DIY Small World Passporter Envelope

As one of my dear Disney Buddies likes to say, it feels like you need a Bachelors Degree in Disney Planning to take your first trip to Walt Disney World, and an Associates in Disney Dining. We know it can be overwhelming for the first time planner. If you are unfamiliar with our friends over at PassPorter, please head over and take a look. They are THE planning tool for our friends and family. Even after 36 trips, we find the PassPorter a useful tool before and during our stay in Walt Disney World. I always get one for any new family traveling with us.

It should come as no surprise, that I have my PassPorter with me at every planning session. I like to have sticky notes, or post-it flags, and my favorite pen with me too. (I have a bit of a pen obsession!) So this fabric envelope from Bolt was the perfect solution for my PassPorter. Follow the link for the excellent tutorial. I made just a couple adjustments of my own.

I chose to do a button and loop closure on my envelope, and adjusted the length of the fold over elastic to measure 14.5" in order to fit over my PassPorter cover. This will accommodate the deluxe cover, or the entire book of the regular PassPorter. If you've never used fold over elastic, it's really great stuff! It comes in all sorts of colors and patterns. And Amazon has a nice selection of it too.

The fabric is November Books Kokka Children of the World. It reminds me of the It's A Small World attraction (one of my favorites!). I have only been able to find it on Etsy, and it can be expensive, but I love it so much I don't mind spending a little extra. The contrasting fabric (seen on the envelope flap) was purchased at JoAnn's. It's their store label.

Because this project requires very little fabric, it would be a great stash-busting project. And it's quite budget friendly too. I had everything I needed except the fold over elastic, and that was in the $6.00 range. Not bad at all for such a cute and useful item. If you make one of these for your Disney trip, please leave us a link to it in the comments. We love to see what our followers are doing! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust.

Space Mountain T-shirt Orders Until Friday!

Don't forget that there are only 4 more days to order these one of a kind Space Mountain T-shirts!

I created this shirt from my own photo of the iconic Disney attraction. Every time my son wears it, people ask him where they can get it. It can be yours too, but just for a limited time. After Friday they will be gone.

These shirts are 100% organic cotton and come in navy only. Both adult & youth sizes are available. Adult shirts are $20 and youth shirts are $17. There is a $6 shipping fee for the first shirt, the rest ship for free! Head on over to my Etsy shop and order a couple. They'd make terrific Christmas gifts for those Disney enthusiasts in your life!

DIY Mickey Oreo Pops

These are a labor of love, and definitely not a nap-time friendly project. But if you are a fan of Oreo cookies, or know someone who is, then it's totally worth it. These pops tend to be a bit fragile, so traveling with them can be tricky. They may be best left to party favors and at home magic. Still, the impact is great, so I still say give them a try.

I was inspired to try this when I ran across this pin on Pinterest. I tried a couple of different ways of doing this. The first and foremost recommendation is that if you are putting them on sticks, definitely get the double stuffed Oreos. They are easy to get the stick into and unlikely to break. (Wilton brand sticks can be found at your local craft store, or here.)

Getting the mini Oreos to stick onto the big ones was a bit of a challenge. I melted Wilton's light cocoa candies and used that as the glue. In retrospect, I would use the dark cocoa next time as it matches the Oreo color better. I found that melting the chocolate so that it wasn't runny was the best bet, as it provided a nice paste-like texture: enough to stick the cookies together, but not so thin it was running all over the mat and not staying on the pops. I also found the ideal tool for applying the chocolate was a small spreader.

Although these look fun and taste great, I was not pleased with the fragility factor, as I wanted to take these with us to Disney. Even surviving airport security, let alone the flight, seemed a bit perilous. I tried covering them in chocolate, but the Wilton's didn't spread evenly and they looked lumpy. (Although Doc said they tasted great!) I also tried using magic shell, but that didn't set up properly. I might try melting chocolate chips next time.

If you give this idea a try, I'd love to hear how it worked for you! And if you have any tips on how to make these a bit more resilient, please, please, share. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Linking up with:

Disney Living

Skip To My Lou
Craft-O-Maniac
Monday Funday @ Uncommon Designs

Tinkerbell Treasures: Coin Rolls

I saw this idea on pinterest, via Martha Stewart, as a stocking stuffer and thought it would be great for a Tinkerbell Treasure! I love the pressed penny machines in Disney. I think they are a great way to spend your waiting time -- waiting for a dinner reservation, waiting for the taller kiddos to finish their thrill rides, waiting for mom to check out at the shops. I'll buy that kind of patience for 50¢ any day of the week! Plus, there are all sorts of games you can play with the pressed pennies once you've collected a few (more on that in a later post).


For these coin rolls I decided to just wrap them in scrapbook paper scraps, but you could certainly decide to use a solid paper and ribbons that match your child's favorite Disney character, or specifically Disney paper. And I was tempted to skip the cellophane, but it really makes a big difference in keeping the ends of the rolls together and adding a sweet touch. A roll of quarters ($10) and a roll of pennies (50¢) should keep two kids busy for at least a couple of days (that's 10 pressed pennies each), that is, if they don't develop an obsession for collecting pressed pennies!

If you want to make these for the pressed penny lover in your life, I have a downloadable page of tags for you to use. Just click here, or click on the thumbnail below to download. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Disney DIY: Road Trip Pillowcase

As a kid, we made many a road trip to Walt Disney World. From our place in the Midwest, it was about 18 hours. That's a LONG time to be on the road for any kid. We were lucky to be traveling in a motorhome most of that time; my heart goes out to those who must travel in a car.

These pillowcases, looked like they would be perfect for a Disney road trip. Anything to make the magic last a little longer! I think they would also be a perfect surprise for your kiddos at the start of the trip. Of course I used my fairy wand to make them Disney-ready. I could EASILY get carried away with themeing these! As always, think about the color palettes of your kid's favorite Disney characters, licensed fabrics, iconic images. The list seems endless!  And of course, you could use a Mickey or Minnie silhouette in place of the monogram. Anyhoo, on to the tutorial.

Materials Needed for Standard Pillowcase:

24" x 43" rectangle of main fabric (Toy Story)
2.5" x 43" strip of fabric for trim (wagons)
12" x 43" rectangle of contrast fabric (orange)
2  15"x12" rectangles for pocket (yellow polka dot)
1 fat quarter for monogram (wagons)
3" piece of velcro
22" piece of cotton webbing
matching thread

I combined two tutorials to get just the look I wanted: for the case, I used this 15-minute Pillowcase Tutorial from The Cottage Home, and for the pocket and handle I mostly used this tutorial from Amazing Mae. I recommend printing them to reference as you follow these directions.

Specifically, I followed steps 1- 7 of the 15-Minute Pillowcase. Trust the directions, they are amazing!

Because I wanted this case to be completely washable I chose to use quilting cotton for the monogram. I also wanted to hide as many rough edges, hems and seams as I could, so I chose to do the monogram at this point in the process. I ironed-on sewable interfacing from Silhouette to the fabric for the monogram. I sent it through the Silhouette to cut out a "J" in Franklin Gothic Medium Font, ironed it onto the right side of one pocket piece (12" x 16"), and zig zag stitched all around it. (If you don't have a Silhouette machine, just print out a letter in a font you like, trace it onto the wrong side of your fabric and cut it out.) Now it can go through any number of washings without that the monogram falling off.

At this point, I picked up Amazing Mae's tutorial at step 5 to make the pocket.

At step 7, I pinned one side of the velcro in the middle of the top edge of the pocket, so that the middle of the strip was 1" from the top edge and directly over the monogram. I then topstitched 1" from the top edge of the pocket with a decorative stitch sewing right over the strip of velcro. This way, the stitching for the velcro doesn't show.

From here on, I referenced Mae's tutorial, but followed these steps instead:
Fold your pillowcase, right sides together, aligning the opening edges (in my case, the orange fabric). Iron the crease (or the bottom of the pillowcase). Open the fabric and place your pocket (but don't pin) on the pillowcase where you want it. Remember, you will have a 3/4" seam allowance around all raw edges. Pin the other piece of velcro on the pillow case, aligning it with the piece already on the pocket. Remove the pocket and sew around all sides of the velcro so it is firmly on the pillowcase. Now pin your pocket back on the pillowcase, aligning the velcro pieces and topstitch around all three sides.

Take your cotton webbing (handle) and pin it along the top of the pillowcase so that is it aligned with both sides of the pocket. Pin it in place. Fold your pillowcase in half (along the pressed crease), right sides together, making sure that the webbing is tucked into the right sides and not twisted (so when you turn it right side out it will indeed be a handle). Sew around the two unfinished edges (side and bottom) of pillowcase.

And that's it! You have a pillowcase that is road-ready! Fill it up and enjoy the ride. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust.

DIY Upcycled Disney T-shirt Pool Bag

I know I've mentioned this about a bazillion times, but I'll say it again, I hate those plastic-y graphics on T-shirts. Like, a lot. But sometimes you can't help but end up with one from a trip with friends. What to do? I say make a cute pool bag for your next trip! Doc needs a small bag (that's hard to miss!) to keep his sunscreen, hat, phone and arcade card in while he's at the pool. This would be perfect!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and immediately knew it was the project for this T-shirt. The shirt has sentimental value, but I can't bear to wear it. Perfect solution. I followed Jill's tutorial from One Good Thing. I particularly liked how she braided the handles of her bag. Great detail.

Modifications I made to her tutorial: I sewed two diagonal seams at the corner of the bag to give it the shape I was looking for; I also took a strip of fabric from the sleeve and sewed it over the braided seam. It just hid all my imperfect sewing! You can see a close up of it in the photo to the right.

All in all this was a terrifically easy project and certainly nap-time friendly! And for you budget conscious Disney travelers, this project is FREE if you already own the T-shirt. It doesn't get better than that! Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

Disney Space Mountain T-shirts Available for Two Weeks Only!

My Etsy shop has just gone live and here is the first item for sale! I created this shirt from my own photo of Space Mountain. Every time my son wears it people ask him where he got it. And they are always disappointed that they can't get one. Well, now you can! And for just a limited time too.

I'll be taking orders for these shirts until April 19th. That's only two weeks to order and then they are gone!

These shirts are 100% organic cotton and come in navy only. Adult and Youth sizes are available. Adult shirts are $20 and youth shirts are $17. There is a $6 shipping fee for the first shirt, the rest ship for free! Head on over to Etsy and order a couple. Remember, you only have 2 weeks before they go back in the vault!

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

Tinkerbell Treasures: Disney Door Hanger DIY

As I have mentioned, I LOVE giving Tinkerbell Treasures while in Disney. There is something so magical about the idea of Tink delivering a little something while you sleep. I can't resist it.

These door hangers would be so fantastic for those little giftees that need a special presentation. I like to use them on the bedroom doors in our villa. It's a sure-fire way to get the kids' day started off right. This would be an especially good way to tell the kiddos what's on the agenda for the day. You could fill them with a map of the park you are headed to (these are free and always available at the front desk), a new pair of shades, a snack, a new trading pin, a few Disney Dollars, a gift card to the arcade, the possibilities are endless. We always try to schedule a non-park day while in Walt Disney World, and this is a great way to add a little excitement to those less intense days. (I can also see them used as sleepover party favors, or birthday morning goodie bags.)

I used my Silhouette SD to make these. It was SO simple. I used design shapes 3d Door Hanger (id #21330) and House of 3: Dream Scallop Seal (id# 6821). I resized the door hanger so the box portion was as large as I could make it:

I had to then move the hanger shape to another page. After that I just cut and put it together. Easy peasy! I would recommend using the heaviest card stock you have if you plan on filling this with anything heavier than a map and some Disney Dollars. It wants to come off the handle fairly easily. You could also solve this problem by taping it together once it's on the door.

I hope you find lots of ways to use these versatile door hangers. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!

DIY Disney iPhone Case

So here is a really quick and easy way to personalize your iPhone. Shutterfly has a variety of iPhone cases (for all models) which can be customized with your Disney photos. If you are anything like the residents of the cottage, you will have LOADS of images to choose from. If you're not really the type to take lots of photos while at the parks, consider purchasing the PhotoPass images. You will not only get the images of your family, but you can purchase the entire package of photos from your trip and, bonus, you will get some stock images too. Our images included some seasonal shots, so we could remember how the parks looked during our October stay. Easy-peasey.

I made this case in less than 15 minutes. Mr. Photos From The Parks snapped this image during Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party several years ago. I love it! I added my own text, and poof! My very own iPhone case. The cost was about $55.00, so this isn't necessarily a project I would do for all the members of our travel party (we usually knock around Walt Disney World with upwards of 17 people), but it is perfect for that Disney fan who has everything.

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