Home Project: Meal Planning Board

       Looked up a bunch of meal planning boards on Pinterest and decided that I would do a combined one for our house. I found a 12 by 12 frame from Micheals and then with some scrapbook paper to make the frame. The cork lettering and week stickers were from Micheals as well. The box is made from a Italian seasoning box covered in cardstock. The coolest thing I found was the magnet clips that I just hot glued on from Target. They were on sale too, which I love! :) I need to make more print offs for meals or just cut up some more paper to write on. I made a bunch on the computer and taped it to laminate the cards. Love it and use it all the time! I just write on the board and then take a picture with my iphone when I go to the grocery.  

Disney Project: Sewing Tinkerbell Outfit

 

Dress: Tinkerbell

Sewing Pattern: Simplicity 2872
             
 Fabric Used: Joann Fabric

• Green- Sparkle satin
• Shimmering Fabric

Sewing Time: 2 days

Sewing Experience level: Easy

Instructions: Really pretty easy and just followed the pattern.

I did just but the wings from the dollar store so that I wouldn't have to deal with making them.

 

Disney Project: Countdown to Disney World!

     After seeing a bunch of countdowns on Pinterest I decided to make one that would work with our kitchen since it would be pretty much be a permanent frame year round. Plus we love getting the girls excited for our annual Disney trip and it came out perfectly!

         I bought all the supplies at Hobby Lobby but the frame was from our local Botanical gardens. First I downloaded Disney Font online. I opened a new document in Word and then made word part of the sign. I then found a mickey silhouette online and copied it into Word and sized it to the Word file but printed it on a separate sheet. After printing a few practice pages of the countdown page for sizing I cut down a scrapbook page to the size of the printer paper and printed the page. Next I printed the mickey silhouette and then cut out the scrapbook paper with it. I bought heavy card stock for the mickey so it wouldn't fit in the printer. Then I just taped it together and framed it. Now All I need is a black dry erase marker. :)

How to Save at Disney World

Everyone knows that going to Disney is not cheap but there are many ways to save while you are there. Here are how we save when we go to Disney World.

1. Pack your own lunch. It will save you lots of time and money at Disney. We found that the quick service meals are not amazing and when we are in the park all day it is so much faster to sit and eat. You can also buy the "pricer" lunch options at the grocery store because it will still cost less.
2. Bring a refillable water bottle. We also bring propel packets for the water bottle because I don't like the taste of just regular water. There are also bottle topper you can use for children so that they don't spill. We bring these everywhere.
3. Bring snacks. Go big and pick out your favorites to bring to the park. We always bring the girls Ring Pops and this year I am going to get candy necklaces. We never really let the girls have candy at home so this is their something special.
4. Bring your own costumes. Go online or to a thrift store to find a great Disney outfit. I love to sew so I make them a bunch of dresses before we leave.  
5. Drive to Disney or rent a car. If you stay on Disney property you can park anywhere free so you can leave the park and get something to eat then drive back. For example we love Outback and there is one located right outside of Animal Kingdom. It is much cheaper than the table service meals at Disney. 
6. Table service meals and character meals are sometimes cheaper at breakfast or lunch then dinner. Check all of the prices for the table meals first before deciding which one to go to. For example my daughters love the princesses but the Royal Table is too pricy for us so we eat at Akershus Royal, which we LOVE!
7. Disney Visa Premier Card is a great option or any credit card that gets you extra money. The good thing about the card is that you get double Disney points that are 1 point to 1 disney dollar. We use this card all the time so that we can get the most for our trip. Last year we had enough to pay for a character meal, one child park hopper ticket, and 3 snacks at Disney World. 
8. Go to Disney World when it is in value season. The crowds will be low, the hotels are cheaper, and the meal prices are low so it is a win win. :)

Disney Project: Sewing Maleficent Outfit

"I'm scary, not pretty!"

Dress: Maleficent Outfit

Sewing Pattern: Simplicity 2571
                 -Dress E
 Fabric Used: Joann Fabric

• Black- sparkling satin
• Purple- sparkling satin
• Extra- purple cord and leftover Sofia dress material.

Arm

Sewing Time: 3 days

Sewing Experience level: Intermediate

Instructions:

1. Cut out dress pattern E
2.  With brown shipping paper cut out the arms so that they are longer than the child's arms. 
3. Cut the arm pattern so that it would have flames on the arms like maleficent.
4. Cut 2 purple arms and 2 black. 
5.  Cut and add extra strip to the front of the dress with purple. 
6. Collars were made but cutting out the collar from outfit D  of the pattern.  2 of pattern D's collar.
7.  Cut one spiked for the neck and the other flat. 
8. Sew the arms first by sewing the arms together and then putting the wrong side together to sew them to be two sided.
9. Complete the rest of the dress sewing.
10.  Added the collars by sewing them both collars together and then sewing half to the outfit so that you can get in the dress. Used Velcro on the other side to keep it in place. The Snow White pattern I used was a good prep for the collar. 
11. For the headpiece I just cut of a size profile shape for my daughters head and added a 2 inches. then sewed up and keep try to get a good fit. I also tried pinning the fabric on her head. This took a few times before I finally got a good fit. 
12. The horns I found on the Disney fun site on how to make paper cut outs but used them for the pattern. I stuffed and then sewed on the headpiece. 
13. Once the top was sewed I just hot glued purple cord on the horns.   
14. Sewed little pieces of tulle purple on the arms to look like flames. 

  
Notes:
My daughter wanted to Maleficent for Disney's Not So Scary Halloween Party this year so I made it early so that she could wear it around. She loves the outfit but does tell me that we are missing the staff and raven. I guess that will be the next project. :)