Tidy Brown Wren, bringing order to your nest

I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive to share yesterday's post .  "What will my readers think?" Well, so many of you emailed me and said the sweetest things.  Thank you. When it's all said and done, though, what God thinks is most important to me.  And yesterday He told me that I am. . .                      Yes, I am.  I'm in good hands.

As April draws to a close, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up something near and dear to my heart.  Organ donation.  It's a very personal thing for me and has affected my family several times over.  I have personally seen how a living kidney transplant breathes life into a weakened body.  How it brings color back into the skin.  How it gives someone hope for tomorrow.  My father and sister both had kidney transplants in their 20s.  My dad received a kidney from his brother when transplants were still new and being improved.  He had that kidney for 31 years when cancer took him - not kidney disease.  My sister had two transplants.  One from her mother and after that one failed, one from our step-mother.  Sadly, my sister died at age 35, leaving 3 children behind.  Now it gets really personal.  The disease that both my dad and sister had is inheirited.  I have it too.  I wasn't diagnosed until I was 45....

I thought you might enjoy what's blooming in my butterfly garden. No butterflies yet, just flies. yellow iris clematis butterfly garden ornament helps to support purple clematis

Many of you know that one of my favorite hobbies is to scour thrift stores for hidden treasures. This past week I was able to indulge in this fun activity.  Here are a few of my finds. I paid $1.98 for the bird house thingy.  I paid another $1.98 for the cheese dome, .98 cents for the purple candle holder, and $2.98 for the cute purse.  The purse was new with the store tags still attached.  I can't even buy handles to make my own purse for $2.98!! I gave the cheese dome and the candle holder a good scrubbing and 3 coats of Heirloom white spray paint.  Then I glued the cheese dome bottom to the candle holder. I placed it beside a tall, chunky candle stick from Pottery Barn that I topped with an antique plate and a cheese dome I already owned.  I placed a few pretty sea shells in them both.  It makes a nice arrangement on my sideboard. I'm not sure what this is.  It could be a bird house or a terrarium.  I removed the glass pieces th...

(this is not my closet) It's that time of year when we need to go through our closets and purge out the old clothes and prepare for the new ones. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to try and clean out your closets. I'm going to take you through the process, step by step.  This post was originally published in March of 2009.  If you want to see my real closet, just check out the post . 1. De-clutter your bedroom. Make your bed (it will be a work surface), and clear the floor of all items that have nothing to do with your clothes. You don't want to try to organize on top of clutter. 2. Take out each item of clothing and place it in a pile according to the type of garment it is. Example: shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, jackets 3. Don't sort shoes or accessories yet-that will come later. 4. Go through one pile of clothes at a time. Start with the smallest pile first. Take away any clothes that are too small, too big, too ugly, too old, wrong color, wrong s...

Yesterday, I showed you my newly painted/refreshed laundry room. Today, I'll show you some of the storage areas I've created. Hubs added this little shelf to the left of my cabinets.  I store our dinner trays here.  When the weather is nice (April-October here in Chesapeake) we carry our meals out to our front screened porch to eat.  It's much easier to fix our plates in the kitchen and carry them out on the trays.  This cabinet holds our lunch boxes (2 are missing because Hubs and son are using their's.  I also put these stacking baskets in the cabinet to hold onions, potatoes, and my newest toy - a pasta machine (love it) This cabinet holds from top to bottom:  Paper/plastic bags to reuse, thermos, ice bucket, french press, bucket w/ clothespins, laundry soap ingredients, and napkins. This cabinet holds a basket with paper/plastic serving pieces for entertaining, extra glass jars for storage, two small storage boxes with birthday candles and cupca...

Well, she's not completely completed.  I still have baseboards to make and crown moulding to install, but that won't be 'til next week. My washer has to sit out farther than my dryer so I can open the cabinet door when the washer lid is open. (just a weird arrangement) Poor baby.  She was really in bad shape and I hated going in there. Remember this before pic?  That pile of laundry in the back was my ironing pile.  I hate ironing.  The shelf in the foreground was for stuff I didn't have room for in the kitchen. (or so I thought) I finished my ironing (yay) and removed the shelf.  I rearranged my pantry and found space for all of the stuff!  Who knew? Here's the ugly utility rack that I was tempted to throw away.  I'm sure glad I didn't because she really cleaned up well.  I spraypainted her with Oil Rubbed Bronze spraypaint and hung her back up. Do you like my fly swatter cover?  Hubs Oma made it when she was in her 8...

There's a lot happening in my yard right now.  Lots of bees. New(old) skirts drying on the line will soon be made into upcycled aprons.                       Suzie's taking care of any bugs trying to infest my garden.  Thanks, Suzie!

I've gone crazy with my paint brush.  I've been painting everything that doesn't move.  Hubs is afraid to sit down because I might paint him! My utility room has been in sorry shape ever since we moved in.  The cabinets match the ones in my kitchen (sniff sniff) and they're all a little wonky. I had already started taking the doors off the cabinets when I remembered to snap a pic Please don't mind the dirty towels waiting to be washed.  You see, everything has to wait when I get the painting gleam in my eyes. I painted the cabinets, inside and out, with semi-gloss Cottonwood paint.  Painting the inside has made me more cheerful when doing laundry.  Something about a light and bright cabinet interior makes me happy.  As you can see, I traded the dirty towels for my cast iron fry pan.  Not sure what's up with that! If you look carefully, you'll notice the wall behind the washer & dryer has changed too.  Actually all of the walls ...

Is the inside of your car looking pretty bad?  Mine is.  After a whole season of running quickly from house to car - car to work - work to car - car to home to escape the cold and rain, my car interior has tak'n a beat'n.  Having worked in preschools for many years, I can tell you that most families with small children have major gunk in their cars.  I can remember kneeling in a mini van, putting a child into a carseat, and standing back up with goldfish crackers stuck to my knees.  Yuck!  I've got some work to do this week in my car and I thought you might like to get my perspective on what I plan on doing. 1.  First, I'll grab a plastic shopping bag and empty all ash trays and trash containers.  Then I'll search around for any gum wrappers, water bottle caps, or abandoned church bulletins.  Check the trunk too. 2.  Then I'll remove the floor mats.  If I had child car seats I would remove them too. 3.  Then I'll v...

I've got a lot of projects in the works but nothing completed enough to show you a finished product.  First on my list is a giant cupboard I'm finishing for a friend.  Isn't this blue stain pretty?  This will be in the inside.  When it gets too dark to work outside, I head inside to sit at my sewing machine.  This is a custom order I did for a customer.  I had a great time making these posies for the first time.  I think I'll make some more.  My utility room is getting a makeover.  It's been hard to work in this room because I have to work around a washer, dryer, hot water heater, and chest freezer.  I should be done in a few days. This ugly little broom holder is getting a makeover too.  It's still functional so I thought it needed a little TLC. Of course, wedding plans are still in full swing.  My daughter is busy finishing her thesis, which is due on Sunday, so I'm helping out with the party favors (yummy apple bu...

One year, for Christmas, my hubs surprised me with something I'd been asking for.  My very own tool box.  Isn't she a beaut? It has almost every tool I'll ever use, plus a few I'll probably never use.  This case is small enough to keep in my utility room and easy enough to tote along on a staging/organizing job.  I love how everything has it's own place.  Before I close the case, I check to make sure there are no empty spaces.  That way, I never lose a tool!                        I recently saw some tool kits like this at Home Depot for less than $20.00.                            You might want to put this on your birthday or Mother's Day wish list!

Suzie and Arica are loving all of the bugs, worms and sprouts that are showing up around our yard. Potted pansies and blooming Carolina Jessamine on the gate make for a cheery welcome in the butterfly garden. This is the last of the dafodils this spring. This beautiful white bleeding heart comes back every year.