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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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June 14, 2011

Getting ready for the Blogger Block Party!

A Blog Party = Fun! A Blogger Block Party = Fantabulous Fun!!  Last week we announced we would be kicking off the official start of summer with our first annual Blogger Block Party on June 20-25!  That’s

12 Blogs
6 Days
1 HUGE party!

Blogger Block Party Graphic
We are joining forces with all of these fabulous bloggers to host one big
week long summer link party!

We each will have a summer related theme everyday of the week and you are welcome to link up as few or as many projects as you want throughout the week related to any of the themes..and trust us there is a theme for everyone! Because this is a “blog hop” the entire link party will show up on all 12 blogs the entire week so you are free to hop from blog to blog linking up your theme related projects!  We will wrap-up the Block Party on Saturday, here At The Picket Fence with a highlight feature of some of our favorite links! How cool is that?!

So what are the themes you ask?  Well here ya go!

DebbieDoo’s Blogging and Blabbing-Summer Paint Projects
At The Picket Fence (Vanessa)-Summer Activities for Kids
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia-Drop Cloth Projects
Savvy Southern Style-Summer Decks and Porches
DIY by Design-Outdoor Cooking and Dining
Elements Interiors-Summer DIY Projects
Green Door Girl Designs-Summer Fashions
No Minimalist Here-Summer Entertaining
SAS Interiors-Summer Spaces
Common Ground-A Vintage Summer
French Country Cottage-A Shabby Cottage Summer
Stuff and Nonsense-Summer Sales (Thrifting, Flea Markets and Yard Sales)
At The Picket Fence (Heather)-Fresh from the Garden (Garden Recipes and Projects)

WHEW! See we told ya there was something for everyone!  We hope you will visit each of the blogs where they will share what they have been up to this summer and then link up your theme related posts! You will see some blogs share a party date! That makes it even more fun!  Just hop over to the other themes and if you have a post (past or present) related to their theme you can link it up!
And, what would a party be without PRESENTS!?! Except these presents aren’t for us…they’re for you!  Yep! That’s right!

There will be 13 GIVEAWAYS..one for each theme! So you will need to visit each blog to see what their giveaway is!  That’s a whole lot of giveaway loving!  All giveaways will be drawn from those who link up projects! The more projects you link the more chances you have to win one of the incredible items we will be giving away!

Blogger Block Party Button
So here’s what we need YOU to do!  Get those summer posts ready to share with us!  It can be a past post or a new post…just as long as it’s related to summer!  No Christmas Trees please! Winking smile
And we’d love it if you’d help us spread the word about our Blogger Block Party by taking the button link below and placing it in your sidebar!

Or, if you really feel in the party spirit we’d love you to Blog, Facebook or Twitter (use #BloggerBlockParty) about the party!  Feel free to  use any of the graphics in our post.  We don’t mind this type of “borrowing”! Smile
So get ready to join us the week of June 20-25 for our week long Blogger Block Party! 
Hope to see you all there!
dual signature

Don’t Forget! Today’s the last day to enter our Etsy Shop Giveaway from
You can win a $25 gift certificate to Stacey’s lovely Etsy Shop so click on the link above to enter!

16 Comments Filed Under: Blogger Block Party

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Comments

  1. Ann from On Sutton Place says

    June 14, 2011 at 1:39 PM

    Thanks for this re-cap. I was trying to find the listing of parties somewhere and wa-la…it appeared on your blog! You two have perfect timing. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Debbie says

    June 14, 2011 at 1:55 PM

    Since I’ve been Debbie Doldrums lately, I’ll enjoy looking at tall the links for some summer inspiration.

    Reply
  3. ⚜ ↁℯℬℬᴵℰ⚜ says

    June 14, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    Looking forward to it girls!~

    Reply
  4. Honey at 2805 says

    June 14, 2011 at 2:38 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    Reply
  5. Peggy says

    June 14, 2011 at 2:58 PM

    This sounds so fun! Can’t wait =)

    Reply
  6. Coley says

    June 14, 2011 at 5:53 PM

    This is going to be FUN!

    Reply
  7. michelle says

    June 14, 2011 at 8:08 PM

    Looks like fun! It is on my sidebar now.
    🙂

    Reply
  8. Courtney ~ French Country Cottage says

    June 14, 2011 at 3:26 PM

    So excited about this girls~ I’ll be sharing this post this week too! Hugs, Courtney

    Reply
  9. Marianne says

    June 15, 2011 at 1:39 AM

    This sounds like so much fun..can’t wait!!
    marianne 🙂

    Reply
  10. ℳartina @ Northern Nesting says

    June 15, 2011 at 3:03 AM

    Hi girls I can’t wait!! Sounds like it’s going to be so much fun!! Martina

    Reply
  11. Necessary Inspiration says

    June 15, 2011 at 3:15 AM

    This sounds like fun…can’t wait. I’ve posted the button on my sidebar and am picking out my posts…thanks, Linda

    Reply
  12. ❀ⒹⒺⒺ❀ says

    June 15, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    Thanks for the details. I can’t wait to participate. This is going to be so much FUN!

    Dee 🙂

    Reply
  13. Andrea@ourbluefrontdoor says

    June 15, 2011 at 10:21 PM

    Looking forward to it! I’m spreading the love on my blog. You all rock and can’t wait to party with everyone!

    Reply
  14. Debbie@refreshrestyle.com says

    June 16, 2011 at 12:54 AM

    Thanks for doing this, I am looking forward to it!
    Debbie

    Reply
  15. Tammy says

    June 18, 2011 at 3:19 PM

    Looks like a good time! Placing it on my blog today!
    Tammy
    Junk Wild

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. No sew 4th of July bandana pillows and a winner says:
    January 29, 2013 at 3:34 PM

    […] and all things summer in our week long Summer Link Party!  You can find out more details at our Blogger Block Party Post! Hope to see you all there! We also have a winner for our Etsy Shop Giveaway from Maggie Jane’s […]

    Reply

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Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to sha Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to share all of the details of our family room shelving makeover but I’m super impatient and just had to give you all a sneak peek!! We are SO happy with how they turned out and it finally looks like I’ve always envisioned. Our quick fix years ago (scroll to see the before photo) never felt quite right but now? Soooo much better!! 🙌🏻 Big shoutout to our amazingly talented friend Matt @redemptive_woodworx for bringing our vision to life and doing such impeccable work.

I hope you all have a great start to the 4th of July weekend and make sure to check my stories later for Friday Funnies!
The month of June is coming to a close and it has The month of June is coming to a close and it has been JAM packed! The highlight by far though was my son's graduation from high school. When I started blogging, he was only 6 years old and some of you have been apart of my community here for that entire time. Now, he's 19 and there is a reason parents are told not to blink because the years truly do go faster than I ever could have imagined. He has become such an incredible young man we are so excited to see how God is going to unfold the next chapter of his life. We celebrated with parties galore (SO many open houses to attend!) and made memories we'll forever cherish. My mama heart was filled to bursting with the joy of it all! Now we're taking some time to just enjoy these warm, summer days making even more memories because, when you’re at this stage of parenting, you know all too well how much you need to grasp every opportunity to spend time together.

I hope your summer is off to a great start too dear friends! 🪴
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts o “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Happy first day of summer dear friends!! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted something new here but life has been crazy. I’ll have some new photos of house projects and life events to share with you soon but, got now, I’m just going to enjoy this gorgeous first day of summer after our ridiculously long, wet spring. ☀️
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. Th “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” (Maud Hart Lovelace) 

Welcome June!
“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”
General Douglas MacArthur

Grateful today and every day for those who were vigilant to the point of death in the preservation of our freedom. May we honor their sacrifice by being vigilant too. #memorialday
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10
This is one of my most favorite projects from my b This is one of my most favorite projects from my book Life in Season! 

Because, if heaven has a fragrance, I’m fairly certain it smells like lilacs.

I think that somewhere along the way the verse in the Bible that said, ‘heaven will smell like lilacs’ just got lost in translation. But it HAD to have been in there at some point, right?

When I bury my head in the blossoms (which I absolutely MUST do every single time I walk past them), I immediately feel a stirring in my soul.

It seems like I wait forever for my lilac tree to bloom. Every year I anxiously watch as the buds begin to form on the branches and then when the blossoms finally burst forth I begin that agonizing process of deciding the absolute perfect moment to snip them and bring them inside.

And then, after all of that waiting and watching it’s just over…done. Because, unlike heaven, lilacs don’t last for an eternity. So, making my own lilac room spray seemed like the perfect way to enjoy their fragrance long after the blossoms have faded.

Here’s how to make it! Ingredients: Water, Vodka, Lilac fragrance oil. Directions: Fill spray bottle with 50/50 ratio of water to vodka. Add 12 drops of lilac oil. Give it a shake, spray and if the scent isn’t strong enough, simply add a few more drops of lilac oil.

Once you’ve made this lilac scented room spray you will be very tempted to spray it in every room in your house. And someone may want to use it in the bathroom to cover up other less…ummmm….pleasing aromas.

But, do not, I repeat do NOT, let them.

You’ve captured the fragrance of heaven in a bottle and you wouldn’t want to go and tarnish it now would you? 😉
We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most we’ve had in a LONG time) and now we are back to pouring rain. This has officially confirmed what I’ve know to be true for awhile now.

I’m a MUCH better version of myself when the sun is shining! 🤪 So I’ll just be over here today plotting and planning how my husband and I can be snowbirds someday when the kids are out of the house.

If you could spend your winters (and apparently most of spring too!) in any part of the country, where would it be?
Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of rain lately (which is saying something when you live in Oregon) and I’ll admit that it’s affecting my moods a bit. I feel like I’m dragging and struggling to find the energy to get stuff done. So don’t mind me if I’m over here looking at photos of my garden in the summertime and finding that it keeps me hopeful about those days to come. They will come, right?! 🤪. 

What are your favorite plants that you look forward to seeing in the summer?
We’re going to be giving our laundry room a make We’re going to be giving our laundry room a makeover soon. It’s LONG overdue! In fact, the folks from the counter company were just here taking measurements. While we have made some simple, inexpensive updates over the years, it still has many of the original elements from when the house was built in 1992.

Two of our bathrooms are also in need of major makeovers. And we’ve saved up enough money over the years to tackle those projects. But, for the most part, we made the decision to use the bulk of that money in another way. While we knew that it was financially wise to invest in our house, we also knew that the greatest investment we could make was in our children. 

I’ll admit, there are times where I see other people doing massive overhauls of their entire home in a matter of months and I feel a prick of envy. But, we decided that if our choice was between waiting a bit longer to enjoy a renovated bathroom or going on adventures as a family, we would choose adventures every time. And we don’t regret that decision for a single second. It’s not that we haven’t tackled home projects (we’ve done a lot!). It’s just that it’s been a slow and steady process. 

Most recently, we let our son pick where we would travel for spring break since this is his senior year of high school and we are trying to make up for lost time. With so much of life ‘paused’ for two years, we have appreciated these moments more than ever. And, since he’ll be heading to college in the fall, we are very aware of how important it is to spend this time together while we still have a modicum of control over everyone’s schedules.

We have many years left to remodel our home but only so much time left to make memories with our children.

And, while I’m always happy to look around my home and see rooms that are updated and more reflecting of our style, it doesn’t compare to the joy I feel when I look around my home and see the people I love the most who have been shaped by the many adventures we’ve experienced together.
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