Tidy Brown Wren, bringing order to your nest

Well, Daily Vacation Bible School is finished.  I survived! We had a great week with all of the children.  I taught the 3-4 year olds and our church used the SBC curriculum (Southern Baptist).  It was called Saddleridge Ranch and had a western theme.  I don't like to spend the church's money on decorations for one week, so I made my own.  Here's how I made a covered wagon for my little kiddos to pull around the classroom. First I took my children's old red wagon and dusted off the cobwebs.  Then hubs found a piece of wire garden fencing.  I actually used this piece for my garden peas to grow up.  Hubs bent it to form a curve and then attached it to the wagon. The ends of the fencing were used to attach it to the wooden rails of the wagon.  We simply poked them through the rails and then bent them up. Then, I topped the whole thing with an old twin top sheet that I folded in half.  I wrapped the sheet around the ends of the fencing and used safety pins to pin it

I have finally gotten the chance to add some new items to my Etsy shop.  I made them over a month ago but lots of family and church obligations kept me from taking the time I needed to photograph them and get them into the shop. Also, since my apron model is getting married and moving out soon, I invested in some dress forms to model the items.  I went to a store that sells new and used store fixtures and purchased a half-size women's dress form and a child's plastic form that is made to hang on a hook.  I really wanted a set of beautiful vintage forms, but the price was too steep for my coin purse.  So, being the Tidy Brown Wren that I am, I improvised.  I removed the short stand from the women's form and set it on top of a tall plant stand I've had for a while.  Fortunately, one of my dresses fit the form perfectly. For the child's form , I removed the hanger from the top and attached a bracket to the legs. Then I attached the bracket to the bottom of a sm

I'm taking care of a few indoor projects this week as the triple Hs (hazy, hot, humid) have arrived here in southeast Virginia.  This week I'm taking care of all of my cabinets.  Actually, I'm cleaning them inside and out but that may be too much for you to handle if your children are underfoot or your schedule is busy. So, onto the cabinets. . . 1. Use a cleaning product designed for your particular type of cabinet.      a.  Wood doors - use Murphy's oil soap and a soft rag.  Mix the soap per package directions with water and wash down the doors.  Don't use too much water.      b.  Laminate - use dishwashing detergent (I like Dawn as a degreaser) in water and use a soft rag.  If stubborn dirt persists around the knobs you can use a Mr. Clean magic sponge.  2.  After washing, use a dry cloth to dry the doors. 3.  If your wood cabinets are not protected with a finish, use Liquid Gold  to restore them to a beautiful shine.      * I recently did a stagin

I finally replaced my old system for collecting kitchen scraps for my compost pile. I spent a fun date day with my youngest daughter (who's getting married in October).  We shopped and thrifted to our hearts content. We visited a World Market about an hour from our home to see what kind of treasures we could find.  This is what I came home with: I have seen these compost buckets in catalogs for $25-$30 dollars.  I paid $14.99 for mine.  It fits nicely under my kitchen sink next to the produce wash I use.  It's cute enough to stay on the counter but I just don't have the room to keep it there. 

When my daughter visited last week from Boston, she noticed all of the changes I had made in food purchases since she last visited.  She was wondering if buying organic really makes a difference.  YES, it does. The Environmental Working Group   points out that if we eat the daily 5 servings of  some fruits and vegetables (not organic) we could be consuming 10 pesticides a day.  Yikes!  They put together a handy printout that you can keep with your grocery list when you are shopping for your produce.  It lists what produce is OK to buy that are not organic.  It also lists the top Dirty Dozen that you should avoid unless it is organic.  This will help you save money since organic produce is usually a bit more expensive than non-organic. As with other foods, be sure to read the packages carefully.  Some packages claim to include organic ingredients, but that doesn't mean it is entirely organic. Also, I've been finding that some at my local farmer's market, some farm

As if the flowers weren't enough, God gives us a heavenly aroma to enjoy. I bought 2 gardenia bushes at Home Depot 2 years ago and planted them in our butterfly garden courtyard.  They are called a daisy gardenia.  The flowers are very simple but the aroma. . . ahhh. . . the aroma is divine.  It makes you stop in your tracks. As the flower fades the color turns from white to a beautiful antique ivory.  The best part about these babies?  They will rebloom (just not as profusely) off and on throughout the Summer.  Sigh. . . .

I hope your family enjoyed a Happy Father's Day.  We were able to have a nice dinner with many family members.  It's always a blessing to have several generations under one roof at the same time.  Even if some of the members are only visible through Skype. Since the dads in our family prefer things to be more casual, we decided to have pork BBQ, coleslaw, watermelon, and rainbow sherbet.  It sure made things easy for me.  I didn't even have to set the table.  I simply placed plates, napkins, and utensils on our wooden trays and stacked them at one end of the buffet table.  I bought these trays from Michaels several years ago.  They are frequently on sale 2/$5.00.  I stained them with a poly stain and now store them in my laundry room for easy access.  This system works well for us when we have a large group.  This lets our guests take their meal out on the front screened porch or out on the back deck.  On Sunday, with the heat index measuring 110 degrees, we all sta

As a kitchen tool that gets daily use, a good cutting board is worth the chunk of money you plunked down to buy it.  To get your money's worth it's best to take good care of this kitchen helper before  it gets ruined. Wooden cutting boards are preferred by many cooks because they protect your knives and a large one is heavy enough to not slip around while you're cutting.  They also create a more pleasant sound when being cut on (versus ceramic or hard plastic) and will last forever. With wooden cutting boards you need to sanitize the board as well as protect it.  To wash it you can wash it by hand with a scrub brush and dish washing liquid with very hot water.  Rinse and then air dry.  To sanitize it, scrub with salt and a half of a lemon.  Rinse with hot water and air dry standing on end.  Don't ever wash a wooden cutting board in the dishwasher or let it sit and soak in the sink.  To protect the board, coat it with oil whenever the surface starts to fade in c

I've been busy planting flowers in my gardens.  My goal is to have decent looking gardens for my daughter's October wedding in our backyard. I planted some Dahlia bulbs and I needed a way to mark them until they are big enough to not be mistaken for a weed.  *Sometimes my family helps me weed and they've helpfully pulled out real plants instead of weeds.  Oops! Because the other perennials are rather tall,  I needed a much taller marker than the typical small tags you can buy.  I grabbed a few mini clay pots and topped some plant stakes with them.  Then I wrote on the pot with a wax marker.  This marker is labeled "Vemeer" so I will know what color the Dahlia will be. It looks like I'm not the only one who likes the  pots.  This little dragonfly likes the tall perch I've provided for him. These markers have held up pretty well.  We've had some bad Summer storms blow through and none of them blew over or showed any fading.  The plant stakes wil

We enjoy most Summer meals on our screened porch.  We all enjoy eating this salad with salmon.  I like serving this during the Summer because I can make it ahead of time and also, it takes the place of several side dishes because of its blend of veggies and pasta. This dressing recipe is also great by itself on other types of salads or as a marinade on chicken or fish. Make ahead Tortellini Salad                serves 10 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini (you can also use dried) 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated spinach tortellini (you can also use dried) 1 pound green beans, trimmed (you can use frozen or fresh - don't use canned) 1 small green onion, sliced 1/2 cup sliced olives 1 tomato, diced or 1 cup of grape tomatoes Dressing:  1/2 cup olive oil 1 tsp. minced garlic 1 Tbl. balsamic vinegar (I use organic) 2 Tbl. apple cider vinegar (I use organic) 1/2 tsp. dried basil 1/4 tsp. dried oregano 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1/2 tsp. black pepper B

My oldest grandson has discovered something he likes more than candy.  Fresh May peas, eaten directly from the pod.

A few months ago I was inspired by a project on Heather Bullard's blog about making a hand soap dispenser out of a canning jar .  I've been on the lookout for a blue jar with a zinc lid like hers, but haven't come across anything of the sort.  Please stop by Heather's blog - you'll love it!  Please don't compare my soap dispenser with her's - there's really no comparison - her's rocks! Since necessity is the mother of invention,  I had to go ahead with the project this week - even without the zinc lidded blue jar.  Sigh. . . Let me set the stage for ya.  I was cooking dinner with my 7 month old grandson sitting in the high chair in the kitchen.  The 3 year old grandson is playing in the sprinkler with Papa (Hubs).  I go to wash my hands at the kitchen sink and I'm out of liquid soap.  I look under the sink and realize the refill bottle is gone.  (what happens under the sink when we're not looking? )   I get the baby out of the highch

I'm glad to be back from my little Bloggin' break.  I had a wonderful time taking care of my two grandsons - exhausting but wonderful.  Now I must clean homemade playdough out of my fingernails, clean up my patio doors , and get back to work. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom this past week while bathing little bodies and wiping little bottoms.  It made me realize that I have a bit of Spring/Summer cleaning to do in this little room.  It's much easier to clean a bathroom that is streamlined and purged of unnecessary items. Let's get started: 1.  Remove all cloth items and wash them (towels, curtains, shower curtains, rugs etc.) 2.  Take items out of each cabinet and/or drawer.  3.  Wipe out cabinets and drawers. 4.  Throw away items no longer needed.  If you find items that belong in other rooms, place them in a pile by the door to put away later. 5.  Replace items, grouping like items together.  Use containers, if desirable, to corral items tog

I'm enjoying learning a new way of eating . . . and cooking.  I'm just taking baby steps right now but I've already noticed a difference in my health. You see, when I got married 29 years ago I didn't know how to cook.  That was good. . . and bad.  The good was that I didn't have any of the unhealthy skills under my belt like deep frying and boiling vegetables to death.  The bad news was that I learned to cook the most "popular" way at the time which was "light" cooking.  I thought I was eating an extremely healthy diet because I was eating low fat foods, light salad dressings, diet drinks, and skinless chicken.  Well, now many years later, I've learned that whole, real foods are what my body really needs.  Foods without chemicals, preservatives, or artificial anything.  Even better are fresh foods, locally grown. I was first inspired to begin this journey by my cousin, Jo-Lynne, who authors Musings of a Housewife and several other b

Something has grabbed my attention and won't let go. . . My grandsons are here for a week so my blogging time will be a little sporadic.  I'll be chasing this little chunky monkey around. (. . . and also vacuuming my carpet)

I love adding color around our yard with potted plants.  Because I'm on a tight gardening budget I have to get creative with what I have. I have a nice window box on my deck railing (that I put a faux rust finish on) that I needed to fill. I added Stella D'oro daylillies to the box to add height.  They are usually planted directly in the garden but I like to use them in containers too.  They'll bloom all Summer and eventually spread so much I'll have to divide them.  No problem; that means more plants for me. I filled this very large pot with a an ornamental grass I found growing in our side yard.  I wasn't sure what it would do or how large it would grow, but hey, I didn't have anything to lose.  Do you pot up any plants that are usually found in the garden?  Let me know!  Happy Gardening!

As I climbed the stairs this morning I glanced over to my quilt rack on the landing and remembered that it's time to "turn the quilts".  Yes, the twice a year turning of the quilts is a tradition in my home.  Really, it's not a holiday, just a bit of housekeeping. I don't have a linen closet so I store my quilts on a quilt rack in the hall.  Twice a year I refold them to relieve the stress of the folds on the fabric of the quilts. During the winter months I have the quilts folded into halves or fourths, darker side out. During the warmer months, I fold the quilts into thirds and display the lighter side (usually the back side) of the quilt. The striped quilt you see above is really the cotton ticking backing of the crazy  quilt in the first pic.  My great, great  grandmother made the quilt in the early 1900's for my grandparents.   The quilt has traveled around the world (thanks to the U.S. Army) and kept many family members warm.   I discovered the