything through the links, you never ever pay a penny more! You’re just helping support my little blog 🙂 For my full disclosure, click here.

How’s your summer going, friends? 

I can’t believe we’ve had 4 glorious weeks of summer holidays. We’ve enjoyed every single day and have filled them to the brim with summer fun. There’s been days at the beach. Entire days around the pool. Camping. Seriously, don’t want it to end anytime soon!!

And then of course, there’s always time for a DIY or two!! A little while back I received these gorgeous florals from Afloral. I”m not sure about you, but this gal does not buy fresh flowers from the grocery store. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love flowers in our home, but I can’t justify spend $15-$20 for a fresh bouquet every few weeks. 

But seriously, friends… have you ever heard of Afloral? Their greenery and flowers are so beautiful. They even have some that are called “real touch” and I’ve had more than one person actually touch ours to see if they really aren’t real! That’s how pretty and real they do look! 

I decided to make a floral garland for our daughters’s room with some of the ones they sent me. I had bought my daughter this canvas art for her room but it needed something to go with it. And I’m so happy with how it turned out!

I’ll show you how easy it is to make your own…

Making a floral garland is fun and easy because there’s no right or wrong way of making one. You can make it to fit your style and add as many or few flowers as you like. 

I started by detaching the large peony heads and buds from the original stems. They are attached very well and you might think you can’t pull them off! But with some gently (but firm) tugging, they do come off. I placed them where I want on my garland at then using my glue gun I attached them to the garland. I think the peonies add such a pretty and feminine touch!

Now do me a favor and check out the beautiful blooms at Aloral and you can find them on Instagram too! 

A huge thank you to Afloral for sponsoring this post and providing such beautiful faux flowers for everyone to enjoy!! 

Have a lovely day! 

Happy Monday Y’all!

Hope you all had a very nice weekend! I crossed lots off my to-do list and even got to put my feet up and relaxed yesterday! As Christmas approaches, I don’t want to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season. I’m trying to get organized and get things done ahead of time so I can enjoy all that December has to offer!

As part of a group of some very fabulous Canadian bloggers, we are all sharing Handmade Christmas gift ideas today. My thoughts instantly turned to some kind of photo display idea.  I love picture frames and  I think you can never have too many. Today I’d like to show you how I made mine…

I absolutely love how these photo frames turned out and I think they’ll be such cute gifts! They’d be perfect for my mom (who can never have enough pictures of their grandkids), siblings, grandparents and even for teacher gifts!

Here are the materials I used:

– 2 pieces of 2X10 wood (my measurements were 9X6.5  and 9X5.5). You can make these in sizes you want, depending on the size of your picture!

– embellishments of your choice (I chose vintage-style keys from Michaels dollar bins)

– clip of your choice (I actually liked the style of the one with the notepad pictured above, so I just bought it from Michaels dollar bins too and removed the clip)  

 First, I used Rustoleum black spray paint and painted the wood blocks. I waited until they were dry before sanding them lightly. Sand wherever you want a distressed look. I then used my glue gun to glue a piece of burlap to the wood. Using screws, I attached the little clip to the wood! Such an easy and fun project!

I love the distressed look and the keys! I think I’m going to add some to the second frame as well!

Are you going to be making any gifts this Christmas? I hope you give these a try! Or if you’ve made some homemade gifts already, leave me a comment below please… I’d love to check them out!

Have a very wonderful week, friends! Thanks for coming by!

-Kendra

Linking to these fabulous parties:

 Your Designs This Time, Time To Sparkle, On Display Thursdays, Tuesdays At Our Home, Motivational Monday, The Dedicated House, The Makers Link Party, Party In Your PJs, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Whimsy Wednesday, Moonlight and Mason Jars, Work It Wednesday, Pin Worthy Wednesday, Wednesday Roundup,  Artsy Fartsy Link Party, Inspire Me Please, Grace At Home, Creative Collection, Weekend Wind-down Party, Best of The Weekend,  Super Saturday, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop, Share It Sunday,

Hello Everyone!

Happy Saturday… what are your plans for today? For us, some Saturdays have no routine at all and are all about sleeping it and relaxing and doing things around the house. Other times, like today, our Saturdays are about hitting the local farmers market for fresh produce, treasure hunting at garage sales and of course, a trip to Michaels for some supplies for an upcoming project!

Speaking of routine, in about one month we’ll be back to routine! I’m trying to get more organized (there, I put it in print so now my husband can hold me accountable heehee!) so I decided to make my own erasable calendar to keep organized once the kiddies head back to school. I’ll show you how I did it for a grand total of $1.25 + tax. Ready?

You will need:

* picture frame with glass of your choice (I chose an 11X14 sized one)

* white cardstock paper for the background

* paint chip samples (from a paint or hardware store)

* paper cutter or square punch (I used the punch)

*erasable marker

* double sided adhesive squares

The first thing I did was use cardstock paper and trimmed it down to fit my frame. I then used my square punch to cut 35 squares out of my paint chips. (Using the punch saved me tons of time, instead of using a paper cutter.) I cut the days of the week squares much smaller than the daily squares. Using a permanent marker I wrote the days of the weeks on the smaller pieces. I then used double sided adhesive tape and applied them all to the cardstock. That easy, huh?

I then put the cardstock into the frame and then for the fun part! Using an erasable marker, write the numbers, months and anything else on your calendar. I am choosing to leave mine blank until September 2… and then I can begin filling it! I’m sure it’ll help me stay much, much more organized!

Thanks for coming by and have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time,

Kendra

Linking to: 3 Little Greenwoods, Pink When, Carrie This Home, Sweet Haute, My Girlish Whims, Work It Wednesday, Moonlight & Mason Jars, Artsy Corner Link,

Hello friends!

And a very Happy Thanksgiving to all my dear American friends and fellow bloggers! I hope you enjoy your day… we truly have so much to be thankful for! Us Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving over a month ago already but I’ll be thinking of ya’ll as you enjoy turkey and pumpkin pie and all the fixins!

Today I want to share with you an amazing collection of beautiful and cozy Farmhouse Christmas décor. Many of the ladies I’m sharing with you today are not only bloggers that inspire me, but I consider them friends! They are truly some of the sweetest and most genuine ladies out there! If you want to see more gorgeous décor, be sure to click on the links below each photo!

It seems that farmhouse style has taken over blog-world, Pinterest, and Instagram… everywhere you look there’s shiplap walls, chippy furniture, farmhouse lights and so on. And I’m not complaining. I love it all! Add Farmhouse Christmas décor to that mix and I’m pretty much drooling! There’s something soo cozy about Farmhouse style and I find myself just wanting to make a steaming cup of chai tea, turn on the Christmas music and pour through these beautiful home tours!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do …. and hopefully gain some inspiration for decorating your own home!

Cherished Bliss

Worthing Court

 Anderson + Grant 

Home Remedies 

Funky Junk Interiors

Farmhouse5540

Antique Farm House

The Morrisons‘

Golden Sycamore

Meadow Lake Road

Dandelion Patina

Making It In The Mountains

Now, if you’re like me, your list of DIYs probably just got a whole lot longer after looking at all of these! I’d love to creative so many things,from stockings to a Christmasy chalkboard to adding some greenery to get our home looking all festive!

And speaking of our home, just a really quick update… if you’re a regular reader on my blog, you might remember we had major water damage on the second storey of our home back in August (which then affected the rest of our home). It’s been four months since we’ve been out of our home but I am SO, SO very happy and excited that reconstruction is almost complete and we had our first load of contents come back to the house this week! We will be back home at the end of the week and then let the unpacking begin. (I know which boxes I’ll be opening first 😉

Thank you so much for stopping by today and enjoy the rest of your week, friends!

-Kendra

If you have a piece of furniture that needs updated, paint is the answer to give it that new and beautiful new look!

(This post was sponsored by FAT Paint and contains affiliate links. All opinions about this amazing product are totally mine own and I only share products that I use in our home and love! Please see my full disclosure and privacy policy here.) Who else has a hard time believing the year is halfway over?? I know many of my friends and readers south of the border are already on summer holidays but we have a few weeks of school still! I absolutely cannot wait to kick back and do absolutely nothing (for the first day or two, anyway!) 😉

And so today is the second Wednesday of the month which means its time for another Monthly DIY Challenge! For a few years now, some of my blogging friends and I get together for a themed challenge. Usually we start off with the same item or it can also be a theme and we see where we go from here. This time it was all about FAT Paint!

My husband and I bought this electric fireplace when we were first married. We wanted something for our basement that would keep it warm down there instead of cranking up the heat in our entire home. It has travelled over 800km with us and moved to 3 different houses and we love it… and although I haven’t been digging that cherry wood for quite some time, there was no way we would ever get rid of it.

So when the opportunity came to try FAT chalkpaint, I instantly knew it was time to redo the fireplace. I instantly envisioned brighter and whiter. It was fairly easy to redo and I cant wait to show you how!

Heres what I used:

I highly recommend sanding any piece before painting. I know the big thing about chalkpaint is that you shouldn’t need to do any prep work but I’ve redone more pieces than I can count and I’d never recommend skipping the sanding part. Using an electric sander, I sanded the entire fireplace.

After giving it a really good wipe down, it was time for the fun part!! I found this paint went on so incredibly smooth and covered it well. I did give the entire piece 3 coats as I didn’t want any of the old color showing through.

After allowing it to dry completely, I then used a sanding block and lightly distressed corners and edges. I was very picky with how much distressing I wanted and therefore it hardly shows in the pictures! But I love how all the edges and even the front sides that have detail all show some “wear”.

The last step in this makeover is adding the Clear Top Coat. I usually add a top coat to all my pieces I redo just to protect them from daily wear and tear. Anything from little fingers to setting a glass on them. Using a paintbrush I brushed it on to the fireplace’s surface. I am sooo happy with how it turned out! This fireplace sits in our basement’s family room and I can’t tell you how much it’s brightened up that room. I would definitely use FAT Chalkpaint again and can’t wait to try it on another piece sitting in our garage begging to be redone!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!! Hope this post inspires you to redo a piece that needs a little TLC! Also, be sure to check out all the other amazing DIYs!

And just because we love this paint, we want to give some away to you, our wonderful readers!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The aroma of this dessert cooking will have you counting down the minutes until it’s ready! An easy alternative using the slow cooker for a delicious dessert!

When you think of fall what comes to your mind? I love the changing of the leaves, the cozy sweaters and boots and maybe more than anything, the comfort foods that return to our menu and the long, cozy evenings. All summer long we enjoyed barbequing, eating outdoors and lighter meals but as fall starts to creep in I begin adding some hearty dishes to our weekly menu.

Foods like stews, casseroles, roasts and soups. Comfort foods that I add to the slow cooker in the morning and when we get home in the afternoon we can smell their delicious aroma simmering away.

Today, 10 other bloggers are sharing their family’s favorite slow cooker meals! Each one is perfect for fall… delicious and easy to make so you have a hearty meal at the end of a busy day! Be sure to check out the rest of the yummy line up at the end of this post! (And special thanks to Jo-Anna from A Pretty Life for organizing this blog hop so we can all enjoy these delicious looking recipes!!)

I thought a little bit “outside of the box” for this one though and am sharing a dessert made in the slow cooker!

There have been times when both our ovens were being used and we had to get creative with our menu! Next time that happens, it’ll be easy to pull out the slow cooker and use it for the dessert part of the menu! This cake smelled soo incredibly delicious while it was cooking that I can’t wait to make it again soon!

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Cake

1. 1 cup flour
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 2 tbsp. cocoa
4. 2 tsp. baking powder
5. 1/2 tsp. salt
6. 1/2 cup milk
7. 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
8. 2 teaspoon vanilla
9. 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. 3/4 cup brown sugar
2. 1/4 cup baking cocoa
3. 1 1/2 cups hot water

1. Grease inside of a 3 quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
2. Mix flour, sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
3. Stir in milk, oil and vanilla until smooth. (Batter will be very thick).
4. Spread batter evenly in bottom of slow cooker.
5. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
6. Mix brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa in small bowl.
7. Stir in hot water until smooth.
8. Pour evenly over batter in slow cooker.
9. Cover and cook on high heat setting 2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
10. Turn off slow cooker and let stand uncovered 30 minutes to cool slightly before serving.
11. Spoon warm cake into dishes.
12. Spoon sauce over top and serve with icecream.

Joy in Our Home https://www.joyinourhome.com/

 Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon by Kim of Kim Power Style

Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup by Jo-Anna of A Pretty Life

Cheesy Sweet Potato and Bacon Soup by Tara of Suburble

Weight Watchers Crock Pot Chicken Tacos by Virginia of Fynes Designs

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken with Peppers by Christina of The DIY Mommy

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Cake by Kendra of Joy In Our Home

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajita Chili by Christine of Amidst the Chaos

Slow Cooker Apple Sauce by Jen of Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Slow Cooker Beef Stew by Shannon of AKA Design

Mexican Pulled Pork by Sarah of Flouish & Knot

Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke Dip by Dannyelle of Life is a Party

Thank you for stopping by today and enjoy the rest of your week, friends!

Gorgeous farmhouse inspiration for every room in your home! From kitchens, bedrooms, offices, bathrooms, check out this amazing lineup of One Room Challenge room makeovers!

Have you had a chance to check out our latest One Room Challenge room makeover? I’ve enjoyed pouring through the couple hundred room makeovers on more than one occasion. There are so many talented bloggers out there and it’s amazing to see so many beautiful room makeover shared at the spring One Room Challenge. Of course, the farmhouse style rooms always catch my eye first, but there’s so many more styles and makeovers that are truly stunning!

Our goal was to turn our playroom into a farmhouse-style office and I am so happy how this room turned out! All of us are enjoying it so much! Whether it’s my husband and kids playing the piano, someone curled up in my favorite chair reading a good book, or myself working at my beautiful thrifted desk I redid, I think it’s become our favorite room in the house!

As I keep looking through all the room makeovers, I keep coming back to these ones and thought I’d share some of my favorites with you today! Time and again, I’m drawn to the crisp whites, distressing, well worn and loved, shiplap and everything else that shouts farmhouse style!

Sit back and enjoy these lovely rooms… and be sure to visit their sites for the full reveal! (Also, be sure to pin from the original source which is listed underneath each photo!!)

Farmhouse Mudroom by Homestead 128

Modern Farmhouse Dining Room by Addicted 2 DIY

Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Makeover by AKA Designs

Ultimate Farmhouse Master Bedroom from Twelve On Main

Farmhouse Guest Bedroom by Farmhouse 40

Master Bedroom by The Crowned Goat 

Farmhouse Office by Lemons Lavender and Laundry

Boho Farmhouse Dining Room by The DIY Mommy

French Industrial Modern Farmhouse by The Morris Manor

Coastal Farmhouse Laundry Room by Artsy Chicks Rule

Modern Farmhouse Laundry Room by Gather & Flourish

Vintage Schoolroom Nursery by Refresh Living

Farmhouse Powder Room by Making It In The Mountains

Vintage Inspired Farmhouse Bathroom by Christina’s Adventures

Simple Farmhouse Bathroom by The Inspired Hive

Modern Farmhouse Cottage Guest Shed by Simplicity In The South

Industrial Farmhouse Music Room-Office by Unoriginal Mom

Industrial Farmhouse Master Bedroom Closet by Making Joy And Pretty Things

Aren’t these all soo beautiful? The next One Room Challenge is scheduled for October… just enough time to plan out our next room! 😉
Thanks so much for stopping by today, friends!