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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

  • Book
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  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

September 9, 2011

Welcome to Inspiration Friday No. 31!

Inspiration Friday Graphic1
As soon as the email hit our inbox we knew we wanted to do it.
The opportunity to do a Product Review is something we always welcome but this time, well, this time there was something a little extra special about this product.
It wasn’t that we just happen to think these items are ADORABLE.
Nor was it that these items were also AFFORDABLE.
No, it was that they were all created by one very talented
17 YEAR OLD!!!
Meet Maggie Montgomery

Maggie is the Owner and Designer of The Lime Bow. A Specialty Boutique where she creates and sells the most absolutely darling Hair Bows.

The Lime Bow -          Specialty Boutique

When she asked if we would be willing to review one of her products we were more than eager to do all we could to promote this talented and industrious young lady.
Heather tried to convince her 17 year old son and 11 year old daughter to model these adorable bows but for some reason they weren’t too keen on the idea. We can’t imagine why! Thankfully, there is still one bow-wearing little girl in the family and Lauren was more than willing to oblige.
With Fall right around the corner, we thought it would be fun to give you a peek at 2 of the bows in Maggie’s Fall and Halloween Collection.
They arrived in this darling package….very professional, don’t you think?
Yep. She’s 17!

And as soon as my little Miss saw them she wanted to try them on!
And check out these other adorable options!

                   
Or how about these from her Holiday Collection?
                 

Uh huh…that’s right..17!!
She has just added these Bobby Pin Flowers with removable button centers for mixing and matching to coordinate with any outfit.

There are bows and accessories in every color, style and pattern you could imagine and we know if you pay Maggie a visit over at The Lime Bow, you will be just as impressed with her as we are! Make sure to tell her the gals At The Picket Fence sent ya!

Two more items to cover before we move on to our features:

First, we want to invite you starting this Monday to join us in linking up to this fabulous week long party hosted by our fabulous friends!

We will be linking up some of our rooms and we hope to see you all there…cause if Inspiration Friday is any indication we KNOW you all have some fabulous rooms to share!! Visit our dear friend Ange at The Blooming Hydrangea for all of the details!

Second, don’t forget we are hosting a great giveaway from our friend Andrea at Signs by Andrea.  She is giving away one of her beautiful signs to one of our lucky friends! There’s still plenty of time to enter.

Signs By Andrea Giveaway At The Picket Fence

               
picketfence_20010

We think Kristy of Starfish Cottage is incredibly talented and creative. But on top of that, she is so thoughtful and generous to create these amazing New Baby care packages
for the special folks in her life who are welcoming new little ones to the world.
This isn’t your typical “here’s your lasagna” drop off. No siree! This gift of love even includes some caffeine to help get you through those late nights with a newborn. Ahhhh…you had us at coffee Kristy!

IMG_2522
We love to entertain and this super yummy and super easy recipe for Grilled Flatbread with Herbed Dipping Oil from Melissa’s Cuisine would be perfect for a company’s comin’ night.
Or when you want to just sit by yourself in front of the TV and pig out on it in your PJ’s.
Either way it’s delicious!

 
 
We know you all love this talented gal and her fabulous projects as much as we do, and her staircase remodel is no exception! Cassity from Remodelaholic has been sharing with us the step by step process of their stair makeover. And when we say “makeover” we mean makeover!
 
staircase 
 
Both of us gals would love to have stairs just like this and we’ve been following each step of this project.  Visit Cassity to see the amazing transformation of her staircase and to see the tutorial on how to build a gorgeous newl post just like this!
So Cassity, what can we bribe you with to come work your magic on our stairs?Winking smile 
 
So, when we have cabin fever at our homes, our kids are likely to find themselves sitting in front of the TV watching Sponge Bob reruns or one more episode of Tom and Jerry but when Abby’s family from Abby’s Paperie Garden found themselves stuck inside waiting out Hurricane Irene they whipped up some paper dolls…
 
 
Yeah, we know. We’d happily borrow the talent in Abby’s little finger! Visit Abby to see even more details of these gorgeous “vintage inspired” paper ladies!

We are starting to see such lovely “fallish” wreaths pop up around blogland and these next two were no exception!

Nicole from Thrifty Decorating shared this gorgeous Old Book Wreath and we just love how it looks hung on this weathered window pane.


Rennah of Shaped By Grace showed us how to make 4 different wreaths out of this lovely burlap ruffled wreath she created.

Blog Pictures2
 
Visit Rennah to see how she made this adorable wreath and let her know which design you like best!
 
We’re suckers for the words “Knock Off” especially when combined with “Ballard Design”. Kristen from Blessed Beyond Measure admired the beautiful burlap panels in the Ballard Design catalog but  not the crazy price! Not to be deterred she decided to make her own…


You can see exactly how Kristin created these lovely burlap panels by visiting her at Blessed Beyond Measure.

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 each and every week! If you were featured today (or have been featured in the past) please grab the featured at button code 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:

       stuffandnonsense
vif187   

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 Inspiration Friday is sponsored by:



43 Comments Filed Under: Inspiration Friday, Reviews

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Next Post: A not so Simple Sunday….I Will Never Forget. »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Honey at 2805 says

    September 8, 2011 at 8:27 PM

    Happy Birthday to Maggie. Great features again this week!

    Thanks for being gracious hostesses and friends. (BTW: Did I misunderstand the message?)

    Reply
  2. Debra @ Common Ground says

    September 8, 2011 at 8:30 PM

    Hi Gals, just linking up, I’ll put your party on the sidebar! xoxo Debra

    Reply
  3. Ann from On Sutton Place says

    September 8, 2011 at 8:34 PM

    Hi Girls…totally loved seeing the hair bows. When my daughter was young (she’s 28) we had a huge drawer full of bows. We just loved them. Thanks for hosting…I’ll be back hopefully this weekend to visit some links. Happy Friday.

    Reply
  4. Ange says

    September 8, 2011 at 8:44 PM

    Thank you for the shout out for next week! Can’t wait to see your rooms linked up! And wow, love the 17 year old with the hair bows. That is awesome. 🙂 You girls rock and thanks for being such great blogging mentors to me and all the others you help out in blogland! You are blessings to many of us!!!!

    Reply
  5. Kim @ Savvy Southern Style says

    September 8, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    What a smart girl already off and running with her own business. Great features and thanks for hosting.

    Reply
  6. Rachel Gray says

    September 8, 2011 at 8:58 PM

    Those bows are adorable… heck, everything in your Friday Inspiration is great! I am just as excited about the Roomspiration Blog Hop! It’s going to be FABULOUS!

    Reply
  7. marty (A Stroll Thru Life) says

    September 8, 2011 at 9:02 PM

    Now that is one smart and talented girl. Congrats to her for her own business. Great features also. Thanks for hosting such a fun party. Hugs, Marty

    Reply
  8. Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions says

    September 8, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    Thanks for hosting, ladies!

    Reply
  9. FABBY'S LIVING says

    September 8, 2011 at 9:30 PM

    Great features, congrats to the ladies! That is one young, talented and pretty entrepeneur, her hair bows are gorgeous! Thank you for hosting. Hygs, FABBY

    Reply
  10. ℳartina @ Northern Nesting says

    September 8, 2011 at 9:34 PM

    Hi Girls, thanks for hosting and have a great weekend! Martina

    Reply
  11. Shelia says

    September 8, 2011 at 9:44 PM

    Hi ladies! Oh, that 17 year old young lady is quite the entrepreneur! Love her little hair bows!
    Don’t we have the most wonderful talented ones in Blogland? Thanks for the party and wish I had something to share this week but I’ll just be visiting all of your guests!
    Hope you’re having a wonderful week.
    Be a couple of sweeties,
    shelia 😉

    Reply
  12. Vivienne @ the V Spot says

    September 8, 2011 at 9:51 PM

    You guys, Maggie is adorable! I love it! Thanks for hosting!

    Reply
  13. refresh reStyle says

    September 8, 2011 at 9:58 PM

    Y’all have done it again…I will be spending a lot of time visiting those wonderful features! And Maggie-she’s truly an inspiration!
    Thanks for hosting!
    Debbie

    Reply
  14. Cherished Bliss says

    September 8, 2011 at 10:02 PM

    Thanks for hosting : )

    Reply
  15. Sherry says

    September 8, 2011 at 10:19 PM

    What cute hair bows. Nice features! Thanks for having us over!
    Sherry

    Reply
  16. Lakeshore Cottage Living says

    September 8, 2011 at 10:31 PM

    Oh the party starting Monday sounds like fun! I will have to do some FALL decorating and get ready! Great features this week. I will have to check out those hair bows and the flatbread too!

    Reply
  17. Katie says

    September 8, 2011 at 10:47 PM

    Thanks so much for hosting!

    Reply
  18. Catie @ Catie's Corner says

    September 8, 2011 at 10:50 PM

    Thanks for hosting ladies!! Hope you’ve had a good week. Those bows are soo sweet. My little girl would love them. What a talented girl. : )

    ~ Catie

    Reply
  19. The DIY Show Off says

    September 8, 2011 at 11:48 PM

    Another great Inspiration Friday, ladies. The hair bows and Maggie are just adorable!

    Thanks for sharing the Roomspiration party – excited to see real beautiful rooms!

    I love all of the other features too – Cassity’s stairs are gorgeous, those wreaths so sweet and the drapes? LOVE!

    You know who else is an inspiration this week? You two! Special thanks to Heather! 😉

    Have a wonderful weekend!

    Reply
  20. Tres Chere says

    September 8, 2011 at 11:48 PM

    Thank you for hosting. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

    Reply
  21. NanaDiana says

    September 9, 2011 at 12:10 AM

    Very cute bows…you know that I love bows for our girls! And you do a great job of highlighting some of the great blogs for us to visit~ xo Diana

    Reply
  22. Anna says

    September 9, 2011 at 1:17 AM

    I was trying to link up with another blog at the same time, don’t know how my front door makeover got linked up twice. Sorry. :/

    Have a great weekend!

    Anna
    http://www.askannamoseley.com

    Reply
  23. Sonya@Beyond the Screen Door says

    September 9, 2011 at 1:44 AM

    Hi, Ladies! What a lovely and talented young lady! And all those great features! Off to take a closer look. Thanks for hosting!

    Reply
  24. Kim @ Cheap Chic Home says

    September 9, 2011 at 2:26 AM

    Thanks for hosting!

    Reply
  25. Diann says

    September 9, 2011 at 3:20 AM

    What adorable bows! thank you for hosting Ladies! Have a fun weekend!

    Reply
  26. Linda@Coastal Charm says

    September 9, 2011 at 3:22 AM

    Hello ladies…thanks so much for hosting.

    Blessings,
    Linda

    Reply
  27. Marina {Yummy Mummy} says

    September 9, 2011 at 5:08 AM

    Hi and thank you for hosting this lovely party! I linked up my Hello Kitty French Macarons I just made for my daughter’s 4th birthday party. I linked back to you in the post.
    cheers!
    Marina
    Yummy Mummy

    Reply
  28. Erin {Lavender and Lemon Drops} says

    September 9, 2011 at 6:56 AM

    Thanks for hosting! Have a wonderful weekend 🙂

    Reply
  29. Natasha in Oz says

    September 9, 2011 at 11:26 AM

    Thanks so much for having me today. I always look forward to the fun Friday parties!

    Best wishes and happy weekend,
    Natasha.

    Reply
  30. Jane says

    September 9, 2011 at 2:09 PM

    Hi, Thanks for hosting. This is my first time to join your party (sometimes I think I live under a rock for not knowing what’s going on in blogland!) Great features you pictured, I’ll go check them out.
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    Jane

    Reply
  31. Melissa says

    September 9, 2011 at 2:15 PM

    Thanks for the feature! I hope you enjoyed the flatbread and dipping oil!

    I love those hairbows…I can’t wait til I have a little girl I can dress up 🙂

    Reply
  32. ⚜ ↁℯℬℬᴵℰ⚜@ Debbiedoos blogging and blabbing says

    September 9, 2011 at 2:19 PM

    Thanks for hosting girls. Have a wonderful weekend. That dipping oil looks tasty!

    Reply
  33. Kathi says

    September 9, 2011 at 2:53 PM

    Happy Birthday Maggie. I love her bows!! Very pretty. Thank you for letting me join this fun Inspiration link. This is great!! Kathi

    Reply
  34. Reannah @ {Shaped by Grace} says

    September 9, 2011 at 7:03 PM

    Thank you so much for featuring my ruffled burlap wreath!! You made my day!!! {and my weekend!} :):) I’m a huge Remodelaholic fan too and also can’t believe that those bows are created by a 17 yr. old. What a crafty and business savvy gal! I’ll be sure to check out all these sites! Thanks again for the feature! 🙂 xo, Reannah

    Reply
  35. Becca says

    September 9, 2011 at 8:36 PM

    What beautiful bows and creative young lady! If only I had a girl! So, how many did you buy for Little Miss?! LOVE all of your features … sorry, but I just inhaled that entire platter of flat bread. YUMMY! Thanks for hosting, friend. xoxo

    Reply
  36. Debbie says

    September 9, 2011 at 8:41 PM

    Oh to have a bow head again!! I think the artist is so talented, and as my mom would say, “From my mouth to God’s ears, I’ll have another generation of bow heads to by for one day.”

    Now to look at those stairs. My stairs really and truly ARE the number one butt ugly thing in my house. I know… considering the rest of it, they must be realllly ugly.

    Reply
  37. Dear Sweet Home says

    September 9, 2011 at 9:05 PM

    Hey Vanessa! Thank you for your sweet words on my blog! You are too sweet:) You are more than welcome to quote that on FB, I would be honored! ~Kim

    Reply
  38. Courtney ~ French Country Cottage says

    September 10, 2011 at 2:08 AM

    Hi girls!! Sorry I am so late linking up this week but I am all linked up now!! Have a great weekend!! 🙂

    Reply
  39. Ivy and Elephants says

    September 10, 2011 at 1:08 PM

    Thanks so much for hosting. Wow the features are fabulous!Congrats to those very creative ladies!
    Hugs,
    Patti

    Reply
  40. CAS says

    September 10, 2011 at 3:03 PM

    Vanessa & Heather, ya’ll are doing such a great job on your blog. You always do wonderful, inspiring posts full of fun information. I love that you do such great features. That is some seriously talented 17 year old — WOW! Thanks for being the “hosts with the mosts!”
    🙂 CAS

    Reply
  41. susan says

    September 12, 2011 at 2:57 AM

    Thanks for hosting!! And for sharing such intersting blogs. Amazing talent from a 17 year old!

    Reply

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“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?
“The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and “The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don’t worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry…HE’S RISEN!” (Charles R. Swindoll).

Happy Easter! He is risen indeed!
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; he has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried; yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. (Isaiah 53)
I try to always remember to put a water bottle in I try to always remember to put a water bottle in my car before I go to pick up my daughter from school. She didn't ask me to do this, but a few months ago I began to notice that she was often thirsty when she would get in the car. Her water bottle filled up at the beginning of the day was empty by the time school got out and she would ask if she could have some water from my hydroflask. So I make sure to have one waiting for her. It's just a simple thing, really. But, I want her to know that I'm paying attention, that I see her.

Isn't it amazing how small gestures can make us feel less invisible? Knowing that someone is thinking of us and takes the time to meet a need that we might not have even realized we had? These little acts can have big impacts. What is something that someone has done for you recently that made you feel valued and seen?

What have you done for someone else to remind them that you are paying attention to their needs?

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
― Charles Dickens
“The next day the large crowd that had come to t “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ – John 12:9-19
#palmsunday
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