A chill in the air

Each year I feel compelled to make myself a new scarf. Now, I'm not a knitter, and I would consider myself a beginner crocheter, seeing as I only know one stitch, but I enjoy crocheting because it allows me to sit in front of the tv for as long as I want, while still managing to accomplish something. What was my point?... Oh yes, anyway, seeing as it's beginning to get chilly here in Ohio I finally broke down and bought a new winter coat, and of course the thought of a new scarf planted myself in the back of my head. I was determined not to make another scarf this year, I think I have 12 in my closet at the moment, and yes, I do live in Ohio, but really, no one needs that many winter scarves. However, while cleaning my closet tonight I came across my crochet hooks, and that was all it took, I dropped everything and went out to buy some new yarn. So this is what is currently keeping busy, even though I don't need another project or another scarf, I just can't help myself!

Call for followers & Finally finished my tote!

Hi all, I am so proud of myself for posting more often, (goal number 1), so now it's time to work on goal number 2: get more followers. I would love to up my numbers, if you know of any other bloggers/blog readers who love crafty stuff, reading about weddings, the occasional recipe, and some general randomness, please please please recommend that they read my blog, I love my followers and I would really appreciate some more love! If you have any tips for gaining more followers please leave me a comment and let me know!

To totally change the subject, I finally finished my new purple tote bag, sorry ladies, this one's not for sale!

I was so proud of myself for not rushing it and doing it right (I usually get antsy and start to cut corners), it's adorable, but unfortunately it turned out a little big to use for an everyday purse, that's fine with me though, because my original plan was to use it as my tote bag for the educational conference I get to go to in November, typically I wouldn't be so excited about a conference, but considering that this particular conference is in Anaheim California, and it includes a trip to Disneyland, I am giddy like a little kid, I can't wait! This Midwestern girl has never been to California and I am ecstatic!

Here is a close-up of the flower and beaded embellishment that I added

Fall = apples

Fall is in full swing in Northwest Ohio, and September always means apples. Apparently I have caught the bug, because I was ecstatic to start my Saturday morning off with a giant mug of hot apple cider. This was perfect because yesterday was so cloudy and blustery, for the first time, it really felt like fall. This afternoon I revisited the bag of apples in my fridge. I never use all of my produce before it goes bad, and this time I vowed that I would not be cleaning rotting apples out of that drawer three weeks from now, so I peeled some, cut them into chunks, coated them with cinnamon and sugar and baked them for half an hour, viola, yummy baked apples. They were supposed to be dessert, but I couldn't wait, they smelled too good! In a couple more weeks I'll be all about pumpkin flavored everything, but I still have half a bag of apples to use up!

Something different

I really needed to take a break from the wedding stuff for a bit, so I decided to make something for myself - because I never do, do you do that too? I always make things for other people but rarely for myself, although I am getting better at doing things for me... But I digress. Anyway I am making myself a new tote bag because I have a bag obsession, and as much as it pains me I cannot afford a new Vera Bradley or Coach bag at the moment. But I figured my purple floral that I have been saving for something special was the perfect fabric. I quilted it tonight, that's as much as I had time to accomplish, but it is lined and bound with a white cotton with tiny lavender polka dots. I can't wait until saturday morning when I have time to work on it again!

Weekend accomplishments

I got so much done this weekend, and I have been trying to figure out how I wanted to share the pictures of what I got done, do I show you everything all at once because I am so excited about all of it, or do I save it and dish it out in tiny little pieces so I can stretch out everything that I have to show you????

Becky at farmgirl paints helped me make my decision. Today in her post she was talking about how she is constantly posting pictures of herself, and some bloggers never do. I realized that that's me, I never post pictures of myself, typically because I'm the one taking the picture, but it reminded me that I have a really cute picture that I took this weekend of the boutonnieres I designed for the guys to wear in the wedding, and Aaron and I are in the picture.... kind of:

The framed picture in the background is one of our engagement pictures (taken by my best friend, Amy). This was my favorite picture from the shoot because it was totally natural and not posed, he just stuck his tongue out at me, and I cracked up, but that's typical for us.

Here is another picture of the boutonnieres (I apologize for the blurriness, that's the best I could do with the camera on my phone - thank you Samsung).

I was going for a very laid back, natural, not too girly look. What do you think?

Too go to be true

I was so excited about my paper garland that I came home from the 5k I walked Saturday morning, went straight to my shed, and sat down to sew. I was ecstatic! It was so easy, and I had the whole thing done in less than twenty minutes. That is, until I began to wrap it up and realized that it was one big, giant, tangled mess.


It is still a giant tangle mess on my sewing table, I had to walk away. But otherwise I have had an extremely productive weekend, and I can't wait to show you what I accomplished, tomorrow, but now, I am exhausted and you better believe as soon as the clothes in the dryer are done, I am going to bed!

HUGE SALE!!!

This is major news people! Obsessively Organized on etsy is having a huge sale -that never happens!

Recently people have begun to request calendars for the 2011, and while I am so flattered that you all like your planners, I'm just not as excited about making them as I used to be. I see this as a huge problem, because the last thing that I want to do is grow to hate papers and new layouts. If I am pouring this much of my soul into something, I want it to be something I am super passionate about, I need to shake things up! I want to throw In some variety!

No worries, I will still have some of the favorite products, including a second edition of my wedding plan workbook. Now that I am using it to plan my own wedding I am finding that some changes could be made to improve it.

Until I have the new products available, enjoy the sale! First edition wedding plan books have been marked down to $25. Notepads and notecards are a steal at $4 and $5, they make perfect stocking stuffers and teacher gifts so stock up before they're gone!

I have accomplished some things...

My last post was just a touch negative, and occasionally I have to remind myself that there are actually quite a few things that I have gotten accomplished. One of the projects that I've managed to finish is an adorable wreath which I plan to hang on the doors to the church (of course I've only finished one, so I still have one more to do). It is a styrofoam wreath form wrapped in yarn, and embellished with a couple of purple felt flowers and some green silk hydrangea blossoms leftover from the bridesmaid's bouquets, so yes I do have something done, actually I've accomplished a lot more than that thank goodness! But there's an example

Only ideas...for now

So I showed you those super cute wedding ideas that I found last night, but ever since I have had wedding decorations on the brain. I cannot wait to get my hands on some cute papers and get to work because right now all I have are ideas and a bunch of computer graphics, I so badly want to actually make something. Unfortunately there is this thing called work, you know, the place that I have to be for 9 hours a day, so I can't make anything at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, and I definitely feel like it is a part of me, but we all have days where we would much rather shut ourselves away and craft all day. Since I couldn't do that today I went to Hobby Lobby on my lunch break. It didn't quite satisfy my urge, but I was able to get some supplies, so at least I have them when I so finally have time!

Tell me how you satisfy your crafting urge, and how in the world do you finish big projects in time to meet deadlines?! I would love some suggestions!

Wedding Inspiration

I was completely exhausted from my hours of laundry (don't you just love unpacking after vacation? Ummm no.) so I walked out into my studio to work on something mindless, but when I saw the disaster area that is my studio right now I just wanted to cry. We're talking pieces of centerpieces, bouquets, and invitations everywhere! Yea, I turned around and when back in the house, where I made a big giant list of every thing that I have to get done in the next 8 months, and after I finished my four-page list it dawned on me that maybe I really don't have to make everything myself (gasp!). So here I am, trolling etsy for ideas, and things that I really might be willing to pay someone else to do for me.

I was originally planning on doing these myself, but when I saw how much they cost, and I thought about how much of my time they would consume, I think I'm going to order them after all. PartyPoms has a huge color availability, and her photos make me drool!

This incredible idea is from KristinaMarie. Oh I have died and gone to heaven, this is exactly what I was looking for! I want to drape these beautiful garlands over our church pews. However I think I will make my own because I have got to try this out! How easy could you get, paper circles and a sewing machine, I just got a scalloped circle punch from Martha Stewart's craft line that will be perfect for this. Granted, I'll let you know how easy it is after I try it...

Vacation is exhausting!

I am wiped out, who knew that vacation could completely wear you out. But honestly I'm not suprised, we did a lot today. We started bright and early (not so much, we didn't leave the campground until 10) in Berlin Ohio, which some cute shops, but for the most part has become overly touristy. I did get a couple of things, some new towels for the kitchen, one of the best stores is Berlin Bulk Foods, which is filled with baga and bags of noodles, cake bread and muffin mixes, dried beans, seasonings, flour, and candy. I picked out a cinnamon muffin mix, along with some pumpkin cappucino mix, which I was super excited to find.

From downtown Berlin we headed to a place we always hit, no matter what; Heini's Cheese Chalet. We never eat all of the cheese that we buy there, but it's so much fun to sample all of them! And then we drove 15 minutes to Charm Ohio. It's not even a town, more like a tiny speck on the map, but it Is home to my very favorite Amish bakery, Miller's Bakery. We walked in the door the minute that they pulled a tray of giant cinnamon rolls (I'm talking the size if my face giant) out of the oven, and the scent hit me like a ton of bricks. Needless to say, we bought one of those, along with a variety of cookies.

We went back for lunch at the camper, and then headed into town for the fair. We were hoping that the forecasted rain would hold off, but no such luck, we left the fairgrounds soaked to the bone. Luckily Aaron's brother lives close by, and we were able to throw some things in the dryer while we visited. When we finally left at 9 we still hadn't had dinner, so we ended up at the applebees in Wooster. I could've cared less about my food, I was too busy savoring my giant glass of Red Apple Sangria, which was absolutely to die for!

Now I'm back at the camper, and I'm completely content. I'm warm, dry, and full, and feeling like a bit of a party pooped because I am so ready to crawl into bed! Pictures will be up soon!

Yummy camping goodness!

So yes, I fully realize that this picture looks like chewed up mush, but it's not, I swear, and I felt so bad about not posting pictures that I went ahead and posted it anyways, but, I digress.

Last year at this time we went camping in Amish country and I posted one of my favorite camping recipes, campfire pies, this year we are again camping in Amish country, so I am sharing my new favorite thing with you, dump cake, or heaven in your mouth!

Two cans of fruit pie filling, we used apple, a white cake mix from a box, a can of mountain dew, and approximately 2 tablespoons of butter all cooked in a Dutch oven over hot coals. It's incredible!!!!

Chili!!

I apologize for two posts in a row without a picture, in my defense I did take a picture for this one but the lighting was horrible and it didn't make my super yummy chili look very appetizing at all.

Anyway, I am addicted to elephantitas alegras, I read kate's hilarious posts every day, and she has got me craving chili. I'm not typically a chili person, but I couldn't get it out of my head so I did a quick google search and found a recipe for a creamy white chicken chili, which has officially become my favorite dinner recipe EVER! Here it is:

1lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1/2inch cubes
1 med. Onion - chopped
1 1/2tsp. Garlic powder
1tblsp canola oil
2 15oz cans great northern beans
1 14oz can chicken broth
2 4oz cans chopped green chilis (I could only find a 7oz can, but I only used 2/3 of it)
1tsp salt (I used 1/2)
1tsp ground cumin (I used 3/4)
1tsp dried oregano
1/2tsp pepper
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
8oz sour cream
1/2cup heavy whipping cream

In a large saucepan sauté the chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink.

Add beans, broth, chilis, and seasonings, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in cream and sour cream. Serves 7

I don't know about where you are, but it's definitely going to be chili weather in Ohio this weekend! Enjoy!

Super cuteness!

I was so excited to show you the gifts that I just ordered for the girls in my bridal party, until I realized that would totally ruin the suprise for them, so that picture will have to wait, but I can definitely tell you that I got them from a very talented (and ingenious!) etsy seller and I am so excited that I bought one for myself too! The hardest part is going to be not giving them to the girls before the rehearsal dinner, which is not for another 8 months. I am so the kind of person who gets more excited about giving gifts than about getting them!

Good intentions

I had every intention of finishing my overwhelming project that has become tagging and cataloging all of my beautiful glass, but when I walked into my studio tonight I was so not feeling it. So instead I went back in the house and filled in my planner for this week, it didn't take long to fill up a whole week, but that's the story of my life. Now I'm off to finish some laundry (so very exciting) and start getting ready for our camping trip this weekend. We're making our second trip of the summer to Amish country, I love Amish country, it's the perfect place to get in the mood for fall!

Two Words: Wireless Internet!

I swear my life is a million times easier (not to mention a whole lot quicker) now that we finally have wireless at Aaron's (and therefore in my studio)! Needless to say my ipod has been glued to my hand ever since, and I am back to reading blogs religiously (o how I have missed you)!

Some of my favorite bloggers have inspired me to get back to my own, and I really want to turn this little blog of mine around. It is so much easier to write everyday when I share stories and info from all aspects of my life, as opposed to the segment that is my craft - mania. But the title still fits perfectly, because I am, of course, obsessively organized in every possible way.

For example, wedding planning has consumed my free time, so I wanted to share with you what I did this weekend (thank God for three day weekends), so that you can get a picture of how ridiculously organized my brain is.

This all started when I decided that my wedding centerpieces were going to be a collection of randomly assorted vintage glass vases (thank you design_sponge). I had already begun collecting pieces that grabbed me, so I was excited to indulge myself, and I went a little crazy at goodwill, savers, and garage sales. I now have over a hundred and fifty glass pieces in my possession. I was lucky enough to find a florist who is very excited about my vision, and I can't wait to see what she does with it (and now I'm going to plug the very talented Mary Ann at the Flower Basket in Bowling Green Ohio). But she can't give me a quote until she has a clear picture of the number and sizes of the pieces I want to use (entirely understandable). Therefore, the floor of my studio now looks like this:

But it's worth it because I finally feel like I have an understanding of what I have, whew. Plus each piece has a label on the bottom that gives the piece's item number, and the number of the table grouping that particular piece belongs to, and I have corresponding spreadsheets. Is it sad that I'm excited about my spreadsheets?

Plus, after I created a grouping, I took a picture of it, so that I can print the pictures and take them with me when we set up the hall. Here is one, it doesn't look like much now, but imagine it with flowers and candles (in 8 months I can show you pictures of the really thing!!!!!)

It was a little sad how tired this made me, but i definitely felt like I accomplished something!