Tidy Brown Wren, bringing order to your nest

Because this is a busy time of the year, I thought I'd just give you a few ideas of tasks to complete to make your life easier after the holidays.  So, here we go. . . 1.  Buy your 2011 calendar.  Read my post from last year about how our family uses calendars. 2.  Donate any Christmas decorations you aren't going to use.  If you donate them now, others can benefit from them this holiday season.  10 more things to get rid of . 3.  Buy your baking supplies now while they are on sale.  I just bought several bags of flour, wrapped them in plastic bags, and froze them for future use.  I saved 50% by doing this and I have enough flour to last me well into next year.  4.  Fix any ornaments that have broken.  I just "super glued" several ornaments that we haven't used for a few years.  I can't believe I waited for years to fix them - it only took 5 minutes to do the repair.  5.  If you use small light b...

Thanks for stopping by Brown Wren Acres!  It's so nice to see ya! Let me show you around. Here's our front lantern near the parking pad.  It snowed (In Chesapeake?  I know!) last Saturday night and I just had to get a picture of the snow before we left for church on Sunday. Up on our screened porch, we have a small tree that I decorate with natural ornaments.  I think I'm the only person in the United States who doesn't have a wreath on their front door!  I just haven't found the perfect one yet. On the red desk in the foyer, I placed our vintage nativity scene for all to see.  These figurines were purchased by Hubs Nana in the 1930s.  They have the prices written on the bottom of each piece in pencil.  Mary cost 15 cents all those years ago. My collection of snow globes and my snowflake accessories adorn the small hutch top in the kitchen.  I leave most of them up until February (I only pack up the Christmas ones). I attached a ...

Last week  I popped into my local thrift store, looking for holiday fabric.  I didn't find any fabric but I did find this:  Who could pass up an adorable lantern for $2.99?  Well, I did have to talk myself into it because I have a bit of lantern overload right now.  I already have several lanterns leftover from my daughter's wedding and I got a Pottery Barn lantern from a good friend for my birthday.  But this one was so rustic. . . so wrenish. . . so darn cute. . .    What's a girl to do?  So I brought it home. I knew I needed to do something to it because bright white doesn't work well at my house.  So. . . I  gave it a light washing of diluted brown paint to antique it a bit. . . but. . . it just wasn't working for me. I couldn't decide what to do, so I let it sit overnight until I got an inspiration.  It really needed to be warmed up a bit and I knew just the color to do that warming up. . . I mixe...

Years ago Hubs and I made ornaments for our friends and family for Christmas gifts. Our dining room table was our workshop for weeks.  We would start with wooden birdhouse shapes from the craft store and add other odds and ends until we had an ornament we were happy with.  This ornament started with "stones" cut out of different shades of leather.  We filled in around the leather pieces with puffy paint "mortar".  The roof is a small piece of copper with tiny nails to hold it down.  This stone house is one of my favorites! This ornament was made to look like a little gingerbread house.  We used a nail to hammer indentations into the wood to mimic gingerbread (or graham crackers).  More puffy paint looks like frosting.  We added pompom wreaths, tiny bows, and tiny candy canes for decorations.  The shutters are adorned with heart shaped jewels.  Fifteen years later, this ornament looks good enough to eat! What are your favorite orn...

It's always a fun day when I can give a friend and blog follower a gift. Well, today's a fun day.  The winner of the Organizing Gift Basket to celebrate 100 followers on my blog is: So, Alexia, I'll be emailing you to let you know you won and to get your snail-mail address.  A rather large box will be sent your way! Since I'd love to give ALL of you a little something, I'm listing here some ideas for ways to use the items I'm giving to Alexia.  You may find you already have some of these things in your home and you can repurpose them. So, here we go. . .   I like to use these photo envelopes (I get them at Michaels in the framing area) to hold fabric and paint samples in my purse or work bag.  I can quickly pull out the envelope and match up colors while I'm shopping.  You could also use it to hold larger coupons for restaurants and stores because it is larger than a regular coupon holder.  You could use it to hold photos, I guess...

Do you dread seeing my Monday Motivation every Monday morning? Do I bug you with my "to-do" list each week? Well, you're really going to hate me today. I'm going where no one wants to go. I'm going to the fridge and freezer. Before you stock up on holiday foods for Christmas it would be to your benefit to clean out these two appliances.  You might even find some Thanksgiving leftovers in there.          * Parts of the post were originally published November 16, 2009 on this blog                                    ( I want that apron ) Let's start with the fridge.   1. Drag your garbage can over to the fridge. Fill the sink up with warm, sudsy water.   2. Start on the door. Remove all of the bottles and containers. Wipe down every shelf with a...

I had planned to blog about a new thrift store treasure I had fixed up, but some sad news caused my thoughts to wander in another direction.  The frivolous was overwhelmed by the faithful. A dear friend went home to be with his Lord yesterday after a long battle with cancer.  Fifteen years ago, he was diagnosed with brain cancer and given the news that he would die within 6 months.  His young wife and and two little boys prepared for a life without him.  And he lived. Over the next several years he endured several rounds of chemo and radiation as well as surgeries.    During every round he suffered through, he continued to praise God. As a husband and father, he poured his life into his family, making the most of every opportunity.  As a school guidance counselor he shared the love of Christ with students and staff.  And he lived. As a musician, he wrote music and lead praise and...