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!

DIY Hair Rescue Spray for Disney's Small World Dolls

Let me start by saying, If you are a collector of these It's A Small World Dolls, I am sorry. You should look away now. We intended for our doll to be played with and that most certainly happens on a regular basis. Meena is one of our favorite toys (even if she doesn't know when to stop singing).

Having said that, you should also know that I am new at this whole mothering a daughter thing. I have lots of practice raising boys; I'm used to the odd lego mishap or the small cars in strange places routine. But I had no idea this doll ordeal could include this sort of bird's nest hair! I mean really, what causes that?? I don't actually want to know. It's just simply terrifying.

This little DIY may be old hat to those of you who've been dealing with "girl stuff" for a while now. I, however, thought this was the most brilliant save for a matted mess of Disney Doll hair! Pinterest to the rescue again!

This was easy. Combine 2 -3 Tbsp. of fabric softener to a small spray bottle of water. Swish to combine and apply liberally to the hair of your doll. After that it's divide and conquer. Take a comb and gently work the solution through the doll hair. It worked like a dream. I'm glad to know this now. I can only imagine the number of Disney dolls we are going to have around here! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Disney Park Map Project Round Up for Earth Day

Since it's Earth Day, I thought it would be nice to do a round up of all the Disney Park Map posts I've done in the last year or so. As we all know, Jimminy Cricket wants us all to be responsible with our resources and think about our environment! These projects are a fun Disney way to incorporate the three Rs into your Disney trips: reduce, reuse and recycle!

First up, make a Disney park map gift bag!

Or you could make some fun coasters from ceramic tiles and your Disney park maps.

You could use them as an insert for an insulated travel mug, so you always have a little Disney with you.

You could also insert a Disney park map into a three-ring binder for an instant Disney boost at work or at school!

You could decoupage an ornament for the holidays, or create this orb ornament.

You could decoupage a candle for your home (or a gift!) with Disney park maps too.

And finally, you could use your Disney park maps to make a block puzzle suitable for your coffee table or your next road trip box.

What ever you decide to do, we hope you remember to reduce, reuse and recycle those maps. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney Park Maps Puzzle Blocks

We all love upcycling those Disney Park maps. This is a fun project for young Disney fans, or just those that are young at heart. We are big puzzlers around the cottage. Every Christmas my sister's family comes over with a jigsaw puzzle and we work the entire thing in one day. I LOVE a good puzzle. And now that the Disney park maps all look a lot more alike, this puzzle is a bit harder than I originally thought it would be! Still, it's fun.

I was able to find a set of 1.5" plain, wooden blocks from Pick Your Plum. If you don't know about them, it's worth checking them out. You never know what sort of thing is going to pop up there! I also used 5 different park maps (I needed 2 from Animal Kingdom), mod podge, fine grit sandpaper and a foam brush. I cut out the maps into 1.5" squares and roughed them up on the back side with the sandpaper. This just helped them adhere well to the blocks. I then adhered them with the mod podge to the wood. Once they had dried I sanded down the edges so they didn't peel up, and put a top coat of mod podge on them. Once they were dry they were ready to go!

The toddlers like to play with them as blocks, the older ones like to fiddle with them on the coffee table while we are watching TV or planning our next Disney vacation! These were fairly simple to put together, even if they were just a little time consuming. Worth it though, to have another reminder of our time together in Disney.

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

DIY Disney 12 Days of Christmas Ornaments | From Toys to Ornaments

 You've probably seen this idea on Pinterest, at least some version of it. It's so simple, yet I love the idea, especially if you do a kid tree. Especially if you've collected a bunch of random Disney toys. Especially if you live in a household where it's so hard to throw anything away!

I thought I would paint all the toys, but as I was looking at Rexie from Toy Story, I realized he's much more recognizable without the paint. So I left him alone. Donald was already discolored and having a little trouble, so he was the perfect candidate to be gilded! I am certain that spray paint would have been a much easier choice, but I didn't have any gold spray paint on hand and didn't want to buy an entire can of it just for this little toy. I'm all about trying to use what I already have. So I decided to give brush painting a try. And I'm quite pleased with the result! He looks much better than he did, and as I've said before, I love a sparkly Christmas tree!

This was extremely easy to do. I used 3/16" Screw Eye Rings to attach the hanger. I would recommend finding a smaller size if possible; these are just a little too big for my taste. Perhaps these 12mm ones would be better, although I haven't used them. You can tie thread to the eyes, or use traditional ornament hooks to hang them from the tree (or anywhere else you may have in mind!). I think these would be darling attached to a gift for a child, as well.

And that brings our 12 Days of DIY Disney Ornaments to a close! I've had so much fun putting this together this holiday season. I hope to bring you another 12 Days of Disney Christmas next year. Until next time, may all your holidays 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!