I’m in this month’s issue of Good Housekeeping!
It’s a teeny-tiny-don’t-blink-or-you-will-miss-it feature.
But it’s there!
And why am I in Good Housekeeping do you ask?
Well, I’ll tell ya.
[Read more…]
At a Snail’s Pace
It seems that all summer long my life revolves around one word.
Watering.
For the most part, I actually really enjoy having this job. There is just something so therapeutic about watching the watering can slowly fill up.
I haul it all around the yard and convince myself that this must count as exercise. Unless I have a little person offering to help mommy with this task, I’m usually by myself. And, standing over the plants, offering them much needed hydration, I relish the quiet. I do some of my best thinking and praying while I’m watering.
But, on one particular morning, I was in a hurry to just get it done.
It was getting to that point in the late summer when the watering starts to get tedious.
I hurried out the back door, scooped up the watering can and headed for the faucet.
As I crossed the lawn, I noticed a snail working its way across the grass.
Now normally, around our house, snails and slugs are only seen as enemies which must be destroyed lest they destroy our garden.
But, I was feeling benevolent that morning so I left it alone.
And besides, it was heading away from the garden, not towards it!
As I went about my watering routine, I kept checking back to see how the snail was progressing on its trek across our yard.
Every time I glanced over I was surprised by how much farther along it was.
I mean, it was a snail after all. They’re not known for their speed!
If I stood and watched it, it seemed to be moving so slowly.
But, if I went away and came back, the snail seemed to have covered quite an impressive distance, considering it was a snail.
I wondered if it was being intentional about its goal of reaching the bark just beyond the grass. Could it “see” the final destination or did it just know that it needed to keep moving forward.
And, in that moment, I saw myself in that snail. Now, that is something I never thought I would relate to! But, there it was, inching its way along.
That snail reminded me of where I am currently on my faith journey.
You see, there are things in life that propel us forward very quickly.
Loss, trauma, tragedy, grief.
When these things occur, we are forced to jump ahead.
We rapidly come to new understandings about God and His plan for our lives.
I’ve had these kinds of occurrences in my own life.
Things which have caused my faith to grow by leaps and bounds.
They may have been painful, but they certainly contributed to a deeper connection with my Savior.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers (and sisters!), whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking any wisdom.”
James 1:2-4
But, most of the time, I feel like that snail.
Inching my way along.
In this season of my life, I’ve traded leaps and bounds for something slower…more steady.
Between the peaks and valleys of life there are often plateaus.
Times when we aren’t experiencing extreme highs or low.
When we are just dealing with the day in and day out stuff of life.
It doesn’t mean that there isn’t movement, though.
Just like that snail, I continue towards my destination…to be more like Christ.
It seems like I’m moving so slowly and yet if I look back I can see just how far I’ve come.
On this nondescript summer day I found myself rooting for a snail.
As it got closer and closer to the edge of the lawn, I willed it to keep going, keep trying, keep pressing on. I so admired it’s dogged determination.
When it finally made it to the edge of the grass and onto the bark I wanted to let out a cheer!
You did it little snail!
But then, it just kept on going.
Maybe the bark wasn’t the final destination after all.
Maybe the snail knew that the real goal wasn’t so visible….so easily attained.
And so, like that snail, I continue on towards my goal.
There will be more peaks and valleys along the way.
But there will be even more plateaus.
And in those times when it seems like I am only just inching along, I will remember the snail.
“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14
A Potting Bench Love Story
I’ve always wanted a potting bench. Just typing out the words ‘potting bench’ makes me feel as though I should be walking through my peaceful English garden wearing a long, flowing dress, wide-brimmed floppy hat and carrying a basket over one arm filled with cuttings from my flower beds. I would take them over to my hand-crafted potting bench, select the perfect vessel for them and create gorgeous arrangements without ever getting a speck of dirt on my long, flowing dress.
But, I don’t have an English garden. And the last time I wore a long flowing dress I kept tripping over it when I had to climb stairs. I have some rose bushes but I wear flip-flops to snip their blooms and I have yet to be able to put plants in a pot without winding up covered in dirt.
And, my potting bench comes from Big Lots.
How To Make Pepper Vinegar… the nectar of the South!
I’ve learned a few things since being married to a southern (born and raised) boy for the last 20 years. If you can shoot it, you can eat it. If you can grow it, you can eat it. If it’s good, it’s even better fried. If you can cook it, cook it even longer..for example turnip greens!
Marrying a Southerner has been a culinary adventure. Since marrying into my husband’s family I have experienced more unique foods than I ever had in all the years before we met. Okra, Rutabaga, Turnip Greens, Black Eyed Peas, Chow-Chow, Squash Pickles…and many more! I also learned that southerners are rarely happy to let a side dish stand as it is, they love to cover it, smother it and add goodies like bacon drippings (I know yum!) and the ever popular hot pepper vinegar. They love to douse their greens, their peas and their fried okra in this simple yet delicious seasoned vinegar that adds just the right kick to their favorite dishes.
I will never forget the first time I had turnip greens with pepper vinegar. One would think you could not improve on turnip greens cooked low and slow in rendered bacon but adding pepper vinegar takes even the best cooked veggies up a notch. I was hooked!
I knew I had to learn to make my own pepper vinegar…paying homage to the memory of every good “southern” cook, and I found the perfect way to store it. Darling bottles from the Dollar Tree and Home Goods.
I couldn’t wait to start making pepper vinegar, and now I’m going to share this great little sauce with you…so you can too can learn how to be a true Southerner too!
Homemade Southern Pepper Vinegar-Heather from At The Picket Fence
servings vary depending on amount of peppers and size of jars
Ingredients:
Variety of hot peppers, cayenne, chili, etc
White Vinegar
Tsp. of course salt per 3 cups of vinegar
Glass jars with plastic stoppers (they can have metal spouts but the parts that have constant contact with the vinegar need to be non-metallic)Chopstick or other type of long thin stick that will fit into neck of jar
Directions:
Wash containers thoroughly removing all soap residue. Boil water and pour into each jar, allow to cool slightly and than discard water. This will sterilize containers. Allow containers to air dry. Gently wash peppers and air dry. Depending on the desired heat you can poke small holes in some of the peppers, this allows the juice of the peppers to more thoroughly incorporate with the vinegar. (We suggest wearing gloves while handling the peppers, especially if you are going to cut into them at all) If you are desiring less heat in your vinegar sauce, than leave peppers intact.
Using a chopstick, gently push each pepper into the container, making sure each pepper will fit through the neck of the container and layering them in a pretty pattern.
Be sure to fill your container with plenty of peppers but not where any stems are coming up into the neck of the container. Place vinegar and salt into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 2-3 minutes to sterilize the vinegar. Allow to cool slightly. Pour vinegar into a measuring cup with a lip. Placing a funnel into the container, gently pour the vinegar over the peppers.
Fill containers to the bottom of the neck, being careful not to overfill. Allow vinegar to cool. If vinegar level seems to have decreased you may need to add more vinegar, as the peppers will absorb some. After containers have cooled completely, place tops on containers and store in a cool dry place for at least a week for best flavor. Vinegar will continue to age and the flavor will intensify over time. When vinegar is used up, you can replace with more sterilized vinegar reusing the peppers. Now all you have to do is enjoy your homemade pepper vinegar on anything and everything!
Feeling a little bit more Southern now? Well, I guarantee you’ll fit right in after you start putting this homemade pepper vinegar on anything and everything you eat! Enjoy!
This post is partying at:
Live.Laugh.Rowe
Stone Gable
Hanging Garden Markers
Like many of you, we love having a garden!
Every year my kids can’t wait to get those seeds in the ground and we wait anxiously for those first sprouts to peek up through the soil. Somehow the process just never ceases to amaze and thrill me and I’m just as eager as my kiddos to watch it all unfold!
This year we decided we needed some garden markers and I really wanted them to have the kids’ “stamp” on them.
While perusing the aisles of Michael’s one day we saw these darling little wooden plaques with rope handles and while I wasn’t quite sure how it would all work out, I threw caution to the wind and snatched them up!
Anyone who has attempted doing crafts with kids knows that these experiences can go one of two ways.
It is either a “pulling out your hair because no one is listening and everyone is arguing and won’t share their markers and ruins the first 10 attempts and leaves you wondering why you ever bothered doing crafts with your kids in the first place” kind of experience.
OR
It is a “lovely summer afternoon and everyone calmly listens to mommy explain the craft and no one fights over the markers and they are so proud of themselves and you are so proud of them and you wonder why on earth you don’t do more crafts with your kids” kind of experience.
Fortunately, this one fell into the second category!
I had the kids go to the garden and memorize what we had growing.
Then they came back to the table and after dividing up the plaques, they wrote the name of the plant and drew a picture of it.
Are those not the sweetest carrots you’ve ever seen?!
This next part is VERY IMPORTANT!
Be sure to spray each plaque with 2-3 coats of polyurethane in order to seal and protect it from water. Then we got to that point in the craft where Mommy just had to wing it. Not an uncommon occurrence around these parts I have to admit! How was I going to hang those adorable plaques in the garden? Enter the dry cleaning hangers!
All I did was use wire cutters and clipped off the bottom part of the hangers. Then I used pliers to make the little hook at the top of each one. Each time I picked up another one I channeled Joan Crawford.
“No wire hangers EVER”!
Thankfully, the hanger hooks worked perfectly!
And the kids had so much fun attaching the plaques to the appropriate plant hook.
Can you guessssss why this Parsley plaque is my favorite?
And the best part?
This particular “crafting with kids” moment gave this mommy hope and motivation to try another one soon.
I didn’t even feel like pulling my hair out!
Thanks so much for joining me today at the Fence,
This post is partying here:
MercyINK: Heart and Home Party
DIY By Design: Sizzle Into Summer
Imparting Grace: Grace at Home
How to make a Faux Wine Box Planter
Being a home decor blogger causes you to think outside of the box (yes..the pun was intended…) I know I’m not the only one who walks through Ikea, TJ Maxx or even better the Goodwill and sees a future project around every corner. That’s how I felt when I found this box at the Goodwill for $2.00.
I immediately knew it had a new life lurking in there somewhere. A more sophisticated life. One that had experienced things, been places. It spoke to me and said, “Please buy me for $2.00 and make me a vintage wine box Heather… I have faith in you.”
First I spray painted several coats onto the box in a lovely yellow shade. We are freshening up our deck and I have decided to add some yellow decor elements.
Of course to see it’s full potential as a wine box it must have a wine box label. Enter Karen, The Graphics Fairy. I sprinkled a little fairy dust over my laptop and came up with this amazing vintage wine label.
I am not the most artistic person so I knew I needed a way to transfer the image without involving me having to draw, color or otherwise recreate the graphic myself in anyway. I decided on this tissue paper method and it worked great!
Here’s a step by step collage
After the mod podge application dried, I aged the box by sanding down the paint on the outer corners and along edges where natural wear would take place. I touched these placed with a dark brown stain and applied several coats of a clear polyurethane to protect from water damage since this will be outside.
I purchased 8 tin buckets at my beloved Ikea for .99 each and rescued 8 little plants from my local grocery store that were 50% off. Am I the only flower rescuer out there? I just can’t stand to see those pitiful little flowers all dried out and abandoned. I love to bring them home and nurture them back to their full potential…hey wait there seems to be a theme here!
I love my faux wine box planter!
I am so pleased that the vision I had for this Goodwill find came to life…I think my little box is happy too!
What great finds have you been transforming? Hope you’ve been inspired to see the potential in the humblest of objects!
How to age new garden pots
The topic of aging has been forefront in my mind these days since…well..ahem…I turned…forty… this past Friday. And while it takes years, hopefully, to age oneself, it only takes a few hours to age new gardening pots.
I found this pin on Pinterest (are you following us on Pinterest? We’d sure love it if you would!) several weeks back and just love the look of these aged blue terra cotta pots.
Source:Country Living
I knew that with some paint and a little elbow grease I could create some of my own.
They may not be identical but I think they definitely look like they’ve seen some years in the garden, instead of a few weeks on the store shelf.
Here’s all it takes to create this same look yourself.
Materials:
Terra Cotta pots (new or old) in various sizes
spray paint and/or regular paint in the color of your choice (I just used some left over wall paint I had)
inexpensive foam craft brushes
sanding sponge
steel wool
hammer
exacto blade
Directions: (this couldn’t be easier)
Paint your pots, lighter on some heavier on others I painted the teal blue underneath some of the pots and the lighter color on top in layers. While paint is still slightly wet, take your sanding sponge and start to sand off the paint in areas that would normally receive wear.
Do this along the rim and bottom of pot. Also along any edges. For a more distressed look use the steel wool and heavily scrape off the pain along the surface. You can also use an exacto knife to chip off the paint. Take a hammer and lightly chip off some of the pot, revealing the terra cotta color underneath. Continue these steps until you get the look you want.
That’s it!
One of the benefits of having Better Homes and Gardens out to our house was I got to keep all of these gorgeous potted herbs that they purchased for the photo shoot!
They just happened to be some of our favorites!
I can’t wait to start enjoying our fresh herbs this year thanks to Better Homes and Gardens, and I’m so excited to be out working in the yard!
What outdoor projects are you “itchin’ to get working on?
Welcome to Inspiration Friday N0. 28!
Whew! It’s been a busy couple of weeks At The Picket Fence. Heather made a whirlwind trip to Arizona to visit our parents in their new home and Vanessa is taking some time with her family enjoying a few more days of summer before school starts. We’ve been preparing for a new school year where Vanessa’s two rascals will both be heading off to the classroom for the first time; and Heather will be homeschooling a middle-schooler and a SENIOR! Yikes!
We can tell you all have been busy as well with “back to school” preparation, wrapping up summer projects and bringing in the harvests from your gardens. Speaking of gardens… Heather promised on Facebook to share some of her zucchini recipes and we though what a better time to do that than at Inspiration Friday!
This recipe is a perfect way to use up that extra zucchini you have hanging around, and a great way to sneak in some veggies into a child who wouldn’t normally touch zucchini with a ten foot pole!
I promise you kids will never know they are eating their veggies when you serve them these cupcakes! Of course, the oh so yummy cream cheese frosting might offset the healthy vegetables slightly…but a little frosting is a great tradeoff to say you got your kid to eat zucchini, right? grin.
I found this great recipe at Buttermilk Bakes. It’s an adaptation of John Barricelli’s recipe in the The Sono Baking Company Cookbook. You can print this delicious recipe by clicking on the link below:
I did use a different cream cheese frosting recipe. I L.O.V.E. i am baker. Every recipe she creates is fabulous and her cream cheese frosting is no exception and it couldn’t be easier!
The combination of these two recipes made for a delicious treat! I doubled the cupcake recipe and ended up with 36 cupcakes! These can be frozen. I used a single batch of the frosting.
By the way, did you know you can also freeze your shredded zucchini?! I did not know this until I was stuck with blessed with 18 cups of shredded zucchini! I froze the zucchini in 2 cup portions and I can pull out what I need when I’m ready to use it! I hope you’ll give this yummy recipe a try! I know you won’t be disappointed! I’ll be sharing a few more zucchini recipes in some upcoming posts. ~Heather
Now onto this week’s Inspiration Friday Features!
We fell in love with Petie at Inspired Nestings’s adorable DIY Antipasto Servers!
Petie saw similar ones in the Napa Style Catalog for…well let’s just say way more than she wanted to spend! She didn’t let that stop her from having some of her own though! Head over to Inspired Nesting to see her great tutorial on how to make some of these cute servers yourself!
We are not quite ready to give up summer yet and either is Amanda from Girl In Pink! Amanda restyled her kitchen corner cabinet to help her remember a lovely beach vacation she took with her beautiful family.
You can see all of the details of Amanda’s lovely cabinet as well as gorgeous photos of her family’s time at the coast by visiting her at Girl In Pink!
We just love the ingenuity of our Inspiration Friday friends and we love all of the great frugal ideas we come across each week! This next feature is a tutorial we all could unfortunately use because it deals with laundry…the never ending chore. But Kadie at Seven Alive shares a way for us to do that laundry just a little cheaper!
Kadie makes her own laundry soap and she makes it look easy-peasy! You’ll be amazed at the cost savings! Visit Kadie at Seven Alive to learn how you too can make your own.
Kate from Everything Reconsidered always shares the most lovely recipes with us at Inspiration Friday and this next one was no exception.
Her Dilled Carrot Soup would be such a lovely recipe to have as we transition from Summer to Fall! Isn’t the color just divine?! It’s also gluten and dairy free as our most of Kate’s recipes. We invite you to pay Kate a visit to get the recipe for this beautiful soup!
This last feature epitomizes what we love about Inspiration Friday and why we make it so encompassing! Lauren from My Wonderfully Made blessed us with her beautiful post on God’s goodness!
To the casual observer this may just look like a lovely photograph of Lauren and her husband at their son’s wedding but when you read Lauren’s post you will realize what a true miracle this picture is! Lauren’s husband suffered a heart attack the week of the wedding…and she gives us a glimpse in her post at My Wonderfully Made how God’s grace touched their lives that week. Thank you for sharing this special post with us Lauren!
And thank you to all of our features this week as well as to all of you who share your amazing ideas, projects and inspiration with us this week!
If you were featured today (or have been featured in the past) please grab the featured at button located in our sidebar!
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! 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 the rules!
- Friend At The Picket Fence in some capacity
- 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 in the sidebar) or a text link on your blog so others can join in the fun! (MANDATORY)
- 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 and especially during the busy summer months, sometimes we miss some and for that we apologize. It makes us feed good knowing others are visiting people as well! Thank you..it truly means a lot to us!
We would love to recommend this fabulous post over at Crafter Minds for a quick tutorial on partying at a linky party! We couldn’t say it better ourselves! “Linky Party Like a Dinner Party?”
This week’s Inspiration Friday is sponsored by
“If your walls could talk…what would they say?”
A Potting Bench Love Story
Follow the stone path…
Past the Agapanthus just begining to bloom..
And you’ll find yourself at…
Ok…so, not actually AT Big Lots!
But, you will find this Potting Bench. And I did buy it at Big Lots!
Who would have thunk it?
I’ve dreamed of owning a potting bench for a long time.
I had the perfect spot all ready for it.
I had scoured every thrift store in town. I had been several times to our local ReStore.
I was determined I was going to have to “rig” something up or build it myself.
And then I popped into Big Lots one day looking for something else entirely when I spotted it!
It was like that moment in a love story…from across the room I saw it.
Even all boxed up I knew it was the one!
And then it just had to go and show off by being only $35 on sale!
But even a love story needs a little bit of embellishment now and then.
So, I decided to give this “built from a kit” potting bench a little extra charm!
One of my favorite pots filled with delicate white flowers.
Mason Jars filled with lavender all in a row.
This set of 4 Smith & Hawken boxes which came inside a larger box all for only $8 at my favorite consignment store. Don’t they look so perfectly weathered?
A vintage bucket filled with soil for smaller potting projects.
I LOVE the visible wear and tear on this and the $5 price tag didn’t hurt either!
Another vintage find was this “water dipper” which is perfect for scooping soil.
My father-in-law says he remembers drinking water out of one just like it when he was a little boy.
And…it was only $3!!
Ahhh….a Potting Bench dream come true!
Thanks for joining me today at the Fence,
And don’t forget about what’s coming soon!
To make this even more fun we would love to have you help us with our interviews! Yep, you read that right you get to help ask the questions! If you have a question you’ve always wanted to ask another blogger, now’s your opportunity! It can be fun, silly or maybe it’s a serious one, if so all you need to do is leave it below in the comments today on this post and your question might be one of those chosen to ask our Behind the Blog Bloggers!
This post is partying at the following places:
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia: Tuesday Treasures
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia: Tuesday Treasures
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Elements Interiors: Whassup Wednesday
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Common Ground: Vintage Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Common Ground: Vintage Inspiration Friday
*I was not compensated for the review of this product and/or the promotion of this company*
Blogger Block Party! Fresh from the Garden
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Wow it’s hard to believe we are already on day 5 of the Summer Blogger Block Party! We have seen soooo many fabulous posts and there’s still three days left to link up! A big thank you to all who have participated. The Block Party is taking the place of Inspiration Friday this week…but we’d love to have y’all come back next week to join us with anything inspiring you’d like to share!
It’s hard to imagine a country home without a garden! When we moved on to our acreage in Kentucky we knew that at some point we would want to put a garden in. While we come from a long ancestry of gardeners, neither Bama Boy or I had even had our OWN garden. Over the last few years and through a lot of trial and error we have become seasoned gardeners in our own right! We’ve learned how to build garden boxes, grow plants from seeds, how to get rid of pests organically, and how to can, pickle, preserve and otherwise utilize the bounty of produce we have grown! It’s been a fun learning experience!
Because our soil is mostly lovely Kentucky clay we decided to build gardening boxes, so we could control the quality of the soil. It was no small feat to build all of our garden boxes but it was well worth the effort.
Using left over lumber from a building project, Bama Boy constructed four large rectangular boxes down on the bottom part of our property. We filled the bottom with rocks to facilitate good drainage.
We had a good quality of garden soil delivered out to our place. Even though this can be a little pricey, it’s worth it in the long run to have a high quality soil to grow your plants in. Then Bama Boy prepared the soil by mixing in several other compounds such as peat and lime to achieve the proper ph levels..
Next we determined what we wanted to plant in which box.
We tried to keep vining plants together such as our cucumbers and squash.
We planted our trellised plants such as peas and beans together in another box. These are an early crop, so we were able to rotate some later producing tomatoes and peppers in this bed when the peas were done.
Like all good Southerners we dedicate an entire bed to tomatoes of all kinds! With these I like to make tomato sauce and sun dried tomatoes as well as use them for lots of summer pizzas and of course the quintessential Southern sandwich…tomato, mayo and white bread! 
After the beds were complete Bama Boy and his dad built a fence around the garden with a nice gate for us to access it. Needless to say living where we do we have a large deer and rabbit population. While we love wildlife out here in the country, it was not our intention to keep them fed off our garden all summer. Along the bottom of the fence we ran a low voltage battery operated electric fence. This has worked well to keep critters…and children for that matter ha! ha!…out of our garden. We also added a platform with a nice utility box attached to it to store all of our gardening supplies. This has been so handy! It allows us to keep everything right where we needed it instead of hauling it over several acres down a hill.
Our garden has given us so much pleasure over the last few years! Bama Boy has taken it over and has enjoyed it as a fun hobby and project.
So what do you “DO” with all of that bounty once it starts coming in?
| Banana Peppers from our garden |
| Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squash, and Peppers from our Garden |
| Okra from our Garden |
I step in when it’s time to start harvesting and we spend many summer afternoons canning, preserving, pickling and drying. I have also enjoyed creating and trying different recipes using what we grow!
The following have been some of our most productive crops from our garden.
I thought I’d share a few of my recipes for each. Enjoy!
Tomatoes:
Homemade Tomato Basil Simmer Sauce
{Print Recipe}
Chicken Parmigiana with Tomato Basil Simmer Sauce
{Print Recipe}
*All photographs are my own and from our garden!
Thank you for visiting our garden! I hope you have a chance to try some of these fabulous recipes! Even if you don’t have several acres to plant a large garden on, you can still grow wonderful things using containers or building smaller garden boxes. There is just something special about growing, tending and harvesting your own food! Enjoying the fruits of our labor way into the winter and spring is a wonderful reward for our hard work during the summer!
Since it’s not a party without presents and in honor of all of you fabulous gardeners, our super-duper generous sponsor The Simple Stencil is offering a choice of one of the following stencils:
You can choose your own color and any size up to a $30 value! A big thank you to The Simple Stencil for providing this giveaway! If you have a chance pay them a visit, you will be amazed at all they offer including custom stencils…
…and it’s just one of the 12 giveaways going on this week for the Blogger Block Party!
To be entered into the giveaway you MUST LINK UP (a summer related post) and LINK BACK! We are finding many people are not linking back to the Block Party in some capacity! Thank you to those who take the time to do this…it’s just polite party etiquette!
Here’s a coded button to make linking up super easy!
Now it’s time for YOU to share your garden posts with us? Do you have a post about gardening? Have you recently put a garden in our built your own garden boxes? Have some great recipes, canning tips, etc to share with us? If so, than it’s your turn to link up to the Blogger Block Party!
Don’t have a gardening post? That’s okay! There are three other FABULOUS themes today! Alison over at Stuff and Nonsense is hosting everything Summer “Sale-ing” Related! If you are a thrifty shopper and you’ve posted about your finds, head over and visit Alison and share your sale-ing posts with us! Items like this:
My fabulous Goodwill find that I turned into a Dining Caddy!
If you are a lover of all things Shabby Summer Cottage you will want to pay a visit to the lovely Courtney at French Country Cottage where she is sharing how she decks her cottage out for the summer! And of course we could never leave out our Vintage crowd! The fabulous Debra from Common Ground will be sharing how she celebrates summer in Vintage Style! See we told ya the Blogger Block Party would have a little something for everyone! And you’ve all probably figured this out by now but just in case…your link will show up on all 12 BLOGS participating as soon as you link up! Isn’t that cool? So read the rules, have fun at the party and link em on up!
- Link Up any post past or present related to this parties theme
- Be sure to link back to your original post and not just your url (main blog address)
- Please post the Blogger Block Party button (code located above and in sidebar) in your post so others can join in the fun! (MANDATORY)
- Visit another guest. We love it when you party with our other guests! Please take a moment and visit some of the other posts and leave some comment love! This is what makes a party so much fun!
- We’d love it if you’d share the Blogger Block Party on your Facebook Pages and Twitter (use #BloggerBlockParty in your tweet) (Not mandatory but we’d appreciate it!
And we always love getting new friends at the fence! We’d love to see your pretty face in our Google Friends list or send you free email updates. You can join either in our sidebar!