DIY Disney Fused Plastic Rain Bucket Hat

As Earth Day approaches, I thought I would run one of my all-time favorite upcycled projects! Enjoy this oldie but goodie from last summer!

Are you looking for the perfect accessory for your Disney rain poncho? Well, look no further! You can upcycle some old shopping bags for this unique Disney look!

For this project I used 8 grey shopping bags for the lining, (available from Kohls, Lowes or Walmart in this area) and one large Disney shopping bag for the exposed side of this hat, as well as some white seam binding I had in my stash and purple thread for contrast! Which means that this Disney hat was completely free to make and helps the environment by not putting all that plastic in the landfill. Wouldn't Jiminy Cricket be so proud?

For all the details and instructions from fusing the plastic to creating the hat, I used this tutorial from Makezine. The only change I made was adding the seam binding to the two brim pieces before sewing them together. You could always just seam it the way the pattern suggests, without the seam binding. But I like the extra touch it gives this hat. So cute!

To fuse the plastic, I set my iron to somewhere between cotton and wool/silk, the highest and second highest settings on my iron. Fusing the plastic was the longest part of this project. It seemed to take forever! But setting the iron too hot was also a mistake; when it was set to the highest setting, the plastic shrank so quickly it pulled holes in the "fabric." Not so good for keeping the rain out!

To cut the pieces out, you can actually trace around them with ballpoint pen. That way you can see exactly what parts of the design will show. Just keep in mind that you will have a 1/4" seam around the pieces. And if you do try this at home, make sure the words will not be upside down when you sew the hat pieces together. You CAN pick the seam out of this plastic, but it is no picnic! My advice is to check everything twice before sewing!

I hope to see several of these hats the next time we are in the Disney parks! After all, what better place is there for a fabulous hat than Disney? Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney Fused Plastic Rain Bucket Hat

Are you looking for the perfect accessory for your Disney rain poncho? Well, look no further! You can upcycle some old shopping bags for this unique Disney look!

For this project I used 8 grey shopping bags for the lining, (available from Kohls, Lowes or Walmart in this area) and one large Disney shopping bag for the exposed side of this hat, as well as some white seam binding I had in my stash and purple thread for contrast! Which means that this Disney hat was completely free to make and helps the environment by not putting all that plastic in the landfill. Wouldn't Jiminy Cricket be so proud?

For all the details and instructions from fusing the plastic to creating the hat, I used this tutorial from Makezine. The only change I made was adding the seam binding to the two brim pieces before sewing them together. You could always just seam it the way the pattern suggests, without the seam binding. But I like the extra touch it gives this hat. So cute!

To fuse the plastic, I set my iron to somewhere between cotton and wool/silk, the highest and second highest settings on my iron. Fusing the plastic was the longest part of this project. It seemed to take forever! But setting the iron too hot was also a mistake; when it was set to the highest setting, the plastic shrank so quickly it pulled holes in the "fabric." Not so good for keeping the rain out!

To cut the pieces out, you can actually trace around them with ballpoint pen. That way you can see exactly what parts of the design will show. Just keep in mind that you will have a 1/4" seam around the pieces. And if you do try this at home, make sure the words will not be upside down when you sew the hat pieces together. You CAN pick the seam out of this plastic, but it is no picnic! My advice is to check everything twice before sewing!

I hope to see several of these hats the next time we are in the Disney parks! After all, what better place is there for a fabulous hat than Disney? Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Code 2319! DIY Monsters Inc. George Sanderson Hat

I love Pixar. No one tells a story the way Pixar does. And the running gag in Monsters Inc. when George Sanderson is constantly getting detoxed (at the panicked cry of his partner no less!) cracks us up every time. We are constantly hopeful that one day we will be in a Walt Disney World Resort room 2319. I'll keep you posted.

And the fact that my dad and granddad both worked in environments where radiation was a real risk means we've heard stories from them about the detox process. Seems to me that Pixar got it right. If you haven't seen the movie, here's a clip of the first time George is the subject of a 2319:




Poor George. In his honor, and to celebrate National Crochet Month, I whipped up this Code 2319 hat using a free pattern for a Unicorn Hat from Cre8tion Crochet. I followed the directions for the beanie using this Yarn Bee yarn I purchased ages ago from Hobby Lobby. I lost the label (I'm sure the littles had a hand in that!) so I can't tell you the exact name. But any faux fur would do the trick!

I think I've mentioned this before, but when using faux fur to crochet, I like to hold a sock yarn along with it so I can see the stitches more clearly. For this, I used some yellow scrap I had left over from making those Tangled Socks. It practically disappears as long as you use a color similar to what's in your faux fur.

I also modified the horn pattern to make it a little thicker that the unicorn one in the pattern. I simply repeated the increase row each time until it was long enough, and followed the directions for attaching to horn to the hat. If I were a runner, I would consider this for a RunDisney event costume!

DIY Dole Whip Knit Hat

I saw this hat pattern on Pinterest and I knew right away that I was going to do a Dole Whip version for Doc! We are crazy for Dole Whips here in the cottage and we stop to get one whenever we have the chance. (Incidentally, we were delighted to find them at the Hilton Head resort too!)

This was a fairy simple pattern to knit up. The most difficult part of this pattern was figuring out how to put it together once I had knit it. It starts as a parallelogram. Easy enough to knit. But then you have to sew the cast on edge and the bind-off edge together to make a cylinder. That was not specified in the directions, and I had a devil of a time figuring that out! After that, I just gathered the top of the hat with something like a basting stitch and sewed up the gap. I had intended to put a pompom on top, but it was so cool just like this that I decided not to! And the gathered top was not nearly as bad as I thought it would look, so I decided I didn't need to hide it with the pompom.

You can find a link to the pattern and all the details for my hat on my Ravelry page. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Sitting With Grandmother Willow | Dodie of Designs by Dodie

As part of our on-going series, Sitting with Grandmother Willow, I am happy to introduce Dodie of Designs by Dodie, an Etsy shop. My favorite item in her shop may be this fabulous Mary Poppins inspired fascinator! But there is so much more to see, including zipper pulls, wine charms and even those Disney park map coasters!

This series of blog posts highlights artists and bloggers of all stripes with one thing in common: a passion for Disney! I hope you will enjoy getting to know Dodie as much as I have. A big thanks to her for taking the time to interview with us! And be sure to visit her blog and her Etsy shop for a wonderful selection of Disney themed goodies!

Disney by the numbers (with apologies to Harpers):

# of trips you have made: approximately 30
Date of first trip: 1974 – with my parents when I was 13 – when it was just the Magic Kingdom. I remember seeing a band play near Tomorrowland. They were dressed in sparkly white jumpsuits and played “dance music.” I loved them, so I remembered their name later when they actually became a hit – KC and the Sunshine Band. I also remember my dad rationing out those E-Tickets.
Date of next trip: A girls weekend March 6th!
# of Resorts stayed in: I actually just figured this out recently! I’ve stayed in 14 of the resorts!
Usual # in your travel party: My husband (Phillip) and I! He’d never been when we stayed in what was then Dixie Landings on our honeymoon. We bought Disney Vacation Club and haven’t looked back – making far over 20 trips in the past 20 years. That said, we have a group of great friends from all over the country who are Disney fans as well (met online several years ago). We often travel with them or schedule our trips for the same time so we’re there together. I sometimes take girls’ trips down with a group of the gals from that group also! (I have more vacation time than my husband does and I have an Annual Pass!)
Pairs of mouse ears in your cottage: Tons! Maybe 10 pair? I have some Minnie Mouse ears on a headband that I wear typically. A friend in our group makes special themed bows for them, so we can be unique while we’re at the parks!

WDW or Disneyland (or other)? Both, but mostly Walt Disney World. We’ve been to Disneyland twice and plan to go back in December of this year.

How do you usually travel to Disney? We fly from Indy to Orlando.

Do you have any tips for trips? Take your time. Enjoy being in the "magic bubble" away from the real world. Don't overschedule yourself.

Do you have a favorite place to eat while in Disney? My favorite restaurant is Narcoosee's. Yum!

What is your absolute DON'T MISS attraction? Phillip and I are HUGE Haunted Mansion fans!
Stage shows, yes or no? Hardly ever.
Parades, yes or no? Usually not – we take advantage of that time to grab attractions with shorter wait times
Best Fast Pass to get: Soarin’
Favorite park: Phillip’s is the Magic Kingdom, but mine is EPCOT

One piece of advice you'd give a novice about WDW/DL: You absolutely cannot see or do it all on your first trip, no matter how long you stay. Do your homework and cover your top priorities. Once you go, you’ll go back again anyway. Trust me.

How do you create extra magic for your family: I still look at park hours beforehand and make some sort of schedule, even if it’s just which park(s) we’ll visit on which days. That allows for extra magic because there isn’t a lot of “what do you want to do today?” “where are we going this morning?” discussion. We make magic as soon as we arrive!

How did you come to this time and place on Etsy?
I was a passenger in an automobile accident last May. A girlfriend and I were actually on our way to the airport for a girls' trip (where we were meeting 14 other gals and staying in one of the Treehouses and at Saratoga Springs in some studios) when a box truck ran a red light and totalled her car, injuring both of us enough to earn us a trip to the ER instead of a trip to the airport.

We easily could have both been killed. The wreck was that bad. It was quite an awakening for me. I had an epiphany. I wasn't balancing my work life with the artistic and crafty yearnings I have always had. I needed to do something that made me happy. What was I waiting for?

I opened my Etsy shop in June of last year and haven't looked back. Because one's art reflects themself, Disney-inspired items gradually became a primary theme for my store - so much so that I devoted a whole section to those items.

How can we connect with you?
www.Etsy.com/shop/DesignsbyDodie (Check out the Disney-Inspired section!)
www.pinterest.com/dodie_sheffield/designs-by-dodie-on-etsycom/
www.Facebook.com/DesignsbyDodie