MAGIC Mon-Friday: a special trip countdown

Blessed Good Friday to all! I hope you have a Spring like and restful weekend :-)

Spring looks like its finally sprung up around our home...at least on the inside as we prepare for Easter this weekend:

I hinted awhile back on my FaceBook page with this photo:

That I was up to some MAGIC Monday fun, it took me a few different spurts of time to complete but it is done and I'm happy to share my NEW Disney Countdown for an upcoming trip in April!

I found some inspiration on Pinterest (but of course) from these two great crafter blogs:

disneydreamin4familyfun.blogspot disney-vacation-countdowns.html

this ladies' blog has lots of great ideas from big to little countdowns. I was inspired by her Mickey head cutouts w/ shorts :-)

and

mncrafts.blogspot disney-vacation-countdown

I liked the idea of attaching the countdown Mickey heads onto string from this blog post :-)


I got to work and per usual my attempt is to use what I already have in the house!

I got started by cutting out the Mickey Heads seen above. I used my cricut and the Mickey Font cartridge.

I cut out 30 heads using size 4, I was able to cut 4 heads out of a single sheet of 12x12 black cardstock. I saved the silhouettes for my daughter to craft with.

Next I made a list of 30 simple "activities" for the countdown and printed out on regular paper which I cut into squares. The "activities" range from just a fun Disney quote, watching a movie, to packing. This countdown is just for my Husband and I. So the goal was just cute, simple and fun!

The next step was to cut out the Mickey shorts. I used red cardstock and the cricut again. This time I used the George/Shapes cartridge and made 15 circles in size 3. I was able to squeeze 5 circles on a 1/2 sheet of 12x12 cardstock. A few of my circles cut some edges trimmed off by another circle...but my goal in crafting is FUN not perfection :-)

Next was Assembly time: I cut the circles in half and used adhesive on the curved edge and attached to the Mickey Head. Then folded the activity square and tucked it inside. Then searched through my button stash for white and/or yellow buttons which I added with glue dots.

I had the 30 heads all lined up on my long work space...

Now I needed to put it all together into a workable countdown! I used a thin piece of 12x12 cardboard and attached a colorful piece of 12x12 cardstock to it.

I inked the edges in black for a nice effect.

Used my cricut to cut out a title "Days 2 Disney"

(had a small mishap with the Disney "y: so it looks funky up close but oh well....)

A search through my ribbon collection and I figured out a rough length of string and made 3 rows. Attached the string on the back with tape and added a string to the top as a hanging point. This string needs to be re-enforced with stronger tape since hanging it up though. 

I flipped over all the Mickey heads and tapped them to the strings.

And Viola! it is complete! I totally love how it turned out. My husband and i made one change to it after hanging we flipped the numbers around so you counting from the bottom up. Oh and realized one Mickey is missing his buttons...whoops, hope his shorts don't fall off ;-)

there you have it! Enjoy and thanks for reading, Julie

Wordless Wednesday: St. Pat's Spirit

It's the FIRST Day of SPRING...although it still looks and feels like Winter...hopefully a little Irish green will brighten your day :-)

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Anniverary

Today's WW is for my brother and Sister in law...a happy anniversary to you both. One of best parties ever!

Top 10 PINS from Pinterest

I was inspired by my friend Leslie's blog topic today and took the challenge:

10) easy peasy banana bread...baking, tempty desserts, and more...love my food pins!

http://www.artsyfartsymama.com/2011/11/easy-banana-bread.html

9) Crock pot Lasagna? Yes! This is a life saver meal, quick and delicious

http://www.creatingthroughlife.com/2011/10/crock-pot-lasagna.html

8) chore cards...who knew chore Saturdays could become easier...

http://organicfamilies.blogspot.com/

7) charts for my children and myself, what to do,lists, practicing, routine...has helped a lot!

http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/chorecharts4-10.htm

6) calm down kit....these have been a great tool for my children ( and Mama)

http://blogs.utexas.edu/utes_socialwork/2010/12/

5) faith...I love the verses, quotes, and reminders of God's Promises

4) Disney...from touring ideas, pictures, crafts and more; helps keep a bit of the Disney Magic in my day

3) laughter....I seriously find myself cracking up hysterically sometimes...great pick me up!

2) scrapbooking Disney! Two of my favorite things

http://scrapbookgeneration.blogspot.com/2011/12/super-sketch-club-add-ons.html

1) house fix it up dreaming :-)

http://www.housetweaking.com/2010/09/02/feature-friday-my-kitchen/

February recap and March on

Here is a quick recap of how the last month went in terms of my "Pinterest" goals

a look at my calendar page as the month began

and how the month progressed into my Sick-bruary BOO!

somehow I did have some energy midway through the month to get a few things done, like SCRAPPING! whoo-hoo and create a cute Valentines table for my family.

the last week of February proved creative as I looked over some Magic Monday and Fix-it-Friday goals I had not met. I also went thru my Pinterest boards and set up some new goals!

These early days of March have shown at least my creative mind is healing ;-) if not this lingering cough and congestion.

Here's a wrap up of some projects I have caught up with and given me the boost I needed despite the SNOW, Chicago is finally decided to dump on us

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MAGIC Monday: Bored Can

inspiration found here: shabbybeachnest.com -im-bored-jar and thehappyhousewife.com im-bored-activity-cards

Since I couldn't find my stash of wooden craft sticks I just printed out the list from the happy house wife. Cut them out, wrote a few notes on some and eliminated a few ideas, like make mud pies (sorry I'm just not that mom) laminated and trimmed them into smaller rectangles

took a tin can from my up cycle stash and this is what I came up with:



the labels I created on the Martha Stewart card making app; printed, laminated, cut and attached them to the can. There is an up cycled package ribbon tied around the can too, that you can quite see in the pictures.

The can has a new "home" in our kitchen/family room area and has already seen some use. This is my son Nate picking from jar today and laughing at his pick "Water gun fight" as we are having a SNOW day.

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MAGIC Monday: Disney inspired paper dolls

Sorry I don't have any pre production photos, I accidentally deleted them off my camera whoops! However I found this image while I was browsing Pinterest. The PIN doesn't work, but I was able to just save the image to my pictures and print two copies off my printer.

After I printed them, I cut them cut and secured each princess together with adhesive, laminated and trimmed them out. But then I was stuck, how do you play with them? How do they stand up?

My original thought was Popsicle sticks, or a plastic straw, none of which I had enough of and was determined not to purchase anything for these Magic Monday Projects. I then saw this on Pinterest:

LIGHT BULB! that will work...

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Fix-it-Friday (or on a Tuesday Snow day)

Scarf hanger

Do you have a collection of fashion scarves? I do and this how it looked before in my closet:

all piled around a hanger

so now armed with that hanger and a box of shower clips

 (which I found in my linen closer re-organization)

I now have this:



sweet, easy and a no cost fix it!

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Looking ahead for the rest of March, I hope to work on some deep cleaning fix it's in the kitchen and bathrooms, plus add some St. Patrick Irish cheer to our home as we move toward my favorite Holiday of the year!

Hope I inspired you and thanks for reading,  Julie