Jenn Tries...

Ah another Monday is here! And well I've been working on this blog for probably about 8 months now and I think I'm finally starting to find my grove. So now that the dreaded crib bumper is finally complete and I have free time on my hands, I'm going to start making changes to the blog.  First is to go back through\previous blog posts, perfect them and then start posting them on Pinterest. I see all this potential and I'm happy that anybody drops by at the amount of advertising I do for it, but if I really want to succeed, I'm going to have to start doing some leg work around here and start doing my part, too. Second I'm going to start turning this blog in a real working website. I have an idea in my head of what I want this place to look like. Now is the time to start making that into a reality. And of course I'm slowly starting to fill my post schedule for June. So expect big things coming soon!  

For this month's monthly project I found a a nifty idea from The Imagination Tree  that turns a basic cylinder container into toys for babies and toddlers.  I really love this idea of taking everyday containers and making toys of them. Especially since baby Lion is at the age where Gerber snacks are his favorite things, so I have plenty of extra cylinder containers laying around.  So here is my take on it. You could easily make all four in a weekend. Or you could spread it out and make one every weekend for a month. Either way its a great toy for your kids without spending a lot of money. For All Four Toys Here's What You Need: 1 Cylinder Container Spray Adhesive Fabric Box Cutter/ Exacto Knife Hot Glue Gun/ Fabric Glue Here's How You Make Them: Ribbon Pull Toy Extra Supplies Needed: Ribbon Here's How You Do it: The first thing you do is mark and  cut out squares all over your container, making sure that for every h...

Hello Monday! The worst part about making Monday a complete free write is that this week I have no idea what I want to write about. All week long I think about different things I want to write about and then Monday afternoon comes and I have no idea what I want to write about. I think part of this has to do with that fact that I'm trying to get stuff done around the house (mainly laundry and the dishes) juggling that with taking care of two boys (that my boy is supposed to be taking are of) and trying to work on my various projects, that my brain is just over worked and under fed and I just have no energy to come up with words let alone thoughts to turn them into a subject. (I guess that's the price I pay, but really I wouldn't have it any other way.) So with that being said I'm sorry (but not that sorry) that I don't really have anything to write about. Maybe next week I'll try to relax and think of something while I'm doing the dishes. Or maybe I...

All right I'm back again with the next update to my activity book!  This time I decided to go with C is for color. For this page I took a little inspiration from this quiet book page here:  (You can buy this page here:  HannasQuietBooks ) But you know I always like to put my own spin on everything so here's how I made my own Activity Book Color page Here's What You Need: Neutral Colored Felt Rainbow Colored Felt Scraps Extra Jumbo Craft Sticks-Colored 7-7/8" 24/Pkg , $3.80 Needle and Embroidery Thread Acrylic Paint Sealer Here's How You Do It: Step 1: Figure Out Where Your Sticks Should Go Normally I would say make a blueprint, but this page doesn't really need one. So really the first step is to play around with your craft sticks on your main felt square until you find a pattern or order that you like. Then trace around the the end you want to make a pocket for. I lined mine up in rainbow order and then decided to put the pockets ...

I said free write right? So I can write whatever I want, right? Well earlier today I sewed on the last letter of Lion's crib bumper. So now all I have to do is sew the sides together and then do a little embellishment around the edges; add some ribbon ties and it will be done! I've been working on and off on this stupid thing for so long that it just feels amazing to finally be able to see the end of it. And really all I want to do is just work on it, but that's easier said than done with Blue and Lion always there to help me. (Which they are no help and only seem to make things more difficult). So I have to wait and practice patience. The same thing that I'm always trying to get Blue to do. I just really can't wait to have this thing done so I have more time to devote to this blog and start getting this thing really going. Especially now that I finally have a little bit of rhythm going with this blog. Having more time for it can only help take it from the littl...

All Right! Here I am again with my second installment to my Activity Book! I decided to skip a lot of the alphabet and work on my letter R page. For the letter R I went the word Reef. I just like how bright the ocean is and how there's a lot of movement with fish. And I just thought it would make a really neat activity page for the book. (Plus my boy is a surfer so I had to make a page for him!) Here's What You Need: Fish Buttons (I used these ones here ) Various Colors of Felt Buttons Scrap Fabric Embroidery needle and thread Scissors Here's How You Do It: As always my first step is to make a brief blueprint of what you want. Since I decided on a reef theme, I also went ahead and took a quick look at reef pictures. Here's the reef picture that inspired my the most (Photo from Inhabitat.com ) And here's my rough blueprint: The next step is to start building your reef. I traced out a rough outline of rocks onto some leftover Minky f...

Well here we are at Monday again!  You know it's weird. A couple of weeks ago I was on here complaining about the awful schedule my love had made for us. But I've learned over the past couple of weeks that it really doesn't matter what days (or how many he gave me), it matters what I do with that time. I know, I know that really should go without saying, but how many us just ignore that and use our time unwisely? I know I still do that in my regular life. And all it ends up doing is cause me to rush through a project in the end. Or I end up ignoring a project and it takes months to finish where if I just kept working on it I could finish it in hours or in days. I've also found that since I've organized my time better while working on projects, I've started to get into a routine in other areas as well. I now do that dishes when Lion gets up from his nap and put away laundry on Sunday or Monday after he gets up from his second nap. And during his nap I general...

This year I've decided to make my own Mother's Day present. I figured it would save me from the disappoint of my love not having the boys do anything for me and the fight it might have caused.  So I decided that as a mother of two small children there was nothing I wanted more than my very own mom blanket. I orginally found the idea for the project at Joann.com ( Monogram Blanket Project) , but I decided that instead of just using a monogram that I wanted to have Mom written on it. That way incase I wanted to repeat this project for the rest of my family I could put their names on their respetive blankets and they're could be no confusion whose blanket was whose. Here's What You Need 2-3 yards Fleece 1/2 yard Flannel 1/2 yard Pellon 805 Wonder Under Iron and Ironing Board Sewing Machine Scissors Embroidery Thread and Needles Here's How You Do It: 1. Trim your fleece down to size and hem the sides I left my blanket at three yards long and ...

Happy Monday All! And a Happy May! You know it's funny yesterday I had a vague idea of what I wanted to write today and now I have no idea what it is.... Anyway now that I've got the blog kind of up and running I would like to transition my Monday Free Write from just being an update onto the blog (because they were pretty dull to write... I can't imagine reading them!)  So from here on out I guess I'll be writing about interesting things that have crossed my mind. Or just whatever I feel like writing... they are after all Free Writes Until next time! Jenn