At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

Blogger Block Party Recap and Highlights!

We’re wrapping up the Blogger Block Party!

WHEW!!
Forgive us if we are a little out of breath.

We have been running up and down the block all week long stopping off at all of these amazing parties!

Can you believe how many links there were?
At last count we had 1138 and the party is still going on through Sunday so, if you want to have your SUMMER related post as part of the Summer Blogger Block Party there is still time!
Before we get to some of the highlights of the party (we thought it was tough to pick features from Inspiration Friday!) we just want to say a huge THANK YOU!

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To say that we are stunned and amazed at how many of you joined the Summer Blogger Block Party would be an understatement. I don’t think any of us could have predicted just how incredible and just how FUN this would end up being and we appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to link up. We like to think that maybe we even helped provide some extra motivation for folks to try a new activity with their kids, get creative with drop cloths, spruce up their decks or patios or porches, test a new recipe, try their hand at gardening, create a fun summer tablescape,  wear something fun for summer, add some vintage summer charm, venture out for some summer “sale”-ing, or carve out a special summer space for rest and relaxation.
Would you all have done that anyway? Probably! I mean, you are Bloggers, right?!
But this sure did give us a nudge in the right direction and we can’t imagine a better way to kick off our Summer then to get to see all of these incredible ideas and inspiration all in one place!
So now, if you don’t mind indulging us a bit more, we would like to share with you some of our favorite picks from the parties we hosted here at the Fence!

We have recently “met” this lovely new friend here in blogland and we just had to share this fantastic idea she linked up to Vanessa’s Summer Activities for Kids Party.

Paula’s blog Ivy and Elephants is full of beautiful ideas and inspirations and she just happens to be warm and friendly too…a winning combination! She and her son Sebastian spent an afternoon carefully selecting, cleaning and polishing some silver items (trays, creamers, teapots, etc.) found at thrift stores.
 
She then had him fill them with gravel, soil and succulents. We hear he ended up giving this one to his grandmother. And seriously, could this kid possibly be any more adorable??!! We don’t think so!

Next up is another lovely new friend Misty of Misty’s Mornings who shared with us this fantastic idea for fighting off those mysterious cases of “I’m Bored” Disease that tend to creep up in the summertime.

She sets up Quiet Stations for everything from building Legos in the playroom to writing letters to family members at the kitchen table. When the timer goes off, the kids head on over to the next station.
So Misty…do you think it would work to set up about 20 of these around the house?
We are thinking that could buy us some serious time to get things done!
Maybe there could even be a “Mommy takes a nap and no one interrupts her” station.

This next idea is not only a creative Summer Activity for your own kids, it is an incredible way to teach them how to extend grace and love (and their toys!) to other kids.

Becky from Organizing Made Fun hosts “Backyard Thursday” every week, every summer and provides a place for kids in the Los Angeles area who may not have the luxury of a backyard to play in, to come and experience the thrill of running through a lawn, digging in a sandbox, or even hang out in the “Girls Only” playhouse!

She has hit up garage sales and received many donated toys, helmets, skates and other play equipment which she then cleans up, organizes and stores neatly in easy to identify bins. As much of an impact as it has on the children who get to come and play at “Backyard Thursday“, it has also made a huge impact on Becky’s own children. They have learned how to show God’s love to others by doing something as simple as sharing their backyard. And just reading this post impacted us too! Thanks so much Becky!

Up next we have a few links from Heather’s Fresh from the Garden post that stood out!

Kelly from Till Death Do Us Part shared her beautiful raised beds she had built all on her own!

If you saw my garden post you know I’m a fan of raised beds!

Diann from the Thrifty Groove shared with us the incredible herbs her husband and she grow for their very own herb business!

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Yes, I’ll take all of these please! 🙂

We also has some fabulous Fresh from the Garden Recipes shared with us

Our friend Angela from Unexpected Elegance (we will be telling you all about her fabulous Etsy shop on Monday) did a great post on Canning 101!

Melissa from Shabby Love was kind enough to give us her recipe for…wait for it…Mojito Cupcakes!

Yeah we know…we want one too!

There were SO MANY other fabulous posts…it’s truly impossible to narrow them down to to a few so we thought it would be fun to also share three of the top summer related “clicked through” links (excluding the fabulous posts from our co-hostesses) from the Blogger Block Party.   It’s always fun to see what catches YOUR eye. These are in no particular order. 

The Shabby Chick My Summer Porch
On Sutton Place My New Front Door

We hope you have enjoyed our highlights! If you are like us you could spend all summer visiting these fabulous links! Therefore, starting Monday we will be providing a permanent link to the Blogger Block Party in our sidebar so you can drop by and visit all of these great bloggers anytime you like! During the summer we will also be occasionally featuring a post from the Summer Block Party, so make sure you’re a friend of At The Picket Fence cause you never know when you might see YOUR post featured on here!
Monday we will be announcing the giveaway winners of the fabulous gifts provided by these fabulous sponsors
Be sure to come back Monday to see if you won one of these great prizes!  And remember there’s still time to join in on the fun through Sunday!  You can visit Fresh from the Garden and link up your projects still!
Thank you for partying with us all week At The Picket Fence!
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  3. Congratulations! Your block party was certainly a rousing success. I can imagine your head is spinning! I think I clicked on a few more then fifty and I was overwhelmed as you get deeper into each blog it is a few hours later! 🙂 Thank you for this opportunity – it was a lot of fun. When is the NEXT one? Hee hee!

    Reply

  7. Thank you so much for the feature! I joined 4 out of the 6 parties and it was a blast! I will be going back to this party and checking out eveyones posts throughout the next couple months. So many amazing links! And you ladies did a fabulous job putting it all together!

    Reply

  8. All of you where great thank you so much for putting all of this together for all of us to have fun and get to know each other… And thank you for highlighting my back yard… Talk about feeling like a Million Bucks… have a great rest of the weekend.

    ~~Pattie~~
    The Shabby Chick

    Reply

  14. Thank you for hosting this awesome week long party! I had the best time looking at so much talent and wonderful posts! Such inspiration out there and the perfect way to share it.

    Have a great weekend!

    Reply

  18. Thank you so much for putting together the blog party! It was so much fun and inspired me to get projects done that have been on my to-do list for awhile! 🙂 Thank you also for highlighting my Mojito cupcakes! I’m so excited!!!!

    Melissa

    Reply

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