Guess what....

A very easy and cheap to make Disney Countdown!

As promised, a new post!

Now it may not be long post but this is a very easy project anyway, it took me about 10 minutes to make at the most.

You will need:
- a frame. (I bought a large one from the charity shop for £1.25)
- scrapbook paper OR printables (I quicksearched google and found a bright striped one and printed)
- ribbon/buttons/other embelishments.
- drywipe markers

This is what I started with...

I'm sure it would be lovely for someone but I just wanted to 

take out the original picture and put my own in.

You can see from the picture below how Disney'ish the striped paper is, I think I just searched for scrapbook papers and scrolled through until I found one I liked. 

I then right clicked on it, selected 'save' and played around with the picture in an OpenOffice text document.

(OpenOffice is a totally free to download equivalent to Microsoft Word)

Once I'd configured how I wanted the stripes (I used a landscape page, and 2 pictures of the stripes side by side - if that makes sense) I wrapped them to 'background' and typed over the top in Waltograph font (also free to download, just google it).

I wish I had typed 'Sleeps to Disney' as that's how we always count down. I don't know what made me write Days. Oh well, never mind.

Anyway, once you have typed what you wanted and you're happy with how it looks, print!

Carefully take your frame apart and remove the original picture (if it has one, you may have bought a new frame). Slide your picture in there and carefully replace the back.

I was lucky I suppose that my frame also had a cardboard frame insert too, otherwise it would have been too big! So make sure your frame is the right size, I would say A5 or A4 would work best, A4 the bestest of all!

Then it's time to decorate. I raided my sewing box and found a few buttons that matched perfectly, and I had some leftover curling ribbon from Corey and Rio's Pirate Mickey birthday party last year. A bit of hot glue and some glue dots and below is the result.

Sorry about the crappy picture, it was evening time and I couldn't 

wait until the morning to take a picture.

I bought a pack of drywipe markers on ebay that had 4 different colours in but only the black one really shows up well on the glass. 

Today it is 84 sleeps until we drive to Disneyland Paris. :)

Below is the packing list I created last October for our November trip to Disney,

 it was so useful that I just had to use it again this time around. It obviously isn't just for Disney, 

it can be for any holiday/weekend trip. It's nothing fancy, just a table with text - very simple to create.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter and are enjoying the sunny weather we're having in England, doesn't it make a nice change after the prolonged Winter we've had this year?

Lots of Love and Thank You for reading today,

Kaye xx

Another Disneyland Paris road trip!!

Sooo, it's been a while.

Sorry about that. Life just gets in the way I suppose.

Anyway... we have another road trip planned, this one will be a little different as we are actually driving, as opposed to going by coach.

Already I am in Disney-Prep mode. My favourite mode ;)
I have list upon list of things we need to take, things we might  need to take, lists of clothes we need to get, lists of things I need to <try and find time to> make. Yada yada yada.

But really that's become the purpose of this blog, to show you the things that I make/do - it's basically a Disney blog!

I don't have any pictures uploaded right now but I will hopefully in the next couple of days - there aren't any projects as such but there's some ideas and a couple of printouts.

If I could figure out how to do a printable for you guys I would but I have no idea...

Right, I'd better go.

TTFN as Tigger would say.
Much love,
Kaye xx

More Disney Activities that cost nothing or very little.

Hello again!

I thought I'd show you some more of the things I'm popping into the kids activity folders that I showed you yesterday.

First up we have the Mickey Maze. The kids will have to think about this when trying to make their way through the maze. For us adults it's fairly self explanatory, it's your 2 times tables. Although my children know their 2 times table, this may still confuse them as there are other numbers in the grid too. 

I still think they'll enjoy it.

This next one I love!! This will last them the entire trip and also give them something to take into school when we come back to show their teachers/friends.

It's basically a booklet of questions for them to answer. Some are to be filled in on the coach journey there.

I'm hoping it will pass some time and also build up some more excitement!

I think they can fill this bit it when we come back to the hotel on the very first night.

I think it will help them to settle down on an evening while they're in bed. 

We will all be able to talk about our day as a family and they can write about it.

This gives them the chance to practise their writing skills and the last question also gives us parents an indication of how they're enjoying the holiday and what they want to do the next day.

Day 2 in the parks is exactly the same as Day 1, I just wanted to show you each page. 

The best thing about these little booklets is they can be tailored to suit your own trip. 

You can add more days if you're lucky enough to be going on a longer trip.

They don't have to be Disney themed either if you're going somewhere else, most of the questions are very generic or easily changed to suit.

Day 2 is the 2nd and last day we have in the parks so hopefully it will be fun-filled!

This is our very last day, they'll have to fill this in on the coach as we're homeward bound. 

I'm betting there'll be tears to mop up first however, there were last time.

Well, Disney is the Happiest Place On Earth after all.

I'm all for making the kids use their skills when we're out and about, I think this will give them a good opportunity for doing just that.

In a few years I hope they'll be able to look back on these and remember the trip fondly,

They might even be grateful I did these booklets for them? 

This is the very last page, no activities or writing on this page at all.

Just Mickey Mouse and a quote from his Creator. 

I really thought this quote was the perfect way to end the booklet.

It kind of sums up us Disney-nuts. :)

This next activity is for the coach ride. Travel Bingo. Rather than marking off numbers as they're called, you have to watch carefully out of the window and mark off what you see.

There's 2 to a page at the moment but I will cut these out and laminate them so the kids can cross their pictures off with a dry-wipe marker.

I might even holepunch them and clip them into their folders.

I created this memory game this morning. I remember doing things like this when I was a little girl, I didn't want to theme it to Disney though as I don't think the kids will be able to draw the Disney pictures. I kept to simple line drawings instead.

The rules are you get 1 minute to study the pictures, then 5 minutes to draw what you can remember.

I'll probably end up giving them longer to be honest as 5 minutes doesn't seem like a long time now thinking about it.

This page won't be getting drawn on either so they can use it again and again.

This is another game from my childhood that I created this morning. 

Lines and Dots. 

You each take turns to draw a line from 1 dot to another, you can only go up, down, left or right. Not diagonal.

If your line completes a square then you write your initial inside - the person with the most initialled squares at the end wins!

I've printed out 4 pages of grids each, hopefully that'll be enough.

What do you think?

Is there too much stuff in the folders do you think? Or is there not enough for two 12 hour coach trips?

Many thanks for reading today.

Lots of love,

Kaye xx

Disney Activity Folders - very budget friendly

Ok, so I've absent for far longer than I intended. It's all down to several things all happening at once. Time has definitely got the upper hand on me - I just don't have enough of it!

I have been busy, wanna see something I've been doing?
You all know how I love Disney, you may also remember that we are visiting Disneyland Paris again in November. The kids have no idea, we have decided to surprise them again on the morning we travel. I won't reveal how we're going to surprise them just yet - I will post that when we come back.

We're travelling by coach again so I've been working on getting things together to occupy and entertain them on the long 12hr trip and also things for while we're in the parks.

The pictureThe A5 sketch books you see in the picture below were only 99p, as you can see from the sticker. I created the 'Sophie's Autographs' page using OpenOffice software and printed it off. (Open Office  is very similar to Microsoft Office except it's free to dowload and only takes 60mins).

I cut out the autograph frame and simply glued it to the front of the book using a gluestick. 

I realise there are gaps at either end but I'll sort this out with some glitter or other interesting embellishment.

I've also been working on putting together an activity folder for the coach ride.

This is simply an A4, 2 ring folder with fun stuff inside!

I've got blank printer paper that I holepucnhed.

There are mini coloured pens, pencils and felt tips - these were only 18p each pack at Wilkinsons!! I got 2 packs of each for each child - so 6 of each pack in total. 

All these colouring treasures have been stored in a clear pencil case that I also holepunched so I could fix fasten it inside the folder. I have also placed a pencil sharpener, eraser, biro pens and a drawing pencil in there. As you can see there is also a ruler, these were bought from Asda and already have holes in to secure them in the rings, very useful!!

These are one of my favourite things in the folder! Disney wordesearches. I've used these before but this time I went all out and popped some google images on there too.

I know the kids will love these so I made sure there was a few to choose from.

And more...

I had difficulty stopping myself from making too many!

I printed off lots of colouring pages, all from google images. You can't tell from the picture but there are about 15 colouring pages in each folder.

I'm sure the kids will want to write while we're on the coach so I also bought them a writing pad each - 40p for an 80 page refill pad at Tesco.

Here's the drawing paper, right at the back.

I figured that if they do want to draw while we're on the coach, they're going to need a firm surface to draw on. I've clipped 3 bulldog clips to the front of the folder, kind of making it into a clipboard type thingy.

This way the paper won't wriggle around while they're drawing - if only I could make the journey less bumpy!

These are the biro's I popped into the pencil cases, they were just 29p for the whole pack from Wilkinsons.

The folders I used were £1.25 or 2 for £2 - so cost £3.25 in total as I needed 3. I made sure they were all different colours too. Sophie has hot pink, Rio has orange and Corey has grey. They're nice and strong too so I don't need to be worried about the rings breaking.

I fully intend to Disney decorate them when I find a minute spare.

Hope you've enjoyed the Summer and I hope you don't mind me talking far too much about Disney in the next few weeks!

Thanks for reading today.

Lots of Love,

Kaye xx

Water Fountains.

This was our yesterday, before we went swimming. We walked past the water fountains on The Bull Ring in Wakefield. 

As a rule I never let my children play in there as we usually have some place to go or it's too cold to get wet or I just don't want them to get wet!

But yesterday I thought it's a bit mean to never let them have fun, so, as a one off I let them go run.

And run they did. 

They splashed and got soaked.

They chased eachother through the huge centre puddle.

And they loved it!

Thank you for reading today, I hope you're enjoying your Summer.

Love,

Kaye xx

Summer So Far.

Hello and good morning! 

It's day 4 of the school summer break here and there hasn't been an awful lot of time for crafts as I now have all 3 children at home with me. 

I thought I'd show you what we've been up to so far anyway.

We've been growing.

We've had fresh french bread for lunch.

My daughter decorated our garden gate.

On a hot day with no shade we used a blanket and chairs. 

It was a pool tent! Or so they told me...

We wore silly goggles.

We blew bubbles.

The kids popped up at my kitchen window!

We picnicked in the garden.

We paddled.

We baked.

We relaxed and cooled off in the paddling pool.

I worked outside whilst the kids played behind me. 

And splashed me!

We played. (Find how to make this game by clicking here.)

I love Summer, despite it not being my favourite season. I love to feel the warmth of the sun on my face, I love being able to work outside. The kids love being able to play outside.

We get so few days of sunshine lately in England that you've really got to seize them and enjoy them when they do happen!

Strangely enough we haven't had a single barbecue, maybe another day!

It would have been just perfect to be able to take the kids to the beach but as I have no car anymore it just wasn't an option - we have enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

How are you enjoying the nice weather? 

Thanks for reading today.

Love,

Kaye xx