DIY Mary Blair Small World Inspired Building Blocks

I've been working on this project for some time now and finally had the time and energy to finish it! My regular followers will know that I am a huge Mary Blair fan. HUGE. Her concept art for It's A Small World decorates a wall in my house. If I could find a way to make the mural at the Contemporary Resort mine, I would do it.

So when these plain, ordinary, wooden blocks came into my life I had the inspiration to decorate them with the same geometric shapes used in the It's A Small World mural. I like the idea of being able to play with that art.

For color, I decided to use my Sharpie markers mostly because I didn't want to wait for paint to dry on each side of each block before going on to the next one. If I were doing these for a baby or child who would be likely to put them in her mouth, I would stick with the non-toxic paint. Fortunately for me, my kids seem to be past that stage (another milestone!) in their lives.

I noticed that in using the Sharpies, the colors were exceptionally dark, especially on the sides where the wood grain was darker. I would certainly consider painting them if I wanted the color to be brighter. But since these are simply for me to play around with, the Sharpies were a quick and easy choice. Plus I feel like I have more control with a marker than I would with a paintbrush.

I really love the way these turned out. And I love having them at my desk to play with when I need a quick mental break! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Scrapbooking Disney | It's A Small World Kid's Room Mural

 
My regular readers will know all about my favorite room in the cottage. I managed to turn Little Chef's and Minnie's room into a Mary Blair love affair and tribute to It's A Small World. I knew I would want to document the progress of the mural, so I took daily photos as I was painting it. I love how this scrapbook layout tells the story. I again used the Project Mouse kit: Fantasy from Brittney at britt-ish designs and Krista at sahlin studio. Their It's A Small World embellishments and word art were perfect for this layout! The only thing I created were the number buttons. If you want the story on how I created the mural, you can check out the original mural blog post here.

I can't wait to have this fully documented in the scrapbook for the kids! 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

Sitting With Grandmother Willow: Jody Rice

As part of our on-going series, Sitting with Grandmother Willow, I am happy to introduce Jody Rice, of Satsuma Street, an Etsy shop. 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 Jody as much as I have. We definitely share a common love for Mary Blair! And be sure to visit her Etsy store for some unique It's A Small World/Mary Blair inspired items!






Disney by the numbers (with apologies to Harpers):
# of trips you have made: Too many to remember!  Probably at least 25 trips.


Date of first trip: I believe I was 3 years old.


Date of next trip: I'm planning on running in the Tinkerbell Half-Marathon in DL next year, so that will probably be the next time I get to the park.


# of Resorts stayed in: Just Disneyland! (and California Adventure)


Usual # in your travel party: Usually just me and two or three friends.


Pairs of mouse ears in your cottage: None!  I don't look good in hats. :(


WDW or Disneyland (or other): Disneyland


How do you usually travel to Disney? I live in Southern California, so always by car.


Do you have any tips for trips? Don't wait till the end of the night to do your gift shopping, the lines are always the worst then.


Do you have a favorite place to eat while in Disney? I love the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney, and I never miss a chance to get some Dole Whip at the Tiki Room!


What is your absolute DON'T MISS attraction? I have to ride the Haunted Mansion, the Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean every time.


Stage shows, yes or no? Not usually, though I love the Golden Horseshoe Revue.


Parades, yes or no? Yes!


Best Fast Pass to get: Space Mountain, because that line is so boring.


Favorite park: Disneyland!


One piece of advice you'd give a novice about WDW/DL: Don't spend all your time running from one line to another.  Give yourself some time to sit on Main Street with an ice cream and just enjoy the atmosphere.


How do you crate extra magic for your family? We do a lot of singing and dancing in the kitchen.  Whistle while you work!


Tell us about your Etsy shop: My etsy shop is SatsumaStreet, and I sell modern and colorful counted cross stitch patterns.  Many of my designs are influenced by the great Disney concept artist, Mary Blair.  I love Mary Blair's work because it still looks modern and fresh today, and appeals to people of all ages.  I try to capture that same quality in my designs, and offer patterns that stitchers will still want to display in their homes many years from now.  I call my designs "Cross Stitch for Happy People", because I think crafting should be a happy experience and bring people joy when they're done!


How can we connect with you?
Etsy: satsumastreet.etsy.com
Email: satsumastreet@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SatsumaStreet
Instagram: instagram.com/craftnik
Tumblr: satsumastreet.tumblr.com

DIY It's A Small World Kids Room: Mary Blair Inspired Hot Air Balloon

Instead of a traditional mobile for the kids' room, I opted for a hot air balloon made from a paper lantern. It seemed to fit the It's A Small World theme quite well, and since I had waited 6 months (cough, cough) to move Minnie into her and Happy's room, I thought it was a little more age appropriate for the both of them.

This was a really easy project, especially if you have done any kind of origami before. I had purchased these lanterns for Happy's birthday (from Zulily) and loved them so much we left them hanging in our downstairs living/dining area for the better part of two years! But alas, it was time to change them out. (By the way, if you have not checked out Zulily, you really need to. They often have Disney merchandise for a steal.)

To create this hot air balloon, I used One Dog Woof's tutorial. It was easy enough to follow and this took me all of 30 minutes from start to finish (not including interruptions). I hung it from the ceiling using a clear command hook. I had to scrape a bit of the popcorn off to create a smooth spot, but it's not at all noticeable. I like how it looks next to the mural. It reminds me of the ride - so many wonderful things from floor to ceiling!

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

Disney's It's A Small World Plastic Canvas Block Pattern | Boys Choir 1

It is well documented here that I have a slight obsession with Mary Blair and her wonderful concept art for Disney. I am an avid fan of It's A Small World. To that end, I have published my second plastic canvas block pattern to my Etsy store!

You can create this adorable block all on your own! It would be the perfect gift for a Disney loving new mom and her new little mousekateer. Or the perfect thing to keep your craft-loving 10-year-old occupied on the long trip to Disney! Our Minnie and Happy are big fans of these little blocks.  They are tons of fun to stack up and knock down again! The one seen here is the first block I ever created. Each boy motif is 3"x3" to make a 3" cube when it's all put together. It's very simple sewing. If you can cross stitch, you can do this!

As always, I hope you enjoy this pattern. If you try it, we'd love to see it here in the comments, or by tagging us (@merryweatherscottage) on Instagram. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Mary Blair Inspired It's A Small World Block, #3

If you missed the first post I did on these blocks, you can find out the story behind them by checking out this blog post. They are made of plastic canvas and acrylic yarn and are 3" square. They are kind of addicting! I would eventually like to have a full set that the kids can play with. Who knows? Maybe by the time Minnie is actually toddling about they will have a set.

This is block #3. I call it the Utopia Block because it's based on the final room in the It's A Small World attraction in Walt Disney World. If you've never been, it's a room full of dolls from all around the world dressed in these pastel colors enjoying life together at a carnival of sorts, in a world of harmony. Doc calls it the Utopia Room. I like that.


The sides here include a hot air balloon, a kite, a Ferris Wheel, a piñata, a carousel horse and a balloon man. All of which can be seen throughout the ride. This is the first block to have a pattern written up for it and you can find it on Etsy as a digital file! I'm very proud of how professional it looks, and my mastery of Adobe Illustrator to create it! If you are interested in it, you can find it in my Etsy shop, Merryweather's Cottage.

If you work one of these up, I'd love to see what you've done! Tag us on Instagram (@merryweatherscottage) or leave a message here telling us where we can see your work. We love to see what our followers have been up to. And until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY It's A Small World Blocks

As I was rummaging through some old craft supplies this spring, this idea popped into my head. And right away I knew I needed to try it. It goes without saying, I'm a fan of Mary Blair and It's A Small World. Let's be honest, "fan" might not be a strong enough word, obsessed might come a bit closer. And since the kids' room is already themed as such, these Small World blocks seemed like just the right thing for their toy box.

As I said, I was going through some old craft supplies. In fact, I hadn't worked with this plastic canvas since my grandmother and I made several tissue boxes in the 80s! It was so great to remember that time with her. I definitely inherited her need to craft! I think she'd be just as proud of these blocks as she was with our tissue boxes.

I started with the cover art from the original It's A Small World Disneyland record. I printed the artwork at 150% and then drew a 1 cm x 1 cm graph over those adorable little boys. Viola! My block design was born! I used my colored pencils to transfer the design to paper and make sure that the blocky versions still looked like the little dolls I intended them to represent. I then cut from one sheet of plastic canvas: 6, 23x23 squares and 6, 15x15 squares. (Each block requires 6 sides.) I was able to get one large block and another smaller block from one sheet of plastic canvas. This turns out to be a fairly inexpensive project if you have a significant stash of yarn. Um, that would definitely be me!

Once I had my canvas cut and rough edges trimmed, I was able to copy my design from graphs to the canvas. I was surprised at how little yarn it actually took to create these little people. All you need to complete this project is yarn, a yarn needle, and a pair of scissors. I sewed my designs to each block side. Once I was satisfied with how each side looked, I began whip-stitching the sides together. I thought the last sides would be difficult, but because the canvas is fairly stiff, it wasn't hard at all. When I was done, I pulled the end of the yarn through about 5 stitches on the side and snipped it off. I then remembered why my grandmother and I had made so many tissue boxes; it's so satisfying to see them all complete! I like the sides accentuated with a contrasting color. I will certainly do this for the rest of them. I have a few more in the works!

My little doll people wouldn't fit on the smaller blocks, so I created a few iconic images that I think represent the design of the Small World attraction. I'm going to be selling some block kits in my Etsy store, so swing by and check them out! They would be a perfect project to do on the way to Disney! And a fun toy for the ride home. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney Inspired Sharpie Mug

Yeah, another Sharpie Mug project. There seems to be another one every time I turn around. Here's the deal: I had to know. Does it work? How? How long does it stay? Can it go in the dishwasher? So I decided to give it a whirl here at the cottage and let you all know exactly what I discovered.

I found this adorable little mug and immediately thought of my favorite Disney artist, Mary Blair, and how precious a little Small World & Sword in the Stone inspiration would be right there on the side of it. Done! I found these adorable little squirrels in the Silhouette shop. Specifically, I used "Squirrel" (design ID 31948), "Retro Tree" (design ID 3343), the heart from "I Love You Card" (design ID 24426) and the leaf from a random "flower" design. I then aligned them on the Silhouette using the alignment feature and cut out this vinyl stencil.

Applying the stencil to a curved surface was tricky. Cutting slits along the bottom of the stencil between shapes was helpful, but there was plenty of finagling involved.

I used Whipperberry's Sharpie Mug Gift Tutorial. Which means I used regular Sharpies so this mug is not headed for the dishwasher. (Apparently the oil-based Sharpies do well in dishwasher. But given enough research, they too seem to fail.) I used both my fine tips and my broad tip markers with great results, at first. You can see the marker lines on some of the colors, but try as I might (and I am generally adept at such things,) I couldn't find a way to completely eliminate these. Also, if you do this, use the light colors before the dark ones. I drew the yellow spots on after the outline of the tree and the marker wanted to bleed into the yellow, even though I had applied it 24 hours before.

I baked this mug at 350 for 30 min and let it cool down in the oven. The lighter colors turned a little browner after baking. I wasn't prepared for that. I waited 24 hours before hand washing. And in the end, the design still scrubbed right of. Bummer.

At this point I was thinking about using the mug to hold little bits and bobs in the studio. But I read in the comments on Pinstrosity that baking at 450 for 30 min might do the trick, so I gave that a try. (By the way, the comments on this were all over the map. Seems that mugs can vary greatly even when you buy the same brand and use the same pens and oven. Boo.) No such luck. It looks like this sweet mug is destined for the studio after all. So until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY It's A Small World Framed Art

This was a super simple project, with a big impact. It was budget friendly in the scope of framed art, but still the most expensive part of the room makeover; go figure. But when you break it down, these were just over $12 each. Not at all bad for framed artwork. And these really tied the room together for me, so I was willing to spend the money.

I was able to purchase everything through Amazon. I shopping with Amazon because they deliver everything to the cottage. With two in carseats, shopping isn't full of magic for me! I found an adorable It's A Small World mini calendar here, and the frames here. I chose to use these shadow box frames because they were the cheapest black 8x8 frames I could find. As chance would have it, I really like how they look. And since the calendar pages were not quite 8x8, I simply matted them on 8x8 cardstock in various colors to match the art. I already had the cardstock, so that was a little money saved right there. I also used the cardboard inserts from the frames to figure out the placement on the wall, as in this tutorial on eHow. Brilliant! These pictures really did do a lot to complete the room, and I couldn't have asked for more perfect art work!

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

It's A Small World Kids Room: Bunting

After our last trip through It's A Small World, I noticed that in every room of the attraction, there is something hanging from the ceiling. I wanted to try and evoke that feeling in the kids' room and this bunting was the perfect way to do that. And it was a fun way to use up some fat quarters I had lying around.

I used this very simple tutorial from Yvestown. It was easy to follow and only required two nap times to complete. And it was very budget friendly too, as I already had all the supplies on hand that I would need. The stack of fat quarters was purchased from Hobby Lobby for $7.00. In order to figure out how I wanted it spaced on the ceiling, I taped it to the wall with painters tape. That way I could adjust it until it was just how I wanted it. I originally used the clear Command Hooks to hang the bunting from the ceiling. I just tied a loop of thread around the binding where I wanted to hang it. But it eventually fell down. I'm sure the fabric was just too heavy for it. I put up plant hooks that screw into the ceiling and that has been a much more secure solution.

This would be a great project for a birthday or tea party too. I hope you have fun with it! Be sure to share your projects with us if you Disney-fy some bunting too. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

It's A Small World Kids Room: Wall Mural

When I decided on the Small World theme for the kids room, I knew I wanted a wall mural. So I did a quick Google image search for Mary Blair, and there were loads of pictures to choose from. I settled on this image. This was her concept art for It's A Small World and it was just what I was looking for, a reference without looking like the ride itself, exactly.

My first thought was to transfer the design using a projector and a pencil. Unfortunately, the projector couldn't get the image as large as I wanted it to be. So, instead, I went old school and put a grid on the wall (in pencil) and then transferred the design block by block.

If you're like me, the math involved seems overwhelming. Here's how I simplified it: draw a grid on the paper first - make sure the squares are small enough so that the image in each square can easily be transferred. I used 1/2" squares.

Count the number of squares across the top of your design (we'll call that measurement A). I have 21 squares across. Then measure your wall space, horizontally (we'll call that measurement B). Divide measurement B by measurement A (For me that's B divided by 21). Your result is the number of inches in each wall square needs to be. For me, I needed my squares to be 5.75". At that point I used my 18" ruler and the laser leveler and drew my lines on the wall. (If you look closely, you can see that I cut off the last bit of the design on the left side of the picture. I was willing to lose that to make the measurements easier to deal with.)

I used basic craft acrylic paints. The total cost in paint was $41.00. It's hard to go wrong at that price! I am mostly pleased with this decision, but I will say the coverage on the lighter colors was not so great; I had to put on 2 and sometimes 3 coats. The Folk Art brand was thicker and in general covered better than the Craft Smart. I'd say it's worth the minimal extra cost for the thicker paint. Once everything was painted on, I sealed it with a clear coat of Golden's Soft Gel Gloss Medium mixed one part water to two parts gel. The gloss is important here. The matte and semi-gloss will cloud the colors of your mural. After all that work, I really wanted the colors to pop! I carefully followed the "skyline" so that only the buildings would shine. Hopefully the sealant will make it last a bit longer; time will tell. Kids can be awfully hard on paint!

The finished product

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

Linking up today at:
{too} cute Tuesday
Tell Me Tuesday
Handmade Tuesday
Get Your Craft On Tuesday

It's A Small World Kids Room Disney DIY

Next week marks the 44th anniversary of the premier of It's A Small World at the 1964 World's Fair. I thought it fitting that I share with your the recent conversion of our guest room to our kids' Small World room.

With a recent new addition to our cottage family, we had to do some shuffling of space. This meant I had the opportunity to redecorate our guest room and make it a kids room. And since we now have a boy and a girl sharing the space, I wanted something playful, yet gender neutral. My inspiration was Mary Blair, the concept artist for many Disney movies, and the signature style behind It's A Small World. I'll spend several posts showing you what I did to create this happy space. But here are some photos of the finished projects.

Completed Mural

Our It's A Small World Book Collection

Subway Art

Bunting & Calendar Art

Room with Furniture

This was certainly a budget friendly redo! Here's the cost breakdown:

• Paint: $30
• Subway Art: $9 (with coupon to shutterfly)
• Subway Art Frame: $26
• Bird Mobile: $10 (Zulily)
• Together Art: gift
• Fabric for Bunting: $7
• Small World Books: $36
• Small World Calendar: $12
• Frames for Calendar Art: $150

Grand Total for the room: $280. Not bad for such a cheerful and comprehensive update. I almost wish it was my room! Next post I'll share with you how the mural came together. Until then, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!