At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

Inspiration Friday No. 64 and Someone’s Turning 40!

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It’s Heather! (on Friday)

Happy 40th Birthday sweet sister of mine!!

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“An older sister is a friend and defender~a listener, conspirator, counselor and a sharer of delights. And sorrows too.” –Pam Brown
From the beginning you have been there, protecting…
…hanging out with me and our cousins on the rockin’ orange shag carpet…
(Heather on far right)

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…commiserating over the poofy, itchy dresses mom put us in…
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…sporting some awesome perms and big bangs…
(oh dear heavens, sorry mom and dad! Winking smile)
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You grieved with me when I wondered if I would ever become a mom and rejoiced with me when those dreams finally came true!
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And now, in this season of life, I love that we finally get to do a little bit more of this together!
And no matter what stage of life we are in, one thing is certain…
You will always be older than me! Hee Hee! Winking smile

Heather, no one could ask for a better sister than you.
I am so blessed to have you in my life, not only as my sister, but as my friend!
I wish I could be there to celebrate this day with you but I know we will have so much fun on our Haven adventure next month. 5 hours in the car together!
We’ll be like Thelma and Louise…minus driving off a cliff in the end, of course!
I love you so much and hope you feel truly celebrated today,
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OK, now, we do have a little bit of business to take care of today too.
It is time to announce the winner of the My Memories Software Giveaway!
And the winner is:
Jacki from Reni Days on Washington Street!!
Congratulations Reni!
We’ll be in contact with you regarding your prize.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the fabulous features from last week’s party!

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INSPIRED ROOMS

Barb from The Everyday Home shared her gorgeous Kitchen and Breakfast Room Makeover which was chock full of charm and lovely details!
Amanda of the Girl in Pink shared her incredible Jane Austen themed window display she created for a local antique store! You truly will not believe how many amazing pieces she transformed to put this together and we so admire all of her hard work and talent!
Kristel of The Velvet Door showed off her freshly updated Dining Room. You will have to go pay her a visit to see the beautiful damask wall!

MAKEOVERS
Anna of Ask Anna shared her beautiful and inexpensive chandelier makeover and we are so loving that gorgeous ceiling stencil! Well done Anna!

Can you guess what this Wine Cabinet was in a former life? You will have to go over to
and visit Tammy at One More Time to find out and then you will fully appreciate how awesome this makeover really is!
CRAFTS and CREATIONS

The lovely sisters of Be Book Bound have been doing a wonderful series celebrating all things “Anne of Green Gables” (be still our hearts!) and last week Miriam showed us how to make these darling


Terry of 11 Magnolia Lane revealed her incredible Kid’s Education Center which she created in her basement. How awesome is this?? Way to go Terry!


Maggie, (A.K.A. The Hell on Heels Housewife) showed us how to make this darling Country Wristlet and we are just loving the denim with those fabric rosettes!
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RECIPES and PARTIES
Seriously, how adorable are these Strawberry Shortcake Pops from Dixie Delights??
She just had to go and put them in a red wagon to take the cute factor up a few notches too!
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The Thrifty Crafty Girl showed us how to make Homemade Soft Pretzels and we were pretty sure that their wonderful smell was coming through our computer screens!

INSPIRING STORIES

Our friend Ange from The Blooming Hydrangea has recently launched a new series entitled Marriage Monday. Every week she and her hilarious hubby will share encouraging words of wisdom about the roller coaster ride of marriage and how it can be strengthened and nurtured into the wonderful relationship which God intended it to be!
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
Pinterest
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:
Fridays Unfolded
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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!
Email Updates
Facebook Page
Pinterest


This Inspiration Friday Party is Sponsored By:
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Comments

  1. Happy Birthday Heather! and Vanessa you made me laugh – I am the eldest of 5 – they always remind me that I’m the oldest! Well, I can tell you – life gets better and better – thank you ladies for being fun and gracious hostesses!
    God Bless,
    Kathy

    Reply

  5. Happy Birthday Heather! (I have a sister who is under a year younger than me…and she reminds me of the “younger” part annually on our birthdays, also in May.) Have a wonderful day and I’m sure that Vanessa will make you something fabulous for dinner, clean your house, send you to the spa, etc! (you know I’m always lookin’ out for you gals!) 😉 Thanks for hosting! xo

    Reply

  9. Hope you have an amazing birthday Heather!

    What a great montage in pictures (I feel your 80’s perm pain)!

    Hope you have a blast at Haven!

    Love that I can always be the younger one with my sis too Vanessa!
    Kelly

    Reply

  10. Happy, Happy Birthday Heather!! Hope you ladies have a great Mother’s Day weekend. I have a great inspirational Mother’s Day story to link up, but I’m having issues with Blogger. >:-( I’ll get it linked up eventually. Please stop by and read it when you have the time. =) As always, thanks for hosting. Love your party!!

    ~ Catie

    Reply

  11. Happy Birthday Heather! Hope you are having an awesome day! Loved the pics and the permed hair pic brings back some bad hair memories of my own! Enjoy your special day!

    Oh – and thanks, as always, for hosting!

    Doreen

    Reply

  13. Happy birthday Heather! I must say you girls were rockin’ some pretty fabulous bangs back in the day. 🙂

    Thanks so much for hosting every week and thank you for the feature! I’m honored to be featured at my favorite link party! 🙂

    Have a great weekend friends!

    Anna
    http://www.askannamoseley.com

    Reply

  15. Happy Birthday,Heather! Enjoy this special day!Vanessa,this is such a sweet post:)Feels wonderful to go through this beautiful montage of pictures, especially the two of you together in the cutest frilly dresses:)Thanks for hosting! Happy Mother’s Day!~Poppy

    Reply

  20. Happy Birthday Heather! Sisters are a treasure for sure! They are the only friends you have that will be Totally honest with you whether it’s good OR bad! XO Cindy

    Reply

  22. Happy Birthday to your older sister! Thank you for sharing such beautiful pics of all of you lovely ladies. Please have a wonderful MOTHER’S DAY, all of you. Thanks for having me and for the nice features.
    FABBY

    Reply

  26. Happy Birthday Heather!! Loved the time travel and that you shared all those pictures with us Vanessa! It was a perfect peek 😉

    Wonderful features as always and thanks for hosting.

    Reply

  32. Woot Happy Birthday! 40 is FABULOUS….I think MORE magazine features fabulous women 40 and over you should definitely submit! LOVE love looking at your adorable pictures…makes me wish I had a sister! Have a wonderful Mother’s Day, Birthday and Weekend!

    Reply

  35. What a fun post! I love it! I am the baby of my family so I can say the same to my sisters. Love the last pic. Too cute! Happy Birthday Heather! Thanks for the party!
    Hugs,
    Jann

    Reply

  36. Happy, happy birthday, Heather!! You are one classy lady and I hope you have both a blessed day and a wonderful year. Just think–you’ll be in Better Homes & Gardens this year! Could there be a better birthday present? 🙂

    Thanks to both of you for hosting this wonderful party. I appreciate y’all!

    Reply

  40. Well, of course, your tribute to your sister put big old sappy tears in my eyes. I always longed for a sister and feel like I missed a special part of life not having one. Blessings to both of you and Happy Happy Birthday, Heather- xo Diana

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  42. Happy Birthday, Heather! And what a sweet post, Vanessa! Makes me wish I had a sister! Thank you so much for the feature! I am honored! You’ve made my day!
    Best Wishes and Blessings,
    Amanda

    Reply

  43. Happy Birthday Heather. Vanessa, what a lovely tribute to your sister. Big hair, bad perms, and itchy poufy dresses and all! And please don’t drive off a cliff (though I’m scratching my head where you’d find a cliff to drive off of between Kentucky and Atlanta) because we’d miss you (and contrary to Billy Joel, the good can die old too; let’s all strive for that …)

    🙂

    Linda

    Reply

  47. What a beautiful post — you are so blessed to have each other! Now about those pictures . . . LOL — those made me smile, laugh and that one of the two ‘old’ gals . . . that is priceless! Happy Birthday Heather . . . we share a birthday . . . it’s just that I’m turning 52 tomorrow! I THINK I remember 40.

    Reply

  49. Vanessa – what a blessing you must be to Heather! This was such a sweet post! She was probably bawling her eyes out after reading it. 🙂 Happy Birthday, Heather! Hope your day is as special as you are, girlie! ♥

    xoxo laurie

    Reply

  52. Happy Birthday Heather!! This was the sweetest post! Makes me miss my sister so much! I was so used to living close by and now we are 24 hours apart : (

    Hope you both have a fantastic weekend and as always thank you for hosting!

    Reply

  53. I’m a huge fan of all the pictures. What a sweet thing to be such close sisters! Thanks girls for the blog and the parties and for sharing this post. Happy birthday, Heather!

    Liz

    Reply

  57. Happy Birthday Heather!! 😀 Love seeing all those photos- how fun!! Kind of glad to know I am not the only one having Blogger issues- but sorry to hear you have been having problems too. First gmail and then blogger issues… aye. ( I did email you btw in case you didn’t get it!) Thanks so much for hosting and have a wonderful Mothers day girls!!

    Reply

  58. Welcome to the 40s club Heather!!! Those pictures are priceless! The day was so busy, I cannot believe I forgot to link up here, usually my 1st stop! Have a really fun birthday weekend. -K

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  62. Happy Birthday Heather!! I think the 40s were pretty marvelous so you have a lot to look forward to.

    And Vanessa, I’ll quote a favorite poet: The trumpet of prophecy O wind… if winter comes, can spring be far behind?

    Reply

  67. Happy Birthday Heather. From one big sister to another, I hope you have a totally awesome birthday!!! Hope your Mother’s Day is wonderful as well.

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  69. Happy Birthday, Heather! Oh, what a darling post, Vanessa! You two were adorable then and gorgeous now! Love all of those sweet snaps of you darling little girls. How special it must be to have a sister and y’all are so close. I have no siblings and always wanted a sister.
    Thanks for hosting your sweet party.
    Happy Mother’s Day!
    Shelia 😉

    Reply

  72. Happy Birthday, Heather! I hope you have a truly wonderful & fun-filled day! Oh my, you are slightly younger than my own daughter — geez, but I love ya’ anyway……LOL!
    CAS

    Reply

  75. Happy, happy 40th birthday to our wonderful daughter. We feel a bit weepy this morning thinking of this day 40 years ago at 7:03 pm when you made your grand entrance. Daddy and Aunt Joy said you were the only baby in the hospital nursery who was awake and trying to turn over. You have always brought us great joy as our daughter but now you are our friend and that is so much fun.

    We love you girl, so very, very much!

    Mom and Dad

    Reply

  77. Happy Birthday Heather! Hope your day is awesome!

    I’m so excited to be the winner of the My Memories Software! I will watch for an email from you, and thank you SO, so much for the opportunity to win such a great prize!

    Jackie Reini
    jackieinmi67@gmail.com

    Reply

  78. Happy Birthday Heather!…Loved all the ever so nostalgic pictures of the family!!!…..Perfect for Mother’s day too….

    Great features from last week…they are all so terrific…

    Vanessa and Heather…have a wonderful Mother’s Day…!

    Reply

  79. Happy Birthday Heather!!! What sweet family photos!!! Aren’t sisters the greatest invention ever???

    Super features from last week. Hope you both have a wondeful weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!!

    Reply

  82. Oh what a beautiful birthday acknowledgement to your sister. This was so funny, I am the baby sister too. We are close also and the pics made me laugh. (we’ve all got pics like that)

    Thanks so much for showcasing my Kitchen and Breakfast Room makeover. I am honored you liked it. Such a wonderful party filled to the brim with ideas galore.

    Happy Weekend, Barb

    Reply

  83. Happy Birthday Heather!! I think I had tears in my eyes reading Vanessa’s tribute to you and almost didn’t see that you featured my wristlet!! I have three daughters and my greatest hope is that they have the kind of relationship that you and your sister have when they get older.
    Have a great day!
    Maggie

    Reply

  84. You are so very lucky to have your sister. Mine died in a tragic accident right after I was born, and so I have only the stories and photos. I always enjoy stories like this, because I hope we would have been close, too.

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  85. THANK YOU For featuring our herb crates!!!!! I wasn’t near a computer yesterday, so I am sorry I am so late. But I wanted to thank you regardless. And this post was just the sweetest thing. Maybe it is the awesome bangs or the frilly dresses, but it just reminded me so much of our childhood, and our sisterhood. Thank you so much for sharing your sweet relationship with the rest of us. It is much appreciated. And a VERY Happy Birthday to Heather 🙂

    Reply

  86. Happy Birthday, Heather! They say forty is the new twenty and I believe that :)I wish to both of you and those you love a wonderful,sunny Mother’s day! Thank you for hosting this great inspirational party. I am sharing a Mother’s Day afternoon tea.

    Reply

  87. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER! This was the perfect day to enter blogland! I so enjoyed the pictures of your sweet family! Hello dear Vanessa, too! Christie

    Reply

  91. Happy Birthday Heather. You are so blessed to have each other. And Happy Mother’s Day to both of you 🙂

    Have a blessed and wonderful weekend!

    blessings,
    karianne

    Reply

  92. I’m all teary-eyed – what a beautiful post. I loved the blast through the past, and my favorite picture of all of them is the one of the two of you with the magazines! SO funny – needs to be framed for sure! Happy Birthday! And Happy Mother’s Day to both of you beautiful, inspiring women!

    Reply

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