Sitting With Grandmother Willow | Carla of WDW Travel Prep

This article posted in December as I was in the midst of dealing with all manner of flu, the hubbub of the Christmas season and the craziness of life in general. As such, I wanted to re-run it this month and give Carla her due! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

As part of our on-going series, Sitting with Grandmother Willow, I am happy to introduce you to Carla of WDW Travel Prep, and Etsy store Magic Travel Prep! This series of blog posts highlights artists and fellow bloggers of all stripes with one thing in common: a passion for Disney!

Carla has incredible planning tips and planners on her blog and in her Etsy shop, sure to give even the most seasoned planner a little help in making the most of the magic! As most of us know, the more you plan, the better your Disney vacation can be. And as the Disney experience grows, so does the need to get your ducks (or mice?) in a row! Carla is a terrific resource for making all those Disney plans. I'm so glad she could join us on the blog this month!

Disney by the numbers (with apologies to Harpers):

# of trips you have made: 3

Date of first trip: December 2011

Date of next trip: January 2015

# of Resorts stayed in: 3

Usual # in your travel party: 2, just me and my boyfriend

Pairs of mouse ears in your cottage: 2

WDW or Disneyland (or other)? Both!

How do you usually travel to Disney? Plane

Do you have any tips for trips? My favorite tip is to not over plan! Although Disney planning is my favorite thing to do, it’s important to make sure you don’t try to lay out every single second. Give yourself some wiggle room. 

Do you have a favorite place to eat while in Disney? There are so many to choose, but the only place I go to every time is Aloha Isle for some Dole Whip. 

What is your absolute DON'T MISS attraction? Expedition Everest is a must for me. 

Stage shows, yes or no? Yes! The ones at Epcot are wonderful. 

Parades, yes or no? Yes! Festival of Fantasy is my new favorite. 

Best Fast Pass to get: Toy Story Mania.

Favorite park: Magic Kingdom

One piece of advice you'd give a novice about WDW/DL: It will always be more crowded than you think!

How do you create extra magic for your family? We buy matching pins to wear

How can we connect with you? You can check out my website for all my current social media links! Wdwtravelprep.com

DIY DIsney Momma Planner | Back to School

I am an organizer. I love organization and I love to know what is coming and who is going; it would appear that I am currently the ONLY one in the cottage who's like that. There's still hope for the little two, but I'm not holding my breath!

But as we have expanded our family, I have found it more difficult to keep all the details straight, even with my smart phone. And since school is upon us here in the midwest - Doc starts back this week - it's time for this Disney momma to get organized!

I had never used a Mom Planner before. There are tons of them out there and amazing resources on Etsy if you just browse around. There are also all sorts of free printables out there. I started by searching Pinterest for Mom Planner and Blog Planner. You don't have to customize your pages like I did to get a personalized planner. But I am picky and I wanted mine to have everything I needed, and nothing I don't. I also wanted to include some blogging resources, as my inspiration seems to strike no matter where I am or what I am doing. 

So I started a list of what I needed in my planner, and printed out enough pages to last 6 months. Here's the final breakdown:

1. A monthly overview including those items that happen only once a month (and are really easy for me to overlook). I also wanted a place for special events that month and cards to send. I wound up designing my own pages for that:

2. A weekly to do list. I needed to be able to put my week on paper and see a reasonable list of things to do. I also wound up making my own of those pages, and printing them front to back so I didn't have even more bulk than necessary:

3. Meal Prep. We are members of a vegetable delivery service called Green Bean Delivery. I needed a way to be more conscious of using the vegetables we received. This downloadable meal planner was the perfect thing for me. Check out her shop; she has the cutest downloads!

 4. A place for all those recipes that sound amazing but I just can find when I want them. I converted a pretty file folder in to a folder for this planner and then printed out the recipes for the week (along with our invoice for our veggie box) so I can get to them when it's dinner time.

5. And finally, a place for my running ideas for the blog. I will admit that this is a bit of overkill, as I already have a binder for the blog; but this makes me feel like I won't miss an idea once I have it. I found this printable list at My May Sunshine.

6. The Cover. I had some old cardboard lying around from a photographer friend. I used that for the back and front of the notebook. I cut out my mushrooms and title using the Silhouette SD. I adhered them to the cover and then covered it with packing tape, as I knew the beating it was going to take! I used my Zutter machine and some 3/4" binding rings to put it all together. I am IN LOVE with the final result. I've been using it to about two months and feel like it really helps me to stay focused even on those wild days. I took a couple days to get it all together, but it was totally worth the effort!

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