Neighborly Love . . .

We have incredible neighbors! We have so much fun when we get together for dinner and/or have game night or just do whatever . . . so we decided to leave a little gift for one lovely couple who was out of town on their door to greet them when they got home . . . with unibrow . . .without unibrow . . . they were also kindly shared with their neighbors as well . . .

My fingers are fire proof . . .

It is official . . . my fingers are so used to coming into contact with my glue gun that it just doesn't phase them anymore . . . but they have suffered for many a good cause . . . namely the past week or two have produced MANY flower pins . . . I actually had 28 more . . . very different pins, barrettes, headbands, flower belts etc. but I invited my sisters to take their pick and shared many with friends . . . so here are some new ones that I made this week (recognize some of the material Jules?)The ones below are free for the taking . . . so if you have an out fit that needs a little dazzle stop by ladies!!!um by the way . . . they are IMMENSELY cuter in real life!!!

Sewing my heart out!

Since I got a sewing machine for my birthday I have been pretty stoked to do a little sewing!!! My mom put me right to work over spring break and we "whipped" out this quilt . . . I sewed and sewed, she pressed and sewed and finished it off for me!!! I love how "pioneerish" it looks! I also "whipped" out a flower pillow for our living room . . . although it may be a little too fru fru for our motif . . . (yes mom it is a coppery gold) I thought that it turned out pretty good!

Craftin' again . . .

We have been doing a bit more crafting at our house . . . last night for young women's we made more hair bows . . . I wish that I had taken pictures of the girls creations!!! They were mega cute!!! Another fun project I found was a burlap sign that you can print out on your computer!!! It totally worked . . . I have tons of freezer paper if anyone needs some . . . it is a bit pricey to buy for one project so come and take some off my hands and save a little $ . . . check out the Sign Instructions, and the Savior Subway Art Layout.
I also made a valentines heart to add a little festivity to our house . . . I have gotten lazy about decorating for the holidays the past year . . . so this is it for now . . .
I made a few more flowers and headbands . . . they are just hanging out if anyone wants to snoop through my stash . . . you are welcome to them . . .
I also had to share the BIGGEST flower bow that I have made to date . . . large and in charge kids!

Playing in the snow . . .

Three of our nephews came to play in the snow and go to the SUU basketball game and sleepover . . . they have a LOT of energy and we had fun during their visit!

Christmas Craft day . . .

I had a little craft day with two of my AMAZING neighbors yesterday . . . I made another paper wreath AND found a darling frame at the DI to put it on . . .
A few jazzed up hats for my nieces . . .
and a few mangers . . . also Jenna here is a photo of how I made the other paper wreath . . . . just tear the paper and glue, glue, glue . . . THANKS Alycia and Whitney for coming over!!!

Antique Paper Wreath and Window Re-use

My Aunt called me a few weeks ago and heard that I had face booked a request for an old window . . . and she answered my plea!!! She and my Uncle are renovating my grandparents house and she had a window from the garage that she said that I could have! I think my heart lept with joy when I saw it! Layers of paint, peeling, rusty latches . . . loved it!!! I just gave it a scrub and made an antique paper wreath to hang on it! I have been torn all day deciding where to hang it and it finally landed in our master bedroom (it looked great in EVERY room). Thank you, thank you, thank you Elaine!!! I have a metal saying hanging in my living room that would look kickin' above it . . . another decision to make . . . I am going to make a few more smaller paper wreaths for another room . . . I love how it turned out too!!! I bought some OLD books at DI that were hammered and tore one up and folded and glued the paper onto a foam wreath. Really easy . . . just takes a little time. My boss has an old door that I have been drooling over . . . but Toph just looks at me like I am crazy . . . it would be a super cute headboard!!! Hmmm . . .

Can't Stop Crafting . . . my life story . . .

Dear GIANT grapevine Christmas wreath that I made my freshman year of college . . . thank you for waiting so patiently in storage . . . in a black garbage bag collecting dust and being crushed by the other holiday items for so many years only to now make an appearance as three separate crafts so many years later in my stress driven pre-Thanksgiving cooking crafting craze. I am glad to finally have put you to a new use . . . including a giant star . . .
a smaller Christmas wreath . . .
. . . and three grapevine "fir" trees that remind me so much of the story "The Three Trees."

Also Bitten: A Romantic Comedy . . . thank you for your side splitting opening chapters!!! I can't wait to continue reading and reminiscing about the mission field! If I could ever get Toph to read you I think he might enjoy it . . . since you are based in Tennessee . . .

Crafting while fighting a cold . . .

Chris has been sick all week and being the giving, sharing husband he is . . . has passed it along to me . . . although I have been stomach sick to . . . poor guy . . . Now that I think about it I believe it started to come on after he went golfing last week . . . hmmm . . . coincidence?
I came home from a long day at work and felt like crafting . . . hence the wreath and flower necklace. I have been going through our boxes (!!!) of hoiliday decor and have been making trips here and there to the D.I. with things that we haven't used during the holidays for a bit. Basically out with the old and in with the new.
I have 2 cakes and MANY pies that will be taking over my kitchen the next few weeks . . . so of course I am crafting while fighting a cold/flu tonight . . . (P.S. can't wait to wear the necklace tomorrow . . . already have my gear laid out) . . . okay the Nyquil is kicking in . . . and I'm out . . .

. . . okay . . . made more necklaces . . .

Flower Headbands and Barrettes . . .

My Young Womens class was in charge of our activity last night and for weeks now the girls in YW have been asking me to teach them to make flower barrettes and headbands . . . so last night we finally got out the glue guns, ribbons, feathers, beads, and material and went to work!
I wish that I had brought my camera to take pictures of the girls creations . . . but it didn't happen . . . so all I have is what I made . . . before and after the activity.
The girls did a great job and we made (and cleaned up) quite a mess! I have plenty of leftover stuff if anyone feels inspired and wants to make something!
Some of the flowers I made are pretty big and will most likely end up as pins and who knows what else . . . . I love the headbands! The feathers are vavoom, vavoom . . . plus some of the headbands are animal print! It was way fun! Our YW rock!

Travel, Crafts, Goods, and Tunes . . .

We in the Liechty home finally succumbed to using the infamous ocean breeze blue paint and brown glaze to do a few projects with . . . a wreath wall hanging and 3 picture frames with the family proclamation, the articles of faith, and the ten virtues. So I guess we feel pretty hip . . . or something. Actually almost every time Toph comes home our walls and furniture have been changed somehow . . . poor guy . . . just can't keep up with his wife's crafts and "flips." We are trying to go through all of our "storage stuff" . . .that is the stuff at our home . . . not all the goods at my parents house still . . . we continually get rid of stuff, just about as fast as new comes in. Our office officially looks like an office now . . . as for the guest room (currently named "the mess") it is progressing.We managed a quick trip up to Logan last weekend for our nieces baptism and I was pretty pumped to have my Westlife CD arrive in the mail in time for our road trip. Toph was not as excited as I was to listen to their kickin' tunes, but I figured I more than made up for it listening to his choice of the AC/DC Iron Man 2 soundtrack . . . lovely dear, but the boy melted my heart playing Uncle Kracker's new CD . . . love the song "Smile!" Anywho we had a great trip! Thanks NLC! (Northern Liechty Clan) for the good times! Love you guys! AND if you haven't heard of Westlife check them out. They are from Ireland and I LOVE their tunes! (I am sure that my sisters will like them!)A few weeks ago Toph won an official world cup soccer ball online . . . along with a load of other goodies . . . including an Addidas gift card and a case of powerade . . . so that is pretty exciting for us lowly college kids! Other than that we look forward to Halloween and am loving this amazing fall weather. I promise to do a post this week on the Open Pantry kiddles . . . it will happen!

Day off = Cleaning and Crafting

I won't lie . . . I have been in my pajamas all day and it has been wonderful! It has been a while since I have had a day to get caught up with no outside demands for the day. I got SOOO much done! I have had all the Harry Potter movies going all day while I have worked and crafted and cleaned and decluttered and reorganized etc . . . and it has been SOOO nice! I have no idea why I hang on to some things . . . like boxes . . . as in boxes for picture frames, figurines, candles, all sorts of things . . . I had an entire closet FILLED with boxes and I finally got rid of them and am oogling the space left behind . . . I think I was saving them for when we move . . . but they were pointless for the most part . . . so Toph will be thrilled . . . also this week I made banana cupcakes with Nutella frosting . . . so my freezer is now filled with frosted goodness of the remaining cupcakes after sending a plate home with Chris' buddy for he and his roommates. . . so if you need a cupcake and have no nut allergies come on by anytime!
Also I got a little crafting done . . . a mirror that I LOVE and some letters that needed a little vamping . . . good day overall!
Nutella Frosting

1 small jar Nutella
1 stick Butter, softened
1/2 tsp Vanilla
4-5 cups Powder Sugar
2-3 Tbsp Milk

Fudgy Style

Melt the butter and beat together with the nutella, add vanilla, powder sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached. (This frosting thickens more as it cools, so hang back on the powder sugar a bit at first)

Buttercream Style

Cream together the butter and nutella, add the vanilla, powder sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached.

I can . . . therefore I am!

I need this sign in my house!!! This week I have been canning like crazy! I ordered a basket of veggies/fruit from bountiful baskets along with a case of mango's . . . thus there was a plethora of goods to utilize to make jams, salsa, jelly, etc from. Now added to our jars from last year are mango-raspberry jam, which I made with my Beehives this week (um, the best stuff ever!), mango jam, nectarine mustard, salsa, mango salsa, and cinnamon plum jelly. Stop by and take a jar or two!!! We also have apple butter, apple sauce, canned cherries (yeah no idea what I am going to do with them, but they are in my favorite jars and look nice . . .), strawberry-rhubarb jam, and I am sure that I have forgotten a thing or two. . . The peach butter I made last year went fast, as has the sweet onion jelly (although there is one still sitting patiently on my parents counter). I think I can handle another round or two. I want to make chow-chow and chili sauce still . . . but need good tomatoes . . . so we will see what else ends up in our pantry! Needless to say I LOVE canning!

Daymakers . . .

Reading "Undaunted" by Gerald Lund . . . and boom . . . my Great-Great-Great Grandfather (C.J) Christopher Jones Arthur is in it . . . as himself . . . he was made the bishop of Cedar City in 1877, became a Patriarch in 1893 and was the 4th Mayor of Cedar City . . . my grandmother in the picture is the lady seated with the child on her lap, Jane Condie Arthur.

The past few weeks I have been hit big time with the family history bug!

The other day I found my Great-Great-Great Grandpa Fredrickson's death certificate and was able to connect him to his parents (and a long line of ancestors already connected) and our family! The hard part will be finding all of the info from Denmark . . . it is a live and learn experience all the way and is so much fun to do! I LOVE finding more stories and info about our ancestors!!!

*Okay I had to add to this after my cousin Amy (congrats on expecting by the way!!!) commented about the above photo . . . SUU has quite a few pictures of Grandpa Arthur and of other Parry family members . . . I am going this week to see about getting copies . . . will be happy to share!

Summer is almost over . . . but we had fun!!!

Can it be that summer is almost over once again??? NOOOOO!!! We in the Liechty home are not ready to surrender to the demands of school (well I'm not . . . Toph is going year round and hasn't had the luxury of a break . . . sorry luv) and the gray, wet, cold, snowy, slippery days of winter! The little bits of stress seeping in caused me to have a craft attack today . . . as you can see . . .
We have had some great times this summer though . . . so I don't feel inclined to sit here whine but rather remember the awesome times that we have had . . .

Christensen Family Reunion:
Last weeks family reunion left me with only 1 misquito bite this year (!!!), no bears attacked us, we were thoroughly entertained by the Christensen clan and I even felt like I was 12 again when crashing through the woods at night playing "Ghosts in the Graveyard" with my awesome cousins!!! (How anyone escaped being gored by branches or running into trees is a miracle!) My faith in my mothers abilities on a 4 wheeler while climbing VERY steep, muddy, and rocky trails has shot sky high (and kudos to Erin too who followed us making things that turned my stomach in knots look easy to blaze over!)
Toph proved to be quite the clay pigeon thrower and we had fun shooting, fishing, chatting, riding horses (NOT ME!), fourwheelers, food, etc. We also talked about our family history and I was able to translate (hopefully correctly) some of my aunts geneology from German for her.
I know everyone wanted to see Grandma's before and after mountain glamour shots . . . so enjoy!

(Just a reminder . . . I still vote for the handcart trek next year peeps!) I have been doing geneology research and finding so many awesome stories and pictures of my ancestors . . . I am determined to keep searching and trace our lines as far back as I can . . . it is just awesome learning about your ancestors and feeling such a strong connection!!! I have started binders for each side of our fam and will share the info that I find as I go fam!
Today Toph and I went and saw "Dinner for Shmucks" . . . funny but it had some less than desirable stuff in it . . . When I got home I just felt like crafting . . . crafting . . . crafting . . . here are a few things . . .

This L is screaming for a little more love . . . we will see what I find this week . . .

Yeah I saw the pattern for this 3-D star wreath and had to make one . . . even though nothing in my house is blue like this . . . Bran if baby Dylan wants this for his nursery it is yours . . . this photo really doesn't do it justice . . . you are the only one I could think of with blue in a room in your house . . . anywho anyone else wants it . . . it is yours . . . it took me way to long to cut, fold, and glue these stars to rid myself of it . . . it really is cute!
The picture on the top of this entry was a plaque redo over a saying that I hated . . . I like it and the fact that it has one of my favorite engagement pics, red, and damask just makes it nearer and dearer to my heart. I have more crafts that I pulled out and have been working on . . . although many will only see the light of day again when they are eventually hung in our kids rooms . . . someday . . . anywho we are screaming to have one more event that will get us out of the house before we are tied down for the fall (for the most part) . . . Zion has free access next Saturday if anyone would be interested in a picnic!!! Let me know kiddles! Okay I need to finish my prepping for my YW lesson tomorrow . . . but I need to share a message that gave me a much needed boost this week . . . check it out here.