My Story

Hi! I’m Jenny and I am so glad you’re here! 

I live in Arizona with my two toddler assistants – Amelia & Hendrix. 

I work as a Pharmacist by day & am a DIY’er all the hours outside of that! 

I love any & all things DIY – building, crafting, and organizing. I got started in 2015 when I purchased a Cricut Explore Air. I tinkered with that machine off & on between going to Grad School, getting married, and having my 2 beautiful babes.  I used the Cricut to create gifts for friends and personalize things for my babies. 

As we all know, 2020 was a year that turned life upside-down. While we all navigated our insane new “normal” – I was also walking through divorce. We had recently sold the home we owned as a family, and I purchased a smaller house for me & my babes. My main focus at that time was learning how to co-parent and establish a solid routine for my littles. I kept my head down and only poured into those priorities. Every night to wind down for bed, I would get lost in the infamous YouTube rabbit hole. 

I started researching videos on Van Life. (Pause: building out a van and full blown going for it is still my ultimate dream. INSANE props to everyone out there who’s living their best life – traveling full time). If you’re not aware of what Van Life is – google it and let me know what you think! 

The van life research started leading to wood-working videos, trying to see the process of actually building out one of these vans. This rabbit hole led to amazing influencers such as Ana White, the Shanty sisters (Shanty 2 Chic), and Rachel Metz. I spent months watching their videos and getting inspired. These ladies make the build processes and DIY projects seem so simple and they all stress how anyone can do it. So I went for it. 

I started telling people close to me, “I think I want to start woodworking.” *Queue awkward laughs* Not many people understood. WHY? Where is this coming from? No one in my family is a wood-worker. My parents have definitely completed some incredible builds of their own, but they’re strictly self-taught off YouTube as well. Plus, I’m in AZ while my parents live in NC. I’d also never really had a hobby. Sure, I owned a Cricut but I didn’t devote quality time for it. Grad School + newborns consumed every waking minute so I never really had a chance to focus on me. 

Despite the unknown – I went for it. I felt like it was my RETAIL THERAPY to process my divorce. Black Friday of 2019 I purchased dang near every Ryobi tool Home Depot had listed in their ad. It was the first time I’d really spent a considerable chunk of change on myself. As things started to deliver, I neatly organized them in my empty garage of the home I’d just bought. That is where they sat and lived for about 3 months because I was TOO INTIMIDATED to open them! Finally, I took the Shanty sisters advice of “your first build should be a workbench. It’s easy and it’ll help you during all your future projects.” I used their free plans and gave it a try. 

This was all it took. I just built my first THING. I had barely stepped foot in a Home Depot prior to this point, so even going to buy my own lumber was a big move! I had gone to scope out prices and the store’s layout prior to actually purchasing – let me at least find out where wood is located in the store first!

Makers such as Shanty 2 Chic and Ana White are incredible with their free plans. They map everything out for you step by step and give you a BUY LIST. I took that to the store, found an employee, let them know I have no clue what I’m doing, and they quickly taught me the general basics of how to pick out a good 2×4. The staff at this particular location steadily evolved into my mentors and helped me incredibly throughout this journey. 

Now these new tools were opened. There was REAL saw dust on them – put there by me! 100% self-taught from watching 8 million YouTube videos. As I was prepping the garage to now be a workshop, I knew I would need a brighter light. I found a very simple, screw-in LED light bulb on Amazon for $30. However, when I removed the glass shell from the tiny light in my garage, I discovered it had two light sockets pointing sideways, instead of just one simple light socket I could screw this LED contraption into. Thankfully, I am clearly a professional electrician by this point after watching Rachel Metz change 867 light fixtures in her videos. My 2^nd DIY project EVER – changing a light fixture. & I survived! 

This was the time where I got hooked. It was real, and the things I was learning on YouTube were actually freaking working. I started tackling all the things.

My first house project was revamping my entryway. I added a board & batten wall, built an entry table, and a bench all using free plans from other makers. I changed the light fixture & front door handles, too!  

Next, I tackled the playroom for my kiddos. It was just a room with toys thrown into it, so I re-did it as more of a craft-room for them. I built floating shelves, a large chalk board, a child-height round table, and four kid stools. 

While I was falling in love with home updates and furniture building, I was also learning about making wood signs. I started seeing a bunch of videos on wood signs and home décor, using a Cricut to cut the stencils. I took my shot with a 4’ x 4’ sign to hang above my couch. 

One of my girlfriends was coming over that day to catch up. I told her I needed her help to hang a large sign above my couch. While she was helping me, she said she loved the sign and wanted to pay me to make a sign for her. This is what spiraled into opening an Etsy Shop to sell wood signs. My journey into finally pulling the trigger and opening an Etsy Shop can be found HERE.

I officially opened my Etsy Shop in May of 2020. What a whirlwind! As the pandemic came about, and everyone was stuck at home – sales took off. I learned so much in that first year of owning a small business and met the most incredible community along the way. I am forever grateful for every step that’s led me to this point in my life.  

As I grow my knowledge and desire for woodworking, I decided to start a blog in hopes that I can help inspire anyone else. Single moms, divorcees, full-time workers, people with zero woodworking experience – if I can do this, literally anyone can do this.

I am here to encourage you to go after it. I fully believe in you and am here to help with any questions along the way. I don’t know much – but I’m willing to share everything I can as we go. 

Support your local makers. Support the creator within yourself and in the people around you. Spread as much positivity and light as we can.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you’ll continue with me on this wild ride.