DIY Projects

Even MORE Game On VBS Decor Ideas!

March 23, 2018 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

Affiliate links are included throughout this post. All opinions expressed in Even MORE Game On VBS Decor Ideas are completely my own.

Summer 2018 is getting closer, and churches all over the country are gearing up for an exciting summer filled with Vacation Bible School activities! One of the most popular VBS themes for 2017 was Galactic Starveyors by Lifeway, where kids learned that God is the maker of the entire universe and everything within it, even the things that can’t be seen with a telescope! And while seeing all of the giant stars and planets in the sky may make all of us feel really small, God loves each and every one of us individually and wants a personal relationship with us. Isn’t that amazing!? If you got to participate in Galactic Starveyors last year, I’m sure it definitely made an impact on your life. I know it did mine!

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Polar Blast VBS Decor Ideas

February 1, 2018 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

Affiliate links may be included throughout this post at absolutely no cost to you. I love sharing about VBS and all of the fun finds I come across to help make your VBS planning a real success!

It’s time to bundle up and strap on those snow boots, because this summer is going to be SUPER chill with the kickoff of Polar Blast Weekend VBS happening at churches all across the country!

Children have the opportunity to discover just how cool Jesus’ love truly is, while having a (snow)ball of a time jumping into fun games, cool crafts and magical music they’re sure to remember for years! You can catch a quick preview of the Polar Blast excitement in the hype video posted below!…

Shipwrecked VBS Snack Ideas

January 26, 2018 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

AFFILIATE LINKS MAY BE INCLUDED THROUGHOUT THIS POST AT NO COST TO YOU. I LOVE SHARING ABOUT VBS AND ALL OF THE FUN FINDS I COME ACROSS THAT CAN HELP MAKE YOUR VBS PLANNING A REAL SUCCESS!

Ahoy, mateys! Word on the deep seas is that Group has officially released their 2018 Vacation Bible School theme, and we’re all really going to be feeling the motion of the ocean as we weather life’s storms and come upon a desert island and learn that God is always with is, even through the toughest waters. It’s all happening in Shipwrecked: Rescued by Jesus, coming Summer of 2018!

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DIY No-Sew Burlap Stocking + Holiday Guest Stocking Stuffer Ideas

December 18, 2017 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #StockedWithLove #CollectiveBias

One of the things that makes the holiday season so merry and bright is celebrating and spending time with friends, family and those you hold dear. We had the privilege of hosting my family in our new home for a few days during Thanksgiving, and while things will look a little bit different for Christmas, we’re still fortunate enough to host a party this week at our house filled with many of my family members that don’t get to see each other very often. It’s something we’ve all been looking forward to for a long time now, and I’m so happy that I get to have the role as host of the gathering!

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Healthy Thanksgiving Snack Crafts for Kids

October 27, 2017 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

These Healthy Thanksgiving Snack Crafts for Kids are a fun and delicious way to celebrate the Thanksgiving season, plus they’re a great activity for kids to get involved with in the kitchen!

Throw those hands in the air if you’re currently scratching your head trying to figure out how in the world we’re already knocking on November’s door! 2017 has been crazy busy for us, but I seriously can’t believe how quickly the year has flown by! This Thanksgiving is going to be huge for us. We’ll be hosting my family in our brand new home for the very first time (and very likely still unpacking all of our belongings…estimated move-in date is the week before Thanksgiving day!)

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Ghoulishly Glam Halloween Decor for the Front Door!

October 22, 2017 by Laura Tucker 1 Comment

This post was sponsored by Lowe’s as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

We’re just one month away from packing up our belongings and moving into our brand new home that we’ve been building since December of last year. Watching everything come together during these final few weeks has been nothing short of amazing, and being able to see elements of the home that I had previously only been able to see in my dreams finally become a reality has made all of the work and the wait completely worth it.

Up until about 2 weeks ago, our home did not have a front door on it. The door had been sitting in a storage room just waiting to be installed, and when my husband finally brought it out and hung it on the hinges, my mind was instantly overwhelmed with all of the ways I was going to decorate it for every season. I just couldn’t wait to get a wreath hung up and to make the front entrance of our brand new home reflect the personalities of the people living inside! 😉

Even though we won’t be inside the home before Halloween of this year, my heart just couldn’t stand to let our beautiful front door be bare. So with the spooky season being among us, I just had to head out to my local Lowe’s to pick up a few ghoulishly glamorous pieces to adorn our new home and to give everyone who passes through a spook-tacularly warm welcome to our humble abode! (Make sure to hover over all of the images so you can easily shop the look!)

Lowe’s has quickly become one of my favorite shopping destinations to pick up seasonal decor to decorate the inside and outside of my home. During my most recent trip to Lowe’s, I instantly fell in love with this 24 inch Halloween tinsel wreath that they had on display right next to the front entrance, and it quickly sparked a vision for my decor theme as I pushed my shopping cart through the rest of the store!

The next spooky sight to catch my attention was this Holiday Living Skeleton, which fit perfectly nestled inside the wreath. My toddler loves playing with him, because you can move his arms, hands and feet in all sorts of fun ways! He comes with a hook that makes him easy to hang, or he can sit upright when propped up against something.

I also spotted a pre-lit Jack-O-Lantern giving me a creepy grin, and I knew right away it had to come home with me!

This beautiful Pre-Lit Pumpkin Stack Topiary stole my heart when I saw it browsing online before I went in the store. My particular store didn’t carry it, so I placed the order online and had it shipped straight to my house! I fell in love with the shimmery purple and black leaves and brushed metal looking base – all perfect elements to create the “glam” vibe I was going for. I even swung by the outdoor garden section and picked up a purple mum plant to tie in with the purple in the topiary!

Perhaps my favorite find at Lowe’s was this adorable little Pre-Lit Musical Mummy Greeter that my daughter fell in love with. It has a very friendly little laugh and leans more on the “cute” side instead of scary. It’s perfect to put candy in on Halloween night for trick-or-treating, and it’s fun to listen to him laugh when people walk by!

I also picked up a few real pumpkins in different sizes from the garden section and gave them a touch of glam by painting them black and silver and adding a little glitter. I placed one of the painted pumpkins on this cute little pumpkin stand and stood it next to the mummy!

My toddler was absolutely tickled by all of the spooky shenanigans going on at our brand new front porch! She was grinning from ear to ear while I was putting all of these decorations in their place, and she asked me if I could take a picture of her standing with all of her new “toys.” She danced a little happy dance on this Halloween door mat and struck a pose!

If you’re currently on the market for some frighteningly fabulous Halloween or Fall Harvest seasonal decor, Lowe’s offers an incredible selection, and all at a really great value! You can visit Lowes.com or shop in store for more seasonal indoor and outdoor decor inspiration!

Update on Our Home Building Process

October 15, 2017 by Laura Tucker 2 Comments

Way back in January I made my official announcement here at Southern Made Simple that our family was growing in a BIG way! Throughout 2016 we (but mostly my husband) worked so incredibly hard creating and perfecting plans, gathering prices and making lists of contacts of workers to help us break ground and get the ball rolling on building our forever home.

We currently live in a small little brick home owned by our grandparents. They have been so gracious to allow us to stay in that home since 2013 so that we could save up enough money to put towards our future home, and they were even more gracious to deed us a little bit of land right next to our current home to build the house of our dreams. (Our grandparents are such a blessing to us, and are truly a pillar of incredible strength in our family. We don’t know what we’d do without their love, wisdom and support!)

So since it’s been a good long 9 1/2 months since I updated you last, I figured we were definitely due for a new update. A LOT has changed since January, but we’re still chugging along in the process, and our original date of completion (which was August 2017) has been pushed back to November.

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25 Fall Painted Hay Bale Ideas

August 10, 2017 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

These painted hay bale ideas are a fun way to celebrate fall in a creative and unique way! Watch out, Autumn, these hay bales are going to steal the show this year!

Hello again, friends! Please forgive me for jumping onto the fall train so early, but I just can’t help but be super excited about the upcoming season! I’m definitely ready to trade this hot and humid summer weather for those coveted crisp fall afternoons, and seeing all of these adorable painted hay bales has really given me the fall-feels!

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18 Back to School Snack Ideas

July 26, 2017 by Laura Tucker Leave a Comment

These simple Back to School Snack Ideas are the perfect treat to kick off a brand new school year and get kids excited about getting back into the swing of things at school!

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Toddler Road Trip Entertainment: DIY Ocean Seek & Find Bottle

July 12, 2017 by Laura Tucker 6 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RoadTripOil #CollectiveBias

Will you be hitting the open road this summer to travel to a family-favorite destination? Most American families plan at least 1 trip or vacation during the summer months, and what better time to travel than during the season that brings us those gorgeous sunny days where we can roll the windows down in the car and feel the cool breeze as we hit the highway!

While my family is in a season of life where traveling long distances is kept to a minimum (because toddlers can be super tricky to travel with), we do occasionally like to load up the car and head down to the gulf coast for the day a few times during the summer. It’s a fairly short driving distance from our home, so it’s an ideal spot to go to when we’re craving a little R&R and vitamin sea. The beach is the #1 travel destination spot in the state of Alabama, and once school is out for the summer across the nation, all of the highways and byways that lead to the beach in this state are flooded with road trippers who are looking to splash in the waves and have a little fun by the shore.

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