A visit from the Knapp's!!!

My last mission companion came to visit with her husband Samuel last week and we had a blast!!! We wanted to go to the temple but it was closed to be cleaned . . . it was blindingly white! We went to the Brigham Young home and Snow Canyon and hung out and had a movie night and relaxed and caught up and in general had an amazing time!!! I could not believe how many details Elisa remembered from our time together! She was a wonderful comp and we had great success together (and good times!)It turned out to be an unbelievably hot day! As in melt your tennies hot!!! So naturally we went hiking in Snow Canyon . . .We went to Jenny's slot canyon after hiking a bit . . . it had to be at least 25 degrees cooler their . . . so nice!
The Knapp's enjoyed the photo ops . . .
The kinda creepy walls . . . reminds me of an alien movie . . .
Blondie and I had fun entertaining them while Toph was at work . . . it was fun!!!
Danke fuer euer besuch Elisa und Sameul! Ihr seid IMMER herzlich wilkommen bei uns!!!

Two Swiss Misses' . . .

So Saturday I was busy at work and two ladies walked in from Switzerland who were traveling across the U.S. and were essentially stranded in our fair city for a few days . . . they wanted to see the national parks and planned on transportation being easily accessible to travel around the parks . . . well unfortunately since they were only 20 they couldn't rent a car and being the busy summer season arranging alternative transportation was almost impossible (and very expensive) so I thought "why not . . .?" So Toph and I became travel guides for a few days with the generous hospitality of my parents and little sister! Laurence and Andrea thank you for being such delightful company and for making us appreciate trailor parks, walmart, wendy's and swiss chocolate! You, your family and friends are welcome back anytime!!! We hope you enjoy your trip!!!

More Neighborly love . . . you wish you were our neighbors!

So . . . we didn't want our other amazing neighbors to not feel a little Liechty love upon their return from Kentucky . . . nothing says welcome home like a poster promoting pork!!! Shout out to another good sported pair!

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!