A Little Magic at Home

I have seen many a cute way to keep the Disney magic going at home on Pinterest.  Just one problem, it's a little hard to do when you are planning a SURPRISE trip super far in advance.  Because of that our magic is being saved for the surprise announcement and the trip itself.  However, there is one place the magic lives on forever...in the boys bathroom.

When we moved into our house I let the big brother choose whatever theme he wanted for their bathroom.  We'd had a beachy theme in our old house because the bathroom was a hall/guest bath as well so I didn't want anything too kid-centric.  However, since this bathroom is upstairs and we have a half bath downstairs I put the beach themed items in the downstairs bath and he chose Mickey for their bathroom.  We bought some Mickey themed items at Target, but the bathroom seriously needed something more to jazz it up.

I had seen some super cute signs with reminders to "wash your hand" and "brush your teeth", etc.  However, even searching on Etsy I couldn't find any Mickey themed ones.  So I decided to make our own.  I don't own any fancy programs like Photoshop or anything so they are simple, but still came out super cute!

I started by spray painting some frames yellow.  Well, the Gunny helped with that one.  I bought black frames thinking if a  little black showed through it would look cool.  They required a few coats as a result, but they looked good when finished!

I then downloaded a free "Disney" style font called Waltograph to my computer.  I simply created three signs (because everything looks better in odd numbers, right?) in Word using the font.  I chose "wash your hands",  "flush the toilet" and "brush your teeth".

Then I cut out Mickey heads using my Silhouette Cameo in a fun red with white polka dots scrapbook paper.  I attached the Mickey heads to the bottom of the page after printing them up.  then I had to trim the 8 1/2x11 paper down to the 8x10 size of the frame.





Once the paper was fixed to the right size I simply placed them in my bright yellow frames and voila! 



After I had the frames ready to go the Gunny and I hung them up in the bathroom where they're easy for the brothers to see them, even if only one of them can read them right now!  I love that we added a quick pop of color to the room with very little effort.  I love that the whole project was about $15 even more!  (I probably could have found cheaper frames, but I was picky about the "hooks" on the back.)

When the big brother saw them he was so excited!  I told him I made them so I never had to nag him again.  He thought that was pretty cool, and a little funny, too!

Now we just need to paint the room!  Since we hate painting with a passion, this is probably a little ways off.   But for now, we've made one more room in our house look like we live there.  Bonus is that we're keeping the magic alive for our kids, without ruining the surprise!  How do you keep the magic going at home?

Disney Details #2

This is the first installment of what I should call DIY Disney I guess.  The first of my many Disney oriented projects I'm working on while the oldest is away.  The joys of a surprise trip mean that I can only work on things when he's not home so I've been trying to check some of these off of my to do list while he's gone so I can focus on the other projects when his eagle eyes and ears return!  I, of course, have a million Disney ideas pinned.  There's one problem...I don't sew.  For some reason in my home ec class we never learned how.  However, I CAN sew on a button so when I saw this project on Pinterest I knew I could handle it!

These adorable button shirts were so cute and so easy I couldn't resist.  Plus, all the materials for these four shirts cost about $25 tops so I made four shirts for the price of one at Disney and they are much more unique.  As I said this project is so easy I can do it so here are some quick instructions in case you don't want to click the link:

The Fussbucket's Shirt

1.  Cut out a Mickey silhouette shape.  I imported an image into my Silhouette Cameo, but you can google to find one online and size it as needed.

2.  Trace around the Mickey cut out with Tacky glue.  (The gold bottle in the craft section of Wal Mart or found at your local craft store.)

3.  Place buttons in colors & pattern of your choice on glue outline.  Wait for them to dry.

4.  Sew buttons in place permanently. 

5.  Done.  You are the creator of a super cute Mickey shirt for your Disney trip or your Disney fanatic. 

The Big Brother & The Gunny's Shirts

The little brother's shirt looks similar to the inspiration post, although it might be a wee bit crooked now that I'm staring at a picture.  But I don't think he'll care!  I decided though that my 12 year old and the Gunny may not want a giant Mickey made out of buttons so I got them polo shirts and put the Mickey on the breast of the shirt.  (Although according to the Gunny Mickey is 'huge" so I guess it's all a matter of opinion.)  For mine I put Mickey in the lower left corner of the shirt for a little something different. 

Little brother counting buttons while I try to take pictures.

I wanted the shirts to be matchy matchy without being too matchy if that makes sense.  Even the Gunny says they're cute so I think these shirts are crowd pleasers, even if they are cheesy!  My plan is to where them to our first day at Magic Kingdom.  Hopefully they'll make for some cute pictures!  I'd better make sure I pack a Tide to Go stick since we'll all be wearing white!   I just can't wait to see my whole family in our shirts.  That will be the true reward, even if the almost teenager rolls his eyes at me!

Disney Details #1

I have a feeling there will be a lot of Disney centered posts in the months to come and the posts will cover a wide range of things.  As I prep for Disney there are crafts, tips, etc. that I might just HAVE to share.  I grew up going to Disneyland.  It's got a million and one childhood memories for me.  As a kid Disneyland was a day of magic and a late night car ride home.  We ate hot dogs, churros, burgers, fries and ice cream.  We got to drink soda instead of milk!  But my, how times have changed.  I now live on the opposite coast and a trip to Disney can't happen in a day.  Instead we drive 11 hours and stay for a week!  I'd been to Disney World once in high school with my dad, but other than that when I planned our last trip I was a bit of a novice.  I spent a lot of time reading up on the ins and outs of Disney World.  The info paid off and we had a fabulous trip of course, but as we plan our upcoming trip I'm much more informed.

This time around I knew that there was more to Disney than hot dogs and churros.  Don't get me wrong,  I love me some churros.  They are so much harder to find on the east coast than in So Cal!  But I digress.  Last year I learned, a little late, that I could make reservations for our sit down dining experiences in advance.  I was still early enough to get most restaurants I wanted, but we ate at some funky times or some of our second, third, etc choices.  Not this time!  This girl was on the computer at exactly 180 days before our vacation making dining reservations!  Despite a set back of one restaurant not being in the system for over a week I am happy to say that we got reservations for every restaurant we wanted except one.  (More on this one later...)  So here is where we'll be eating on our trip:

Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge:  We ate here on our last trip and, what can I say, my boys love a good buffet!  Another perk is this restaurant is at our hotel this trip so it's a perfect arrival night restaurant.  Since the fussbucket will have spent quite a bit of time in the car I'm positive he'll have a ton of energy to burn off, as will the rest of us.  Hopefully it will be warm enough for the pool or the playground before dinner that evening.

Prime Time Cafe at Hollywood Studios: We'll be eating my birthday lunch here.  The best part of this restaurant is that it's set in the 50's so everyone is aunt, uncle or cousin and the food is just like mom makes.  Your table may even have a little black & white TV running old TV shows while you eat.  Best of all you can get a milkshake for your drink on the dining plan!  Hello, delicious!  Oh, and that viewfinder on the table, that's the kids menu!

Dinner 50's Style at Prime Time Cafe

Biergarten in Germany at Epcot: This will be our first experience here and I'm nervous about whether the fussbucket will have anything to eat.  However, I think he'll love the oompah band so if worse comes to worse, he'll just eat dessert or something!  I think it will be a fun experience for everyone.

Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom: We did one character dining last year at the end of our trip.  We ate at Cape May Cafe right before pulling out for home.  This time we scheduled the character dining earlier in hopes that it would help us gauge how the fussbucket would react to the characters.  Crystal Palace features Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore.  The little brother sleeps with a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal and enjoys the movie so I'm hoping this is a good way to start.  Plus, I was able to get the earliest reservation so I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to get some photos in front of the castle without a million people in them!

Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast Last Trip

O'Hana at the Polynesian: I've heard nothing but good things about this restaurant and it was one we couldn't get a reservation at last trip.  I'm really excited to try it out!  Pineapple bread, meat delivered to your table on skewers and lots of fun antics.  I hope it lives up to the expectations!

Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room in Britain at Epcot: I had wanted to eat here last trip, but it seemed wrong to sit in a pub without a beer and I was pregnant so the beer just wasn't happening.  This trip I plan to induldge in a Snakebite and enjoy some fish & chips!  We've made a late dining reservation in hopes of being able to see Illuminations from the patio seating.

California Grill at the Contemporary: This is probably my favorite restaurant at Disney World!  The food is delish and the view is amazing!  It's a signature dining experience and take 2 table service credits, but they are so worth it!  Each time we make our reservations around when Wishes is shown so we can watch the fireworks from the viewing deck at California Grill.  Plus, it's a good excuse to get cleaned up for the evening and do Disney in style.  It really can't be beat! 

Special dessert plate made by our waiter at California Grill for Den

Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary: Just in case the little brother likes the characters or we're really brave I made reservations at Chef Mickeys for the morning of our departure.  It's a great way to get the big guys autograph without standing in line and supposed to be a lot of fun.

T-Rex at Downtown Disney: This is the one restaurant we didn't get a reservation at.  I guess everyone and their mother will be eating there the same day we planned too!  However, we have this magic card called the Landry's Select Club.  We love Landry's, the restaurant, but one of the great things is that the Landry's corporation owns T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe and Yak & Yeti, all of which can be found at Disney World!  Here are some of the reasons why we love Landry's Select Club:

• Earn one point for every dollar spent
• $25 Welcome Reward - You do pay $25 to join the club, but are credited with your $25 welcome reward as soon as you activate your card
• $25 Birthday Reward - Hello, Disney in December when my birthday is!
• Priority Seating - aka, your name is moved to the top of the list & you get the next available table!

So we may not have reservations, but we're still confident we'll be able to get a table in a reasonable amount of time.  And we should have $50 in rewards to spend so we don't plan to use our Disney Dining Plan credit for this dinner, even though it is now on the DDP.  And if I'm lucky I'll earn enough points on Swagbucks or MyPoints for a Landry's gift card so that the meal will be totally free saving our dining points for other dining adventures.

We are clearly set to eat well at Disney World this trip!  What is your favorite restaurant at Disney?

Score!

I love a good bargain and follow a lot of the bargain sites such as zulily.com, totsy.com, mambargains.com and the like.  Often times I can find great Disney items on these sites.  I missed out on Mickey t-shirts today, but I did score a great burger press and cookie cutter combo for $10 on zulily.  This will be perfect for our surprise moment for the kids come trip time!  Our plan is to have them open a card on their advent calendar and find out they'll be leaving for Disney the next day!  Originally I was planning on getting a Mickey cookie cutter and making rice krispy Mickeys like I'd seen on Pinterest, however now I think I will make a whole meal of it!  Burgers and dessert all shaped like Mickey!

If you're in the market for some Disney at a discount they have a few other items that are fun for those of us who love the mouse!  Mickey, Toy Story and Cars t-shirts for only $8!  (Sadly they seemed to run out of Liam's size in all the Mickey ones before I could check out.  Next time!)  There are also ADORABLE dresses in the Disney spirit.  I so wish I had a little girl to get these for!  They are to die for!  And there is even numerous versions of the slinky dog from Toy Story!  (I so debated getting one of these because they are adorable!)  There are even tons of Disney books!

And I even spied, with my mesmerized eyes, a Mickey bag slatted for tomorrow's sale!  So, if you're not a member of zulily, hop on over and join!  Score some great deals to get you ready for Disney or whatever life throws at you!  You won't regret it!

*Please note: I'm in no way affiliated with or compensated by zulily for giving them a shout out today.  They just have cool stuff!

Couponing To Disney?

Being a military family we are pros at flexibility.  For once, this seems to have worked in our favor.  (Knock on wood.)  Needless to say, when one of my closest friends booked a pre-deployment trip to Disney I was insanely jealous.  I have been wanting to go back since our last visit and couldn't handle waiting any longer.  I called Disney and booked our own magical pre-deployment vacation.  It's going to cost a pretty penny as usual, but I know it will be worth it. 

Disney 2009

Recently I stumbled across a great blog called Couponing to Disney.  (Thank you Pinterest and my fabulous friend Jennie!)  I am infatuated with the idea that by couponing, something I already do, I could save for Disney.  My goal is always to pay cash for everything, so I'm really enjoying her take on saving for Disney, even if I am doing things a little ass backwards.  (Pardon my "French"!)  While we've already booked our vacation we only put down a deposit and are growing our own Disney trip fund each month to pay off the balance.


Sadly, the military discount Disney offers expires in September.  Of course, we have planned our trip for after it expires.  Go figure.  We are praying it is extended.  We took advantage of Disney's generous military offers three years ago and they paid off!  Of course, when it is extended the good people at Disney will magically adjust our balance "just like that".    Fingers crossed our fairy godmother is looking out for us!

But I digress...because all of the balance won't magically disappear I will be working to increase our Disney fund by scrimping, saving and couponing!  Kristin at Couponing to Disney has some great ideas and tips.  There are things I haven't tried and I plan to explore some of these options in the coming months.  I'm going to do my best to keep up with the blog and my savings exploits.  I'm a crazy planner when it comes to a Disney trip.   Being goal-oriented I'm hoping this motivates me to stay on top of my couponing and be more responsible with our budget.  (I feel like I've been slacking lately.) 

To start off I'm focusing on really staying on top of my coupons.  I had two weeks worth of inserts to cut and file this week before super doubles at Harris Teeter.  Organizing and planning are key to successful super doubles trips for me so I am well on my way to getting that done.  I spent the past 24 hours clipping and filing and will spend tomorrow putting together my shopping list.  Hoping to stock my fridge, freezer and pantry with lots of staples for my family of four.

So, join me as I embark on prepping for a memorable, magical family vacation.  I plan to blog my journey as I prep, scrimp, save, craft and coupon my way to Disney!  A dream is a wish your heart makes and my dream will be reality soon enough!