Happy Halloween Mousekateers!

Happy Halloween from all of us at Merryweather's Cottage!

DIY Meeko the Raccoon Sleep Mask

Meeko Sleeping Mask

I enjoy following Imagine Gnats on Instagram. Her blog is pretty amazing too. So when I saw this wonderful idea, posted by Jane of Buzzmills, I knew that it would be a project I would Disney-fy. I have to start by saying I love Disney's Pocahontas story. I know it's not historically accurate, but as far as a story and a princess go, I think it's fantastic. Strong willed and adventurous, Pocahontas is my kind of girl! And her side-kicks are fabulous. Especially Meeko the raccoon. I love his antics. And this eye mask is just calling his name! FYI, these were also part of the Wilderness Welcome Baskets I did for our fall break trip this year.

Altering the pattern was easy. I just googled images of Meeko and changed the eye and nose shapes to mimic his. After that I simply followed the instructions on Imagine Gnats blog page. Viola! We now have a Disney themed eye mask for dress up, or for nap time. And certainly a wonderful idea for Tinkerbell Treasures - light weight and easy to pack! I couldn't be happier with the result!

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Mary Blair Birthday Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Greg G on winning the magnet set! I'll be sending it out on Monday! Thanks to everyone who participated; it was a lot of fun. We'll have to do it again sometime.

DIY Disney's Up Themed Tinkerbell Treasures

I have a tendency to go big. You know, go big or go home? Well I tend to go big. Especially at Disney. This idea began when I saw these amazingly cute and super affordable aviator hats at Oriental Trading Co. I mean really? They screamed  Carl and Ellie from Up. I knew I had to have them for the kids. Then they arrived and were even better in person than I thought they would be. Next thing you know, I've ordered them for the adults too, and have plans to have them arrive with balloons. Now that would have been enough, right? Of course it would have, but then I got inspired to make these T-shirts that were from Paradise Falls, and then I saw these perfect grape soda pins from My Hoard over at Etsy, and, well, an entire package was born. This does not fall under the budget-friendly category, as I was purchasing for a group of 16. But if you were in the market for one or two people, you would find this entire package cheaper than a sweatshirt at the Emporium! Not too shabby for a super cool and completely unique Disney themed gift!

The good news is that you too can create this entire Up package for someone you love. Because these Paradise Falls shirts are now on sale through RedBubble. They come in adult and youth sizes! And because we don't want to leave out the littles, there's some baby gear available too!

If you're not familiar with RedBubble, get ready to lose an hour or two of your life. So many terrific artists have unique Disney themed goodies available for purchase. It's one of the first places I look for gifts for my favorite Disney nerd, Mr. Photos From The Parks. I have a few other designs available there too, so feel free to look around! I also love that these T-shirts and pins support individual artisans. That's always a plus in my book.

But the best part of this gift package was the looks on the faces of everyone when they received their gifts. It's why I do all of this in the first place! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

From Belle's Library | My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business: A Memoir, by Dick Van Dyke

Who would have guessed that I found a kindred spirit in Dick Van Dyke? We both have a heart for social justice, love Mary Tyler Moore (platonically), found Mary Poppins to be magical, and want to parent our kids to be grounded and loving. Needless to say, I found this autobiography, My Lucky Live In and Out of Show Business, nothing short of wonderful.

I love how positive Mr. Van Dyke is as he looks back on his life. He admits his struggles and failures, relates some truly horrible experiences, and some amazing times. And all the while I sensed that he was looking back at the entire picture with mild surprise at his good fortune and genuine joy.

As usual, I listened to this book. It was wonderful to hear Dick Van Dyke read it; I can't imagine listening to someone else voice what happened to this man, knowing his voice so well. It was especially fun to hear him reminisce about working with Walt Disney and the Sherman Brothers, and the making of not only Mary Poppins, but also Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. Even THIS Disney girl hasn't seen that movie. Don't worry, I'll be remedying that situation soon!

This book was a truly wonderful read. I would recommend it as a Father's Day or Christmas gift for anyone who has a fondness for the Dick Van Dyke Show, or Mary Poppins. We all know shopping for men can be tricky. Of course, I would also recommend this for the females in your life! If you have read this book, I'd be interested to hear what you thought of it as well.

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Happy Birthday Mary Blair!

In honor of Mary Blair's birthday, we are going to have a little give away! As most of you know, Mary Blair is my favorite Disney artist and the woman behind It's A Small World. I can't get enough of her. And today is her birthday!

So while we were recently in Walt Disney World, I picked up this fun little magnet set including the poster for It's A Small World and a fun Poppins Penguins Catering Co. magnet, and I am passing it along to one of my loyal readers! Entering is easy. Simply use the Rafflecopter form below for six chances to win!

Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DIY Disney's Cinderella Castle Night lights

This is one of the easiest DIY's I have found. All you need is a flameless candle, a printed picture of Cinderella Castle, a piece of clear tape, and a pair of scissors. SIMPLE! And it looks surprisingly pretty. I could see this in a princess room (or let's face it, MY room) as a lovely little night light. What sweet dreams your princess would dream watching the castle glowing as she drifted off to sleep! In fact, that's my favorite part about having a Magic Kingdom view at the Contemporary!

If you don't have a photo of Cinderella Castle that you like, simple search Google and you will find just what you need. Trust me. Once you have your image, you may need to resize it a bit. Measure the circumference of your candle base and be sure that your image is no more than a 1/4 inch larger than that measurement. You don't want a lot of overlap in the back. Alternatively, you can trim it down a bit once your print it out. Just be sure the main part of the image will be seen easily.

I like the contrast of the black and white image. Theoretically, this would work with a high contrast color image, but I haven't tried that. I recommend printing your image in black and white. And don't use an image that has print on the back (from a book, pamphlet, etc.) The print on the back side will show through when you turn the light on.

Once you have your castle printed, take your scissors and cut out the castle. It might be a little tricky, but be patient. It's worth it. Then simply wrap it around the candle, and tape the back side closed. That's it! Turn on your night light and dream sweet Disney dreams! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney Wilderness Creatures Bookmarks & Window Clings

Last post I talked about some Wilderness themed baskets I created for our Disney trip to the Wilderness Lodge. These were the next things I added to our Wilderness baskets.

These adorable personalized bookmarks were a free editable download that I spied on Pinterest. Most of our crew are avid readers, so I figured these would get some action on the plane, by the pool or at least in school. You can find them on Lia Griffith's blog. They are easy to edit and simple to print out. And free!

The window clings were something I hadn't planned on, but seemed perfect for our trip. I like the idea of personalizing our room from the outside, but I didn't want to advertise who we were. These seemed to fit the bill quite nicely. I found them on sale at JoAnn's for under $2 a set. You can't beat that for budget-friendly finds.

Stay tuned for more fantastic Wilderness themed items. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney's Pocahontas/Wilderness Themed Treat Bags

So we are finally in our happy place: Walt Disney World! This year we decided to bunk at the Wilderness Lodge. We've stayed here before and loved it. This time around we are trying out the Villas. Will give a full report once we are back!

As most of you know, I try and do a little welcome to Disney package for the kids (and sometimes the adults!) upon our arrival at the resort. We call them Tinkerbell Treasures. Most of the kids are older now, but once upon a time, Tinkerbell actually visited our rooms every night and left a surprise for each kid! You can read more about that experience in this blog post. I think on our next trip, Tink will start visiting again. Happy will be the perfect age for that and Doc will LOVE promoting that vision!

That being said, the goodies this year were all themed (if rather loosely) to our Wilderness stay. These little treat bags were the first things to strike my fancy. I found this adorable Hedgehog Treat Holder (design id #40511) in the Silhouette store. It was simple to cut out and assemble. Instead of cutting out the eyes and nose - sometimes those little cuts drive me crazy!- I used Candy Dots from Stampin' Up. I found the Wilton treat bags at JoAnn's. They are just the right size to hold a few small candies. If you are thinking about a stay at Fort Wilderness, these would also be themed perfectly!

I have a few more ideas for our Wilderness baskets, but I don't want to give away everything before all has been revealed to the kids! So you'll have to wait too. Until next time, (and from the most magical place on earth!) may all your days be filled with fairy dust!