Jenn Tries...

And here we are at the end of another month. So its time for my monthly upcycle project. For this month's project, I wanted to see how many different ways I could upcycle wash cloths , And what I found was a lot more projects than I have time for. So I settled with three projects that I thought would be great upcycles and also replace some of our most used disposable household products. (I used wash cloths because we have ton of them, but you could easily use hand towels or bath towels . You just need to cut them down to get the size you want.) Project #1 Reusable Paper Towels instructions from  The Short Girl I've actually been trying to switch out paper towels to wash cloths for a while now, but getting Mike on board has been a difficult task. So I was happy to find this project. But I knew I had to make a couple of changes. Since I already had a bunch of spare wash cloths, I decided that they would be fine of there own and didn't need a colored fabric on one s

I know I know, I started September with a product I love.and here I am ending it with one. But in my defense, the end of September just happens to be Banned Book week. And I just thought it would be the perfect time to talk about  how much I love my Kindle Paperwhite. (I mean I obviously love it, a couple weeks ago I talked all about the new case I made for it) The Product: Kindle Paperwhite  I got my paperwhite about three and a half years ago, and I wouldn't say I prefer it actual books (there is nothing like the feel and smell of an actual book), but I definitely love the convenience  it gives me. I happen to do most of my reading before I go to bed at night and with an actual book it would be too much hassle. Either I would have to turn on my side table lamp (which was so bright I might have turned on the overhead light) or I would have to struggle with trying to keep a book light on the book while I flip and turn as I read. (Annoying to say the least). And all of t

Well September is quickly coming to an end; so before that happens I wanted to share one more way that I tried coconut oil for. For this last project I went back to the bathroom. I mentioned that after I crocheted my reusable face pads, that I needed to find a good face wash to go with them.  I don't know if I mentioned it or not there, but I tried using Neutrogena  and I found that it dried out my face. So I knew I needed something. And I loved my coconut oil shave scrub so much that I decided maybe coconut oil was the answer I was looking for. I guess I shouldn't have surprised at the results on Pinterest, but I was. There are a whole lot of options.  So as tempting as it was to try a bunch out, I decided maybe it was best if I kept it simple and just try out one (which turned into two after it was all said and done). The Project Try Out Coconut Oil Face Scrubs recipes from  Frugal Farm Wife   and  Mother's Niche Results I tried the recipe fr

I'm a regular reader of parenting articles and interesting posts from all over the web. (A lot of them from Huffington Post, Pop Sugar moms, etc.) So I was a little taken back when I found an article from The Financial Diet  titled 'Stop Taking Pride In Not Knowing How To Do Basic Shit'. I only skimmed it at first and I knew that her statements were exactly why I was doing this blog.  Sure I make it sound cute, 'Jenn tries It (so you don't have too)', but what's hidden underneath is that I'm trying pins so that I'll eventually gain all the adult skills that I'm lacking. I'll be 30 in a little over 5 months, I have two kids and I still feel like I'm pretending to be an adult. (And I believe Mike has it worse than I do and he'll be 40 next year! But I ). Its not cute and I take no pride in not knowing how to do basic shit. I hate it. But I'm working on it.  And just have to keep reminding myself, that it doesn't alw

I have such a fun time making the baby cereal pancakes, that I decided to see what other food items I could make with excess baby food and cereal we still have. And I was shocked to learn that just about anything you bake you can substitute baby cereal in there some way or another. (Heidi Stock has a bunch of ideas here ). Along my searches, I stumbled upon a couple different recipes for baby cereal muffins. And I love muffins so much that I knew I had to try them out (and hopefully my boys would like them as much as they did the pancakes). Project: Try 3 Different Baby Cereal Muffins Recipes Results Recipe #1:  Baby Food Muffins Recipe From This Pin (Which as no web page with it as far as I can tell) I should really know by now that if you can't find the actual website that goes with the pin, that the pin clearly doesn't work. But against my better judgment I tried this muffin recipe anyways. I actually had to make two batches of these muffins. A

(I really hate intros, so I'm going to keep this nice and short today.) I'm back again with another crochet project.  I'd be lying if I didn't say the main reason I picked up crocheting wasn't to learn how to make some coffee cozies. (If you search Pinterest alone, the results are endless. I'd hate to see how many there are on etsy!). So that is exactly what I learned to crochet this month. The Project Make a Coffee Mug Cozy Pattern From  Raverly: Marion's Mug Warmer Cozy Results I once again am still using my basic yarn , which is probably not the right yarn for the project, but its good enough for beginner projects. (Its a little too stretchy to be a good yarn for a coffee cozy. Or at least, I think a stiffer yarn would work better). And I the pattern I went with worked well with mugs of all sizes. My current mug obsession is the Starbucks You Are Here Disney World Collection . (My mom and I finally got out Magic Kingdom mugs on Sunday,

Happy Friday! I don't want to talk about the letter K anymore. Every week I talk about how I changed letters because I just don't know where its going. but now I kind of know what I need to do, but I just don't have time right now to focus on it.  So instead I settled for a different letter. And I drew inspiration from this page: (It was available for purchase from  PageByPage2 . I'm not sure when it will be again) I've had this idea for a while now, but for some reason I've just kept putting it off. And then I played around with how I wanted to put this all together. I thought I might sew the pieces down and have the flip different ways, to show the words of what the different body parts are.  But I thought that might be a little cluttered. (And I have enough cluttered pages in my book as it is. So in the end I decided that maybe simplicity is best and  for this week's activity book page, I decided to go with: F is for Face Here

I'm celebrating throw back thursday again here on the blog. This time I'm taking it all the way back to March, when I decided to try out one of my favorite organization hacks: using a wire basket to store a surger protector under my desk and help organize the cord clutter. And I now that its been over six months later, I just wanted to give an update on how things are going. (Because a hack is only useful once its been thoroughly tested and if it works in the long run) The Project Easy Way To Organize Office Wires Tip From  DIY Home Sweet Home Results So I tried out this wire organization hack about six months ago, I was so excited to try it. I even wrote a post about it. And how great it was to baby proof an otherwise unbabyproofable spot. I even included a cute little picture of Blue not being able to get into the cords. (And instead was just able to play with the main plug). I was really hopefully that this was going to be a great home improvemen

This project actually isn't a new project, but just one of my favorite organization tips. I actually discovered it when Blue was a baby and Mike would mess up his entire dresser to find the perfect onesie for Blue to wear. And then I was frustrated with the big mess and I couldn't find any of the onesies I wanted to put Blue in.  So I knew I needed to figure out a solution (and fast!).  Luckily I remembered pinning an idea to store shirts in a dresser easier. I knew that if it worked for adult sized clothes, that it would definitely work well for baby (and toddler clothes), too. The Project Organize Blue and Lyon's Dresser (I looked by I couldn't find the owner of this image, but this is the best tutorial I found to organizing a lot of t-shirt in a tiny space) Results Luckily my boys are still small enough that they can share a dresser, but that means I store more than t-shirts in their individual drawers. So I had to expand this tip to include everyt

(All right I meant to write this up on Sunday, but instead I took an impromptu trip the the Magic Kingdom. And by the time we got back I was to too tired to even think about writing this up.) For a while now I've played around with the idea of starting a garden. I just could never figure out what I wanted to plant first. (Its a little overwhelming looking at all the different types of tomatoes; let alone all the different types of plants.) And really I'm not closer to deciding on my first plant now, then I was a couple of years ago. So I decided that perhaps the first step in starting a garden was to start by composting. That way by the time I finally pick a plant, I will have some kick ass soil to grow it in. (Because Florida's natural soil is more sand than anything else. Which is impossible to grow anything in). The Project Start A Compost Pile instructions from  Mind Body Green Results For my compost pile I used an empty coconut oil container.

I'm really in to true crime stories. In fact on my way to work and back, I have a rotation of true crime podcasts that I listen to. (My Favorite Murder is my favorite and if you like your true crime with a little humor then you should totally check it out). But no matter how many heinous and notorious murders I've heard about, I've never wanted to learn anything about about mass murders. A lot of them take place in schools and there is something about them that makes them feel a little too close to home. I think this has to do that I was so young when Columbine happened, that it just affected me deeper than I thought was possible. And really I was content to leave it there.  And really I was. Until I decided to start reading true crime books and I stumbled upon  A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy  by Sue Klebold, the mother of one of the Columbine shooters. I was definitely intrigued because you don't often hear from the family of killers,

Some how my Saturday posts have all been my latest sewing projects. But I always meant for Saturdays to have posts about my latest craft projects as well. And I thought there was no better way to kick off my crafter side than by creating a new case for my Kindle . I've had my Kindle for about 3 1/2 years now. And the case I got when I bought it wasn't exactly the highest quality to begin with  and after having to deal with first Blue and now Lion, it has definitely worse for the wear.  So I've been playing around with the perfect case to make. And after a little research and looking over projects on Pinterest , I finally settled on the perfect case for me! The Project Make A New Kindle Case instructions from  Come Together Kids Results The first step is also the worst step. I'm such a fan of books that its hard to think about ripping one apart. But out of the books I own, I knew I could find one that would work. And I did. I found my cop

All right, I'm back again with another quick tip.  I make it no secret that I have two very curious toddlers in my house. And as I use my sewing machine and stand mixers more and more, the more they both want to help me. So leaving either one of them out while not in use is not really an option. I don't mind storing either of them, but dealing with the cords can get a little chaotic.  So I was very excited to find this cheap and easy tip below to help organize the wires while they and other small machinery are being stored. Tip Use to  Cord Bundlers  to organize cords. idea from  Dreaming in DIY Results So I wanted to try this on a couple different machines. The first obviously was my stand mixer . I was a little nervous on where to place it on the back of my mixer (and I was equally nervous it would fall off before I had a real chance to try it out). But really as long as you follow the cord from the machine it'll show you the best place to put the cor