Tidy Brown Wren, bringing order to your nest

I was "over" my Christmas mantle decor. Ready for a more simple look. Because we use our fireplace several times a week, I have to be very careful about what I put around the fireplace. I don't want to have to constantly remove items to light the fire. I'm still looking for something made out of metal to hang under the big space beneath the mantle. I would love to come across some metal flat birds that I could string on some barbed wire (which we have a lot of ). I would string it between the two brackets under the mantle. If you find some give me a shout! I found these chunky frames at the thrift store for $2.00 each. I had planned on painting them a darker color to contrast against the light colored brick, but when I propped them up on the mantle to check for size, I was pleasantly surprised at how they looked. I put a little bird in one and a bird nest in the other. They are simply "resting" in the frames. I will put some sticky-tack on them to keep them...

On a walk in the woods on our property, my hubs found this fungus growing on one of the trees that had fallen. The colors are absolutely beautiful. I may be inspired to use this aqua/brown/cream combination in my decorating. >

I got sidetracked. I always do. Remember when I showed you my snow globe collection in my kitchen ? Well I almost didn't show you the photo because I hated the color of the hutch. This piece of furniture is really just the top of a small hutch that I am using in my kitchen until we can remodel it. I painted this hutch around 1995 when hunter green was all the rage. When we moved into our current house, I had a large, blank wall that needed "something". I didn't have the money to put "something" on it so I took the old hutch apart and put the top part up on the wall . Well, I saw a can of black suede satin paint in the garage, waiting for another project I'm planning. A light bulb went off in my head and the next thing you know, I'm sitting on the garage floor, painting the hutch top. My husband is used to my sudden painting urges but he wanted proof of why I wasn't cooking dinner that night. The next day, after drying all night, I popped her bac...

We all start out the New Year with the best of intentions. We purpose to be organized, thoughtful, and prompt. We will be THE family member who always remembers your special day whether it is your birthday, anniversary, or sobriety date. Then life happens and gets the best of us. Oops, we're late. I always had the best of intentions for remembering special days, but I wasn't organized enough to bring it to fruition. I finally got tired of buying those cards that said. . . "sorry this is late". I've come up with a way to keep myself on track remembering special days for the people I love. Maybe it will help you a bit, or inspire you to create a plan that works for you. 1. I use a day planner as mentioned in this post . 2. I write every one's special day in the new year's calendar in December. 3. As I'm writing these down, I turn to the week before the occasion and write a reminder to myself to mail a card or gift. If I'll need to purchase a gift I w...

When reading Jo-Lynne's blog, Musings of a Housewife , I discovered a fun way to recap the blogging year. Below is a listing of the first line of the first post of every month in 2009. Please excuse my silliness. Remember, I'm new at this! January 5, 2009 My name is Kelly Miller and I live in a quiet, rural area in South Eastern Virginia. *This was my first post, introducing myself. Click on the date to see a picture of my ugly mug and my cute goats February 7, 2009 Now that Christmas is over and the decorations are put away (right?), you're left with the paperwork that came with your Christmas gifts . *Talking about Christmas in February? March 15, 2009 Do you ever feel like you are falling behind in the maintenance of your home and car? *Yes, I do. April 15, 2009 Spring Cleaning is one of those chores that has fallen out of favor. *This was my only post for the month of April. Apparently I was busy cleaning. May 10, 2009 OK. It's almost Summer and we need ...

This time last year, I didn't know what a blog was. I had heard of blogs but, not being computer savvy, I had never read one. Boy, has my world grown since I discovered all of you! In doing marketing research for my business, Tidy Brown Wren: bringing order to your nest, I kept reading about starting a blog. I thought , why not? So, in January, I wrote my first post and cautiously hit the "publish" button. Only my MIL read the post. As if the process wasn't hap-hazard enough, we only had dial-up service at our home. After enough tears on my part, my hubs finally relented and we got high-speed Internet. Whoo-hoo! I limped along, posting infrequently, for several months. Then, I discovered that my cousin, Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife wrote a blog. A really good blog. She also had a web design business called DCR Design . Wow! She was kind enough to take me under her wing and breath a little life into my sadly lacking blog. I love the design she put...

What to do with all of the wrapping paper, bags and bows left over after Christmas? Pack 'um up and put 'um away. I keep mine in a 40 inch Rubbermaid Wrap and Craft . It holds everything I need, keeping it clean and dry until next Christmas. First, I put my rolls of paper in and then I slide in bags, tissue paper, and flattened down boxes. I use pretty gift boxes to hold my ribbon. I roll each strand of ribbon around my hand and then slide it off, press it flat, and "file" it in the gift box. This wired ribbon can easily be unrolled and tied around the packages next year. Much of this ribbon has been recycled for 4 years now and it still looks great. I use another gift box to hold package toppers. This protects the toppers from being crushed and broken. I add the lightweight boxes into the bin and put on the lid. If I needed to replenish any wrapping supplies, I'd buy it now on clearance and add it to my bin.