{A CHARMING NEST}

{Hearty Chicken Soup}

2013-01-27T18:49:00.001-06:00

Justin woke this morning and said he felt like having chicken soup. So, we made chicken soup. Hearty Chicken Soup Recipe To make the chicken soup broth: 1 cut up whole chicken4-5 carrots, cut in half4-5 celery stalks, cut in half1 onion, cut in half1/2 bag of frozen leeks from Trader JoesSalt and Pepper to tasteAdd water to cover. In a large stock pot, add a cut up whole chicken. (2

{Superhero Birthday Party!}

2013-01-26T18:16:00.001-06:00

My little superhero turned five! We celebrated as a family on his day, and then invited three friends over for a (small) Superhero Birthday Party. Three very sweet and special five year olds came to celebrate my little man’s day! We started with the superhero’s decorating their Superhero Gift Bags. I had previously made their shields with their initials on a word document, then printed them out

{A Snowy Indiana Drive…}

2012-12-29T17:49:00.001-06:00

We got the best snow last night and a supposed “blizzard” two days ago. Last night, after dinner, it started snowing and the flakes were the size of silver dollars, and beautiful. After a day of fort building, Justin took us on a snowy Indiana drive so I could photograph some of my favorite Indiana places to share with you all! I hope you all enjoy the sights… I even had my crew with

{Our Favorite “Not a Chain” Restaurants} Traders Point Creamery–The Loft

2012-12-29T09:47:00.001-06:00

Indiana isn’t really known for its fine dining. Actually, Indianapolis has a pretty strong reputation for being the chain restaurant capital of the country. Anyone living here knows exactly what I’m talking about. After moving from Chicago, it was quite an adjustment for the both of us. But, if you dig a little deeper, we think you will find some pretty amazing places to eat. Justin and I

{Happy Holidays}

2012-12-21T16:41:00.001-06:00

We’re officially on vacation. Two weeks of nothing besides family, fun, and festivities (F3). Wishing you all the happiest of holidays and the healthiest of new years, and hoping you all have the time to enjoy the greatest gifts of all: each other. Be Well,

{So…}

2012-12-16T22:44:00.001-06:00

As I sit here, tonight, I realize that it’s unlike any other Sunday I’ve experienced. Although, I’ve done the usual stuff. Made dinner for my family. Graded papers. Looked over the tests my students took on Friday. Agonized over the ones that didn’t do so well. How am I going to fit “re-teaching” in this week? I’ve got a few that need it, and we’re out on break on Friday. I’ve graded my

{Beef Stew with Carrots and Parsnips}

2012-12-09T13:46:00.001-06:00

I haven’t been eating potatoes. Actually, I haven’t been eating anything white, lately. No flour, no sugar, no potatoes. It’s been okay, and I certainly feel better, and I’ve lost twenty pounds! Okay, vegetarians look away now. Please do not send me hate mail. I love you. We also purchased 80lbs of meat (chicken, beef, and pork) from Honored Prairie which is a collection of family farms

{This Old House…Ikea Hack?}

2012-10-16T17:16:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it? This Old House did an Ikea Hack with Ikea’s Billy bookcases! This is a great tutorial for all of you who need a visual on removing the baseboards, using the Dremel to cleanly cut the baseboards, connecting the bookcases together with screws, and adding base molding and crown. I do not take any credit for any of this…but it is a great tutorial/video that anyone can follow.

{Turning IKEA into Custom Built-Ins!} PART II

2012-09-30T13:55:00.001-05:00

We’re finished! We have successfully turned two IKEA Hemnes glass door with drawers cabinets into custom cabinets. In our PART I post I explained how we removed the base molding on our wall, attached the two cabinets with carriage bolts to make one cabinet, added a new backing, crown to the top, and wrapped the whole thing with new base moldings to give it a custom built-in look.

{Schoolhouse Lights}

2012-09-15T23:00:00.001-05:00

I’m obsessed right now…over schoolhouse lights. I recently purchased Pottery Barn’s Graham chandelier for over our kitchen table with six burlap shades. Although, I like it, with its nice oil rubbed bronze finish and classic chandelier lines, I’m thinking I missed an opportunity. (source) So, I think the chandelier is coming down, and will be swapped for something like this… It’s the Rose

{Turning IKEA into Custom Built-Ins!} PART I

2012-09-15T09:38:00.001-05:00

We’ve hacked IKEA, and we are loving the results…so far. This is part 1 of how we did it! For this project, we used the Hemnes furniture line from IKEA, again. This time we used two Hemnes glass door cabinets with four drawers. Simple and plain…just my style. We love working with this line of furniture because it is solid wood. It’s not particle board foiled over with plastic and paints

{Your Charming Questions}…answered

2012-09-03T13:11:00.001-05:00

A lot of people have been sending me questions about how and what we do around here, so I thought I would take this time to answer some of your questions… And {A Charming Nest} blog is closing in on a MILLION hits! I can’t believe it! Amazing! And to all you charming peeps that keep stopping by…thank you! Mudroom Questions: Did you sand the consoles before you painted them?Nope. We didn’t

{You are my Sunshine…}

2012-09-02T09:58:00.001-05:00

Do you ever make something and immediately have the urge to run around yelling “Look at what I made! Look at what I made!”? Well, that’s kind of the feeling I had when I finished my “You Are My Sunshine” copy cat wall art. I was inspired by charm this time…and I’m not ashamed to say that I was a total copy cat. Of course my sign is a little different…but definitely a copy. My version was

{Kitchen…Part 1}

2012-08-09T14:27:00.001-05:00

We love our new house. Making it “ours” has been fun, but slow. After living here for about a year and a half, we are finally getting to some of the kitchen changes we’ve been wanting to do.My inspiration was a kitchen from Kitchen Lab. Have you seen Rebekah Zaveloff’s designs? I’ll take one of each please! Her kitchen designs are my inspiration. And I love the white island, dark cabinets,

{It’s Been Quiet…hasn’t it?}

2012-08-09T13:54:00.001-05:00

After a few month hiatus, and after actually considering shutting it down, I’m back. I guess I should say, “we’re back.” There are a couple of things I have learned in my first year of blogging that I thought I would share: 1.) My blog isn’t perfect and it doesn’t claim to be. And although I hate it as much as you do, there will be spelling and grammar mistakes. I try really hard not to have

Our Crazy To Do List

2012-05-03T16:59:00.001-05:00

I’m back! Well, kind of…I’m really just ready to share our plans! I am happy to report that I submitted my last paper two nights ago and I have my last college class to teach tomorrow (which has been the most fantastic experience)…and with only 14 days left of school (but I’m not counting), things are starting to wind down around here. Winding down for me means winding up for home projects. So

{It takes time…}

2012-03-03T13:48:00.001-06:00

We have finally finished our transom windows and I just had to share! I really couldn’t wait any longer. Transom windows are typical in older homes that were built before air conditioning, and usually opened to allow ventilation of the room. Our DIY versions do not move, but we feel they add some architectural detail to our new home…which we feel gives our house little bit more charming

{Because Inquiring Minds Want to Know!}

2012-02-21T20:35:00.001-06:00

I have received a lot of questions about some of our projects and what tools and/or advice we would give. Here’s a list of tips, answers to questions, and product suggestions (or at least what we have used). Be patient. If it doesn’t look right…take it down and try again. You’re NOT going to “ruin” your house. We still have to work on this one. We really don’t want to ruin our house, and

{This is progress…}

2012-02-15T18:08:00.001-06:00

I’ve got nothing. No deep thoughts. No inspirational quotes. No fun little tidbits. But, I can tell you, I’ve been busy. It’s been a little crazy around here, and I can honestly say that one word that comes to my mind the most is “overwhelmed.” Most of my pressures seem to come from school…school as in “my job” and school as in “me as student” and school as in “the college class I am

{…because sometimes a girl just needs a cookie.}

2012-02-05T17:13:00.001-06:00

I’ve been eating gluten and dairy free for about one month now. I’ve been pretty strict about it, too. I have seen some pretty dramatic changes in how I feel and in my skin…and I couldn’t be more pleased. A few things that have helped me eliminate these two very common ingredients from my diet: 1.) So Delicious Original Coconut Milk Coffee Creamer It’s creamy. It’s delicious. I don’t miss

{My Favorite Paint Colors}

2012-01-30T17:37:00.001-06:00

I need to paint this house. It has been officially a year since we moved into this builder beige house, and it is driving me crazy! We need some color up in here! My plan is to incorporate subdued color into each room. Here’s my plan for the main level… Kitchen, Mudroom, and Hallway/EntryNomadic Desert (Sherwin Williams) I like this color because it’s a true neutral. We painted this

{Am I missing something?}

2012-01-26T19:42:00.001-06:00

Okay, I certainly don’t claim to be a “design” expert. Actually, I can’t really claim to be an expert on anything. So, I thought maybe I would ask all of you. I recently spied the Splayer Sofa from Anthropologie online…And I was just wondering…am I missing something? Really? $6500 + $300 for shipping? I don’t get it? I mean I love Anthropologie. I really do…I just bought these colorful

{Reader Question} A Kitchen Island…with Charm

2012-01-23T21:08:00.001-06:00

I love the comments and emails that I get from readers. Let me assure you, I read them all…every last one. I recently got an email from a woman in Florida named Dena. She wrote: Hi Erin, I wanted to ask your advice if you do not mind. I am looking to get a kitchen island. (not something built in) I am looking for something with a little character, not just your "run of the mill" bland

{Stuffed Pepper Soup}

2012-01-19T16:44:00.001-06:00

Trying recipes and working on becoming dairy and gluten free has been pretty easy for me (so far)…thanks to my mom, Lara Bars, and coconut coffee creamer. My mom has been helping me research recipes that I could easily do. We also talked about some recipes that we already do that would easily be converted to gluten free. For example, our Slow Cooker Chicken and Pork Tacos that I wrote about

{DIY Door Casings}…the easy way.

2012-01-18T10:53:00.001-06:00

We finally finished our door casings! And although it was a pretty easy project, it did seem to take us a long time. We just couldn’t seem to find a stretch of time to finish. We’ve been done with this project for a couple of months, but picture taking has been on the back burner. Overall, I think they look great. And I am surprised at how they lift the overall look of our ceilings, which I