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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

  • Book
  • Speaking
  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

March 18, 2011

Inspiration Friday Party No.7

Top o’ the morning to ya!
Or afternoon or evening!
Whatever time of day it is where you are, we want to welcome you to
We would say that without a doubt the “luck of the Irish“ was with us last week when we found ourselves elbow deep in the pot of gold that was at the end of our party rainbow!
All of these lovely lasses (we are lacking in laddies around here) being featured are new friends to us here At the Picket Fence.
And let us just say, that aside from all of the amazing talent and creativity on display each week, we are having the most fun just getting to know all of you a little bit better. 
You are warm, witty, welcoming, and…ummm…another ‘w’…let’s see…way cool!

So raise your pints of Guiness and let us make a toast to our Features from last week’s Inspiration Friday Party!

First up we have Emily from Lovely Beasts and this is her
“La Bete Premiere“
She transformed this Beast
Into this Beauty!
Ooo la la! You must go visit Emily at Lovely Beasts and see more of her chez magnifique creations!
Next up we have Shelley from Crazy Wonderful who shared an amazing kitchen makeover with us.
She said that she felt like she was slowly being swallowed by oak!
Here is her kitchen Before
And here it is After!
Doesn’t it make you just go…ahhhhh
Light, bright, cheerful and we are so happy that the oak didn’t end up swallowing Shelley after all!
Now, Shelley just kept sharing her lovely self with us and also linked up a wonderful tutorial on how to make these absolutely fabulous ruffled shades for her dining room.

You won’t want to miss out on meeting Shelley so pay her a visit at
Crazy Wonderful!
Now we want to introduce you (if you haven’t already met) to Ann-Marie from
 Brambley Home and Garden.
When we saw these photos we were certain that the first one was from a magazine and the second was from her home. And then, it dawned on us! Well, actually, it dawned on Heather first. I mean, she is the oldest after all. And with age comes wisdom right?
These two UNBELIEVABLE “Kindred Arches” are situated across from each other in
Ann-Marie’s stunning kitchen!
This area they use as an Espresso counter.
We like ours with extra foam Ann-Marie!


And it’s “kindred spirit” across the way she uses as her baking station.
Uh huh….that’s right…we know your mouth is hanging open. Ours were!

Can you believe the gorgeousness?
And here is the thing. Not only is Ann-Marie’s home lovely and charming and gracious, but so is Ann-Marie herself!
Pay her a visit at Brambley Home and Garden!
Can you tell that we have kitchens on the brain here?

Maybe it is because Heather is getting ready to make BIG changes to her own kitchen!

You will have to stay tuned for that!

And in honor of St. Patrick’s Day we would like to feature the lovely St. Patrick’s Day Inspirations that were linked up this past week!

It is never a surprise when Sue from Munchkin Munchies links up some beautiful treats!  She shared these beautiful St. Patrick’s Day inspired cookies with us.

  
Michell from Girl In Air shared these adorable “Lucky Penny” necklaces she made! Cause who couldn’t use a lil bit o’ luck on St. Patrick’s Day!

Christine shared these delicious Mint Chocolate Sandwich Cookies on her blog Great Oak Circle.  Seriously…Mint and Chocolate?!  One of the best combinations ever!


And we fell in love with these adorable St. Patrick’s Day Burlap Pillows from Messy Mimi! Talk about your cute holiday decorations!


Now don’t forget to grab your “Featured At” button ladies!

Before we sign off we have two more guests Bear Bryant (left) and Zoe (right) who Heather claims as her second two babies…most days, that would like to tip their top hats to all the lassies and laddies who hang out at the fence and wish them very Happy St. Patrick’s Day!



Now it’s time for you to share you inspiration with us! Please take a moment to read the instructions and then link up your favorite posts!

We can’t wait to be inspired!
Love the girls at the fence,


After linking up to Inspiration Friday click the graphics below and pay a visit to our other
Friday Party Friends!

The lovely Courtney at French Country Cottage

And our beautiful friend Alison from Stuff and Nonsense

It’s so easy to link-up…here’s a few rules to help you:

Just a quick reminder since it’s so easy to just skim over the instructions.  We’ve noticed lately several people have forgotten to link back to Inspiration Friday.  While we we’ve decided we won’t delete your entry or “call you out” on it we pretty please ask that you take an extra minute to link your post BACK to At The Picket Fence.  It’s a pretty standard “rule” for linky parties and is a way to “thank” your hosts for well…hosting the party!  We want “your guests to be able to come back here and see all of the wonderful inspiration in blogland and to maybe link up one of their posts.  Thank you for honoring this mandatory requirement!

  •  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! 
So go on now and link up!

28 Comments Filed Under: Inspiration Friday

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Previous Post: « At the Kids Table…For St. Patrick’s Day
Next Post: Simply Sundays….Create In Me A Clean Heart »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michell @Girl in Air says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:07 AM

    Thank you so much for featuring my Penny!

    Reply
  2. Ange (Love From My Kitchen) says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:09 AM

    Ok guys, am I missing it? Wait, don’t answer that! Anyways, I can’t find where to link my blog to. Maybe I ate too much spaghetti.

    Reply
  3. Melanie says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:12 AM

    @Ange You are not alone. I don’t see it there either.

    Reply
  4. Martina says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:13 AM

    Hi guys trying to link up but I don’t see the button. Martina

    Reply
  5. Katie says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:22 AM

    Love all the features this week! Thanks for hosting!

    Reply
  6. Mimi says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:30 AM

    Oh wow – you are the cutest sisters with one of my favorite blogs. I was just checking your blog {’cause I love it} and saw you featured my Burlap Shamrock pillows! I am so honored! Thanks so much.
    Big hugs! Mimi

    Reply
  7. ⚜ ↁℯℬℬᴵℰ⚜ says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:31 AM

    Thanks for hosting gals! Lots of inspiration around here!
    Have a great weekend.
    Hope you join me next Friday for my color my world partay.

    Reply
  8. Sue says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:32 AM

    Thanks SO much for the feature, girls. It’s a wonderful St. Paddy’s day surprise! There’s always so many fantastic ideas linked! Pat the pups’ heads for me:) Happy St. Patrick’s day!

    Reply
  9. Sherry @ No Minimalist Here says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:44 AM

    Hi Ladies, Thanks so much for hosting and Happy St. Paddy’s Day.
    Hugs,
    Sherry

    Reply
  10. Kim @ Savvy Southern Style says

    March 18, 2011 at 12:44 AM

    Thanks girls for hosting!

    Reply
  11. Honey at 2805 says

    March 18, 2011 at 1:00 AM

    Hi girls! Thanks for hosting…you are so gracious! Hoping I don’t get kicked off this week for have 3entries. They were all screaming to be here!
    Hugs, Honey

    Reply
  12. molly susan strong says

    March 18, 2011 at 1:54 AM

    So much loveliness to see!!!

    Reply
  13. Linda@Coastal Charm says

    March 18, 2011 at 2:12 AM

    I’m lovin’ that kitchen makeover! Thanks for hosting girls.

    Blessings,
    Linda

    Reply
  14. Susan (My Place to Yours) says

    March 18, 2011 at 2:22 AM

    Great features, girls! I just love that you actually used “Ooo la la” in your post. It’s been the most fun word around our house this week. You should see the grin on my 19-mo-old grandson’s face when he says it. Priceless! Thanks for making my night. 🙂

    Reply
  15. Vivienne @ the V Spot says

    March 18, 2011 at 2:30 AM

    Thanks for hosting. LOVED Crazy Wonderful’s shades!

    Reply
  16. Colleen @ MuralMaker&More says

    March 18, 2011 at 3:22 AM

    Thanks for hosting! Sorry, I was having Linky problems and there’s a duplicate link. Would you delete one of them? Sorry!

    Have a great weekend!

    Reply
  17. Emily@LovelyBeasts says

    March 18, 2011 at 5:42 AM

    Ahhhh! Thank you so much for featuring my blog Vanessa and Heather! I’m beyond excited…scary excited actually. I had to share with everyone via Facebook and mention it in my blog. It means so much to me.

    Thanks for taking the time to read all the entries. I was hoping one day to be able to display a “I was featured” buttons and now I can. And by one of my favorite blogs. 🙂

    You girls are the best! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
    Emily

    Reply
  18. Courtney ~ French Country Cottage says

    March 18, 2011 at 2:23 AM

    Thanks for hosting ladies!!Love the features ~ Happy St. Patricks Day! 🙂

    Reply
  19. alison says

    March 18, 2011 at 11:25 AM

    hmmmm…great minds think alike? too funny…happy friday vanessa and heather!

    blessings,

    alison
    stuff and nonsense

    Reply
  20. Jane@Cottage at the Crossroads says

    March 18, 2011 at 1:39 PM

    Thanks so much for hosting this party. I have visited one of your featured bloggers and hope to find time to get around to all of them. This is my first time to link up. I’m a newbie and I’m just joining parties.
    https://cottageatthecrossroads.com

    Reply
  21. poindextr says

    March 18, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    thank you so much for hosting! Your featured projects are awesome. I can’t stop looking at Ann Marie’s kitchen photos, they are lovely. And the mint chocolate cookies? Oh my. hope you have a wonderful weekend 🙂

    Reply
  22. Shelley says

    March 18, 2011 at 2:05 PM

    Squeal!!!!! Thank you SOOOO much for featuring my kitchen and chandy shades! My husband thought there was something wrong with me when he heard me squealing with excitement when I saw your post 😀

    Have a great weekend ladies!

    Shelley

    Reply
  23. Megan @ Cut the Craft! says

    March 18, 2011 at 3:07 PM

    LOVE those necklaces! Thanks for hosting.:)

    Reply
  24. Sarah @ Modern Country Style says

    March 18, 2011 at 10:21 PM

    Those necklaces are gorgeous. You pick out such lovely things to feature. That’s such an original idea too. Love it!!

    Sarahx

    Reply
  25. Kristine~Lakeshore Cottage Living says

    March 19, 2011 at 2:02 AM

    Vanessa,

    Thank you for always taking the time to visit and write the SWEETEST, MOST encouraging comments. I really appreciate them. That chair redo in the first pics is so wonderful and I am going over to visit Ann Marie right now! That is one amazing picture.

    I hope you have a wonderful weekend and thanks for hosting such a fun linky party!

    Reply
  26. Becky says

    March 19, 2011 at 2:46 AM

    New follower and participant in Inspiration Fridays! Thanks for hosting! Happy Weekend!

    Reply
  27. Kristi says

    March 19, 2011 at 3:50 AM

    I’m your latest follower! Thanks so much for hosting. What an adorable site you have!

    {hugs},
    kristi

    https://ishouldbemoppingthefloor.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  28. Emily@LovelyBeasts says

    March 21, 2011 at 4:47 AM

    Thanks Vanessa and Heather for checking out my latest French chair entry! You leave such cute personal notes, I don’t even want to know how you find the time or the words to respond to everyone…but it’s pretty amazing.

    You both are the best bloggy friends any blogger could ask for 🙂

    Hope you had a great weekend!
    Emily

    Reply

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I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
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…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
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It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
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If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

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If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
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