Sorrow In Our Home

On Friday March 30th I received a phone call from my number 2 son. I immediately felt there was something seriously wrong as I heard the words, "Mom, I need you to stay calm." My oldest three sons and my husband were just beginning to enjoy a fun afternoon together when tragedy struck our family. My dear husband had just finished telling my boys that he wasn't feeling well when he fell to the ground. One look at their father and the boys knew that things were critical. Number 1 son began CPR while Number 2 son called 911. My boys fought so hard to keep their dad alive but our Father in Heaven had different plans.

My loving husband died on a beautiful, sunny day surrounded by three of our four sons. Our family is devastated. We miss him so very much! He was a man who loved life and especially loved his family. He was a devoted and supportive husband, a hard worker, had a great sense of humor, and was always positive. He had a firm testimony of his Savior and lived by His example. He was a friend to everyone he met. He left a great legacy for our five children and for everyone who knew and loved him. His life manifested his belief in service, hard work, respect, friendship, goodness, forgiveness, gratitude, laughter, and love.

His passing has left a great hole in my heart. My beloved hubby supported me, believed in me, and most of all he loved me in spite of me. Joys of Home blog is what it is because of his support and belief in me. He was always by my side as we built projects, and built our family and our life. He held one end, I held the other, and together we made sure things were level. I am not sure what my future holds without him visibly by my side, but I take comfort in knowing that our love and his life is eternal. I am so grateful to have this assurance and to know that God has a plan for me and for my family and He wants us to be happy even in tragedy.

I deeply miss the dear, sweet man
who has been by my side for 33 years.
I love him with all my heart.

Goodbye Mr. Joys of Home.

Add Eggs or Chicken

For years my holiday decorating consisted of hauling out totes, clearing off most surfaces, and replacing the everyday decor with entire holiday vignettes. Now I find that I like things better when I just add holiday items into the everyday vignettes.
This year our home became more "Easter-y" by the simple addition of eggs or chickens.
The family room mantle before:And after:The entry table before:Now supplemented with a couple of chickens and more flowers:The living room end tables accessorized with elements of Easter:A few dozen eggs placed here and there:

Layering on Spring

My front porch spring decorations consist of many layers.The wreath on the door is actually two wreaths layered on top of one another then hung onto a scrap of beadboard. There is even a small nest snuggled inside.The pot of faux flowers (it's still too cold for the real thing) is layered onto a silver tray laid a top a cute thrifted metal chair.The layers continue with a faux bush in an urn, complete with another little nest at the roots.The bush stands behind the egg tree (faux of course!) that has been plopped into a pretty distressed white urn.Then the porch is finished with spring green lanterns that have nests with eggs layered inside.

That's how I
layer in a little Spring time!
This post is linked to:

Easter Mantle

I am loving the light colored stenciled wall
in our dining room.

It's a dramatic change from
the ol' textured, darkly painted wall.

The light color makes almost everything I place on
my vintage tin mantle look fresh and clean.

I pulled out my same-as-every-year
Easter decorations
and lined them up in a very symmetrical way.

And I adore the end result!

Simple Spring

How to Decorate for Spring

the Quick and Simple Way.

Step One-Get a stick from the yard.

Step Two-With a hot glue gun apply moss to the stick
thus turning it from a "stick" into a "designer branch."Step Three-Place the designer branch on a pretty tray.
Step Four-Add a candle. This vintage tray was a $1 thrift store find.

I LOVE the battery operated candles with timers!!!

Step Five-Complete the vignette with
a springtime flower. If the flower is faux make sure it could pass as the real thing.

Step Six-Enjoy!

Please cast your vote for Joys of Home HERE.
Thank you, oh so much!

My Imaginary DIY World

In my imaginary DIY world I would have limitless time, energy and money for projects. And, even more importantly, I would have outstanding upholstery skills! With these abilities and skills I would buy these really dirty, but very unique chairs, recover them, and use them at my kitchen table.In my imaginary world I would also buy this awesome fainting couch, paint the wood a dark brown and cover the body with a lovely linen. Then, I would place that beautiful couch in my imaginary art studio.

A girl can dream, right?

What are your outstanding skills
in your imaginary DIY world?

A Hole, An Honor, and A Winner

QUESTION:
What do you get when two grown boys wrestle in the hall?
ANSWER:
A home-improvement project that suddenly gets a little closer to the top of the list! My sons couldn't believe that I was standing right there when the foot went through the wall, and that instead of getting mad I just smiled and shook my head. Perhaps it's because I already had plans to give this hall a makeover or perhaps it's because I have finally come to realize that a hole in the wall can be more easily repaired than an unhappy memory.

I am honored to announce that Joys of Home has been nominated for the JDR Annual Industry Blogger Awards in the Interior Design category. If you have a few seconds, I would be THRILLED if you would click over here to vote for this humble little blog. Thank you so, so very much!!!

I am excited to post the winner of the Cutting Edge Stencil giveaway. Random Generator picked:

Lynda said...

As I have said before, I love everything that you do! Thanks for sharing with us. There sure are a lot of beautiful wall stencils on Cutting Edge. I would like to pick the "Anna Damask" stencil for a wall in our new home and a dresser front that I would love to do. Thanks!

Congratulations Lynda! Please email me with your mailing info.