The Disney Month of Fun!

The story is this: We went on a family trip to Disneyland this spring. We try to go whenever we have some extra money or have saved some up. We have a REALLY GREAT TRAVEL AGENCY we go through. They always have the newest ticket deals, offers for free nights at the hotels, send Disney pins, lanyards, and this time around little backpacks for the kids. We had a great time and the hubs and I decided that we would definitely save our money up for our first ever anniversary trip (we've never gone anywhere for our anniversary.)

And then fate threw a wrench into the works! Only an hour after leaving my aunt's house in CA our van broke down... the only car we have that can drive all 6 of us at the same time (husband has a 4 passenger car.) This month, the anniversary money will be going to fix the van. :(

But I had an idea! The company we use is amazing! They offer a referral program. I figured out that we only need 25 referrals to book for us to pay for our anniversary trip! I thought "there's has got to be 25 people out there willing to send me their emails to refer to this company!" They dont send too many emails (I swear! Like 1-2 a month?) They also book other southern california destinations, cruises, and Hawaii! We've been using them for 5+ years and have never had a bad experience.

But I couldn't possibly just beg for emails and vacation bookings without doing something in return. So this month, for as many days as I can, I will be offering patterns, designs, ideas for crafty projects with a Disney theme! Could you please spare an email and your home address? send it to mokistar at aol dot dom and I will love you forever!

First up the pattern for the above Mickey Mouse paper cutting. It's done on 12x12 paper. You can print it up and cut out the colored sections. Dont forget you can invert it to have him face the other way (I'm a sloppy cutter and had some lines left over on mine ;) Click on the picture to be brought to a larger size. Please only use this pattern for non commercial personal use. Thanks!

VIntage Flower Bobby Pins

Have you seen these vintage plastic flower pieces floating around on the web? After talking to 2 of my craftiest friends, I'm starting to think I am the only one coveting them! If you do see them around, dont fall for spending a chunk of change on a finished piece. Hunt the web for vintage plastic beads or pieces to find a little stash of your own.

After I got mine I headed to Hobby Lobby to buy some pin backs and was EXCITED to find HL is stepping up and offering the bobby pins, rings, and bales finally! I used a new to me super glue called "Green House." It's container is recyclable aluminum and the actual packaging is biodegradable thin cardboard (as opposed to plastic.) I like that it doesnt have a SCARY fast dry time. The last tube of super glue I bought from a different brand got tossed as soon as the project was done out of fear of some super glue disaster.

I am still working on a series of projects and patterns for some special posts coming up... it's sort of a request/trade ;) You'll see...

I Tumble for You

I joined Tumblr. Find me here

PLEASE let me know if you're on tumblr too!

I have some blog posts coming up soon. Things I have been working on and just need to get around to posting about. See you soon!

The Homemade Pirate Game

A while back a flickr friend of mine posted a picture of the game Dread Pirate. It is a fun looking pirate game with no plastic pieces(!) I couldn't justify spending a chunk of money on the game even if it was awesome, so I decided to come up with my own game.

Ours is a map (on canvas) of 4 ports. The four players sail the sea to each port to collect all 4 pieces of eight. You can cast the bones to gain protecting charms (including Tia Dalma's necklace to protect you from sea monsters) you find and lose gems, battle other pirates, and more. My kids LOOOOOOVE it. If anyone is really interested in making their own I will share ALL the details and provide printable cards, directions, rules, and a map pattern. Just let me know here.

WHat are you doing this summer?

My Garden

I'm loving how my garden is doing. Things I've never grown before, learning about how to do it right so I can grow them better next time. I've got a few carrots and green beans too! New ones for me!

But I think the best part so far is finding little baby bugs! I know, strange! Here T holds a grasshopper.

And this cutie is a mantis that surprised me on a tomato plant. It's only about a cm long

Are you growing a garden this year? What are you enjoying?

The Mini Vacation Book

I made this for anyone that wants to print it out and use it for yourself or friends and family.
The idea is that we cant always take the trip we want to take but we can MAKE a trip worth taking. Just some creative ideas to try to give you a mini vacay w/o spending a lot of money.
I found the clipart around the web. If it turns out any of it is not okay to use, please let me know.

Directions: Print pages back to back in any order. When assembling, page 1 "Huck Finn" Should be the first page though so that "variations" is the last page.

And of course enjoy! You are free to use for any non commercial purposes!

title page
page 1
page 2
page 3
page 4
page 5
page 6