Disney this and Disney that

The kiddos love having their favorite characters on cookies.  And so does my hubby....

Star Wars Cookies:  I can't believe I haven't been asked to make more Star Wars sets.  I made a quick dark side set for his birthday this year.  Love ya hubby!   He's just a big kid at heart.  Royal icing with some hand painted details.  White stars were made with Americolor Bright White Gel Food Coloring.

Lilo and Stitch:  First time making Lilo and Stitch and there's actually no Lilo.  The little lady only wanted Stitch.  Oh well, he's still one adorable alien.  Royal icing with some hand painted details.

Frozen:  Oh my, I've made these ladies and their icy friend more times than I can count!  Secretly I wish I would never ever have to make another Frozen cookie.  But, I hear there's a sequel on the way so.....  Characters were piped in white royal icing and then hand painted using Americolor Gel Food Coloring.

Mickey Mouse Ears: Can't decide which character is your favorite?   Heading to Disney and looking for a fun way to celebrate?  Mickey mouse ears - any way you like!!!!

These deals are for the Buffalo, NY area. Prices may vary by region, please check your local ad (or store) to verify deals before shopping. Some coupons are regional - I do my best to only include deals for coupons which were received in our area. Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links for which I receive compensation. Thank you for your continued support!

Summer Catch Up Post 2

 

It just goes on and on and on.  I keep finding more photos to share with you all.  Here are a few more goodies from this Summer.

My beautiful cousin got married and it was just lovely.  White, teal and coral.  Her cake was inspired by the cake pictured here.  I was having difficultly finding the name of the bakery, so if you know who made it, please leave a comment and I will update my post.

And I did another coral and teal cake, but not for a wedding.  A sweet little sleepy mer-baby cake!  The bottom of the tier was inspired by Sugar Geek Show's tutorial here.  With an edible name topper made from fondant.

Next up, a simple drip cake.  No really, it was pretty simple.  I did NOT make these flowers.  Sometimes you gotta rush out a cake and you gotta do what ya' gotta do!

And now because we are sick of teal.....Navy!  Navy Pink and Gold!  I really like the Navy and Pinks together.

Last but not least, a Disney Junior assortment with characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doc McStuffins and Winnie the Pooh (my fave).

Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links for which I receive compensation. Thank you for your continued support!

Getting Ready for Disney

Hooray!  It's almost time for our Disney Trip!  Here are a few ways we're passing the days until we head to the most magical place on earth.

Counting Down:

My children need a visual, so I opted to make a countdown board.  Each little Mickey has an activity on the back.  I printed them out on cardstock and affixed them to poster board $0.50 at Dollar Tree with push pins.  Each day they get to remove one.  Some of our activities include DIY projects, Watch Disney Movie, Select Favorite Rides, Pack Bags, Open a Disney Gift, Make Mickey Pancakes, etc.  This really helps my kids understand how much time is left before our trip and they LOVE doing a new activity each day!

Waiting patiently for his shirt to dry.

DIY Disney Dot Shirts:

There are lots of tutorials for DIY Disney shirts on Pinterest.  We went with the freezer paper method.  These were fast and easy!  My little guy had no trouble making the dots.

What you'll need:

Blank Tees (Light Colors will work best) - Walmart $2.97, Hobby Lobby $2.79
Freezer Paper - Wegmans $3.99 (My store only had one size roll and it is HUGE!  You'll have plenty for future DIY projects.)
Pencils with Fresh Erasers
Fabric Paint in 2-4 colors - Hobby Lobby set of 6 $1.80 with 40% off (I went with the tiny pots.)  You could also use fabric markers for a similar effect.

Cut your freezer paper to desired shape and gently iron onto your shirt shiny side down.  Freezer paper is REMOVABLE.  Dip your pencil erasers into desired colors and dot along the edges of the freezer paper.  There's no right or wrong way here - let the kids have fun and do their thing!  Once the paint has dried, peel up the freezer paper and presto - Mickey Mouse shirt!

DIY Iron On Transfer:

What you'll need:

Blank Shirts Walmart $2.97, Hobby Lobby $2.79
Image for Transfer (I purchased the images we used from Etsy)
Printable Iron-On Transfer Paper (Be sure to read instructions carefully, no redos here!)

Iron on the transfer (following pkg instructions of course) - Done!

These deals are for the Buffalo, NY area. Prices may vary by region, please check your local ad (or store) to verify deals before shopping. Some coupons are regional - I do my best to only include deals for coupons which were received in our area. Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links for which I receive compensation. Thank you for your continued support!

Princess Jasmine

I was VERY excited to make these Princess Jasmine cookies.   We have a secret trip to Disney coming up soon so even though these weren't for me, I just couldn't help feeling extra happy while I was making them.   It was also a nice change of page from Frozen!  I was beginning to think I would never get asked to make any other Disney princesses again!  Aladdin was always one of my faves :)

Jasmine and the Jasmine sketch are both hand painted with Americolor gel food color.   I used edible yellow gold luster dust for the gold accents.

Our Vaca is Over, but you can get FREE Disney Dining!

Our Disney vacation is sadly over.  We had a wonderful time and it was truly magical for my kids!  If you are planning a trip soon, consider going sometime between September 2nd - September 25th (must book by 7/31) when you can get FREE Disney Dining included! Go here for details.

You can learn more about how we saved time and money on our trip here.

Disney - here we come!

My family will be heading to Disney World in just a few short days  This time we are taking the kiddos ages 2 and 5.  Here are some things we are doing to save a little cash, time and frustration.

Having stayed both on and off the Disney World resort, we opted to stay at the new Art of Animation Value Resort this time.  While it may be slightly higher priced that hotels outside the Disney area, the ability to easily shuttle to and from the hotel room with tired cranky children is a must!  You can save on room fees by booking your vacation during the "off" season.   You can check on the Disney page for additional discounts.  We used AAA to book our trip and received about $200 extra off our package fees.

If you can swing it - go during the week.  This will save you some time in the park lines (they are slightly less busy on weekdays) and money on your airfare.  In order to reserve some of my husband's hard earned vacation days, we scheduled our trip around my husband's 2 paid days off.  Instead of using 4 vacation days, he only had to use 2.  Certain times of the year are also insanely busy - that is why we did NOT go during Spring break.

Small children CAN'T handle 4 days of theme parks!  I've done the parks as an adult and I was overwhelmed and tired.  I can only imagine how my little guys will feel after roaming the parks all day.  We bought 2 day passes and plan to only do the 2 theme parks best suited to small children, The Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.   You can view lists of rides and activities that are age appropriate here. There is PLENTY to do in the Disney Boardwalk, Downtown and at the resort itself on those non-park days (including pools and activity centers!)   As a bonus, David is under 3 and gets in for FREE!

We are bringing a giant box of Cheerios.  Yes, it takes up nearly half a suitcase, but we will not be bringing it back.  I purchased Cheerios for $0.50 and my kiddos will eat this for breakfast every day (they love em!)  Our family suite has a kitchenette with a fridge and provides disposable dishes.  When we arrive we will purchase milk for the refrigerator.   My kids do not eat enough food in the morning to justify purchasing a meal each day.  They also get up very early, which is good since the parks open very early and this will save us time when rushing out the door.  Bonus: The empty space (where the Cheerios were)  in the suitcase will be perfect for bringing home a few souvenirs. 

We are renting a double stroller INSIDE the theme parks.  Double strollers cost $31 a day or $27 for multiple days.  While there are outside stroller rental services that will deliver strollers directly to your room at possibly lower fees, you are responsible for transporting it to and from the parks.  There is NO way I want to keep folding up a double stroller to get on and off the shuttles!  In this case I'm taking ease of use over expense.  *We are taking something bright and colorful to "mark" the stroller to make it easier to find in the sea of strollers when parked.

No, this is probably not a terribly expensive item, but we made our own Autograph Book from a clearance journal with blank pages.  You can download the Disney Font here if you would like it for any crafting such as birthday invites, etc.  *To upload a new font to your computer, unzip the folder, Control Panel, Fonts, Using File Button - Select Upload New Font.

Since I am dragging 5 people to the airport this time (and 2 have car seats) we will be parking at the Buffalo Niagara Airport. There is a printable coupon available here.

We are arriving at the airport very, very early in the morning.  To keep the kids from going crazy we will purchase breakfast within the Airport.  This will kill some time and keep me from having to chase my son around  for hours.  This is the first flight for both my children, since I have motion sickness, I am just going to assume the worst and we will all (with the exception of my husband) be taking Dramamine before we leave. There is a $1.00/1 Dramamine printable available here.   I have explained to my 5 year old about take off and landing so she will not panic when her ears pop and I have packed some Gummy Bears for them to chew on while we do so.  Yes, we are taking both the NOOK and the V-Tech.  They can each have their own and hopefully that will keep them quite during the flight.  We booked an entire row so we can put them by the windows and hopefully keep the little guy from bouncing around.

Wish us luck!  I know my kids are going to go nuts when they get there!

Some fun things you can request by mail if you are thinking of visiting Disney: FREE Customized Maps and FREE Disney Planning DVD.

To my  fellow Western New Yorkers: It will be 85-90 degrees when we get to Orlando - does anything else matter?

Have you been to Disney with small kids before?  Please comment if you have any tips to share!