Welcome to Inspiration Friday No. 66!

It just never gets any easier for us to choose only a handful of Links to feature each week!

You truly are some seriously creative and talented folks and we are always honored when you decide to share that with us here at Inspiration Friday. We have loved getting to meet so many new folks here lately too and want to officially welcome you to the party! Of course, we also love all of our regulars…our friends…our peeps…and we know that this party wouldn’t be the same without you.

Now, while we are on the subject of talent and creativity, we want to take a minute and introduce you to our newest Sponsors here at the Fence!

Kathy of Creative Home Expressions has been a long time blog friend and we are just so thrilled to be partnering with her and her incredible shop:

She has gorgeous items with a French flare for sale. Just take a look!

We are also so thrilled to be partnering with Janelle of:

“Emmaline is a collection of unique, 100% handmade, handbags, purses, and PDF sewing patterns created in Queensland, Australia” 

We are also welcoming Emily of Philosophias. She creates handmade, eco-friendly accessories with 20% of her proceeds going to support World Vision. The rest of the proceeds of her sales are helping this talented young woman pay her way through college and support her dream of joining the Peace Corps.

Here are just a couple of the beautiful pieces you will find in her shop:

Okie dokie artichokies, it is now time for us to take a look back at some fabulous highlights from last week’s party!

INSPIRED ROOMS

Sonya from Beyond the Screen Door is one of the most talented seamstresses we know and she has recently launched her own shop!

Last week she shared with us these gorgeous drapes which she custom made for the most incredible Waiting Room we have ever seen! Seriously, we could just move right in there. 

Tuck a mini-fridge in the corner and we would be good to go!

Who wouldn’t mind waiting to see their doctor in such a beautiful space?

Rebekah from Woven Home revealed her son’s incredible bedroom! It has so many charming details and you absolutely have to go see the rest of the photos to fully appreciate how amazing this room really is. 

We love the owl stenciled wall!

MAKEOVERS

Decorate With a Little Bit has been working her magic all throughout her home and this beautiful Sun Room got quite the makeover. You won't believe the view she has out that window too!

Jen of Harrison Home cleverly created more storage and display space by removing the cabinet doors above her fridge and adding bead board to up the charm factor. She just installed some gorgeous new lights in her kitchen too so be sure to stop by and take a look!

Melissa of Daisy Mae Belle gave some pillows a fresh new look with darling slipcovers and they now grace the bench outside of her daughters’ positively adorable playhouse! 

We're sending our kids on over to play at your place ok Melissa? 

 

CRAFTS & CREATIONS

Lindsay from Southern Lovely showed us how to make this adorable Flower Petal Shirt and all we want to know is if we are too old to wear one because that is just so cute!

Shelley of Crazy Wonderful shared a wonderful tutorial on how to make this Dog Silhouette Art which rests on the dresser of her daughter’s darling bedroom.

We can never get enough of all of the incredible Angry Bird themed projects around here! So, of course, we absolutely love this fantastic Angry Bird Pom Pom party favors created by Melysa of Moments with the Montanos!

RECIPES

These Nutella Banana Coconut Hot Pockets from Jo-Anna at A Pretty Life in the Suburbs combine all of our favorite flavors and we think it would be a miracle if they lasted more than 5 minutes in either of our homes!

Sharon of Lilikoi Joy shared with us the recipe for “Put the Lime in the Coconut Cupcakes” and we think these sound as delicious as they look!

 

INSPIRING STORIES

Our beautiful friend Richella of Imparting Grace shared with us how God has used her birthmark to reveal the truth of how He sees her…and all of us. And, how He can use something the world views as an “imperfection” to be a beautiful, redeeming way to glorify Him!

Erica of Let Why Lead put a voice to something which every mom has felt from time to time when she shared her thoughts regarding “When it Feels Like Motherhood Doesn’t Fit”. We so appreciate her honesty and her heart!

If you were featured today (or have been featured in the past) please grab the featured at button code located on our Buttons Page found under our header!

Are you following At The Picket Fence on Facebook? Don't forget we feature many of your links during the week on our Facebook Page! If you've been featured there, grab a button as well!

Are you following us on

We sure hope so! BUT...We have a SPECIAL REQUEST of you, if you visit INSPIRATION FRIDAY and like to PIN the great projects you see here! Please pin from the ORIGINAL SOURCE and not our blog...unless it's one of our own creations, then by all means pin away from here...we won't mind! ;)

Thank you to everyone who shared so many fabulous posts with us last week! We appreciate you!

Now it's time to share with us what has inspired you this week!

Thank you so much for joining us for Inspiration Friday at the Fence,

When you are done linking up head over and party with the other Friday Party Friends:

Now all ya PARTY PEOPLE it's time to link on up...here's some instructions for Inspiration Friday

• Link Up any post you've written that has Inspired You and will Inspire Others-it can be a home improvement project, craft, recipe, story, devotional...if it inspires link it up!
• Be sure to link back to your original post  and not just your url (main blog address)
• Please post our button (code on our Buttons Page found at top of blog) or a text link on your blog so others can join in the fun! (MANDATORY to be featured At The Picket Fence) Tutorial on how to link up a button: Blogging 101
• Visit another guest. Please try and visit at least the link directly above and below you! We try to visit as many posts as we can but as Inspiration Friday grows sometimes we miss some and for that we apologize. It makes us feel good knowing others are visiting people as well! Thank you..it truly means a lot to us

And while it's not a requirement, we'd sure love ya to be following along with us in some capacity! Below are some great options!

This Inspiration Friday Party is Sponsored By:

where you can find gorgeous decorative pillow covers like this:

Spend the Summer With Us...Sponsorship Opportunities

Summer is just around the corner and we're gearing up to share some fabulous projects, crafts, recipes and of course lots of partying in honor of Summer!

We also wanted to take a moment to invite you to consider advertising with us here At The Picket Fence during the Summer months. 
We LOVE our sponsors! They are our friends, we appreciate their support of our blog and we strive to showcase their talents, products and ingenuity! 
Here are just a few of the comments we have received from our sponsors:

"May I take a moment of your valuable time and tell you that I definitely think that your advertising is the tops in your field!!! I so appreciate that it seems like every other day or so you all are doing something to mention my shop.  I am so pleased with the money I have spent with you. Thank you again for your dedication to your advertising."

"You gals rock!  Please invoice me for an additional three months. I know my tight advertising budget is well spent on your blog.  Your efforts and hard work are noticed and appreciated."

"Thanks for always being AWESOME!"

"I love your blog and am so happy to be able to work with you as a sponsor.  Thanks for all of your promotional work.  It is so fun to be involved with your blog!"

Now we didn't share all of those to "toot our own horn"....okay so maybe just a teeny tiny little toot... but we did so to share with you how hard we work to support our sponsors...and we'd love to do the same for you!

We have grown by leaps and bounds over the past year! For specific stats you can visit our Advertise With Us page.  We offer several different ad options and it couldn't be easier to sign-up right through our Advertise page!

And as a way to celebrate summer we'd like to offer any new, or returning, sponsors a
Summer Advertising Special!!

Just put in code: 

Summer Days

when you sign up to advertise, to receive a  one time 25% discount off of the ad of your choosing from now through August! 

If you have any questions please feel free to email us through our Contact Page and we hope you'll consider spending the summer with us...At The Picket Fence!

A Picket Fence Project

I’ve been keeping a little project under wraps for a few months now.

You see, right before Christmas I got a call from our dear friends Craig and Denise.

They led the Young Marrieds Community Group at our church

 wayyyy back when we were young marrieds. ;)

Since then there have been 4 or 5 other “young marrieds” groups that have formed so we definitely don’t qualify for that demographic anymore!

But, I digress.

2 weeks before Christmas, Craig and Denise were upstairs in their home when Denise smelled smoke.
They realized that it was coming from their basement and when they opened the door leading down the stairs, smoke immediately poured out. While Denise called 911, Craig crawled down the stairs to make sure that there were no windows or doors open. He is a blueberry farmer and just beyond their home are acres and acres of some of the most lush and beautiful land in the Willamette Valley.

To lose a house is one thing, to lose all of those crops would be quite another!

But most importantly, no one was hurt!

While the flames did damage downstairs, the smoke took care of the rest.

It was so extensive that they quickly realized that this would be a gut job.
The cause was related to an electrical problem.

The walls would need to be taken down to the studs.

And that is where I came in!

Craig and Denise saw the silver lining in all of this mess and realized that they were now presented with the unique opportunity of redesigning their entire home. They hired an awesome builder, Brandon, (who also attends our church and whose wife went to school with my husband!) and they asked me if I would be willing to join the team and be apart of every phase of this rebuild.

I immediately jumped at the chance!

While I have had opportunities to provide “decorating” services for people in the past, this is my first time working on a project of this magnitude and I have absolutely LOVED being involved on this side of it.

I never realized how much I would enjoy sketching floor plans and solving dilemmas like where to place the master bedroom doors. (They went with my idea by the way!)

And this past week we met out at the job site to see how work is progressing.

As you can see, the only thing remaining from the original interior of the house is the brick fireplace, and even it will be getting a major face lift!

What was once a dark home filled with smaller rooms and a chopped up floor plan will now be an open and spacious one flooded with light!

The fireplace will separate the kitchen from the family room. 

In this next photo I am standing in what will be the family room looking towards the kitchen.

Here, Denise and Brandon discuss her new window seat which is something she has always wanted.

And here we are standing in what will be the kitchen discussing the new layout. 

We were also discussing the options for refacing the fireplace.

It is all going to be so gorgeous and very soon we will be picking out cabinets and flooring!

This hallway is just off of the kitchen and leads to what will be a very nice sized main floor bathroom and just beyond will be a HUGE mudroom. This is a horse-riding family so we plan on this space giving them plenty of room for taking off their boots. I also made a suggestion for how this room could serve another purpose and I will be sharing that idea along with some inspiration photos in another post!

The basement, which is where the fire began, was once a jumble of small, awkward rooms and hallways. It will now be a beautiful open space with 2 large bedroom suites, an open living area and a small kitchenette.

I am deeply honored that Craig and Denise hired me on to be part of this exciting project.

While I know they wish this had never happened, they are very aware of how blessed they are that no one was hurt in the fire and that they now have the opportunity to create their dream home.

And, I am so excited that I get to take all of YOU along on this journey with us!

So, buckle up friends, I’m going to be calling on you for your opinions and advice along the way and I can’t imagine a greater resource to have than all of you amazingly talented folks!

Thanks so much for joining me today for this first installment of A Picket Fence Project!

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