Friday, October 15, 2010

Inspiration Friday Party No. 8!

Welcome Friends! So glad you decided to stop by the party and I hope you will consider joining in the fun by linking up some of your great Life and Home Inspirations!

This week, I wanted to do a little something different and high-light some recent contributions to the Inspiration Friday party. These are all from the last couple of parties and 2 of them are gals who are fairly new to the Blogging Community, just like yours truly here!

Heather from the Cozy Cape showed us her darling stairs which are in what she describes as a "narrow space" where you step down into the dining room from the kitchen. She says,

"My Mom actually made an off hand comment that I should paint the stairs. Before you knew it (and before my husband had come home from school), I had already been to the hardware store and back. I slapped on two coats of floor paint and presto change-0, I now have a brighter hallway!"




With the addition of the mailbox numbers it truly fits her
Cozy Cape Cottage sensibility!

She then went on to wow me again with another fabulous DIY project. She fell in love with some chairs from Ballard Designs but wasn't in love with the price...that is the story of my life right there! She ended up finding chairs in a similar style for only $25 each! Then, she gave them a little extra love and transformed them into these beauties...


Don't you just love how warm that color is?


They now grace this beautiful table which was another fabulously frugal find for only $15! All she had to do was give it some fresh paint and some distressing and she now has an absolutely beautiful Dining Set! To read more about these projects and see some of her other cottage-y creations, hop on over to the
Cozy Cape and say hello to Heather!

Now, I gotta be honest here...this next Inspiration Friday participant linked up this photo, which I first saw as I sat down to my computer, late at night, in a dark office, in a very quiet house and I nearly jumped out of my skin!

Can you understand why???
If anyone ever wanted to watch me pass out in fear they could just lock me up in a mannequin warehouse!
It is kind of like how my husband feels about antique dolls (he says the eyes follow him) or how he feels about Clowns!
Needless to say, I was slightly apprehensive when I clicked on the picture, but to my delight, it lead me to Lynn's blog,
Blue Skies, where I found one of the most hilarious stories I have read in a long time! Here is a little snippet to wet your whistle...

"There it was. The wet suit. It looked simple enough. I might struggle a bit, but I had to try this thing on before the swim. I certainly wasn't going to do it for the first time on the sand. Oh..can you even....never mind. I began by putting the plastic shopping bag over my foot and slid my foot into the leg of the wet suit, promptly getting my foot stuck and ripping the bag. Hmmmm. Not quite how the video showed. And the guy sure didn't have a tutorial on how to get a mangled bag out of the leg of the wetsuit, so I was on my own. O.k., I thought. I'll try again. Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

I took my leg out and fished out the plastic bag. Smart girl that I am, I had brought up several plastic bags. Bag on foot. Good. Foot into wetsuit. Good. Pull. Huh. "

You know you want to read the rest of this now, don't you? Head on over to Blue Skies to see how it all ends!

Next, is another feast for the eyes, courtesy of Ashley at
This one really caught my attention because she "claims" this is the first time she has decorated a Fireplace Mantel for fall!
Take a look and you be the judge...




Ummm...yeah...pretty sure the first time I decorated our Fireplace Mantel it didn't (and still doesn't!) look like something straight out of a beautiful magazine!!!
Don't you feel like you are looking at photos from the PB Catalog or maybe Ballard Designs?
Can this girl be believed? Well, I say we give her the benefit of the doubt and that you hop over and take a look at more of her lovely creations at

I really hope you all know how very Inspiring your posts are to me and that I visit each and every one that is linked up to the Party every week. My mom was saying recently that reading through blogs is like looking at all the best decorating magazines out there all in one place. I couldn't agree more!
So, what have you been up to this week?
I can't wait to see, so link on up my friends!

And, don't forget, to save the date for our
SOUP EXCHANGE on the Oct. 30th


Have a Blessed Autumn weekend from
This Southern Girl at Heart,
Vanessa


Here is how to link up...



1. Add your Permalink to your entry but not your General Blog Address. To get your Permalink, click on the title of the blog post you are wanting to submit and copy and paste the address into the URL box. You will also have to add your address but it will not be visible to anyone else.

2. Do not try and Link up until you have actually published that particular post on your blog.

3. Please link back to the host blog, Southern In My Heart, so that those who visit your blog will be able to find some wonderful Inspiration from everyone else!












30 comments:

Melissa Miller said...

Oh how precious the painted stairs are looking Vanessa. Love the numbers too. Great job!

Thank you for hosting and making us all feel so welcomed.

Warmly, ~Melissa :)

Unknown said...

I love the idea of featuring some favorites from last week! Thanks for hosting, once again!

Christie said...

Hey friend! I love the features! All GREAT ones! I am agreeing with your mom on the magazine comment...my purchasing of magazines has dropped because of all the great ideas and recipes and how-tos in blogland! It is like the best thing! My Bible study last night was on 'idols' and I felt a big dose of conviction! I just love to wake up and check in with blog land...maybe I do spend too much time here! I am working on it! I'll be back later to check some of the other links! Thanks for always being the BEST hostess!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for hosting,Vanessa!

Anonymous said...

What a sweet post highlighting links. Your mom is right about blogs!

Thanks for hosting.

Debbiedoos said...

Love all the inspiration out here Vanessa. Thanks for hosting...another great partay!!~

Ashley said...

Oh you made my night! Thank you for higlighting my mantel! And I promise it was my first time decorating it for fall :) I did decorate it for Christmas last year and it wasnt too impressive, haha. Thanks for hosting!

The Cozy Cape said...

Vanessa! Thanks so much for the feature! I really appreciate it and thank for hosting!

Yvonne @ StoneGable said...

Vanessa, Thanks for inviting me over! I love your meme!
Now I'm off to visit some of the other wonderful looking entries.
Yvonne

NanaDiana said...

Vanessa-It's looking very good in here! I started hopping around to the blogs and realized that I'd not posted here first!

Anyway, I love the steps! Isn't it amazing what we can get done in a limited time when the hubster is outta sight? Hugs- Diana

Jemsmom said...

What a lovely blog you have! Your home is gorgeous and I am coveting your kitchen! I am going to link my haunted house up if you don't mind! I was totally inspired by a post on RMS and went for it! Thanks so much for coming by my blog and I am so glad we found each other!

Homemaker On A Dime said...

Thank you for inviting me to join your linky party :) I really appreciate you featuring these special blogs which open up a whole new world for me in blogland. Here's to more linky parties with you! Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for letting me join your party :) I'm now following you via google reader :)

Sarah @ Modern Country Style said...

My First Visit To Your Link Party!! Thank you for having me!

Sarahx

Betty Jo said...

What a lovely blog you have! I so enjoyed reading about your inspiration for your blog theme. I'm a southern gal, born and raised, and feel right at home here. ♥

Lynn said...

Stopping by from StoneGable, thanks for the fun party:@)

Becca Bertotti said...

Love all the inspiration from last week and the highlighted projects (especially those chairs ... those are the kind I've been looking for)!! You're so sweet to host such a fun Friday par-tay! Thanks for letting me link up! Hugs, *Becca*

Courtney ~ French Country Cottage said...

Hey Vanessa~
Too Funny about us being so similar!!! I love that we both linked up old posts and had issues with highlighting- at the same time!!! So glad we met out here in blogland! :)

Matilda said...

Hi, I am new here. Thanks for hosting this, I hope you will have the chance to post and entry in my SPOOKY blog carnival.

Cheers,
Matilda @ Sick Of Food

Val said...

I love the numbers BUT what I really LOVE LOVE LOVE are the yellow chairs. Oh my. I hope you have a wonderful weekend = ))

Julie L. Light said...

This is my first time for your link party...looks like a lot of fun!
Have a fabulous day!
Julie

Karen said...

Vanessa,
Just letting you know that I too have been hopping around looking & getting inspired. Joining you today for Inspiration friday.
Thanks for hosting.
Karen

Anita Diaz said...

Those are some great ideas! Love those chairs and the table too. Thanks so much for stopping by and your sweet comments:-) You are always so nice, and I look forward to your visits! You are doing such a great job here too. I cannot wait to hear the rest of your story.

Pamela said...

Hey girl! Haven't been by in awhile. Trying to catch up on things that some how some way got away from me. Loving all the inspirations this week and I will be back soon!

stephanie said...

Hi Vanessa! Thanks for stopping by and introducing yourself and leaving a sweet comment!! It's so fun to "meet" all these talented ladies from all over the country!!
I'm a new follower now too!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Maria@BubblegumandDuctTape said...

you are too funny, but I can understand, mannequins are a bit creepy.

what a fun linky party, I dont' think I knew about it. I'll have to join in on the fun.

Off to visit some of your party links, hope you're having a great weekend.

Jenny said...

I love this. Great party...If I ever feel inspired and do something cool, I'll link!

Yellow Rose Arbor said...

Hi! So nice meeting you! You have a delightful blog! Thanks for following me, and I'm also following you!!

Cute steps!

Katherine

Unknown said...

Hi Vanessa, I found your lovely blog via Modern Country Style, and thought the blog hop was a great idea. So I decided to put up a thumbnail despite being a day late, but being utterly hopeless at techie things managed to put a second thumbnail on by mistake - I am so sorry, maybe you can delete it? Your newest follower, Belinda from Wild Acre

Anonymous said...

Thanks :)
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