Monday, August 19, 2013

Disney Trip 2013

Disney Trip~

My attempt to create a youtube slideshow failed. I just couldn't resist adding the Disney Music to the background, it kind of made the slideshow, but unfortunately youtube doesn't like it when you "borrow" music, even if it really "makes" the slideshow. So, here are the pics instead:

This was her 5th time (since birth) on an airplane and she's acting like a seasoned traveler!  (before birth: Dallas, Chicago, LA, Hartford, San Antonio, and Phoenix)  
I wish I would have looked at this picture (on the plane and realized that she was starting to look a little ill).  During the descend she began throwing up. :( Then I realized, this isn't the first time she's thrown up on a plane...but thankfully I had toothpaste, a toothbrush, hand sanitizer, lotion and perfume.  What I didn't realize is that when Disney is nice enough to take your bags directly to your room, it means you won't see a change of clothes for the next 5 hours.
Here are our first day outfits, I made Sadie's outfit using a Jr. That's a Bowl from Tupperware as the waist-size for the skirt and the measurement of 9 inches for the length.  Minnie's head was made of felt using 2 lids for the pattern. My Minnie head pattern was a mason jar ring and salt shaker for the ears :) My shorts were $2 thrift store shorts that I added the Mickey Mouse ribbon to.
It was raining when we got there, so she played in the arcade, which she loved!
We went to Ragland Road in Downtown Disney for Supper. We reserved seats online ahead of time so that we could see the show.  The Shepard's Pie was delicious (I've tried to recreate it at home now several times).
They will let all the kids that want to, go up on stage and dance with them, Sadie was too scared.
Lego-time, so many Lego statues to be inspired by!
2nd Day~Magic Kingdom
This is her Cinderella outfit I made for her, the sheer material was $1 a yard!  Everyone is scared of sheer material, but you don't have to be.  I cut the same circle-type skirt as the Minnie outfit, but this time I made 4 skirts the same shape and size.  I sewed together the bottoms of two and turned them inside out.  Then I sewed the two waists together (4 pieces-2 bottoms sewn together makes 2 pieces) and turned them inside out.  Finally sewed the sequins elastic on.  I try not to do anything that will encourage fraying!!
My heart is melting!  So precious!
She was so excited to see Cinderella, she ran to her!
It's a Small World, a classic!
Under the Sea (this was new) and it was awesome!
Playing while waiting for the Dumbo ride...one of the best "lines" ever!
Teacups-another classic
Road Rage :)
Another fun "line" to wait in, the Hunny Pots, she is "writing" with honey here.
"Brave" and Sadie
She was very sweet, I had to pull Sadie away from her.  We had waited in line for 2 1/2 hours to see her, but once we got in, she listen to Sadie for the longest time.  Merida now knows about Sadie's sisters, the movie Brave, Sadie asked if she knew Arial and does she see her sometimes and on and on, lol!  Then she had an archery lesson.
We watched the parade
She picked out Minnie Ears

Day 3~Sleeping Beauty Outfit
Skirt made from the bottom of my transformed velvet Christmas dress.  The sleeves to the shirt, table cloth scraps from our wedding.  
Today was a day of swimming and relaxing before heading home.
One of us was very relaxed :)

Here a few tips we can pass along:
They don’t advertise this, but you can’t get into the Beast’s Castle unless you have lunch/dinner reservations, I've been told you don't have to have reservations for lunch, but the line was insane (it’s not a castle you can just wander in and look around in, but they don’t tell you that ahead of time).

The fast passes are essential and they are not usually located by the ride.  If two fast pass machines are side by side, you can’t have an active fast pass for both of those rides, only one.

The Lilo and Stitch alien “ride” isn’t really a ride and it really scared Sadie, it gets pitch black and seemed a little too life like for her.  These "braces" automatically come down over your head (which is why there is a height limit).  Sadie was tall enough but she was scared because of the darkness and wouldn't hold still while the brace was coming down on her.  I was seriously worried about the thing breaking her neck!

All Disney properties have a movie each night (outside) and pool-side activities during the day.  You can go to Camp Wilderness for smores with Chip N Dale, which starts at 7:00 pm, but they will cancel for rain.  If you are relying on the bus to take you though, going from one resort to another can take an hour or more, no kidding!

Ragland Road, the Irish Pub in Downtown Disney has Irish River Dancers and they will take any little girls from the audience up on stage with them and teach them a dance…it’s very cute!

If your little girl wears a tiara to Magic Kingdom, she will be called, "Princess, Your Highness" and will be bowed and curtsied to.  Sadie absolutely LOVED being bowed and curtsied to...imagine that :)

Animal Kingdom Resort has zebras, giraffes and other exotic animals that you can admire on the observation deck and it's free.  You could also eat at Sanaa and watch the animals while you eat.  It is delicious!




Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Play dough Artists

Having Fun with Play Dough!

Blueberry Pie
Kitty Cat and Cupcakes (With Bead Sprinkles, Made by Sadie)
A Play Dough Picture and Pipe cleaner Flower
Mushroom
Purple Rose
Turtle

My Favorite:  Making a Play Dough Cake :)
Two Eggs
Cracking the Eggs
Egg
Pouring in the Oil
Pouring in the Water
Stirring up the Ingredients  
Ta-Da Our Cake
Cutting the Cake
Felicity and Sadie Serving the Cake
Look at those delicious layers!  This is just like the cooking shows, a few quick steps and then the completed cake is being pulled out of the oven!








Monday, May 27, 2013

Playhouse makeover

So I've been searching Craigslist for a playhouse for my youngest darling daughter. Everytime I think I've found one, it's gone by the time I can respond.

Finally, I'm able to find one...
They were asking $100 for it but I got her down to $80 in about 30 seconds...should've tried $70, but that's okay, I was happy to get a good deal.  When we left for work that morning, I really hadn't intended on buying a house, and we had drove the car.  That's okay, a couple of bungee straps and careful driving with the trunk wide open...(did I mention there was also 80% chance of rain that day, which became 100% on the way home while driving around a detour.  awh...the things we do for our kids!) we were able to get it home! (Should have taken a picture of that.  It was a sight for sure!)

I had seen other playhouse makeovers on Pinterest and decided I would use their advise and the inspiration from our own house

So the paint I used was Valspar spray paint.  The can said it worked on "most" plastics and on sale at $2.88, I was willing to take my chances.  Now I started out like most projects, trying to take pictures as I go but then I got side track (and side tracked every one else, by doing a landscape renovation at the same time, which you can see in the last picture below.
Painting the roof black, glad I also got red (for the door...and the chairs I'm spraying on top of) to spray over the black overspray!  Here's the biggest hiccup, the overspray...USE PAINTERS TAPE, A lot of it!!!  Once I stopped trying to respray the overspray and then spray back over that, and just use the blue tape...life was good!  The other hiccup is there is something internal within me that makes me want to spray paint when
 it's windy outside.  I've never spray painted on a calm windless day!

 This pics a little fuzzy to see, but I also "wallpapered" the inside with contact paper and painted on a magnetic wall.
So there it is, total cost:
Playhouse (and two bungee cords)  $80.00
two cans of gray paint                     $  5.67
one can of white paint                     $  2.88
one can of black paint                     $  2.88
thick blue painter's tape                  $  6.00
and of course...
seeing Sadie jump up and down with excitement... $ priceless $

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Re-purposing old frame

So I have this wall, this huge wall.  It's in the living room and it's completely bare!

The color of our living room is Terracotta, which is a very bold color and it seems like a person who would use a bold color in their interior painting like this... would know exactly where they were "going" with that.

Well, I didn't.  I just love the Fall and love Fall colors and Dustin loved it too so that's what we did.  Sometimes it takes a while for me to "get a vision" for how I want something to look.  (Thank goodness I'm not an interior decorator..."this is a nice room, nice space, I will come back in about four years when I have a vision of what it should look like...lol!"

So finally, I had my vision.  I needed a frame.  A large frame. The largest, decent quality, cheapest frame I could find...

and here it is.  $2.00 from my favorite antique store, seriously, I love this place!
You can't tell, but the frame is wood and in great shape. 
The picture really liked being in there, nailed, stapled, glued, yikes!  So I got out "some tools" and started making a lot of noise with the tools ;) my sweet husband felt sorry for me and took over...yay!

I was trying to decide if I wanted to use the glass with the frame or not...D broke the frame...decision made, lol!

Empty Frame
Spray Painted Brown

Spray Painted Picture Mats and then cut them down using a straight edge :)  The inside is 8x10 but the outside was too large to work for my idea!
Painting over with green after drying.
Now the part that I forgot to take pictures of.  After Sadie painted the green, we used the palm sander to smooth out and blend the colors a little.  I glued burlap to the original cardboard with spray adhesive and let it dry.  I already had the burlap from a previously failed project.  Burlap curtains...adorable...smelling like a barn and having your dog roll in the burlap...weird!  The curtain idea was nixed and I was left with 10 yards of burlap I had been hiding. Believe it or not, having 10 yards of burlap seems a little extreme to some people...hmm :) Then I glued the picture mats on three sides (I want to have the option of replacing the pictures.  Christmas pics at Christmas time, Halloween pics in the Fall...loving this idea..seriously!)

Next I found pictures of the girls at about the same age.  Aubree is a little older here but I couldn't resist...the hat is the same color as the burlap!


The wall is no longer completely empty :)


Blogging tips