Announcing A Disneyland Trip

I wanted a fun and unique way to announce the Disneyland trip to Stitch (Disney Daddy's niece (formerly called Disney Miss)) and Mater (Disney Daddy's nephew). I thought about a scavenger hunt, but with 3 kids in the house while they are visiting, I don't have the time or secrecy to be able to plant the different clues. SO, I opted for a game night announcement.

We played pictionary with them. These were the words/phrases that we put in a bowl and drew to draw.

• Hollywood Tower of Terror
• Castle
• Dumbo
• Road Trip
• Beach
• October (When we are going)
• All of us
• Tinker Bell
• Mickey Mouse
• Cars
• Disneyland (which was actually drawn last- AWESOME!)

It was a lot of fun, and the look on their faces at the end when they put it all together was AWESOME!

Craft Time: Minnie Shirts With Attached Bow

A friend is heading to Disneyland and has two little girls. I saw a tutorial from pinterest on making shirts, but I wanted to make mine a little different. I used that as my starting point, but then personalized it as well.
I am a BEGINNER seamstress. Up until now, in my adult life I have only made a few burp cloths (rectangle, nothing fancy) and a car seat cover. Both with heavy supervision from my mother. I did these completely on my own, so if I can do it- you can do it. I do suggest using a practice shirt first so you can get used to sewing curves.

For this tutorial you will need:

• Heat n Bond  Lite (the sew-able kind)
• A T-Shirt of your choice, I prefer mine from Old Navy (better quality) or Jiffy Shirts
• Ribbon (I used a 5/8" Red Polka Dot Ribbed Ribbon by Ribbon Boutique from Hobby Lobby (item # 191700))
• Thread of color of your choice- I chose red
• Black fabric (I used a heavy shirt from WalMart's Craft section. An Adult XL was enough to make 6 shirts)
• This outline of a Mickey Mouse Head, change the % of the print scale until it is the size you want. I found 70% was good for toddler clothing, 100% for adult clothing.

After you have washed and dried all fabric- without using fabric softener- iron it to remove any wrinkles if necessary. (If it is a gift, I strongly encourage you use a free & clear detergent in case of skin sensitivities.)
Now, read all instructions on the back of your heat n bond.
Cut out your printed Mickey Mouse head. Cut on the inside of the black line or the shape will be off.
Once you cut out the head and verify it is the size you want, trace it on the paper part of the heat n bond.

Follow the directions on the package to apply the heat and bond to the WRONG SIDE (if there is a wrong side) of the fabric you are using for the head.
Then, cut out the Mickey mouse heads after it has cooled, it should look like this.

Be sure to fine touch the corners that are rounded, etc.
Follow the heat n bond directions to apply it to the shirt where you want it. Most people put them on centered, straight up. I liked the heads tilted a little.
After you have finished applying it to the shirt, and it has cooled, stitch just inside the head. I used a contrasting color. You don't have to do it perfectly.

After you finish sewing around the edges, it should look something like this. (Please note that if you don't want to sew around the edges, you can just use heat n bond if you get the "ultra, no sew" kind)

This is where I decided to break from the tutorial I referenced before. The original tutorial has a detachable bow that is safety pinned on. I decided I wanted my bow attached. While you can use fabric glue, etc that are made to be washable, I decided I preferred to sew mine. Again, I am a beginner, so it was really simple.

First, measure out your bow. You will end up folding it in half 2 times(ish) by the time you are done, so figure that in to the length. I cut mine approximately 13" long for these toddler shirts, and they are a little big.

Fold the ribbon in half. If you want, mark the half way spot with a pen/pencil.
Now, fold each end over the half way spot. The ends need to overlap just a bit so that you can sew both in a single stitch.

Run them through the sewing machine. One straight line.

Now, take one end and fold the end in to make 2 loops at the end. You can make them equal in length. I ended up deciding I wanted them to be where the top one was a little bit shorter.

Tuck the inside in as close to the last seam sewn as much as possible. Run it through the sewing machine, one seam, as close as you can to you middle seam.

Repeat on the other side.

Now, With Ribbon that is still attached to the spool. Start in the back (in case it frays) and in the middle, covering the other seams, wrap it around the center. DO NOT cut it until AFTER you sew (but you will want to cut it in the back. I did not sew all the way down (so that I could cut the ribbon in the back.

Most likely you will sew through one polka dot. I decided this wasn't that big of a deal. If you prefer, you can do separate stitching at the top and bottom to get around the polka dot.

Now, you need to attach it to the shirt.
Figure out where you want it on the shirt. If you need to, pin it on so it doesn't move.
Lift up the top loop on one side. You will sew the bottom loop to the shirt (so the seams are hidden).

I went forward, reversed and did another seam backwards, and then one forward again, to be sure it was secure and would not come undone in the wash. Repeat on the other side.

Snip all the thread ends off and you are done.

Here are both shirts together.

These are great, personal shirts that cost much less than the ones you can purchase through Disney. Just be sure to use the gentle cycle to be safe.
I plan on making some for our family as well, just a little varied. Look for pictures when I am done.

Tip: Protect Your Stuff- Water Rides

One good thing about having The Goof not being able to do the big rides is that while others go on those water rides, whoever sits out with The Goof can hold onto their stuff.
Back when we went in 2007, that was not the case though. We didn't have The Goof. We weren't going to leave our stuff anywhere obviously, but we didn't want to worry about our phones, cameras, etc getting soaked (and if you do the rides like we do the rides- they will get soaked).

This is what we did to protect our electronics, etc.

First we put them in zip lock bags. The first day we didn't, and we realized this was a necessary step.
Second, we put the zip lock bag(s) in a plastic travel cosmetics bag. You want a good quality heavy duty one.

You can get a really good one for around $3-5 at Target or Walmart. I don't suggest dollar store ones. Better to spend a little more on a good bag then have to replace your phone. The one pictured is from Amazon.com and runs around $8.

Finally, if you have a purse or backpack (I prefer backpack) put the cosmetics bag inside of that. Also, if you have paper tickets- make sure you are putting your tickets in the bag as well. When we went back in 2001 for our honeymoon, our paper tickets got so wet that by the last day, they didn't work for fast passes. 2007 we bought plastic "card" tickets from the Disney Store so we didn't have that problem.

Take a little extra time to protect your valuables and it can save you a lot of unnecessary expenses.

Disneyland in October!!!!

The Love Our Disney family is planning a Disneyland vacation! We have gone back and forth on going to Disneyland this fall. Well, Cuckoo (The Goof's Grandma) wants to take Disney Daddy's niece and nephew. So, it looks like we will be heading to Disneyland in October. It will *probably* be our last trip for a few years (except for maybe a Disney World trip with my sister).
Because it will be our last trip for a while, Disney Daddy's nephew's first trip, Cuckoo's first trip since she was a little girl, and Disney Daddy's niece's (formerly referred to as Disney Miss but we are thinking of a new name for her) last trip with us, we want to make it super special.
So, over the next few months, be watching for lots of Disney crafts, travel tips, ideas, etc.

Craft Time- Disney Chore Bucket

If you saw my Tin Can Bank tutorial you know that Disney Daddy and I told his niece and nephew, that if they each saved $200 we would take them to Disneyland.
Well, they will be coming to visit for a few weeks at the end of the month, and we wanted to help them in their efforts to save money. So I made this Disney Chore Bucket.

I have seen a lot of similar ideas to this on pinterest for rainy day activities, ways to draw a name, etc. And well, I had these buckets that I found for 3 for $1 a few months ago that I had been wanting to use.

For this craft you will need the following:

• Bucket or jar
• Popsicle/Craft Sticks (I used the jumbo size ones)
• Mod Podge
• Acrylic Paint (color of your choice, I used black and red)
• Sponge brush
• Pencil with a new eraser (I thought I would use the pen in the picture, but changed to a pencil eraser)
• Sharpie Pens (not markers, they bleed)
• THIS google document I made of the saying done in Disney font (or you can make your own cuter saying and download the Disney font HERE)
• I also used Distressing Ink and some Disney stickers

To start- Print (on card stock) and cut out your sign/label. I used distressing ink around the edges (if you know my craft style this is not shocking). I then used mod podge to adhere it to the bucket.

I then added some Disney stickers for some extra fun. I chose Donald and Daisy.

Next, I mod podged the bucket. I used a matte finish mod podge. I thought after I had covered the whole thing how I had never mod podged tin before without painting it, or covering it completely in another material, so I was nervous, but it dried nicely and looked great.

While I waited for it to dry, so I could put on a second coat, I did the popsicle sticks.
First, I used red and black paint on 13 sticks. They kids will be here for 2 weeks, and normally will get to pick one chore a day (except on major cleaning days). I won't put them back in until they are all used up.

Take the sponge brush you used for mod podge and the pencil. Dip the end of the handle of the brush into which ever color you are using.

Wipe off the excess paint. I did a few trial ones on an extra popsicle stick until I got it down. Use this as the center circle for Mickey's head. Put it on each popsicle stick. I did all the red ones, and then the black ones after.
Next, use the eraser end of the pencil to make the ears. Again, I practiced on the extra stick until I got it down.

Obviously they are not all perfect, but I am not into perfection. The imperfections makes it personal.

Then write at the other end, write out chores and amounts. I did not write any chores they should automatically do. No picking up toys, making bed, putting away clean clothes, etc. Only extra stuff they could do that I would not normally have them do.

I just used the sharpie fine point pens. I tried markers but they bled (you can tell which ones that I used them on). If you want to get fancy, you can print them off on the computer and glue/tape them on. I went for simple and quick.

(Don't forget to add a second coat of mod podge to your bucket)

There you have it. You are finished. It only took me about 20 minutes from start to finish.

ENJOY!

And the Winner Is.....

The winner of the Disney Giveaway as chosen by Random.org is........

Kelly Cole!!!!! Please contact me within a week to claim your prize or a new winner will be chosen.