Jenn Tries...

Since I often just finish my projects in time for the blog post, I thought for this Throwback Thursday I would give an update on how some projects are fairing. So here we go Project 1: Elbow Patches Here is how my elbow patches turned out: And I left off writing I didn't know how I was going to wash it since I used fabric that shouldn't be washed. Well I actually stopped wearing the sweatshirt for a while before I finally sucked in up and started washing it. And I'm happy to report that after a coupe of times through the wash cycle it is still looking all right. So I guess the solution is not to not wash it, but wear it too often, so it doesn't need to be washed as often. Project 2: Glitter Dipped Mug I hope I made it clear that I created my glitter dipped mug with a sort of homemade approach. (That varied greatly from  White Houes Black Shutters ) So while I was hopefully it would work as well, I was a little nervous that it wo...

My favorite part about doing this blog, is now when I come across a problem in my life, I not only can find the a solution for them, but I can also share the results with all of you. Case in point is how I charge things in my bathroom. I normally charge my smaller electronics (my fitbit, wireless headphone, shower speaker, etc) in my bathroom. The only problem is the that the cords hang at weird lengths and none of my electronics can charge and rest on my counter. And often time I just end up drapping my headphones or fitbit over the plug. This causes the plug to not sit flat in the outlet and sometimes the headphones or fitbit don't charge. Which is completely frustrating. So one day while I was scrolling through Facebook, I came across a video creating a charging pocket out of an empty bottle. And I've finally found the perfect bottle to test it out with! The Project Create a Charging Holder In My Bathroom Inspiration from Buzzfeed Results To be fair ...

Well normally I just post my Monday Free Write on Mondays, but since October is a special month and ends on a Monday, I thought that it would be fun to combine the two. In a sort of special tale about why I love upcycling and probably the easiest (and probably one of the best!) upcycling projects, I've come across yet! So here we go. I guess by now its no secret that I love upcycling. I'm not sure how I first learned about it or how I officially got started. It probably was while I was watching home improvement shows on tv or probably during my first ventures on Pinterest. And that was all it really took I was hooked. I just fell in love with idea of turning trash into useful items. (And yes you can make artwork too, I just haven't gotten an inspiration for that yet) I think I really love upcycling most of all because it makes me feel like I'm doing something to help the environment. Whether you want to believe in climate change or not (that's your choice...

I've actually had this project on my radar for a while now. When I first found it Blue was too big for me to turn any of my t-shirts into rompers for him, so I put it on the back burner for baby #2. And well by the time we had Lion and life had settled in, we were well into football season and I'm too superstitious to switch game day shirts mid season. Plus at that time, I still was too nervous to use my sewing machine. So I put it off again. And then while I was looking at projects for this blog I stumbled upon it again. I knew I wanted to try it, but I just didn't know to use to make it. Luckily my friend Megsy got pregnant and I just happened to have a spare Michigan State shirt laying around (I'm an Ohio State fan, so its a very long story why I have a Michigan State shirt at all). So I put two and two together and decided that this would be something nice to make for her and her baby. The Project Turn A T-Shirt into a Baby Romper Instructions from  Fe...

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...

(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 know, I know. How many more t-shirt upcycles can I possibly find? Apparently the amount is endless. (As is my t-shirt supply right now and we haven't even gotten into my 16 orange shirts that I have somewhere from college!) But for this week I decided that instead of transforming the t-shirt into a new item, that I would try to keep the t-shirt as a shirt only a better, more useful version of it. So below I tried out three different hacks that are supposed to be easy and transform the shirt as well.  The Project Try out a couple t-shirt hacks Results T-shirt Hack #1: Turn Your T-Shirt into a Work Out Tank Instructions from  Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth If you are looking for an easy way to make over your t-shirt, then this is the hack for you.  Unfortunately there are no words with the tutorial, so I just kind of winged it when it came to making my work out tank. I decided that I wanted to make it have a low cut back. (you ca...

Here we are at the end of another month. And for this monthly project I have a very special upcycle project  I, like most first time parents, was so excited to buy a pack n' play while I was expecting baby Blue. I thought it would be so great. I could use it as a portable crib and play area. And I would have somewhere to put the baby. However I can only recall using it once or twice. And by the time we had baby Lion it had turned into a catch all for all the various baby toys we acquired. (I did try to find the inner piece so I could let Lion nap in there, but I only was able to find a couple of the poles.) And well as you can see below it took a lot of abuse. Somehow it even ended up with a couple of rips up the side. Which Lion loved to use to crawl into and explore the depths of toys inside. So I did a little exploring on Pinterest. and I didn't quite find the perfect upcycle idea for me. But what I did find was a couple of ideas that I thought if...