The Mouse, My Measurements and Marriage

That Cool Park Map Art All Over Pinterest

2016-04-06T19:49:00.001-04:00

I pinned it too. I was patiently waiting for someone to head down to the World and bring me back a stack of maps so I could make one for myself. Then my sister went to Florida at the end of the summer and brought back the stash I needed... but I had no time to work on it.

Then finally I had the time! I went to Pinterest to find whatever blog that photo was attached to and I got a big fat nothing. Apparently that blog has disappeared from the internet and I had to wing it.

Luckily, I've been scrapbooking and paper crafting since my first son was born ~~a million years ago~~ a long time ago ~~in a galaxy far, far away~~, so I had tools and some ideas on how I was going to approach this.

Stuff I used:
Multiple copies of all the park maps, including Disney Springs.
a 2" square puncher and/or a 2" hexagon punch (I made one for me and one for my sister)
Masking tape
Gray Stazon Ink pad
Foam dauber
Acid free cardstock
Acid free glue stick
pencil
ruler
11 x 14 picture frame

Take a look at all of your maps and decide which images you want to use. Look at the front and the back. Recognize early on that you're not going to be able to include the whole park name. Figure out which letters are the most important to you to use.

The paper these maps are printed on now is pretty thin and cheap. It has to be! They print millions of these a year, right? So, knowing that my punches tend to rip thin paper, I put strips of masking tape on the other side of the map to bulk it up. Then I trimmed the map so I could punch out exactly the part that I wanted.

I did this like 30 times. I made way more squares and hexagons than I needed. I wanted to be able to fool around with the layout and swapping out pieces to get the colors and designs I wanted.

I drew faint pencil lines on the cardstock so I could line the squares up evenly, with the same amount of space around each tile. When I used the gluestick to glue them down, I liked the way they looked but I thought they needed more OOMPH. So, when I started to play with the hexagons, I got out the ink pad and sponge dauber. You can use any kind of ink pad, but with the glossy coating on the maps you run the risk of smearing ink. Stazon dries pretty fast and doesn't rub off. I used gray because I wanted to define the edges but didn't want the edge to be black and in your face.

So put the dauber on your finger and tap it on the ink pad to load it with ink, Hold the hexagon or square at a 45 degree angle and rub the dauber along the edge. If you change the angle, you can control how thick the ink edge is.

Here's the two sheets all done, pre-framing

If you look, you can see the slight outlining of the edges on the hexes. It just makes them stand out from the white paper.

And here it is hanging on the wall in my library. I LOVE it.

Weigh In Wednesday #12

2013-01-16T17:22:00.000-05:00

I am as sick as a dog and fairly miserable but I have added motivation in the weight management category. Prince Charming and I are about to book our honeymoon!

My Hubbs (his newish nickname!) wanted turquoise waters and somewhere tropical for our honeymoon. We looked at resorts and locations and have decided we're going to try cruising! I've been scouring all of the websites and reading the reviews and checking our bank account and we've narrowed down some times and trips and locations. We're pretty decided on a Carnival cruise, as their prices are really good and seem like the atmosphere we want for our trip. Plus they're mostly inclusive; alcohol is out of pocket.

Can you hear me squee from where you are?

But the idea of a tropical vacation means appearing in public in a swimsuit. Yikes! So I weighed myself this morning. 271 pounds. About where I was when the Prince and I got together. Still waaaaaaay more than is really good for me.

I have two major issues:
1. I am really sedentary. I just am. I hate exercise.
2. My 10 pm snack.

A lot of the junk is out of the house. We've tried to stock up on healthier stuff. I'm trying to move more. Also, I've been very good with my soda intake. I haven't knocked it out completely, but it's way, way, way down.

I need to stay inspired!

I will continue the wedding trip recap, I swear it!!!

It's trite, but still...

2013-01-02T10:37:00.001-05:00

Everyone says it. I know... still things have gotten out of control again and we're getting older and metabolism is slowing down. Blah. Blah. Blah. Still, here it is January second and the Hubs and I (is he King Charming now?) are recommitting to improving our health, which includes some hefty weight loss.

I am trying to kick my soda habit. Soda and I have a longstanding love affair. Especially Coke. I LOOOOOOOVEE my Coke but I know how bad it is for me and I'm going to give it my best shot to say goodbye. In discussing this commitment with my mister, we agreed that club soda is still "legal" because it's just carbonated water. So... yikes. I put it out there publically, I guess I really have to stick to it, right?

One of the munchkins got this.
It's totally me, right?

And in equally sucktastic publically declared resolution: we gotta exercise. Ugh. I am not a workout girl. I can't do 100 sit-ups and then lunges and planks and all that crap just because. I need something more goal oriented that seems like an activity or a game. And not just "see if you can do X." The munchkins received a few cool dance games for the Kinect for Christmas. Those are fun. Maybe I'll start running/walking with my iPod. Something needs to be done and I just haven't found a something that I love yet. I am open to suggestion, y'all.

So I'm looking at my pantry and thinking that lots of stuff needs to go-- the bagged snacks and all the candy that seems to be laying around. All of the holiday cookies are almost gone. I bought a nifty new non-stick griddle/grill pan that I can use to cook protein with the addition of minimal fat.

I know I lose tons of weight when I actually eat throughout the day. It's so weird that when I'm at home I forget to eat! When I had to follow a 6-meal-per-day diet with gestational diabetes, I was losing weight while pregnant. Who does that? Me, apparently, so I am going to try to eat that way again, now.

So there it is folks. Wish us luck!

Trip Recap: Our First Day in the World

2012-12-20T22:28:00.000-05:00

The best sight ever. The tears well up every single time.

After not sleeping very well on the floor of the hotel inside the Orlando airport, I was the first one up on Monday morning. I know that's shocking given the relative comfort of hotel room floors and all, right? We all showered and dressed and ate a selection of pop tarts and granola bars I'd brought along with us. We checked out of the Hyatt and were off to the Magical Express area.

It was lucky that there was no wait for us. We navigated the rope lines (good practice for the parks!) and we got right on a bus and then sat for 15 minutes before we were taken to the Art of Animation Resort. We were the only people on the bus so my gown had her own seat!

Hey Hey, it's the Lobby!

We were so excited to stay at AoA. Our travel agent, Wendy, noted that this was a family-wedding-moon trip and we knew we were going to be assigned to a great room in a great location. And we were!

We decided to poke around and take some pictures with the sketches on the wall and be silly touristy people, just like all the other touristy people there. And then we walked around the resort and took even more silly pictures.

Here's some of the greatest hits:

You can click and see it bigger, just so you know.

Aren't they cute?

The Inova bed that the kids fought over

After the barrage of photos we went back to our room to freshen up. Our room was in a great spot! We were in Building #5 which is the Nemo building on the left side as you exit Animators Hall (or whatever it's called!). Our room was about 6 doors down the first floor hallway on the left.

It was incredible and surprisingly spacious and the theming was great. It wasn't the most posh room (that would be the room at the Poly where we slept the night of the wedding!) or the most romantic, but it was perfect for our goofy little family.

There was a master bedroom with a door and it's own bathroom with a standup shower, a main room with a pullout sofa bed, TV and dresser and finally, the "kitchenette" area with a fridge, sink and microwave plus the famous INOVA bed. It's essentially a murphy bed and a table. The kids fought over who was going to sleep upon it before we even arrived so we flipped a coin and then they alternated nights between the table bed and the sofa bed.


Ahhh, the buffeteria!

By now, it was noonish and we were all hungry and chomping at the bit to get on a bus and head to the Magic Kingdom but we figured it might be our only chance for a meal at the resort and I was all psyched to try the surf and surf burger.

The cafeteria set up presented a little bit of a challenge to our family of six. It would take forever if we all waited together in each of the lines. Even splitting into groups of two would make things take longer so we decided to let the two 8-year-olds pick what they wanted and go get in the line. Each adult took one of the younger boys.

It all worked out. We had to make the decision to give the older ones a little more freedom and a little less supervision and it all worked out okay.

Must have shot in front of the train station.

And then we were off to the Magic Kingdom. We ran into the Photo Center past the tunnels to buy our Photopass Plus. I wasn't really sure about it at first and I wanted to make sure it was worth the hefty in-park price tag (you can buy it in advance at a discount) but when I figured out we'd be buying the DVD of our photos anyway and we had a number of character meals scheduled it seemed to balance out. Then my sister explained that you also get the digital download of all your ride photos too and that sealed the deal. They give you a disc with photos of the parks and resorts in a DVD case and a photopass card on a lanyard. For all of our meal photos, we just showed the card and they handed us our photo package. Sweet!

Anyway, the park was all decked out for Fall/Halloween and I LOVED it! Off we went to Adventureland, where we traditionally start our days in the Magic Kingdom.

Things we rode included: Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean (yay! Mermaids!), Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion (twice) and Small World.

Monster faces outside the Haunted Mansion.

We had dinner at Columbia Harbor House and we found a great spot to see the Main Street Electrical Parade in Frontierland and while we watched, we all had ice cream.

I was pleasantly surprised that there was no fighting among the munchkins. We took a more leisurely pace than Prince Charming and I are used to and it worked out great. I wish I had a funny little anecdote to share involving my children behaving badly but, thank goodness, they were wonderful little munchkins.

Trip Recap: Leaving PA

2012-12-13T15:54:00.003-05:00

And it's time to do the recap!

Day 1: October 28th

Things all started to go crazy early in the week before the wedding when there were some rumblings about a storm named Sandy. I kept watching the news and posting about it on Facebook in between doing the last minute wedding projects and packing.

There was some talk she'd hit Florida and then do some wacky S-curve thing and hit the northeast where all of my family lives. Combined with it was the full moon and another storm coming in from the northwest that would make this the weather event of the century. Just my luck, right? And it was. New Jersey is utterly destroyed along the coast. It's so incredibly sad.

Our flight was scheduled to leave early Monday morning so our plan had been to do Park Sleep Fly on Sunday and wake up early and head to the airport. Predictions regarding the landfall of the storm was fluctuating between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.

I kept watching the news and the airline's webpage. Finally, on Friday, US Airways posted a notice that they'd let you change your flight without a penalty or fee so I changed our Flight to Sunday evening. They did tell me that while we were all guaranteed seats, at the time of booking, those seats weren't together, but the earlier we got to the airport, the sooner they could fix that.

So Sunday morning we headed out to Philly's airport and it was a gray and windy day. Really windy. The airport was already starting to take storm precautions and there were a lot of cranky travelers around.

We arrived at the airport around noon for a 6:30 pm flight with 6 kids, a wedding gown and lots of baggage. We trudged through a ridiculous security line, herding the kids and beginning the futile effort of keeping their hands to themselves. We sat through two different flights at our gate, grabbed an overpriced airport meal and had our flight delayed an hour.

It sounds bleak, right? Nope, we were on our way to DISNEY WORLD!!!! We managed to get all of our seats in the same general area. Prince Charming got to sit with Munchkin #4 in the row in front of me and Munchkin #3. Munchkin #1 was one row back and across the aisle. Munchkin #2 was across the aisle. It all worked out.I had an extra seat in our row, so my little guy's special bunny friend sat there.

It was a rough flight with a lot of turbulence. The little ones who were seated with a parent were occupied with electronics but I was worried about the two sitting alone, with strangers. The poor guy seated next to our princess! She talked his ear off but he was really good with her, patient and friendly. My big guy was seated next to an older lady and her husband was across the aisle from her. My son is oblivious to other people and was dancing in his seat to his MP3 player and reading over the lady's shoulder. I could tell she was irritated but she was stuck.

When we first switched our flight, I tried to get an additional night at Disney but the price was prohibitive and I was put on hold for 45 minutes. I ended up booking a room at the Hyatt Regency in the Orlando airport but there was an issue. Apparently they are really strict about the whole 4 people to a room thing, even when the person is three feet tall.

So we had to sneak in two of the kids.

Once in our room, we put the three boys in one bed, Prince Charming and his daughter in the other and the bride made a nest for herself on the floor.

The bride didn't sleep well and was the first one up, but that meant I got to take a shower in relative peace before trekking down to the Magical Express!

Mrs. Charming... that's me!

2012-11-04T19:36:00.002-05:00

We are back from Florida and arrived to find no storm damage to our house or neighborhood, just cold, Autumn weather. But the chill couldn't eliminate our smiles. We had an amazing vacation with our posse of four and the fairy tale wedding of our dreams.

And just a little teaser from the ceremony...

All of our vendors were fantastic. Maxine, our planner from Disney Fairy Tale Weddings and all of her assistants, the cast members, everyone made us feel like royalty for the day. I can't wait to see more photos.

The Last Thing to Stress Over: Updated!

2012-10-26T10:56:00.001-04:00

The first I heard about her was on Tuesday, just a small storm somewhere in the islands off the coast. There was potential, some said, that she could hit Florida and then a few days later loop back west as it moved northward up the coast. One scenario, at that point, had her headed straight for the NY metropolitan area, potentially affecting my travel plans and those of my family. Just one.

Today, they're all fairly certain Sandy is headed back east, that combined with a full moon and a low pressure system coming from the northwest, this *itch has the potential to be a historic storm causing mass destruction and knocking out power for millions of people. They just don't know where exactly she's going to loop back east and hit land. It's a one-in-a-million combination of atmospheric circumstances that has never been seen before!

Just my luck. Just FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!

Our flight is scheduled to leave at 6:50 on Monday morning, out of Philadelphia. It looks like our flight should be okay, depending on how the storm moves over the weekend.

My family, on the other hand, my parents, my sister, her husband and kids, all of them are scheduled to leave on a flight early Tuesday morning.

So we're all talking about heading out earlier than planned in cars and just driving down. My sister has already reserved a minivan from a rental company. I own a minivan but it's got like 110,000 miles on it. I don't know if it would make it. Plus there's the expense of the plane tickets. Will the airlines refund the cost?

It would take, at least, seventeen hours to get to Florida in the car, not counting numerous potty breaks and food. I don't know that either Wayne or myself has the stamina to do this drive straight through but it could be an incredible family adventure, right? According to Google Maps, we're skirt around DC and potentially see some monuments and stuff. We'd pass close to Raleigh, where we have a good friend. We'd drive through Savannah, somewhere I've always wanted to go.

It could be a good thing, right? Right? RIGHT?!?!??!?!?

Okay, so USAirways is now allowing people to change their flights without a fee so I was able to switch our flight to Sunday night instead of Monday morning. Now I just need to sort out a hotel room.

By this time in two weeks...

2012-10-15T09:33:00.000-04:00

... we will be in Orlando, probably standing in line waiting for our Disney's Magical Express bus to take us to the Art of Animation Resort.

It's coming down to the wire here!

This is not us. :)

I made the tutu for Munchkin #2's Halloween costume and was covered in glitter in the process. We're all dressing as the cast of Up. She's going to be Kevin the Snipe. So I bought six different colors of tulle and made a poufy tutu that's longer in the back than in the front to give her a birdy shape. It's adorable. I need to make ears and tails for #3 and #4 to be dogs. Dug and Alpha. Hee hee. Their costumes will be fairly minimalist-- tee shirts and shorts in the appropriate colors with ears, tails and a little face paint. I have almost all of my Ellie gear together and I need suspenders for Prince Charming. Where does one even buy suspenders? I need to make the sash and badges for #1 to be Russell.

Oh, I also canceled the expensive bouquet through Disney for Munchkin #2. I bought a red silk rose ball for her at Hobby Lobby and I added ivory roses and little yellow flowers to it, making it really full and she can keep it forever if she wants. My flower ball was about $30 versus $50 from Disney and mine is sturdier and will last.

I spent yesterday at the mall with three little boys trying to find their outfits for the wedding. I think I deserve a medal for surviving the experience. If you happen to be looking for dress clothes for little boys in navy blue or black, you will have no trouble at all. I was looking for tan/taupe and we went to three different department stores.

I bought these shoes times six.

In the first, I found red, clip-on, dotted ties for kids, so I snapped those up. In the second, they had pants that would fit two of the three boys and all of their dress shirts looked dirty to me. In the third I found flat-fronted tan pants that I guess are intended as uniforms. They were dressy enough. I'm glad though, that I went through the hassle of having them try the pants on because they each ended up in pants a couple of sizes bigger than what they ordinarily wear. That said, I have three small pairs of pants that all need several inches cut off and hemmed. So I guess I know what I'll be doing this week!

I also bought the last two pairs of the red Chuck Taylor sneakers we needed.

My to do list still has far too many things on it. I still haven't painted to cake toppers. I need to hem the boys' pants. I need to start packing. Finish the costumes. Finish the welcome bags.

Two weeks! Two weeks until we're in Florida!!!! I can't wait!!!!

Tips for Disney Wedding Guests

2012-10-11T20:20:00.001-04:00

Disney Wedding celebrity (author of the most awesome Disney wedding planning guide available) Carrie Hayward did a podcast this week for guests of Disney weddings, both Florida and California with tons of info on planning a Disney vacation and being a guest at a DFTW. Because Carrie is another Disney fan and not an employee of DFTW or the Disney company, she can share her real thoughts and opinions.

Her guest on this podcast is Hope. You know Hope! Hope is the one person who consistently comments on this blog! She's positive and upbeat and awesome.

Here it is for you guys, one click away: Tips for Disney Wedding Guests, part 1

and released later Tips for Disney Wedding Guests, part 2

You should click on that link and listen! I will come back and add part 2 when Carrie posts it!

Kids bags: Complete

2012-10-09T20:46:00.004-04:00

Here 's the completed and stuffed kid bags:

Here's the inspiration bags from Pinterest:

One more check mark off the list!

Feelings...nothing more than feelings

2012-10-08T10:25:00.001-04:00

Today is 24 days to until the wedding. There are still a lot of loose ends for me to tie up but as we get closer and closer I find that I'm not worried about the wedding at all. We have an amazing wedding planner who has held our hands throughout this whole crazy process. We're getting married in the beautiful place that we dreamed about and our kids and family will be with us.

And the marriage itself? Not a doubt in my mind. These feet are toasty. We've been living together for five years, including seven months of double unemployment and rather than wanting to kill each other, we came out the other side closer than ever.

For the wedding and the week of vacation itself, our family will be with us. I think that's the source of most of my stress and tension. We've never gone on vacation with all four of the kids before. We've taken them to Disney two at a time and both of those trips had their issues. Now we're taking them where they outnumber us and there's more pressure for the trip to be magical and happy. The logistics of trying to work out spending our wedding night alone has been difficult but I think we have it all worked out except how we're getting the kids back to us from the family members we have watching them that night.

I am a little worried that despite shelling out for a DJ that it will be me and my sister dancing and no one else. I want people to dance. Can I force them? Is that legit? ;) I worry that people won't like the food. I'm fairly sure my dad will complain. At this point though, all of that is out of my hands.

And there's the blog. I had intended to use it to monitor my weight loss but that didn't really happen. So what if I didn't lose 50 pounds leading up to this event? You know what? This is who I am and while I'm not giving up, I am okay. Happy even. No matter how much I weigh, I get to marry my Prince Charming and live happily ever after.

I still have outstanding crafts to complete- including our cake topper. I don't know why I am so nervous about it but I keep putting it off. Now time is running out. I have to finish our welcome bags and the kids goodie bags. I have to pack all of our wedding stuff into a box to be dropped off at Franck's 3 days before the wedding. I have to figure out how I'm getting the welcome bags to the various resorts.

Epcot's 30th Birthday!

2012-09-26T15:12:00.001-04:00

Walt's vision of a futuristic city opened in 1982 to much fanfare. EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tommorrow!) Center was amazing in the early days with the CommuniCore hub, World Showcaser and a bunch of amazing pavilions and rides that were educational, as well as amazingly fun.

I read something this morning in last week's issue of the All Ears Net newsletter- my favorite email once a week- about the fountain that sits just beyond Spaceship Earth (the actual name of the giant golf ball thing, in case you didn't know).

Before the park opened on October 1, 1982, representatives from 23 countries and regions collected water from their lakes, streams, rivers and seas. These were not just the countries that are represented in the World Showcase! Each country kept their vessel of water and then during the opening ceremonies, in what was called the "International Ceremony of the Waters", one by one, they poured their water into the fountain to symbolize the international understanding and cooperation for which EPCOT Center stood.

It was hard to find a good picture!

The regions that participated in the ceremony were: Canada, Denmark, Italy, Korea, Japan, Africa [several countries included in a group], Egypt, Morocco, Colombia, Mexico, Barbados, Puerto Rico, China, Philippines, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia. Water came from as far away as the Arctic Ocean, the Nile River in Africa, and Yangtze River in China.

The guy who was then CEO and Chairman of Walt Disney Productions, Card Walker, said:

"Joining us around this magnificent fountain are representatives of nations from around the world. They have brought with them waters from the great oceans, the seas, the rivers, and the lakes on our planet, Spaceship Earth. These waters will flow together as a symbol of the oneness of humankind and the hope for peace among nations, making this truly a fountain of world friendship... And now it is my great pleasure to read the bronze plaque officially dedicating EPCOT Center. I'll read it right here: 'To all who come to this place of joy, hope, and friendship, welcome. EPCOT Center is inspired by Walt Disney's creative vision. Here human achievements are celebrated through imagination, the wonders of enterprise, and concepts of a future that promises new and exciting benefits for all. May EPCOT Center entertain, inform, and inspire, and above all may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere in the world.' Thank you."

Come on! That's awesome and moving and every time I read it I end up with a tear running down my face.

That thing is hideous. Good riddance!

In the thirty years since that day there have been a lot of changes at Epcot. The "Center" was dropped from the name. For awhile there was this ugly magic wand stuck to Spaceship Earth. The original logos were changed and many wonderful rides went extinct to be replaced by less than stellar newer rides and shows.

Right now at Epcot, there are a lot of pavilions that stand empty and I am really hoping and praying that after this year, when the Fantasyland expansion at the Magic Kingdom is done, Disney Parks will focus their attention on Epcot and fill those empty pavilions and fix the horrible atrocities that linger (cough, cough, the Imagination debacle!)

In the meantime, there are a lot of great websites dedicated to remembering Epcot as she was originally.
E82 The Epcot Legacy
Mesa Verde Times
The Original Epcot Center
Epcot Central
Lost Epcot

If you've got 50 minutes, YouTube actually has the opening ceremony dedication that aired on TV!

What I've been doing...what's left to do?

2012-09-14T10:55:00.000-04:00

Escort cards/favors: done

Names smeared to protect the innocent!

The activity books are mostly done but my stapler isn't long enough to use so I have to punch holes and tie with ribbon.

I found this cute little box to hold our rings at Hobby Lobby. I added the flower to the top. I need to add a little red pillow and a ribbon to the inside.

I bought a red LED candle to use as a memorial candle. (Reception is outdoors-- doesn't go well with actual flames!) Made a little sign to go with it.

Our buttons that go in the welcome bags are finished and I should receive them in a few days.

I put the magnets on the door hangers that go in the welcome bags.

I bought the bags to make the kids goodie bags and I've started collecting other things for the welcome bags.

I made some flower clips for my hair.

I need to make Wayne's ball cap ears.

I believe I have finished the ceremony (except Wayne's vows). I need to send it to our officiant for approval.

I need to buy a sand ceremony kit.

Wayne needs to get a suit and I will then follow his choice for the boys.

Need to buy Hershey's Kisses and label them for favors.

I should probably call the store and check on Munchkin #2's dress.

Would like to design and print "I Spy Cards" to put on the tables-- a list of photos for guests to collect. Really a cute idea.

Cake topper DIY

2012-09-13T21:37:00.002-04:00

Guess what came in the mail yesterday and I hurriedly sketched all over them. Our little wooden peg dolls that are going atop the cake!!!

I had planned to order a set of these little figures, custom painted to look like us-- plus one for each of the munchkins. I trolled Etsy like mad and favorited my favorite artistes. Then I realized how much it would cost to buy these, plus shipping and not knowing what they would actually look like when completes. I decided that I have enough crafting and art mojo to attempt these myself.

So I went to every craft store in my surrounding area and couldn't find the larger sized dolls. I easily acquired the smaller ones for the kids but I ended up ordering the 3.5" dolls from a cool woodcrafting website. Even with the shipping, I still feel like I got a deal.

If you look really close you can see my sketch. I'll be painting some day soon!

Wish me luck!

Tip o' the Hat(s)

2012-09-03T16:53:00.003-04:00

There have been a couple incarnations of Disney's bridal mouse ears over the years. One set features a sparkly sequined headband with attached veil and a top hat with mouse ears and the other has the traditional beanie caps decorated for a wedding with a mini top hat and a tiara/veil combo.

Disney wedding couples seem to not like the newer set very much. I like the bride one but the groom one is kind of cheesy. The tiny top hat and the mock tux? Weird. Either set provides the annoying combination of squished hair and no shade for the eyes. You can still generally find the older style bridal ears around but the top hat is nearly impossible to find, unless you want to spend $100, which is insane. So I had a new set (that my wonderful sister gave me) and the old bride ears that I got on ebay. Still, we wanted a better option.

When we first started considering a Disney Wedding we became aware of one couple that is sort of the rock star couple of Disney Weddings. I've mentioned Carrie Hayward before. She literally wrote the book on Disney Weddings. She was married in Epcot in February of 2008. When I was looking at pictures of weddings, hers were among the first I saw and were certainly among the most memorable. If you're a total Disney nut, like us, you'd love her trip reports on her blog. Anyways, Carrie's husband, Patrick, got all crafty with his bad self and revamped the standard mouse ears by removing the ears and attaching them to Bride and Groom baseball caps.

While I was at David's with the munchkin, I grabbed a set of baseball caps with the intent of following Patrick's lead from Carrie's blog. Yesterday, I made my hat.

Here are the raw materials on my crafting table. The hats were $12 each from David's Bridal. I'm pretty sure they'll have them at the registers at every store. I was a little wary of taking my ears apart. What if I ruined them??? Despite my fear, I took my scissors to the headband.

Here's what I found under the velour covering of the headband. There was tape and some fabric covering these soft metal wires that formed the shape of the ears. Despite using my happy little rounded grip jewelry-making pliers, I bent the wires pretty badly. Oh well!

When I removed the wires from the holes in the plastic headband, I was careful not to damage the fabric covering too much. The entire headband had three rows of sequins and for some reason, I thought I might need them. I tried really hard not to bed the wire inside the ears too much since that's what gives them their shape. Looking at this today, I'm kind of mad at myself that I didn't cut some ears out of chipboard and shove it in the fabric to give them a little more stiffening. Oh well.

Next I used some of my scrapbooking tools to measure the distance between the wires and punch too holes in the hat. It worked out nicely that the vent holes in the hat were in the right places to use them for the top ear wires. I popped an eyelet in the fabric because I thought it would look nicer than just a hole.

I popped the wires through the holes and used my pliers to bend them. My intent was to get them to fold in tight next to each other so I could sew around them. Let me just note that sewing is not my best craft. Still there was some fabric at the bottom of the sequins on each ear where I could sew it to the hat. This was difficult and time consuming but those suckers are on there. I went over and over these wires until they were almost completely covered with thread.

When I flipped back to the visible side of the hat, there was a little bit of a gap between the ear and the hat and you could see my messy stitching. This is where saving that row of sequins came in handy. I very carefully snipped the fabric between the rows of sequins and ended up with a strip of one width of sequins and a strip with a row of sequins, two sequins wide. I hot glued these to the spot where the ear met the hat. It covered my sloppy sewing, made the ear stand out straighter and provided extra support to the whole deal.

Hot glue is awesome because it cools quickly and doesn't require exact precision. I used the single row of sequins on the front and the double row on the back. That left me with the weird wires on the inside. I tried the hat on and they didn't irritate my head at all but I was afraid my hair would get caught on them in the park.

I had some white felt leftover from when I made my munchkins Mario and Luigi hats last Halloween. I cut out rectangles of felt and hot glued them over the wires. It's hard to see (duh, because it's white!) but it's there and made the inside of the hat neater.

Had I thought about it before I went down to my cave of craftiness I might have brushed my hair or powdered my face down a little, but I didn't, so it's bad photo.

And the back...

Keeping the Kids Busy

2012-08-31T14:51:00.002-04:00

I'm starting to tie up all of the little loose ends!

Today my munchkins had the day off from school (why?!?!?!?) so I was limited in what I could do with my day. So I sat down at the computer to put together a little activity book for all of the kids who will be at the wedding. While I am dreaming of dancing like a crazy person with all of our munchkins, doing every silly participation dance out there, I know that they will likely want some time at their table too. So here's what I did.

I created this little beauty in PowerPoint, figuring that of the programs I have at home, it would be the easiest in which to manipulate images. There are a slew of Disney coloring pages out there on the web. I was looking specifically for wedding images but I also included some that are just couples. I also threw in some wedding themed games and puzzles.

The cover is in a font that Disney used to use in the 80s. It's free and available to download. It's called Florida Project. On the back, I put the date and location of the wedding. The finished book will be a folded, stapled 4.5 x 8.5 booklet. You know, half of a standard sheet of paper. I was thinking I'd have the cover printed on red cardstock, but then the kids couldn't color the castle.

Click for a sneak preview (black and white line drawings! Such exciting graphics!)

At Staples Back to School sale, I bought a 24-count Crayola Crayon box for each kid. At $.25 a pack, they were a steal. I also have a couple small Disney toys from the dollar store and maybe I'll add a treat or two. I want to decorate each bag like the one shown but instead of animal print stripes, I'd do polka dots. Instead of the animal, I'd use a cricut image of Mickey, Minnie and Donald, coordinating the kid's assigned table.

The Other Dress

2012-08-28T16:43:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, I finally did something I'd been putting off for awhile. I took Munchkin #2 shopping for a dress for the wedding and a day of hanging out together. I'd wanted to hold off as long as possible so that we didn't have an issue where we bought a dress and by the time of the wedding, it didn't fit her. I knew that finding a dress that fit, was flattering, age appropriate and also not too expensive was going to be an issue.

We woke up bright and early and drove to a large David's Bridal store just outside Philly. I had a list of dresses that I wanted her to try on and asked the saleswoman for assistance with any dresses she thought would work. Ignore the Teva sandals, she'll be wearing Chucks for the actual wedding. She was a little confused when our sales associate brought over dresses in a rainbow of colors because I'd already told her that her dress was going to be red and no, she couldn't have the iridescent purple, ruffled, sparkly, short cocktail dress that was displayed at the front of the store.
She tried on like 15 dresses. It came down to these.

This navy blue one was a good length and only the bodice needed to be taken in. It was our second choice, in the end. This red one was actually my first choice, but it was the most expensive and also would be the most expensive to alter because there were like five layers to the skirt. I didn't feel like her dress should cost more than mine, so we crossed it off the list. Sniffle.

This blue one was cute and was in a very light fabric but Lexi didn't like it. This yellow one is the one we ordered. This isn't really a good picture. I think I snapped it before I actually straightened out the slip and skirt. It only needs to be taken in a little under each of her arms and the weird hangy piece in the front. I'm not sure that that wasn't damage on this particular dress but we'll see when hers comes in. This one kind of mirrors the style of my wedding gown and was really flattering on her. I would like to find a little ivory bolero or shrug for her to wear with it to make it a little more age appropriate.

Additionally, our little princess tried on all of the tiaras on display.

Here's what the dress looks like on David's website:

On the Munchkin, the dress is ankle length and a little higher on the chest. It comes with spaghetti straps, of which I think we will make use.

After our shopping fun, we went out to lunch. I wanted brick oven pizza, which I love, but the munchkin wanted to go to the Chinese buffet and since this trip was all about bonding, that's what we did.

And I have been paying for it for a couple of days now. I had some steamed clams from the buffet and since some of the shells were closed (not any of the ones I ate) I should have not eaten any of them. But I did. And I have been so sick with stomach cramps, fever, headache, vomitting and other stuff. It sucks. Bright side is, I lost six pounds; however, I am likely to gain it all back as soon as I am able to keep food down.

Table Name Signs!

2012-08-12T11:55:00.003-04:00

I spent most of yesterday in my basement craft room working on these four little signs for the dining tables at the wedding. I always feel kinda bad when I go to a wedding and the tables are numbered and I'm at like Table 17. The head table is usually table 1 and the parents of the couple are at 2 and 3... and then there's me, the cousin or the friend or whatever and I'm like the way afterthought. I didn't want anyone to feel that way so instead of numbering our tables (we only have four so far!) so I'm naming them after Disney characters.

Prince Charming, the munchkins and I will be sitting at Mickey. Duh.

There's also Minnie, Donald and Goofy. I have Pluto and Daisy on reserve if we need them!

I made these using my Cricut and the Mickey & Friends and the Accent Essentials cartridges. The frames were easy once I worked out the sizes. All of my time investment came from piecing together the tiny components of the characters after getting them to cut out properly. I think I need to replace the blade on my machine.

Anyway, here they are:

For the record, Goofy, was the hardest. His pieces were the most complicated to cut and the smallest to handle. My fingertips were covered with glue when I was done!

Ribbon Wand Tutorial

2012-07-21T19:58:00.000-04:00

No idea who this couple is! I copied this off the web years ago!

I finally got around to some of the wedding crafts on my to-do list. Today, I put together most of my ribbon wands (before I ran out of ribbon)! These are for the "staged exit" as we leave the Wedding Pavilion after the ceremony, like that random couple above. They make for a prettier photo than bubbles, which can be hard to see and don't show up well in photos. The ribbon wands also give the photographer a longer opportunity to shoot than rose petals, which are thrown and then fall to the ground really quickly. I love the photo above so I knew we were going to do this! Here's how I did it.

Things You're Gonna Need:

12" wooden dowels. I used the 3/8" size

Sandpaper

12 mm jump rings (2 per wand)

Screw eyes

1/2" jingle bells

I bought the first round of screw eyes at the craft store and they were obscenely overpriced. Like $4 for 6 screw eyes, I got the second batch at Lowe's-- $1.99 for 16.

You're also going to need a pushpin, a small hammer and a pair of rounded jewelry pliers.

Start by sanding your dowels with fine sandpaper if they feel a little rough out of the package, like mine did! Use the pushpin (and hammer if necessary) to create a pilot hole for your screw eye in the top of one of your dowel. Try to put the hole as close to centered as possible. Wiggle the pushpin around a little to make the hole bigger.

Screw in a screw eye. It was hard to get them to catch. Once it is started, use the rounded pliers to twist the sucker all the way into the dowel.

Next is the jump ring for the bell. Jump rings are a little tricky. I wanted to use split rings (like a teeny tiny version of a key chain) but I couldn't find any in an appropriate size so I went with jump rings instead. These are just a small circle of metal where the ends butt up against each other to close the loop. If you want the loop to remain fairly round, don't pull out on the sides of the ring to open it. You want to do more of a twisting motion- hold the ring in one hand and use the pliers to twist. You don't need to open it very far, just enough to slip it onto the screw eye and then slide on a jingle bell before twisting it closed.

Next I measured out the ribbons I wanted to use and cut them to 30 inch pieces. I used a 1/2" ribbon, a 3/8" ribbon and a 1/4" ribbon all stacked up. I pushed the ribbon through another jump ring. The first two, I used my sewing machine to put a couple of stitches across the ribbons to lock them onto the ring; but then something happened with the feeder and the thread got tangled and it was a big old mess. So I finished them by hand stitching the ribbon together onto the jump ring. I twisted the ring open and hooked it onto the screw eye before twisting it closed.

At this point, I was tempted to wave it around a little bit and see how it felt. I learned an important lesson! This made the wide ribbon fray and look bad. So I used clear nail polish to seal the cut edges of all of the ribbons to keep it from fraying.

I used the brush to put a very fine line of polish at the edge of the ribbon. This photo is actually pretty thick. I did much better after a few of these! Once they dried, I waved one around and no more fraying! They're in a heavy crock hanging down so they don't get wrinkled.

Happy Anniversary to the Disney's!

2012-07-13T11:20:00.000-04:00

Eighty seven years ago today, Walt and Lillian Disney said I do. They were married at Lewiston's Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Idaho, where Lillian grew up. Lillian made her wedding dress herself and is reported to have giggled through the ceremony.

The Ever-Growing To-Do list...

2012-07-05T12:49:00.002-04:00

Note: I am not Patrick the Starfish.

I've been going through my notes for the wedding as we get closer and closer to the big day and my to-do list seems to be growing instead of shrinking!

Let's see, I've contacted and made deposits to the cosmetologist, the officiant, and the photographer.

Just in case you're interested, we're using
Beaute Speciale
Sensational Ceremonies
Jason Angelini Photography

I've contacted Kids' Nite Out for childcare assistance the day of the wedding. Kids' Nite Out is an AMAZING company that provides childcare services either in your resort room or as a mother's/father's helper. Don't get me wrong, it's not a cheap service, but if you're on vacation and your little ones are going to conk out at 7 pm after a long day at the parks and you want to experience some of the possibilities of Disney night life, it's TOTALLY worth the price. I recommend them to everyone planning a Disney trip with little kids.

I've got several florists emailing me price proposals but I think I've changed my mind on the direction for our personal floral. I will still be using Disney Floral for the dessert party, because it is a requirement for in-park events.

Not the final button design, but close!

I've gotten some custom printables from EverAfter Printables on Etsy. Wendy, the person who does all of the design work for EverAfter is another Disney bride. Her wedding is actually just a couple days after ours! Her work is so adorable and great, I couldn't resist having her put some little touches for us to use for the wedding.

Last week I went over to the local craft stores and started making my ribbon wands for the staged exit. Let me tell you, driving little eye hooks into the top of narrow wooden dowels is hard. Then, because I'm a total nut, I added a jump ring with a little jingle bell. Tutorial for this project is forthcoming!

I still need to purchase the supplies for my table name signs.

Cute, right?

I believe that we have decided to skip the wedding programs because we don't have a bridal party and our ceremony is going to be very simple. I had planned to do Mickey fans. I don't know, maybe I still will. It depends on the RSVPs and my time.

We received the custom napkins and coasters that we ordered from the big sale over at The Knot a couple of weeks ago. In that order were also these darling little photo coasters that I'm planning to use instead of escort cards. I need to set that up too.

Also left on the to-do list: Menu Cards. Can't do those until the menu is finalized.

Memorial candle and sign/note are still left as to-do but I find mysefl wondering, how many people di you acknowledge? How far back do you go with the lost loved ones?

Hopefully tonight I will be purchasing my red Converse Chuck Taylors that I plan to wear for the wedding. (and Prince Charming too), but mine will be all sparkly. Glittering the shoes is another project on my list. Actually, in the realm of wedding attire, the only thing purchased so far is my dress. We need to find a suit for PC but he's hoping to drop a size or two. The munchkins also need clothes but I'm planning to do that much closer to the wedding because those kids tend to grow!

Lastly but not leastly, I need to buy the sand ceremony frame.

Wow, this list is a little overwheming.

Honest RSVP

2012-06-26T17:42:00.000-04:00

I am still obsessively checking the mail every day for little black envelopes. There are so many outstanding that I just can't stand it. So in light of my growing RSVP insanity I wanted to share this honest and comprehensive RSVP form found online.

I bought a DRESS!!!!

2012-06-22T16:18:00.000-04:00

This is the David's flagship store, not the one I went to.
Just sayin'.

I was nervous about dress shopping. I haven't lost all the weight I want to yet. I've been feeling pretty down on myself. For some reason my skin is breaking out like I'm still a 15-year-old oil factory. I needed a good sized dose of feeling like a princess.

So my sister and my friend and I went to a local David's Bridal. Our big budget buster is having the wedding at Disney so spending lots of dollars on a fancy dress was never going to happen. It just happened to be the weekend of the David's clearance sale and I was hoping to snatch up one of the dresses I'd posted about last year.

I tried this on. It was
not pretty on me.
At all.

We were given a consultant, Deborah, who didn't quite fit the mold I expected. She was a little older. A little mousy. She asked what kind of dress I had in mind. I told her I was hoping for a white strapless with either an empire waist or an A-line style. I told her that we're having a destination wedding at Disney and we bonded a little bit over the magic. Off she zipped to find me some dresses.

A couple of fancy chairs were set up for my girls and I was given a dressing room a couple of stairs up from the regular store floor level. There was a very thin, very young girl next to me trying on elaborate, bedazzled, ruffly confections and her posse of fifteen women were cheering her on. She looked beautiful and I was starting to sweat a little. On the other side of my little room was a woman wearing a daimond ring the size of an ice cube. Her supermodel bestie was trying on slinky bridesmaids dresses in a very tall pair of heels.

I felt a little out of my element and I wondered if I was going to flash the whole store my Spanx when I came out of the dressing room in a dress three sizes too small that they'll have to clip on me so I can get an idea of what I might look like in a wedding gown.

Deborah returned with an armload of gowns that she hung in my room. She also brought over shoes, a slip and a bra. Into the room I went. From the first round of dresses, she brought over that one up there. I really thought I was going to like it on me. The lace fabric was really busy. The dress was heavy. The little shrug was itchy and it all just wasn't right. Not at all.

It all came down to three gowns and I tried all of them on at least three times.

This one I wasn't sure about the halter. I don't generally like halters because with my chest, it feels like they're pulling my head down. I was actually interested in the strapless version of this dress but they didn't have one in the store and Deborah said we could pin and tuck the halter to see how it would look.

I actually liked the halter. I liked the way the dress made my hips and bust look. I loooooooovvvvvved the pickups; however, that sucker was HEAVY. Underneath it, I had to put on this scratchy, uncomfortable, mylon slip from hell.

In the air-conditioned shop that sucker was making my legs sweat. There was no way it was going to hold up to an outdoor reception in humid Florida.

Still I kept looking at it and trying it on. It really did make me feel like a princess.

The second of the three gowns was everything I described to Deborah when we first walked into the store. It was a lovely soft white. It was strapless and had a gorgeous A-line to it. It hugged my curves in all the right places.

It too required the dreaded slip.

But I loved the loose folds of the draping and that it looked significantly bride-y. There was some level of familiarity about it though. I wasn't sure if it looked too much like the gown a friend wore when I was her maid of honor or someone else's dress...

...and then it hit me. It's the exact same dress that Prince Charming's brother's wife wore when they got married. Had it been the friend's wedding, I might have considered it a little harder- there'd be a different crowd of people there- but a family wedding? Nope, couldn't do it.

The last of my choices, and the one I ended up buying (at a significant markdown!) was the one I expected to like the least when I saw what consultant had brought over to me to consider. It is totally a destination wedding gown. She said that it reminded her of my beloved Poly. I think I was sold right then.

I don't want to post the picture I have of me in the gown... but here's a little teaser.

Music! For the Ceremony! We picked some!

2012-06-19T20:35:00.001-04:00

Time is running out and there are lots of little decisions being made every day it seems. Today it was music.

Yesterday I had a phone conference with our wedding planner (the AMAZING Maxine!) to discuss our BEO- the Banquet Event Order- basically the entire script of the day from transportation pick-ups, to the ceremony order and music, to the meal, to everyone leaving and someone packing all the remnants up. It's an intricate document that also spells out the prices we're going to pay for the elements of the wedding.

The BEO is a daunting, scary thing.

There was a big hole on our BEO: I still owed Maxine our chosen ceremony music. Our ceremony is going to be very simple and very personal to us. We've chosen to use all Disney music for our ceremony and it will all be played by the organist who comes with the Wedding Pavilion.

So while I won't reveal what song is being used for what, here's what we chose:

Candle on the Water from Pete's Dragon

That's How You Know from Enchanted

The Promise- the song that plays at the end of the IllumiNations fireworks show at Epcot

Almost There from The Princess and the Frog

He'll Make Me Happy from The Muppets Take Manhattan

I See the Light from Tangled

Little Wonders from Meet the Robinsons (not the best rendition but pickings were slim!)

Ever Ever After from Enchanted

There's a Great Big Beautful Tomorrow from the Carousel of Progress ride in Tomorrowland

Weigh-In Wednesday #11

2012-06-06T12:35:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I did one of these because I was so embarrassed that I fell off the wagon. Not only did I fall off, it took off without me at 90 m.p.h. I let myself fall into the old habit of eating my feelings and that canceled out all of the progress I'd made.

I am happy to report that I stepped on the scale this morning and the number was better than the last time I posted. Not by much but hey, we celebrate the small successes just like the big ones!

Today's weigh in was 284. One pound less than the last time I weighed in FOUR MONTHS AGO but in that time I've started a new job, had lots of child-related stress and I just spent three days in Walt Disney World where one day was focused on food.

That said, I posted a picture of Prince Charming and I from said trip, standing on the Whitehall Patio where our wedding will take place in less than five months. Yuck. Both of us are unhappy with said picture. So for comparison, here's us at the Grand Floridian last week. The calf to ankle ratio of my leg is horrifying to me. Also nightmarish: upper arms. Ugh.

So the prince and I have renewed our focus on our health and have committed to looking better for the wedding. Everybody says that, right? I said it a year ago when I started this blog. Things are slightly better since then- I'm not skipping meals as much anymore and I'm drinking way more water. I'm drinking more in general!

I'm going to have to dig around in my photos and see if I can't find a good, full length shot of the weight I'd like to which I'd like to return to post on the blog. Maybe I'll find one of Prince Charming too and I'll start tracking his progress here as well.

I read a good article on the Huffington Post this morning with seven tips for lasting weight loss. I'll summarize here because they're good tips and I want to remember them:

Pump up the volume of meals: eat the same volume of food every day, but bump up the amount of foods with lower calorie density (calories per gram). Foods that have lower calorie densities are high in water (fruits, vegetables, soup, low-fat or fat-free dairy), high in fiber (whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables) and lower in fat.

Limit liquid calories: drink a smaller coffee, limit sugary drinks, drink juice from smaller cups. Up the amount of plain old water (that's my addition, not the writer's!)

Make mindless eating work for you: use smaller plates and bowls, drink out of tall, thin glasses. Keep tempting foods out of sight. At meals, keep lower-calorie dishes closer and the higher calorie stuff further away (like on the stove).

Think outside the gym when it comes to exercise: you can actually more calories over time by increasing lifestyle-based activity like standing while talking on the phone, parking further from the door at work, or exchanging sedentary hobbies for more active hobbies ones. Add as much non-exercise activity as possible in a day and it adds up in terms of calories burned over the long run.

Ditch the all-or-nothing mentality: No one is perfect all the time. Learn to handle controlled indulgences, and bounce back from less healthful choices quickly.

Think ahead: I'm more successful when I've planned out my meals for the week. By mentally committing ahead of time, you limit mindless eating and drinking. Note to self: include a little healthy fat if you plan on drinking, as fat delays the absorption of alcohol).

Always have a plan B for eating and exercise: There isn't always time to get to the gym, prepare the best food, or find the healthiest restaurant. Don't skip your workout -- try to squeeze in something. Try to keep an emergency healthful snack pack on hand to take the edge off hunger

Additionally: Try to eat fewer foods out of a box, weigh yourself regularly, and focus on both quality and quantity when it comes to what you eat. Nutrient-dense foods like whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables (especially when they are in season), lean protein, low-fat or fat-free dairy, and healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, and olive oil) should be the foundation of any diet plan.