Well it was a record! You lovely party guests linked up 312 posts this week! We love that so many of you find Inspiration Friday a worthy place to share your magnificent talent and we appreciate you all so much! We often hear that there’s a hesitancy to link up projects after a party reaches a certain amount of links, so to help with that we thought it would be fun to have a place of honor each week on our Facebook page for the LAST post of each linky party! So starting this week, if you find yourself joining us later in the party don’t worry you might just end up being featured the following week for being “fashionably late”! grin! Now don’t you ALL start showing up late though, cause the early bird does seem to get the worm in click throughs! As a reminder we do our best to always have Inspiration Friday up and running by 4:00 pm EST on Thursday!
Now onto this week’s Copy Cat Feature! You’re up Vanessa!
We are making history here today folks!
This is the first (and only!) time that we are going to be doing a copy-cat feature involving…
HAIR!
Yep, that’s right. We will go to great lengths to show you all how much we love and appreciate you.
Get it…lengths…hair…cricket…cricket…
Anywho, once again Vanessa has been following in Heather’s footsteps and is growing her hair longer. Let’s let her tell you more about this recent development.
There seems to be a bit of pattern here of me trying to keep up with my big sis.
Fingerless, lace Madonna gloves when I was 10…check.
Layering 2 pairs of Neon colored socks to match oversized Guess sweatshirt when I was 12…check.
Sneaking out at night to go T.P. houses when I was 15….check
(Oh wait…umm…Mom and Dad, that one didn’t really happen.
Nope, we never would have done that!)
Growing my hair longer in my mid 30’s…check!
But, here is the problem. My forever stick straight hair has started to take on a life of it’s own. Some spots are still stick straight, others are wavy and still others are actually curly.
What is up with that?
So, when I saw this fantastic How to Curl Your Hair My Way Tutorial a few weeks ago at Inspiration Friday I was so excited to try this out and see if it would solve my hair issues.
This is Janae from The Letter 4. Isn’t she just so beautiful?
She showed in a video tutorial how to use a small flat-iron to achieve these perfectly imperfect curls.
She also does a super cute dance at the end of the video!
I will not be doing a dance as part of my copy-cat since it would be neither super or cute.
Here I am before in all of my
got-ready-in-10-minutes-rushed-out-the-door-to-drop-off-kiddos-at-school-and-still-in-my-sweats glory! Be kind please.
Can you tell I’m not a teenager anymore…I’m not quite sure if it’s hip and cool to look up at the mirror….
or down..so I gave you one of each…
And now, check out me and my bouncy-hair self after following Janae’s instructions!
It took a bit of practice but I’m really loving it and feel like it gives me just the right “lift”.
Now if only it were so easy to give other areas some “lift”. Can I get an Amen?!
Thanks Janae for helping to give me AND my hair a spring in our step!
And now, let’s get to our Features from last week’s party!
We had an Inspiration Friday First last weekend when we had not on but two men join in the fun!
We absolutely love B & B’s Nest gorgeous Wood Pallet Outdoor Sofa and thought it was so fantastic that not only was this project primarily completed by her talented hubby, HE was the one who actually wrote the post with the tutorial for how to build it yourself!
And speaking of men who blog, we were so thrilled to have met the lovely couple behind
The Rooster and the Hen. Dustin and his wife Whitney have so many fantastic ideas and their blog is full of gorgeous creations, including this wood stacked fireplace. It may look easy at first glance, but when you read through the post you will realize just how much work was actually involved!
Dana from Make Them Wonder shared with us her secrets for creating this absolutely stunning striped foyer. Would you believe that one of the essential elements to this masterpiece was good old Mod Podge? Believe it! And, head on over and check it out for yourself!
Um yes please I’ll have some Biscoff Buttercream! Seriously!? Does this not look fabulous! If you are unfamiliar with Biscoff well they are a cookie and they make a Biscoff Spread and Mamie from Homegrown Beanes made a cake and created Biscoff Buttercream frosting for it. Shut the front door! You know this has got to be fabulous. Be sure to visit to get her recipe and instructions.
And we couldn’t not feature this last fabulous project because as those of you know who hang with us on Facebook, Heather will be tackling painting and stenciling her dining room floors here soon. Jeri did such an amazing job renewing the floors of her new shop and she share’s how she created this masterpiece at her site, Annabellea Design Studio. Aren’t they just lovely?!
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 on our Buttons Page found at 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! 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:
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 on our Buttons Page found at top of blog) or a text link on your blog so others can join in the fun! (MANDATORY) 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 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?”
We also wanted to let all of our fabulous At The Picket Fence friends know that we will be offering a special advertising rate for the remainder of the fall!
$5 for Fall
If you sign up to advertise with us anytime during October or November* for a 2 month commitment we will offer you a sidebar ad for $5 for each of the month, that’s $10 for two months of advertisement! If you are a current sponsor of At The Picket Fence you can also purchase this special price to add to the end of your current contract! That’s a great deal folks! Email us through our contact page for more information. *Two month time period will begin from day of payment.
You are too funny Vanessa! I love the lift you gave your hair, you look beautiful! Thanks for hosting Girls, Martina
Thanks for hosting!!
PS. Love your hair!
Loved reading how you copy-cat your big sis… and it sounds sooo familiar! Loving the new lift in your hair… charming and pretty as ever. Thanks for the party girls!Hugs~Poppy
http://withadashofcolor.blogspot.com/
Hello Vanessa,
Happy to be joining this week with my take on Fall decor ;->
Janet xox
http://theemptynest-janet.blogspot.com/
Your too funny! Thanks for hosting, ladies!
Vanessa you look very pretty with the big curls. I hear you on that one. I’m no teen anymore either. Ha!
Thanks for hosting such a nice party each week. It’s inspiring!
Oh my goodness, your hair looks amazing! And these features, I can’t get to them fast enough! Thanks for the party!!! Oh and I see a painted floor in someone else’s future!
Debbie
Vanessa you are too funny! Loving the hair girl!
Love the curls girl! Great features as always… thanks for hosting and have a great weekend, Lisa
Thank you ladies for hosting!! Some really great features. That floor is amazing and that cake in the jar, OMG!!
Vanessa, your hair looks great! Too bad I chopped most of mine off at the end of May. =)
~ Catie
Of course I’ll be back later to link up this week’s Frivolous Fashion Friday.
Love, love your hair! Lookin like a stylin teen to me. Great features! There are some AMAZING people out there in blogland!
Amen, Amen and AMEN! You had me laughing out loud. LOVED this post. And girl…you are BEAUTIFUL! I really love the way you curled it and my hair is stick straight so I will have to go and check out that little redhead’s blog and figure things out for myself! Thank you for the lead on this one!! And I think you would be super and cute if you did a little dance for us…so just think about that one lol. Thanks for the smiles!
Vanessa, your hair looks great. It has really gotten long, too. Great features. I need to check out that entry with the stripes. Thanks for hosting, girls!
Looking good, Vanessa. Thanks for hosting ladies.
Your hair looks great! Wonderful features too! Thanks for hosting.
Sherry
You look beautiful and so does your hair! When you figure out how to lift those other areas, please make sure you blog about it!!! lol
AMEN!! What happened to us?! Age. The hair looks great! After they showed me how to do that at the salon I do it everyday b/c my hair is sooo thin now. I needs me some body!! Thank you for hosting, I love coming to your weekly linky now. Great blog, beautiful photography. xo, andrea@townandprairie
You look “MAVALOUS!”!! Lets’ not even talk about what needs to be “lifted”, that’s a whole nother linky party, LOL!! just linked up, you crazy girls! xoxo
Love the hair! Haven’t seen y’all in awhile, it will be fun to catch up. Thanks for hosting!
xo, Andrea
So funny! Thanks for hosting today!
-Shelley
Holy Cannoli.
These are some unbelievable shout outs. I’m not sure what I want to see first.
And the hair? It looks beautiful! Of course, I have to admit to giggling because you actually copied someone’s blog hair…
I think we have reached a new level of blog addiction if we’re creating blog dos.
Thanks so much for the feature! We love your blog and you’re the perfect party hostess! We’re proudly displaying your button on our blog!
Love the new “do” Vanessa. You’re beautiful! Thanks for the linky each week!
Looking good Vanessa:) Thanks ladies for hosting!!!
Blessings,
Linda
Your hair looks great Vanessa!! I love all of these features! Thanks for hosting – hope you both have a great week!
Love the new look. I have to check out her tutorial. Thanks for hosting. Have a great weekend.
The hair is too cute and so are you! Thank you Vanessa for hosting this fun day. 🙂
Your hair looks great! Thanks for hosting.
Wow! You look incredible! And thank you so much for the fabulous feature. “We” had a lot of fun working on that sofa. I hope it inspires someone else to create one. You guys are terrific! Thanks for yet another wonderful post. XOXO Laura at B & B’s Nest
Vanessa, your hair is GREAT!!!
And I will add my AMEN (heartilly) for the needing of “lift”.
xoxo
lynn
This comment has been removed by the author.
Thanks so much for featuring my tutorial! It’s always fun to see how it works for everyone. Your hair looks GREAT! 😀
Thanks so so much for hosting, girls! Vanessa! Your hair looks terrific! I’ll definitely be trying this…;) Hope you guys are having a great week!
Vanessa, thanks so much for your kind comment on my post. I was really planning to link up with some house pics of fall decorations, and then I just felt like maybe someone needs to read the anniversary post this week. I hope you get a chance to read Part 2 to see how God in His incredible grace continued the story. Oh, and I love your curls!
Your bouncy hair looks so pretty!
Love your hair! Very pretty! Thanks for hosting!
Love the bouncy curls! Thanks for hosting 🙂
You look so pretty and yes, you do look like a teenager to me! I’m very old! Love your pretty fluffy hair too! Thank you ladies for hosting.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia 😉
Well, hey there, gorgeous! I love your hair, Vanessa! You totally rocked Jane’s tutorial (and, yes, she is beautiful). I watched it, too, and just might have to try it … wish me luck! Your other features are fabulous, as always (still lovin’ the “tree” that looks as though it’s blowing in the wind)! Thanks for hosting, friends. Love, your friend who ALSO wore Madonna lace gloves, layered socks (wait, actually, I wore leg warmers, instead) and snuck out on weekends! Hollaaaa! xo
love the curls and
adore the features
all linked up!
alison
Wow! I just found you, and I’m glad I did. Thanks for hosting this wonderful hop. Please come visit if you get a minute: http://wp.me/pYcKQ-fw
*New Follower*
Love the ‘hair’..I have put my coat rack in your linky party, I made it as a donation for Labrador Life Line which is an organization who raise funds to help families whose dog needs serious medical attention and they find themselves short of funds. With so many families struggling these days I wanted to get the word out about LLL and about the cyber auction that starts today. Thanks a million.
Thanks again for hosting this wonderful party! And, Vanessa, I just adore your bouncy hair — looks super with your cute face!
🙂 CAS
Thanks for hosting! Love the hair!
Good morning! This is my first time linking up here, I can’t wait to browse through these projects! Also, I just became GFC follower #1,000 🙂
-Molly
creativityblog@yahoo.com
My hair also went from sleek and straight to partially wavy and terribly frizzy after the birth of my children… hormones, I guess. Anyway, your hair looks beautiful and so do you!
another great party!!! thanks!
“Can you tell I’m not a teenager anymore…” No, Vanessa!! You look cute with and without the girly hair and no older than.. 18 or 19 at a push 🙂 Don’t you worry about the mirror!
Have a great weekend
XOXO
Bea
Hey Vanessa, thought I’d let you know my fashion post is linked up. Thanks for always giving such great feedback. I really appreciate it!! Hope you like this week’s outfits.
~ Catie
Thanks for hosting another great party! My favorite are those floors! Oh, those gorgeous stenciled floors…how I want them!
Thanks for hosting! Great features, and your hair looks great!
~ Julie
Thanks for hosting! I’m a new follower of your blog. It’s lovely!
lesley
freakingcraft.blogspot.com
Love the hair-lift! I agree with you … how wonderful if lifting other–uh–things were so simple.
Thanks for hosting. It’s a great party with a lot of great projects. I love the curly hair. The “cake” looks so yummy.
I am a new follower. Hope you can visit my blog too.
Thank you so much for hosting!
Amen! Your hair looks so cute! I cut all mine off years ago and sometimes miss being able to put some curls in my thin flat hair. Thanks for hosting =)
Vanessa-First off – I LOVE the hair…wonder if I could use that flat iron to lift a few parts of my own too? lol
ALL the projects are just so wonderful..it is hard to even see them all-what wonderful inspirations you have provided here-
Love to you, sweet girl(s)-xo Diana
Love the hair!! Just found your site and linking up to this great party! Thanks for hosting!
I love the hair!! It looks amazing 🙂 Thanks for hosting such a great party every week, there is so much inspiration!!
Linda
http://lasteve1.blogspot.com
Vanessa- I LOVE your bouncy hair!! 🙂 You look fabulous! I can’t believe I wasn’t linked up yet! Apologies for being late to the party! Thanks for hosting!
Vanessa, your hair looks great!!