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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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  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

April 14, 2011

Inspiration Friday No. 11

Welcome one and all to Party Central!
You are in for a treat this weekend because we are offering you a “Two-fer”.
As always, we are thrilled to have you join us for

Where we welcome you to Inspire and Be Inspired, by linking up all of your fabulous DIY projects, crafts, home decor, recipes, and life experiences.
And we are kicking things off a little bit earlier this week because….

 We are excited to be bringing you another installment of

We know you have been on pins and needles just waiting for the next Sister Saturday!
Right?
cricket….cricket…cricket…
Well, you are getting it anyway!
And this time, we want you to link up all of your fantastic Easter/Spring Inspiration.
So, be sure to come back THIS Saturday and share your talented selves with us.
We have some fun in store for you too as we share how we knocked-off were so inspired by some previous Easter Inspiration that we made our own versions of your ideas!
Now, let’s get back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Just so you know, from the moment the Inspiration Friday party starts on Thursday all the way through Sunday, the number of phone calls and texts flying back and forth between us is astounding. We actually sit on the phone with each other and say things like this,
“Oh my goodness, did you see #such and such??!! That is incredible!”
“I know! What about the one so and so did? I’m totally gonna try it myself!”
“How do people come up with these amazing ideas?”
“Seriously!”
And then our husband’s say…
“Will we ever be allowed to use the computer again?”
To which we reply,
“Nope!”
Somehow, we do manage to calm down and actually pick out folks to Feature.
So here goes!


Andrea from Life.Love.Larson  shared with us these darling No Sew Napkin Pillows

This is one that Heather said she wants to try.
No sewing! We love it!
Hop over and pay Andrea a visit to her blog. Life.Love.Larson

Burlap!  It’s all the craze right now in the blogosphere and we’ve been seeing some pretty amazing burlap projects here at Inspiration Friday.  We thought this one from Debbie at
reFresh reStyle was a beautiful use of this humble material. 


This is a lovely painting, but Debbie was hoping for a new look.
So she took it from this…



To this!  Talk about your inspirational recycling!


We want to invite you over to see more of this fabulous burlap project from Debbie as well as her beautiful pictures!  
This next one about knocked Vanessa out of her chair!
Audrey  from Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats shared this beyond darling Vintage Schoolhouse Themed Birthday Party.

 Yep, you gotta see it to believe it!  We hope the few pictures we’ve shown will prompt you to get your tail over to Sweet Cheek’s Tasty Treats and see
Harper’s Vintage Schoolhouse Party.  

And finally after all of the hard work y’all spend on your beautiful, inspirational posts we decided you deserved a special treat!  Katie from Everything Reconsidered  shared this fabulous Chocolate Zucchini Cake with us…and guess what, it’s gluten free!
 Isn’t it amazing that these..


Can be made into this..


Ignore the missing pieces…we had to give it a taste test before we shared it with our friends at the fence..and we both declare Katie’s cake fabulous! Visit Katie to get the recipe to her Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

Now, don’t forget to grab your Featured At Button if you were featured at today’s party or during the week as a Facebook Feature! We have started featuring several links during the week on our Facebook page, so make sure you join us over there to see if you are featured! (did we say the word feature enough?? grin.)

Thanks for joining us at the fence!

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

The lovely Courtney at French Country Cottage

                        

And our beautiful friend Alison from Stuff and Nonsense

Stuff and Nonsense


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 are trying so hard between writing posts, homeschooling, and taking care of our families..grin..to visit everyone’s posts. Sometimes we miss one 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! 
And make sure to come back to the fence Saturday Morning for



with all of your fabulous Easter Posts..the party will be going on all week At The Picket Fence!


Link Up!!

25 Comments Filed Under: Inspiration Friday

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Next Post: It’s Sister Saturday and An Easter Link Up! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Vivienne @ the V Spot says

    April 14, 2011 at 8:51 PM

    Thank you for hosting the party. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Sherry @ No Minimalist Here says

    April 14, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    Hi ladies! Thank you so much for hosting this fun party and for all the inspiration.
    Hugs,
    Sherry
    ps: Vanessa did you get my email about Shabby Apple>

    Reply
  3. reFresh reStyle says

    April 14, 2011 at 9:23 PM

    Thanks for mentioning me and my burlap on Inspiration Friday!! You guys are the best! I always look forward to Inspiration Friday~everyone’s projects are so inspiring!
    Sincerely,
    Debbie

    Reply
  4. Michell @ Girl In Air says

    April 14, 2011 at 9:29 PM

    Hey Ladies!!

    I love the features this week…I can’t wait to go check them out….

    I linked up…thanks so much for hosting each week!

    Reply
  5. Katie says

    April 14, 2011 at 9:38 PM

    Great features this week! I love them all!! Thanks for hosting ladies!

    Reply
  6. Audrey @ Sweet Cheeks says

    April 14, 2011 at 11:03 PM

    Ahhhh! Thank you SO much for liking Harper’s Vintage Schoolhouse Party enough to feature it!!! So cool to see it here 😉

    Reply
  7. ⚜ ↁℯℬℬᴵℰ⚜ says

    April 15, 2011 at 12:38 AM

    Thanks for hosting ladies! LOve all the inspiration I see.

    Reply
  8. Lounging with a Latte says

    April 15, 2011 at 1:11 AM

    Thanks for providing this avenue to find so many inspirational people in one spot. Keep it up, it’s great viewing.

    Reply
  9. Sue says

    April 15, 2011 at 1:25 AM

    It’s always fun to see what everyone is doing! So glad you girls host this. Kinda wish everyone did more visiting and commenting; but I guess that is the nature of the beast. Hope both of you are getting gorgeous spring weather. It was beautiful here today! 🙂 hugs, Sue

    Reply
  10. Cheryl~ZanyMayd says

    April 15, 2011 at 1:41 AM

    My first time here, So Happy to be joining in, I think I came from one of the other Blog Parties, the hours have passed, so not quite sure… Love Your Blog, Looks like Lots of Fun!
    Cheryl

    Reply
  11. Debbie says

    April 15, 2011 at 2:10 AM

    The featured ones are great. I hope to be able to venture about a bit over the weekend and get inspired. I was actually hoping to link up with the vignette that lived in my head inspired from the 1000 Gifts books. Too bad the vignette on the table never became the one in the head.

    It’s so difficult being me…

    I was wondering about Sister Saturday and when you were going to do the next one!

    Reply
  12. alison says

    April 15, 2011 at 2:17 AM

    oh boy…i’m so late getting my linky up this week…too much life going on! and hey…we only had one feature in common this time!

    blessings,

    alison

    Reply
  13. Stephanie says

    April 15, 2011 at 2:58 AM

    Hi Ladies! Thanks for hosting – I’m a new follower and excited to join up. That schoolhouse party is crazy cool and I love that zucchini recipe!

    -Stephanie
    henry  happened

    Reply
  14. Sue says

    April 15, 2011 at 4:09 AM

    So many great features! Love the vintage schoolhouse party!

    Reply
  15. Lynn Richards says

    April 15, 2011 at 5:23 AM

    Thanks so much Heather and Vanessa!! I’m looking forward to getting back into my regular Friday routine!
    xo
    lynn

    Reply
  16. Courtney ~ French Country Cottage says

    April 15, 2011 at 2:43 AM

    Hi there ladies~ What great features this week and zucchini chocolate cake…oh my!!! Sounds delicious!! Thanks for hosting!! 🙂

    Reply
  17. Sarah @ Modern Country Style says

    April 15, 2011 at 10:54 AM

    I know a version of that cake as Courgette cake….That name is SOOOO much more glam!

    Thank you SO much for hosting. Your blog always makes me LONG for a sister of my own ( in a nice way!).

    Sarahx

    Reply
  18. Kristin says

    April 15, 2011 at 1:26 PM

    Happy Friday Girls…
    No crafting, baking or decorating for me. Just encouragement and inspiration on my heart.
    Thanks so much for hosting a lovely linky. Have a beautiful weekend!
    Love, Kristin

    Reply
  19. Curtains In My Tree says

    April 15, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    I linked up and i think it’s the first time I am checking out every lady

    Reply
  20. Bonnie says

    April 15, 2011 at 5:06 PM

    Love this site. Just stumbled upon it. I have linked up my snowman hat because we all need to get a jump on next winter, right? I’ll following!!!

    Reply
  21. Patricia Torres says

    April 15, 2011 at 7:06 PM

    Thanks for hosting this lovely party.. I’ve linked in this week.. I’m now off to check out the fab inspirations you’ve mentioned.. 🙂

    Reply
  22. Christie says

    April 15, 2011 at 12:36 PM

    FIRST! Vanessa, I received the sweetest thing! You will get a note from me, but wanted you to know I received it and that you are so kind! The tears came and my husband, once again, looked at me like I was crazy! Look for my note! LOVE these ideas, especially the vintage school house party! I am throwing (way late!) a paper doll vintage party for my daughter and this gave me some great ideas! Will pop over and tell her! Shamefully, I haven’t done much with decor for Easter! Will try to throw it together! Love to you girls and blessings this Easter to your families!

    Reply
  23. A Vintage Vine says

    April 15, 2011 at 9:33 PM

    Thanks for hosting the party!! Love your features!

    Reply
  24. Katie Jones says

    April 16, 2011 at 1:53 PM

    Thanks so much for the feature!!!! I was in Vegas for work all week and was super excited to come home and see that you my recipe was featured on Inspiration Friday 🙂 Have a fabulous weekend.

    Katie

    Reply
  25. At The Picket Fence says

    April 16, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    @Debbie-Wanted to post this on here for others to see. The next Sister Saturday after this week’s Easter Edition will be the 4th of July! So get those patriotic posts ready..ok so you’ve got a little time left. 😉

    Heather

    Reply

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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.
Happy Saturday!! After endless days of rain (and h Happy Saturday!! After endless days of rain (and hail and snow) we are finally getting some sunshine and warmer temperatures. I’ll be honest, it’s really affected my spirits having one gloomy day after the next. So this is a much needed reprieve. Our cherry trees are showing off outside my kitchen window and we plan to get outside and make the most of these days while we have them.

What’s the weather like where you are?
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