Tidy Brown Wren, bringing order to your nest

Last year, while driving home from work, I spotted an interesting pile at the end of my neighor's driveway.  Yup, it was trash day.  I'm sorry, but I cannot resist turning a piece of trash into a usable treasure.  I called my hubs at work, described where the pile was, and begged asked him to pick it up for me in the van.  The pile included a metal table with a particle-board top and a metal bench with a particle board seat and backing.  It had been raining so the particle board was wet and stinky.  Because hubs really loves me, he ripped off the particle-board and hauled the metal framework home.  This week, because it was Spring break, I finally had the time to work on the bench.  Here's the almost final product:  I need to find or make a cushion that fits this, but the one I borrowed from the porch swing works for now.  Here's how it started out: I found a piece of wood that was big enough in our barn and dragged...

Everyone's got one - a junk drawer.  Some organizers teach that you shouldn't have a junk drawer.  That junk is an ugly word.  That every little item we find around the house must be put away immediately to keep an orderly home - NOT! I think everyone needs a junk drawer.  A place to keep all of those little items that we need to keep at our fingertips and a place to keep little figgits and jiggits* we find that have no home.  Once a month I open my junk drawer, which is located in my kitchen, and organize it.  It only takes me 3 minutes to do this.   Here's my "before" drawer:  It's been a pretty calm month, so this looks pretty good.  It's usually much worse. I like the plastic divider trays.  I have 3 in this drawer.  Two are stacked on top of each other in the back of the drawer.  Because everything has it's own home, I just go space by space (cubicle by cubicle) and take out any items that don't bel...

I've been having a blast making unique upcycled aprons for my Etsy shop. This half apron would add a bit of hostess flair to a party. The top of this is pieced with white cotton fabric for ample coverage.  I love the colors of this one.  Vintage rick-rack mimicks the bias lines of the skirt. The burgandy tie in the back is darling. This is my favorite one!  I love how the pocket turned out.  I used the side zipper tab from the skirt to top off a muslin pocket , trimmed it with vintage rick-rack and topped the whole thing off with a vintage button from Oma's button box. I'm having so much fun making these.  If you're wondering, I can make two aprons from one skirt.  I remove the zipper from the back (or side) of the skirt and sew up the seam to make another front panel.  I have about 10 more in the works right now.  I wonder which one I'll keep for myself?

I made these cute little nests Saturday night instead of cooking dinner for my starving family.  Yes, I have been known to craft (or garden, sew, blog etc.) instead of being a responsible adult.  When the crafting bug bites me, I just HAVE to create.  Here's what inspired me. I bought this wired twine about 6 months ago at JoAnne's, thinking I would use it somehow for my daughter's upcoming wedding .  Wanting to make a little something  for each place setting at my Easter table, I was visualizing nests.  Enter twine.  I cut off about 15 inches of the wired twine with my needle nose pliers and using the pliers, twisted the wire around several times to make this. . . Sorry for the bad pics - it was getting dark and my family was starting to cry. Then I cut off about 7 more inches of the stuff and wove it around the spiraling twine to look like this. . . Then I filled them with Jordan almonds that I had previously picked up at Target.  Aft...

I just love a misty Spring morning.This is a view from our bird garden (which I can see from the kitchen window) to our produce garden. This view is looking back towards the woods with our wood storage/barn to the right. I love this Virginia rail fence design. Behind this fence is a permanent bonfire area.  You can see the ugly blue tarp that covers the wood we use for bonfires.  Oops, I should have removed it before I took the pictures. 

This cake always reminds me of Spring.  It is a wonderful cake for any Spring event like Easter, bridal or baby showers, birthday, graduations, or Mother's day.  I like it because I can make it a day ahead. First, bake a white or yellow cake mix into two 9inch layer cakes.  Just follow the directions on the box and bake and cool as directed.  After removing the layers from the pans, wash the pans and place the cooled cakes back into them.  Poke holes into the cake with a fork (I use a meat fork that has large tines). Mix 2 small boxes of lemon jello with 2 cups of boiling water and stir for 2 minutes.  Pour Jello evenly over the two layers.  It's OK if you see little puddles of jello.  Cover the pans with plastic wrap and put into fridge.  You can make these layers several day in advance.  I like to frost the cake on the day I'll be serving it.  To get the layers out of the pans, let them sit in a pan (or kitchen...

After making and serving Easter dinner I am in need of a clean kitchen.  How 'bout you?  I'll work on the floors and cabinets later, but today my counters need a bit of work.  This should be a pretty easy and quick job.  Ready? 1.  Remove EVERYTHING from the counters.  This is a good time to decide if everything you keep on the counters really needs to be there. 2.  Clean the counter tops with your choice of cleaner.  I usually use Simple Green diluted in a spray bottle, followed by Sparkle cleaner.  For any stubborn spots, I use a Mr. Clean magic sponge.  My counters are laminate so if you have a speciality stone, use a stone cleaner/polisher after wiping them down with a dishrag and some dish detergent.  I used to use a laminate polish when I had a counter with a shiny finish.  One warning, though - your counter will be as slippery as running on a freshly waxed wooden floor in your stocking feet- so watch out tha...