tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37841484433322379692024-03-13T19:48:27.112-07:00Ordinary MagicSaving my husband money every time I make something myself!Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-14067432214253411122012-12-17T08:35:00.000-08:002012-12-28T04:49:13.529-08:00Winter ONE-derland birthday partyWhew! What a week. And, another one is just beginning. This one isn't giving me a break either!<br />
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I was planning on doing a whole bunch of posts showing off my creations and where I got my ideas and how I did things. Last week. But, unfortunately things never work out the way you plan. Especially when you plan them for 10 days before Christmas and you only have 7 days to go until party time. We found out the weekend before my son's first birthday that my husband's beloved grandmother passed away unexpectedly. So, on top of all of my shopping, buying, organizing and cross things off my many lists for the party I had to also get ready for the quickest trip to Wisconsin we would ever make to date. Plus, prepare all of us for it to be one of the toughest. But, we did it. We were in town less than 24 hours and thanks to God, my children were AMAZING in the car and all driving went smooth and quick :)<br />
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The party went off without a hitch about 36 hours after returning home and I only had to trim a few things off my "I want to do this" list for the party. <br />
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This was huge in my opinion since I have been planning this since before he was born. Seriously. I decided to do our 'Winter ONE-derland' theme while still pregnant and 10 days after he was born I went out the day after Christmas and bought most of my supplies when they were half-off or more. I love saving money. Then began my quest for inspiration and ideas for everything else-and had a list of things I wanted to do about a mile long. I was so pleased with the whole party and everyone loved it so that means it was a success.<br />
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I made most of the decorations myself. With minimal supplies bought at a really low price to be sure. While my basement was decorated for Christmas I wanted to be sure that the birthday party had plenty of snowmen and snowflakes. <br />
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I love these Snowman hats and I was happy to make them for the party because I could still use them as decor around my house for the holidays! They were the centerpieces on my two tables.<br />
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The first one is actually a papier mache hat I bought at Michaels and just dressed up to look like a snowman hat. The second one is more along the lines of what I found <a href="http://scrapashopaholic.blogspot.com/2011/12/snowman-hat-gifts-enchanting-layout.html">here</a>-a coffee can and a piece of cardboard. I bought that Snow-tex stuff at Michael's as well with a coupon so it was cheaper. I had to really look for it but I found it near all the model making stuff. </div>
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I was going to just use the birthday banner I made years ago but decided to do something else. After finding <a href="http://www.1pureheart.blogspot.com/2012/01/snowman-garland.html">this</a> snowman paper plate banner and <a href="http://www.creativelylivingblog.com/2012/12/christmas-snowflake-banner.html">this</a> snowflake banner, I decided to combine them. I looked all over for paper snowflakes but finally settled on foam ones. I did all the lettering myself too since I didn't feel like pulling out the Cricut and adding all those extra steps when I was on a time crunch. I used some twine to bring it all together-simple and finished!<br />
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Please forgive the piece of twine hanging out on the right there. My husband was helping me with picture taking and one of the snowmen fell off the wall and he simply put it back up without winding the twine back under it-don't worry, I fixed it ;)</div>
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I thought about making a buch of paper snowflakes too. You know, cutting them each out one by one. Like when I was in grade school. Yeah, didn't look forward to that. So, I was happy to find a <a href="http://www.finelyground.net/2012/12/diy-3-d-paper-snowflakes.html">tutorial</a> and my snowflakes were BEAUTIFUL! My daughter actually asked if she could have one after the party :) I made one large one, one medium one and two small ones.</div>
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I had seen-and made-<a href="http://www.craftynest.com/2009/12/giant-craft-stick-snowflakes/">these snowflakes</a> a few years ago. Before Pinterest even...they were one of my bookmarks before I had "Pinboards"! They were just waitig for a coat of paint. This party got the fire under my butt and I finished them and they looked great hung over my food buffet and in front of my less than pretty blinds.</div>
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After the decor, the next important thing was my yummy treats and food. I found <a href="http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Holiday-Snow-Globe-Cake#.UKAEsRdsmnU.pinterest">this</a> cake idea over at Taste of Home. Since I don't like coconut and am also allergic to it I nixed that idea and left the icing plain. The "1" is the candle and the tree and the snowman are suckers I found at Dollar Tree. Six suckers for a dollar. And, I simply cut down the stick and it stayed upright and in place in my cake! I used a box cake mix too. Don't hate me :)<br />
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The rest of the kiddies got to eat these snowman cupcakes. Chocolate chips and orange sprinkles for the faces and they were a HUGE hit!<br />
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The biggest hit of the day though was the hot chocolate bar. Everyone loved it and I barely had any left at the end of the day. I used <a href="http://crockpotladies.com/recipe-categories/beverages/crockpot-thick-creamy-hot-chocolate/">this recipe</a> for crockpot hot chocolate and everyone said it was like drinking a candy bar. It was simply amazing! The recipe gives tips for thicker hot chocolate and I did mine that way....outstanding!<br />
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My 'toppings' included: mini Jet-Puff marshmallows, red sugar crystals, green jimmies with snowflakes, white chocolate chips, mini milk chocolate chips, chocolate covered candy canes (I dipped them myself) and pirouline cookie stick. Oh, and Reddi-whip. Can't forget the whipped cream!<br />
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In addition to the cupcakes we had other confections to enjoy after dinner. Like snoman cakes balls (mini chocolate chips and orange sprinkle things for the faces) and chocolate covered Oreos (with pearl bead sprinkles to look like snow).<br />
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I also had these left over from the treat bags. Each bag had a plastic cup covered in snowflakes and inside was a snowman cake ball and one of these guys. I found the paper straws for $2.99 (144 count) at Meijer. I think they looked incredibly cute! I piped the snowflakes on with white chocolate and wish I had done all the cookies this way :)<br />
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I thought this guy looked pretty cute :) I found inspiration pictures all over pinterest but I made my own recipe up. I used 2 blocks of cream cheese and added minced garlic, a little garlic salt, some dill and parsley until it tasted right. I rolled it in mozzarella and added the peppercorns and carrot for the features. I mean, could he be any cuter??<br />
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Finally, for the main course my husband and I did some brainstorming. We wanted to use our three crockpot system (best thing EVER!) and came up with a pasta bar. We had two kinds of pasta shapes (the shapes help hold the sauce and toppings better than a plain noodle), a red sauce, alfredo sauce and a cheese sauce. Again, don't be shocked but I used canned sauces. We offered mini meatballs, some grilled chicken chunks and pepperoni if you wanted to add some meat to your dish. Don't forget the shredded parmesan too! We ordered a anitpasto salad from a local pizza place and I made some garlic bread too for good measure!<br />
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Overall it was a great day! I can't believe how fast this first birthday came around but it was just as emotional as my daughters! And, of course with my party theme, I had to match my kids clothes to it too. I am just going to be one of 'those' moms. :)</div>
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<a href="http://www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="kitchenfunwithmy3sons" src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k612/jm1313/KitchenFunFeatureButton.png" /></a></div>
Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-36057557694785793102012-12-03T08:04:00.001-08:002012-12-03T08:04:57.039-08:00Christmas wreathThis is another project that I *think* may have looked better in my head. I haven't quite decided yet.<br />
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I'm perplexed. I'm not really sure if this looks good enough to hang on my door. I don't know if it looks 'professional' enough. I don't want people to look at it and think: wow, she must have thrown this together fast. I have self-esteem issues when it comes to my crafts :/<br />
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Anyways, I knew I wanted to try a square wreath. I don't know what it is about them but I just like the look of them. I found lots of them on Pinterest and I loved the idea of a different shape for a wreath<br />
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<img alt="Pinned Image" height="200" id="pinCloseupImage" src="http://media-cache-ec4.pinterest.com/upload/19492210856855730_VBGkB5bf_c.jpg" width="133" /></div>
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<a href="http://justablink.com/2009/12/picture-frame-wreath-tutorial/">Source</a></div>
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<a href="http://media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com/upload/119134352612301314_LXle6AG4_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pinned Image" border="0" height="200" id="pinCloseupImage" src="http://media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com/upload/119134352612301314_LXle6AG4_c.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://designtoshine.blogspot.com/2010/11/making-unique-wreath.html">source</a></div>
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<a href="http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.com/2011/12/framed-christmas-wreath.html">Source</a></div>
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I already had an old frame so I was all set. I just had to let the rest come together in my head for awhile. When it finally did I was so excited to start. I actually got some of the ideas for it after I made my <a href="http://mommysordinarymagic.blogspot.com/2012/11/i-spy-christmas-ornaments.html">I spy ornaments</a> . The only thing I had to go out and buy was the ornaments. Everything else was already in my possesion. Score at least one for me on this project!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYs1R0RABV7YAXIrOfrmut0RVnNOTRaTtyWJQHL1megspO15OPm5HcDBswP1X3HE-33HjVpuCYHVF-ShNjjnoCrvS0UAP1bbnVRzgtBwxnfosppJJf-zdOM7pIcByE-tatl5Pt9IMOg-0/s1600/wreath2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYs1R0RABV7YAXIrOfrmut0RVnNOTRaTtyWJQHL1megspO15OPm5HcDBswP1X3HE-33HjVpuCYHVF-ShNjjnoCrvS0UAP1bbnVRzgtBwxnfosppJJf-zdOM7pIcByE-tatl5Pt9IMOg-0/s320/wreath2.png" width="241" /></a></div>
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I took an old frame that was already silver and wrapped it in some pine garland and then wrapped some Christmas ribbon around that. I googled the types of pictures I wanted for my center, punched them out using my 2" circle punch, carefully rolled them (very loose) then placed them in the ornament. I used 2 larger ornaments and one small one. Then I used a crochet hook to unfold them and get them where I wanted. If you want the picture to stay (mostly) in place, put some epsom salts in there. Stopped them from moving around a little bit! I tied my ornaments in the middle and added a wire hanger on the back and its on my door. I really do like it and am glad I was able to pull it off.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwzHqKtHq23bdWRi6Wgd5p__XZaoVcCwxGeNHhndkCkT083nzUOrzlbpBZS2_iqiY_Vijs2ldfV6KKtq5VjeKTL6P4NCNsKylr7rmkjjTjrIxLTvpI3o9WzvPdyN56Rt2-m6wGhY1_78/s1600/wreath3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwzHqKtHq23bdWRi6Wgd5p__XZaoVcCwxGeNHhndkCkT083nzUOrzlbpBZS2_iqiY_Vijs2ldfV6KKtq5VjeKTL6P4NCNsKylr7rmkjjTjrIxLTvpI3o9WzvPdyN56Rt2-m6wGhY1_78/s320/wreath3.png" width="249" /></a></div>
I went through my stash of ornaments and found the gold stars I knew I had. They were part of my 'college student on a budget' Christmas decor that I had saved :)<br />
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My favorite part is that it showcases the real meaning and origin of Christmas, which I am trying so had to instill in my almost 3 year old as she loves all over Rudolph and Frosty and Santa. No fault in balancing things out a bit!</div>
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Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-71451333350664827112012-11-26T05:03:00.000-08:002012-11-26T05:05:36.086-08:00Snowman InvitesLast year my son was born 9 days before Christmas. I decided way back then that for his first birthday I would theme his party "Winter ONE-derland". Yes, not very original, I know. And, yes I have been planning it for the entire year. The best part about it is that I was able to buy snowman/snowflake items after Christmas for at least 50% off! I have my napkins, cups, treat bags, plates-most of the important players for a rockin' party. I just have a few decorations I plan to make and I will fill the rest in with color coordinated pieces and we are all set.<br />
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I always like to make my invitations. If not I at least like to design them and then upload them as a picture. I came up with this idea after much thoughtful consideration. That, and I had designed so many invites that just weren't what I had envisioned. It wasn't coming together. So, I decided to build my own snoman. Out of white cardstock. And connected with tiny pieces of ribbon. Then I drew the faces on myself. And, added a cute paper scarf for something extra :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-B6ERNNUKfLRK1lRNVrbL89iHxQ9D2qsgJaMUdTtMTGiLQqzmHY0IEAQ4SnQ9BE9yfKEb1GfmsAnSK0hL7gGtKCFF7v-dsVB5Azm6dydbap0zgHMKLL5Oy-O82r9g4toYgcgwIcGPcE/s1600/mark+invite.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-B6ERNNUKfLRK1lRNVrbL89iHxQ9D2qsgJaMUdTtMTGiLQqzmHY0IEAQ4SnQ9BE9yfKEb1GfmsAnSK0hL7gGtKCFF7v-dsVB5Azm6dydbap0zgHMKLL5Oy-O82r9g4toYgcgwIcGPcE/s320/mark+invite.png" width="240" /></a></div>
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They fold up neat and cute to fit in the envelopes too!<br />
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I'd love for you to come back and see what other projects I have in the works for this big event! I wouldn't even mind if you started following me-just to make sure you don't miss anything :)</div>
Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-10422949309442758602012-11-12T08:56:00.002-08:002012-11-24T17:13:22.398-08:00I spy Christmas ornamentsI may or may not have made these for all three of my little nieces and my children for Christmas this year. I'm also thinking about going out and getting more to make them for my older niece and nephew. :)<br />
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I started with large clear ornaments. Yes, they are plastic. When I showed my husband these after I was done the first thing he asked me was "those aren't glass are they?' Yes dear, I am planning on giving five children under the age of 6 a glass ball to play with. I'm that smart :)I found my ornaments at Michael's. Theirs are cheaper than Jo-ann's. The big ones I bought at Michaels are $1.99-a whole dollar cheaper than Jo-Ann's! And, if you use a coupon it's even cheaper!<br />
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Michaels is where I also bought all of the little trinkets to go inside of them. Some of my items are foam stickers (don't remove the backing), others are meant to go on tiny Christmas trees, some are charms I found near the christmas crafts and ribbon, the rest are actually buttons. Like sew on your shirt buttons! So incredibly cute! And, they all fit perfectly in the opening of the ornament. I bought my epsom salts at the drug store. A hug milk carton of them on sale for $4. Anyone have any other recommendations for the rest of them??? I printed off a specific list of what to look for in each one and attached it like a gift tag. Add a pretty Christmas bow (not on my son's though!) and you have the cutest little gifts that are alos bunches of fun<br />
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I used my Cricut to add the names with cheap-o contact paper. I've never bought the real vinyl you're supposed to use for crafts. You know, the $9.99 stuff? I'd be afraid to make a mistake of it. I have 30 feet of contact paper in green and red for $2.99 each. Works for me! There's my free tip for the day :)<br />
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Well, I lied. I have some more free tips for this project:<br />
Hot glue the tops onto the ornaments. They were kind of loose once I took them off and then put them back on. I didn't want to risk these spilling at someone else's house once I gifted them. Or spilling at my house knowing my children :)<br />
Also, dab the tiniest bit of glue in the holes in the top of the ornament topper. The holes where the hanger goes into the metal cap. Those two teeny, tiny holes CAN let some of the salts escape if shaken. I'm so glad I played with these for a while when I took my pictures!<br />
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What can you spy??</div>
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Now for your opinion: would you give these to a 13 year old and 10 year old? I have heard talk of how they used to love the "I spy" type books. Maybe? Maybe not? </div>
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Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-65921124067622611242012-11-05T05:54:00.000-08:002012-11-05T08:12:33.056-08:00The Good Wife***Ok, that's it!!! Before I start the real content of this post I am asking for HELP! I consider myself a very basic blogger-if you hadn't noticed by my simple and boring blog setup :) But, I can't for the life of me figure this out. I want to reply to comments!!! How do I do this?? Anyone? I have tried figuring it out on my own and have done everything I've read online regarding this topic. Still, nothing works. What am I doing wrong? How can I fix this??? Leave me a comment and maybe I can get back to you :/ Thanks to anyone who can help!****<br />
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A few weeks ago my husband confessed he was tired of taking sandwiches all the time in his lunch everyday. I was frankly in the same type of mood. Sometimes we buy him some frozen meals he can microwave but we hadn't in forever. Other times he takes leftovers from dinner the night before but even that wasn't happening that often anymore-if someone wouldn't eat so much at dinner maybe we would have more leftovers!!! So, I did a bunch of research and found some ideas for 'muffin tin meals' (that's the search I used) over on the Pillsbury <a href="http://www.pillsbury.com/Cooking-Occasions/Slide-Shows/Muffin-Tin-Meals?WT.dcsvid=NzQzNTY3OTczMgS2&rvrin=A41469CD-69C3-4D57-839C-9DD427F09450&WT.mc_id=Newsletter_PBdaily_04_28_2012&nicreatID2=Newsletter_PBdaily_04_28_2012">website.</a> They used a can of their refrigerated biscuits and different fillings. I didn't care for their fillings either because I didn't have the right ingredients or I knew they weren't my husband's taste. So, I made my own using their biscuit idea. I had a bag of chicken tenderloin pieces defrosted that I hadn't used yet so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try some ideas of my own out. I buy big pack of chicken and then divide it myself and freeze them in 8's. I only used 7 for these because I put one aside for my son's dinner :) If you do this, you may get more than the 15 I did if you use all 8.<br />
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I started with 2 cans of biscuits and I sprayed my muffin pan with a boat load of non-stick spray. I didn't want these beauties to stick after all the work I would be doing:<br />
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I flattened each biscuit in my hand first. Then I simply pressed it in to the muffin tin like a bowl, just waiting for my delicious filling! <br />
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I came up with three different varieties and collected the supplies I would need for each. <br />
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I diced my chicken up and mixed it with my above ingredients. I used one of my normal kitchen spoons and dropped a spoonful into each biscuit cup.<br />
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After topping them with a bunch of cheese they went into the oven for about 15 minutes.<br />
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And, they came out perfect! And, they smelled amazing too!! They popped right out of the muffin tin with just a bit of help from a butter knife to lift an edge for me to grab.<br />
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After cooling on a wire rack I wrapped them each individually and labeled them. Now, my husband just has to open the freezer, pick his taste for the day and walk out the door for work. I can't wait to hear how he likes them.<br />
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Do you have any other ideas for fillings?? We are trying to come up with some I could make with ground meat as well as more chicken ideas. What kind would you make?Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-86143281775851281592012-10-22T05:28:00.000-07:002012-10-30T02:56:28.145-07:00Every pirate needs a parrotI was so excited for Halloween this year. For my kids, of course. I began thinking of costume ideas last year-when I was still pregnant. I always thought it would be cute to do some type of 'group' costume with my kids. They are so going to appreciate it when they are teenagers and look back on these pictures! :)<br />
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But, I couldn't come up with an idea that seemed 'perfect'. Then I found a cute lion costume for my son at a mom2mom sale for $5. It is one of those full bodysuits with the hood/head. Very warm and cozy, so I bought it.<br />
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Then I found the absolute perfect costume for my daughter and she really wanted it. It was a boys costume but it was in great shape and was a high quality costume. For $5 (yet again) at a garage sale. I was content with the idea of them each being their own 'thing' when an idea hit me. And, I got to work.<br />
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I bought a red hoodie and some sweatpants at Wal-Mart for my son. Hoodie was $6 and pants were $3. I used a 20% off coupon for all of my felt at Jo-Ann's so that saved me some big money too. I went ahead and bought 1/2 yard of each color since I figured I would be able to use leftover anyways. I made sure to buy it when it was $1.99 a yard too!<br />
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I started doing this a different way but scrapped that once I tried to assemble it all. It would not work out so I won't even show you any of those pictures. I moved on to this idea after some tears and a lot of thinking....<br />
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I used a brown paper bag to make my pattern. I simply measured the sweatshirt from the top shoulder seam to the bottom of the sleeved-before the cuff. Mine was 11 inches and I made it 12 just in case. I drew a twelve inch triangle on the bag and then added my scalloped sections and figured out where each color would be:<br />
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I then cut apart the whole pattern. First the whole triangle and then each section. I cut each colored piece out individually. After the green top piece I made sure to trim a little bit off of each side of the remaining ones to ensure it would fit in between the pieces above it. Starting with the green top I cut TWO pieces of each section except the bottom red one-I only needed one of those. Using my glue gun I glued the top of each piece together but left the bottoms separated for now...<br />
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I then added the next section, sandwiching them between the one above it. I continued this method for all of the sections-gluing the last one red piece between the pieces before it.<br />
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Once each wing was complete and dry I just glued them to the top shoulder seam about a 1/2 inch away from the hood seam. I also added a tiny bit of glue in the middle of the wing and then glued it down at the wrist really well. <br />
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I cut a big oval out of white for the belly and cut it in half. I carefully glued it as close to the zipper as I could get so it still looked like one piece. <br />
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I 'freehanded' the tail pieces. I cut three shapes out of red and then layered the other colors on top of them. I didn't do them uniform or from a pattern because I wanted a bit more of a feathered look. I glued them all together and then glued them to the bottom of the back of the hoodie.<br />
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I wanted a really cool beak but by the time I got around to that part I was feeling tired and worn out so I went for simple. A yellow triangle glued to the rim of the hood. Add some white and black circles to the hood for eyes and we were set.<br />
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Aren't they the cutest, I mean meanest looking pirate and her parrot?! :) I can't wait for Halloween!</div>
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I'm up for the challenge!</div>
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YAY!!</div>
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Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-51875829429485565162012-10-15T10:08:00.000-07:002012-10-15T10:15:24.899-07:00Homemade Treat BagFor my daughters very first Halloween she was 9 months old. That year I made her her very own Halloween <a href="http://mommysordinarymagic.blogspot.com/2011/10/haunted-house-and-treat-bag.html">treat bag</a> and we've used it every year. Well, my husband is the one to carry it really. She carries a smaller pail and he empties that out after a few houses so it isn't too heavy. <br />
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And, because I do for one child, I will always do for the rest. It's a middle child syndrome kind of thing. If you aren't a middle child I doubt you'd understand it. If you've never wondered why you were the only child in the family NOT named after a family member you'd never understand. My parents set me up for this complex :) They really did love me and still do-even when I complain about being the middle child.<br />
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My son will celebrate his first Halloween this year and he will be 10 months old. ,And because he is the only boy in my family (one sister and three girl cousins) I wanted to do something very boy-ish. After thinking it over and over and over I decided I wanted to use bats somewhere in the project. And, I was going to paint it on there with a freezer paper stencil. This was only my second attempt and thankfully my second success. I don't have a cartridge for my cricut with bats on it so I cut this out by hand. MY hand. With just an exacto knife. Grrrrr.<br />
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You can see near the top peak on each side of the "M" where my cutting got a little skewed. Those aren't supposed to be blobs. They are supposed to look like bones. The font is one I found for free online weeks ago. It's called 'bikerbones'. I thought it looked and sounded masculine enough. <br />
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I used simple black craft paint and left some spots not completely darkened to give it a worn, edgy kind of look. Did it work?? Do you see it? I of course gave it a quick shot of the hot iron to set it and hopefully it's now permanent.<br />
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I added some halloween ribbons and fabric scarps tied at the handle just because it was bothering me how stark white it looked. I like it but I am sure someday my man willl take them off before heading off for treats.<br />
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I think it's great and the best part about it is it looks pretty much like I imagined it in my head!<br />
Don't you love when that happens?<br />
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I will be working on the little man's costume this week and hopefully will have it posted next week...I'd love for you to stop back in to see it! <br />
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<br />Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-18791178574162666762012-10-08T11:13:00.001-07:002012-10-08T11:15:45.135-07:00BewitchingLast year I made myself a <a href="http://mommysordinarymagic.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-headband.html">Halloween headband</a> for the holiday, you know since I was pregnant and not dressing up. I love to dress up for Halloween but haven't done it in years. I wasn't planning on making another headband this year until a nice trip to Jo-Ann's last week. And by nice I mean a leisurely, calm, quiet, walk up and down every aisle if I wanted to by MYSELF kind of nice trip.<br />
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The handy husband said he would run to the Wal-Mart across the parking lot with the kidlets and get the milk and coffee we had run out of. Who needs romantic movies? Chivalry at its finest.<br />
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It was like being on vacation! :) <br />
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While perusing all the craft supplies I could ever need (and quite a few I never will, but still I looked because, hey, I had no time limit!) I came across this little cutie.<br />
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I am pretty sure it's for a doll. I think it was $1.99 or something and since I had one of those 20% off your total purchase coupons I bought it. And, to show you just how tiny and cute this thing is...<br />
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it fits on my finger!<br />
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I went through my stash of supplies and embellished it a little. I used the same black netting stuff from last year and added some orange ribbon and I made a little fabric flower out of some orange and black polk a dot fabric from yet another past project. I found this black, sparkly headband in the value bins at Jo-Ann's-the ones where you stand in line for the next available cashier-for $1! Perfect!<br />
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(I hate being in my own pictures but it was naptime for everyone else in the house:) )</div>
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I think it's cute but I may try making another one. This one is for a cute, silly witch I think. I am thinking one for a chic witch, a classy witch...maybe lace, feathers, glitter or sparklies of some kind? How would you decorate a witch hat?<br />
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And, because someone woke up from his nap in the middle of this, how cute is this little goblin??<br />
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I'll be saving this to put on display when he graduates high school :)</div>
<br />Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-58991741182631391482012-10-01T06:37:00.000-07:002012-10-07T17:30:26.399-07:00Inexpensive Halloween 'wreath'I just made this for my door this year to replace my harvest theme <a href="http://mommysordinarymagic.blogspot.com/2011/08/fall-is-on-way.html">wreath </a>that I used to hang from September through thanksgiving. I made this from very inexpensive materials and most of them I had on hand already.<br />
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I always say that I wish I was one of those people that could look at something and say "I could turn this into a.....". Sadly, I am not. I usually get my ideas from other people who can do that.<br />
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But, not today!<br />
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I went looking at my local Dollar Tree for some inspiration and found an orange halloween platter with jack-o-lanterns all around the edge. I then picked up this sparkly 'Boo' decoration at Walmart for $1.97 (I eventually removed the pumpkin piece from the letters to be used elsewhere in the project)<br />
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I found these really cute pieces at Christmas Tree Shops for $1 each!! I knew I could turn them into something around my house. I got three-the one I used in the wreath isn't in the photo...oops :) Those ribbons are actually about three feet long-I cut them off for the wreath and re-used them in another capacity but I am still thinking of where these two could go with ribbons intact.<br />
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Add some scrapbook paper and here's my wreath:<br />
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I love it! I had never made the paper pinwheel things before but once I figured it out it was simple and I am so happy with it. I used three pieces of twine (tied together for extra support) as the hanger....just hot glued to the back of the platter. Those ribbons are the ones I cut off of the $1 ghost decoration in the center of the big pinwheel. The pumpkin in the other pinwheel is the one I cut off of the 'Boo' sign. Because I had the twine and paper already in my supplies I only spent $3 on my wreath. <br />
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Now, go to your local dollar store, thrift store, wherever you like to shop and find your own inspiration and turn it into something other than what it was intended for! :)<br />
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I'm participating in this week's challenge!</div>
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<img alt="Crafty Confessions" nbsp="nbsp" src="http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd474/Macy_Moon/craftyconfessionsbigdealbutton.jpg" title="Crafty Confessions" /></div>
Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-71487231309486262532012-09-24T05:22:00.000-07:002012-09-24T05:23:52.221-07:00A birthday gift with spirit :)My BFF and I have now known each other for HALF of our lifetime. HALF.<br />
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Holy Cow. We met back in high school and you might remember me talking about her <a href="http://mommysordinarymagic.blogspot.com/2011/04/frilly-apron.html">shower gift</a> and her wedding <a href="http://mommysordinarymagic.blogspot.com/2011/03/wedding-card-box.html">card box</a>. Wow. I make her a lot of homemade gifts.....<br />
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The latest installment of 'things I've made for my best friend' was in honor of her latest birthday. It was a milestone and to celebrate it her husband threw her a surprise party. I was so happy to be there with her! Although when my husband brought the gift in (WAY too heavy for me to lift!) her family all laughed and exclaimed "what a <my family name> gift!" uhhhh, thanks?? What kind of family do I come from? I like to think we're a family who likes to be fun :)<br />
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If you do this gift right it works out to around $1 a piece-some of mine ended up at $1.03/.04 ish but I didn't let that bother me. The big storage container was $7 so all in all it was just under $40 for this gift. And, my best friend is worth that and more :) (she may or may not be reading my blog.....)<br />
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Well, are you ready to see this GREAT gift??<br />
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I cut the letters out with my cricut....that's contact paper so she can peel it off and use the container when she's done!<br />
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Yep, that's 30, count them THIRTY bottles of "cheer". I mixed it up and bought three different brands so she had a wide variety. I mean, if you have to turn 30 (which I do NOT plan on doing in February, pssh) why not have fun doing it?! <br />
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Happy Birthday, my dear best friend! <3Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-14361318546498557382012-09-12T10:56:00.001-07:002012-09-12T11:17:12.514-07:00My Disney Vacation TipsWe're home! We had so much fun! I wish we could go back EVERY YEAR!<br />
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Seriously, at times doing this trip with a 2 1/2 year old and and 8 month old was crazy and hectic but it was so worth it. My daughter made me cry over and over with her expressions of sheer joy and excitement. And, I will never forget how my son would gaze up at each Princess he saw and almost drool on cue and get that silly boyish grin :) <br />
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This post is going to be LONG. I thought about splitting it up but once I started to type I figured,why stop? We returned from our trip on Labor day weekend and the day after Labor day we decided to sell our house. Or at least try. This decision has been months in the making and we are finally taking the leap to see what happens. So, please bear with me during this new adventure!<br />
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Anyways, back to planning your perfect Disney World vacation. I am going to give all the advice I can for the way I did it. And, if you have questions please feel free to ask!<br />
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<strong>Part I-Planning</strong><br />
I started by doing a few things:<br />
I signed up to get emails from Disney for specials, tips and other helpful advice. You can do that by going to the Disney Vacation <a href="http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/">website</a>.<br />
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I also "liked" the Disney World Facebook page. I got lots of info and help from this. This is actually how I found out when they were offering their 'free dining plan' and it just so happened that they were offering it during the time I wanted to travel. That was the push I needed to book my trip. You get a lot of 'fluff' updates from this too especially with the holidays coming and the new Fantasyland opening getting closer but it is also a great tool for planning.<br />
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I also downloaded the DisneyWorld App for my Droid phone. I loved having this once we got there! It told us where characters were and wait times for rides and times for parades and shows. Get it before you get there since (at least for me) it took some time to figure out where everything was and how to use it best.<br />
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I mentioned above that we had the dining plan. This is the biggest reccommendation I could make. We LOVED the meal plan. So easy and worth it. Well, we got it for free and if you are flexible on when you travel they offer this at least two times a year (that I've seen, maybe more or less). We got one quick service meal, one fine dining meal and a snack each day we were there. We also got a refillable mug (read:souvenir!) that we could refill endlessly at our resort. We were able to go to three character meals and one amazing seafood buffet on this plan and the quick service meals were totally impressive too. Just get the meal plan already!<br />
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When it comes to your meals begin EARLY. I started researching how we wanted to eat and what characters we wanted to see. I figured that out and started making reservations. You can make your dining reservations up to SIX months before your trip. DO THIS. So many people tried to get in without them and they always got turned away or told to come back after 9:00pm. Who eats then? Even six months beforehand I could only get one of our reservations for 8:05 pm. All week. The entire stay I couldn't get dinner any early and the only breakfast they had was the first seating at like 7:00am or something. Chef Mickey's is quite popular evidently. Book everything as soon as you can!<br />
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When you book your trip they will ask you if you are celebrating anything or if this is a first time visit for anyone in your group. Tell them if there is!! My husband and kids each got a button with Mickey and they gang on it and it said '1st visit!' on it and my parents got buttons for their anniversary. Sure enough everywhere we went all the cast members wished them "Happy Anniversary" and at three of our Character dinners they were presented with the most amazing desserts-free of charge! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIgXCJYC_6vfMrLhnEQCEmKQW0zjBdRoYdO-aVARdA1UU1RH0f31A4Lrp-jG9_Jr2yGceuAYAJ9RXfZcoOQzB888mrU75WmcM15vjsUN8vUZUhZEZPSBcJssl3OVZk97CnCDhoS_VZ9U/s1600/disneytrip2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIgXCJYC_6vfMrLhnEQCEmKQW0zjBdRoYdO-aVARdA1UU1RH0f31A4Lrp-jG9_Jr2yGceuAYAJ9RXfZcoOQzB888mrU75WmcM15vjsUN8vUZUhZEZPSBcJssl3OVZk97CnCDhoS_VZ9U/s320/disneytrip2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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That Mickey is like an Oscar...solid chocolate!!</div>
I saw buttons for birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, family reunions, honeymoons, weddings, engagements...almost anything!<br />
<strong>Part I.2</strong><br />
<strong>Bring Mickey with you!</strong><br />
I started shopping for my trip as soon as it was booked. I bought any kind of Disney related product I could. I may be weird but my daughter loved that everything about our trip was 'themed'. From her snacks:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUB7d50uRkormPv14-s3Q97bXkzUHFRzBkHLRuck9o_TpNfIjOuQfT79UBSJuc_-kKasA2oEbysm5pltY4gv39-5MpVtlDXJb81PHpJJIITzlu-qrn3ldbbgg2wDXgKZpkR5Fud-gk_k/s1600/disneytips4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUB7d50uRkormPv14-s3Q97bXkzUHFRzBkHLRuck9o_TpNfIjOuQfT79UBSJuc_-kKasA2oEbysm5pltY4gv39-5MpVtlDXJb81PHpJJIITzlu-qrn3ldbbgg2wDXgKZpkR5Fud-gk_k/s320/disneytips4.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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To these wipes and band-aids I found at Walmart:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOtq3CxqOjB7xLmg9O1y_4NkJdXAufjbRhK59rw4kfc9nsESUj_Axzqv-u-K5b69ugebLWZ_GMeyZyQFSLQnvoA_pedy8ARVpLyUscO0h_fVUQJEJwnBk3zGYXTO_j-vYfatVcquGF_w/s1600/disneytips3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOtq3CxqOjB7xLmg9O1y_4NkJdXAufjbRhK59rw4kfc9nsESUj_Axzqv-u-K5b69ugebLWZ_GMeyZyQFSLQnvoA_pedy8ARVpLyUscO0h_fVUQJEJwnBk3zGYXTO_j-vYfatVcquGF_w/s320/disneytips3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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(I was the only one who ended up needing a Band-Aid all week but my daughter loved looking at which one I put on each day!)</div>
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I brought most of our "souvenirs" with me. I searched the Dollar Tree and the $1 bins at Target and Michaels for any and all things Disney. Oh, and Big Lots. I got a few of my higher priced items there. I did this with the intent that we could avoid buying every single thing we saw. In my opinion it worked. Each child got one large and one small stuffed toy. My daughter got one small toy at Disney for extra good behavior one night as well as a bunch of potty prizes. My mom ended up buying these for her because she said it was deserving of Disney prizes so I saved some money there too! But, overall my daughter was satisfied with her 'Mickey prizes' she got each morning. This is also the spot where the puppets and things I made for my son came in to play. I also found him a Mickey ball and a Toy Story bath book as prizes. My daughter ranged from books, bubbles, a princess wand, a princess flashlight and her favorite a toy Mickey camera that I got for $4 at Big Lots. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeOakm61Nky-elMECOA8eI36Iwyp_rOcl_Vo9YHdY15psx9zd4KyXbFoeZo7k0GEHRz49neaW_hYgfL8DWM_Y8GGH28bcm_yGIiqcasNLDj9ZITQbqb-WhHTVTXUt5wayGYofJnNPu4s/s1600/disneytips2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWeOakm61Nky-elMECOA8eI36Iwyp_rOcl_Vo9YHdY15psx9zd4KyXbFoeZo7k0GEHRz49neaW_hYgfL8DWM_Y8GGH28bcm_yGIiqcasNLDj9ZITQbqb-WhHTVTXUt5wayGYofJnNPu4s/s320/disneytips2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I made each of my kids this travel pillow:</div>
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<a href="http://family.go.com/images/cms/disney/mickey-and-friends/pluto-pillow/pluto-pillow-craft-photo-260x260-clittlefield-00a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pluto Travel Pillow" border="0" height="260" src="http://family.go.com/images/cms/disney/mickey-and-friends/pluto-pillow/pluto-pillow-craft-photo-260x260-clittlefield-00a.jpg" title="Pluto Travel Pillow" width="260" /></a></div>
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(from family.go.com)</div>
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They give you all of instructions and a pattern for it <a href="http://family.go.com/crafts/craft-914186-pluto-travel-pillow-t/">here</a>. I made the pattern smaller because my kids are smaller.</div>
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I also started shopping for clothes right away too. Most of their Disney clothes came from Mom2Mom sales at a steal. Then I filled in with store bought things as the summer stuff was going on clearance. I had two outfits for each child each day we were there. My daughter even had enough Pj's for the whole trip! And, I didn't spend much money either.</div>
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<strong>Part II- Getting there</strong><br />
We decided to road trip it. I can't imagine the stress of trying to get my two kids AND all the equipment they need on a plane. Then, I would have felt terrible for all the people on board with us once the first tantrum hit-I just know they would have! But, driving just works for us. This was my third time to Disney and my third time driving there. We drive from Detroit to Florida with stops along the way so we arrive sometime on day 3 of our trip. This time we all decided to pack up the car Thursday night and get three hours under our belt. Best decision ever. We ended up somewhere in Ohio at a Hampton Inn. We rested, got free breakfast in the morning and were on our way.<br />
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It was also a plus that we had four adults on this trip-me, my husband and my mom and dad. We all took turns switching seats and driving. Well, I didn't drive. I tried but everyone was too nervous about me driving and that made me nervous so I stuck with taking care of the kids. We packed the car with snacks, a bottle of water for each person and lots of Disney movies for the DVD player :) I also took some of my Disney items from my "Bring Mickey With You" idea above and filled a backpack (we already owned) for my daughter. She had plenty to keep her busy if she got bored with movies and goofing around with her grandparents. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQSy4qOojDS83YJV0MWsbrk9LT8JdNtCKbxB-su_1KQmvx17MQk1ln5ia1-xOcRYfnm8EetXiWyFYk5S6LZiyOcS5MTu1rDBORXCto8R1rYy6X_nQ7Cobby9uf85cBEEvOZVc77fXBhU/s1600/disneytips1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQSy4qOojDS83YJV0MWsbrk9LT8JdNtCKbxB-su_1KQmvx17MQk1ln5ia1-xOcRYfnm8EetXiWyFYk5S6LZiyOcS5MTu1rDBORXCto8R1rYy6X_nQ7Cobby9uf85cBEEvOZVc77fXBhU/s320/disneytips1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also went to Buy Buy Baby and with one of their coupons I got <a href="http://www.buybuybaby.com/product.asp?SKU=16838403&">this</a> amazing item for our trip. It worked really well and folded easily to slide along her seat when not in use.</div>
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<a href="javascript:OpenViewWindow2();"><img alt="Snack & Play Travel Tray" border="0" height="200" src="http://www.buybuybaby.com/assets/product_images/230/12173016838403P.JPG" title="Snack & Play Travel Tray" width="200" /></a></div>
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I also reccommed this tip I found on Pinterest. I bought a cereal container at Wal-Mart for $6 and put a grocery sack inside of it for our garbage can. This was a GREAT idea. We didn't have to worry about it getting smushed or falling over and dumping out. And, when it needed to be emptied we took the bag out, tied it off and threw it out at our next stop. I shoved a bunch of extra bags in the bottom of the container too so we wouldn't have to scramble for more. And, it went behind our console between the driver and passenger seats so it was out of the way. I reccommend putting some velcro on the bottom though. Ours fell over quite a bit but thankfully it couldn't spill :)</div>
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<a href="http://media-cache-ec2.pinterest.com/upload/238268636505052895_VPXpmtGl_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Convert a plastic cereal dispenser into a trash receptacle for your car. Great idea! " border="0" class="PinImageImg" data-id="177118197814742087" data-src="http://media-cache-ec2.pinterest.com/upload/238268636505052895_VPXpmtGl_b.jpg" height="200" src="http://media-cache-ec2.pinterest.com/upload/238268636505052895_VPXpmtGl_b.jpg" style="opacity: 1;" width="150" /></a></div>
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If you drive make sure you stop at rest stops and welcome centers if you can. This is where we picked up travel books full of coupons for our hotels. We got most of our hotels at a rate of less than $90 the whole way down and the whole way back! And, if you stop at the official Florida welcome center, it's HUGE!! They have a room for each area of Florida broken down for you to your specific trip and they give out free samples of orange juice! Plus we got to take some great pictures in front of their welcome sign :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIGPWj1ssOCLADjaKwJKxBDUQGnFPszQ-FVi93PIbD2ugzwOowPo72bUs1rJeo9gaYcq3yQ8V8WcsCXU4qQ8lV9s8ZbzSJ23BHqnnzFvwcgAHCm_K-H32oZ8TA0HIwDDXc0x2Q526oK8/s1600/disneytrip1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIGPWj1ssOCLADjaKwJKxBDUQGnFPszQ-FVi93PIbD2ugzwOowPo72bUs1rJeo9gaYcq3yQ8V8WcsCXU4qQ8lV9s8ZbzSJ23BHqnnzFvwcgAHCm_K-H32oZ8TA0HIwDDXc0x2Q526oK8/s320/disneytrip1.png" width="243" /></a></div>
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Before we left we used some of our credit card points for stuff. We were able to get a credit on our credit card so we basically had more than $500 in credit on our card to use for gas, meals on the way down, hotel etc. My parents turend theirs in to gift cards. They got gift cards for gas, McDonalds, Cracker Barrel etc. to use on the way down and the way home. Free money that we earned!</div>
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<strong>Part III: At your Disney Resort</strong></div>
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We stayed on Disney property in the <a href="http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/cabins-at-fort-wilderness-resort/">Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort<strong>.</strong></a> They look like log cabin trailers but they are GREAT. We had enough beds for all of us: you get one full size bed in the bedroom with a set of bunkbeds and a Murphy bed in the living room. My daughter loved this aspect of the cabin :) Plus, we had a full kitchen for those meals we didn't eat in the park. Great value too!</div>
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If you stay on Disney property your room key is EVERYTHING. I like this. It got us in to our room as well as it was our park ticket and our dining pass. My husband and I even linked ours back to our credit card so we could just show that and charge back to our room. Very convenient. </div>
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If you stay on Disney properties you can take advantage of their transportation system. This can be a blessing but during this trip it was HORRENDOUS. They tell you to plan for 45 mins to an hour to get around via their sytem. Try 90 minutes to two hours. It was horrible trying to get places on time. But, after our worst incident and voicing our concern a few times things improved a bit.</div>
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Our resort had two pool areas and I wish we would have tried to use them more! We only went once and it was GREAT! They have a big pool with music and activities on the pool deck and a kiddie pool and splash zone too. The splash zone was zero depth entry which we love with our son as well as a play structure with water slides, sprayers, dump buckets and waterfalls. But, it was very small and not complex-which our daughter LOVED. The big pool had a big tube slide in it but none of us used that so I couldn't tell you about it. Great way to cool off and relax!</div>
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<strong>Part III: in the Parks</strong></div>
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I don't really have advice for planning your day and choosing which rides to go on or how to get around so this is a bit different. </div>
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Use <a href="http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/fast-pass/">FastPass</a>. We didn't but for the rides we wanted to ride that used it we didn't mind waiting. Except for the Peter Pan ride in Magic Kingdom. OMG, did that take forever. And, that was the only ride that it felt like they let on 2 people for every 50 FastPass users. Geesh. The Toy Story ride in Hollywood Studios is also a popular FastPass ride. We got there at 9:45 in the morning and they were giving out FastPasses for 3:40pm-4:40pm. The times when my kids would be cranky, hungry or sleeping. So, we waited. They said it would be 50 minutes and I guess we got lucky because it was only 20. This ride it worth it. We LOVED it, one of our favorites! We did FastPass the Winnie the Pooh ride and Dumbo and were so happy we did. So easy and very little wait. Plus, Winnie the Pooh was surprisingly another favorite of ours. </div>
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If you have small children and older children you should also look into <a href="http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-swap/">Rider Swap</a>. We took both our kids on everything and if we didn't it was because one or two of the adults didn't want to go anyways. We didn't use it but it's a great tool to know about!</div>
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Bring a stroller. Or two. Or rent them. I can't comment on the ones you rent because I brought mine but I noticed that there were strollers there that were rented from stroller rental companies. I have no idea how you find them but they are out there in Florida so you have other options rather than Disney. We went back and forth over which stroller or strollers to take. We didn't want our everyday Chicco double stroller because that takes up WAY TOO much room in the car. We had a double umbrella stroller that we bought second hand that we were going to take but as the trip got closer we got worried about the space it would take up too since it didn't fold well or easily. We ended up going to BabiesRUs and getting a second umbrella stroller just like the one we had. We now own two of these:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6DNp0w5gkpEyY5WWoM1liNj8b-h9WjH9JY7nayChMSG8fu5KVpSo_Cyt-rDpPNzEDREpDQ3_7xXBzjzjDu9jngGS2E4kQee5QPjWLs-NOF9zduGH3q2DaiphW1f9IGHutlGulz24jfo/s1600/stroller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6DNp0w5gkpEyY5WWoM1liNj8b-h9WjH9JY7nayChMSG8fu5KVpSo_Cyt-rDpPNzEDREpDQ3_7xXBzjzjDu9jngGS2E4kQee5QPjWLs-NOF9zduGH3q2DaiphW1f9IGHutlGulz24jfo/s200/stroller.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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We were so glad to have done this! They folded flat so they were easy to pack in the car and then get on and off the busses and boats in Disney. Plus, we were able to fold them and keep them in the cabin with us too and not worry about them. My son preferred to be worn (I took my Ergo too) when he wanted to sleep so we had the second stroller for 'stuff'. We took a diaper bag backpack and two other backpacks(one for us and my parents decided they wanted their own) into the park each day. They held all of our snacks and water and other must have items. The umbrella strollers each had a very small mesh bag on the back of them but it didn't hold much so we had to have the backpacks. </div>
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Buy ponchos before you go! I picked up a few ponchos from a local outdoors/fishing/hunting type store for $2 each. And, since we were there right after Hurricane Isaac, we had a little bit of rain. But, just for the first two days and only for bried periods of time! The ones we had were nice because they had hoods with pull strings to tighten around our faces and they had snaps at the arms so you actually had arm holes that closed up and your poncho couldn't fly up around you if the wind hit it just right. So nice. Plus they were way cheaper than anything we saw there! </div>
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Buy poncho's for your stroller. I did this but then found actual stroller rain covers in a clearance bin at BBB for $5.99 and went with those. We covered our strollers anytime we left them anywhere and the kids were able to get back in them and be dry themselves because the stroller covers were designed to allow the child to still sit in the stroller while it was on which the poncho wouldn't have done. But, you can cover it with a poncho if you prefer a cheaper, quick fix. We kept both our poncho's and the stroller poncho's in the backpack or the back of the stroller bag. And, when it rained really hard we were able to get Disney Parks bags, like you would get if you bought something, to store the wet ones in if were were going to a meal or show or something. That was nice to have. </div>
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There are <a href="http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/baby-care-centers/">baby care centers</a> in Disney. These are so NICE! I only ever used them to feed my son but they are a wealth of resources. They had places to change your little ones, feed them (in really nice rockers!) and even areas for bigger kids to play if that is what they needed. I do believe you can get small amounts of formula and baby food there too since they are hosted by Gerber but again I didn't use them all that much. The only downside is there is only ONE in each park so if you are across the way you are out of luck. </div>
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Bring a autograph book. I know my daughter won't treasuer it forever but I knew she would want it when she saw everyone else with theirs. I was right. After the first time using it she knew she had to have it out and ready whenever she saw a character. And,you bet she wouldn't get in line without it! I found a small Minnie Mouse notebook in the dollar section of Michael's that I bought. I simply attached a ribbon to the spiral part of it and then tied a sharpie marker to the other end and we were ready to go! I saw people buying two or more of the Disney ones while there because they only come with about 10 pages! Ours has plenty of space left and she can draw on the rest of the pages for all I care!</div>
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Another tip I have that I don't know where to put I am just going to put here. We only went into the parks at night one time but we brought our own light up necklaces and bracelets. They sell them at the dollar store and we bought a bunch of them. My daughter never asked to buy anything that night because we already had her decked out in the stuff I had!</div>
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<strong>Part IV: Eating</strong></div>
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If you really want to meet a lot of the characters you should book character meals. We had one four out of five days of our trip. We LOVED it. They were all buffets and the food was so good! The gratuity isn't included in our dining package so just know you will have to take care of that if you go the package route. </div>
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Here is what we did:</div>
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<strong>Chef Mickey's</strong> (in the Contemporary resort). We did their dinner buffet but I know they do breakfast too. This had Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. Standard 'American' food and it was so good. No One but Minnie were in their 'traditional' clothes though so if you want pictures of Mickey in his normal outfit and not as a chef make sure you find him somewhere else while on your trip.</div>
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<strong>Akershus royal banquet hall</strong> (Norway pavillion in Epcot) This was our princess breakfast and was AWESOME! The first thing they did is take a professional picture of my daughter with Belle and gave us a few copies free of charge-sure they were worked into the price of the meal! The princesses were so wonderful and my daughter loved talking to them. The buffet part was traditional 'Norwegian' food so they had lots of smoked fish and fruit and different pastries but they brought eggs, potatoes, bacon and the most amazing sausages on overflowing platters to our table.<br />
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<strong>Disney Junior Play n' Dine at Hollywood and Vine</strong> (Hollywood Studios) I think this was my daughters favorite since it was the characters from her favorite Disney Junior shows. We saw Jake, Oso, Handy Manny and June from little Einsteins. Again, an american themed buffet with sandwiches, salads, chicken, pizza, etc The kids actually have the chance to get up and sing and dance all through lunch with the characters. My daughter really enjoyed this. This was by far the noisiest meal of our trip!</div>
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<strong>Crystal Palace Breakfast Buffet</strong> (Magic Kingdom) Such a good breakfast spread!!! This had Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore and was my favorite ;)</div>
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We booked our reservations for BEFORE the park opened which meant we got in before it got crowded and took awesome pictures on Mainstreet USA without as many people around. </div>
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Our last night there we opted out of charachter dining to commemorate my parents anniversary (2days later). We had the best seafood buffet at Cape May Cafe at the Disney Beach Club Resort. So worth it!</div>
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We were surprised by our quick service meals. They included whichever combo meal of your choice, a large drink and a dessert. That's a LOT of food. My parents started sharing theirs after a few days! For our quick service I preferred to still be able to sit down inside (read:in air conditioning) to eat. Each park has someplace like this and I made it my mission to find it!</div>
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I'll share my secrets with you:</div>
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Magic Kingdom: Columbia Harbor House in Liberty Square (awesome Lobster roll!) or Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn in Frontierland (great burgers!</div>
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Epcot: Liberty Inn in the American Adventure Pavillion (my husband actually got a 6oz strip steak with potatoes and brocolli! plus they had really great apple crisp for dessert!)</div>
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Hollywood Studios: ABC Commissary (largest seating area indoors of all the quick service places)</div>
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Animal Kingdom: Restaurantsaurius in Dinoland USA </div>
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<strong>Part V: Shopping</strong></div>
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This will be my shortest section<strong>.</strong> </div>
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If you are staying on site at a Disney resort anything you buy in the parks can be taken back to your resort for you so you don't have to carry it around all day. Our resort had a central location for this so it didn't come right to our cabin but it's still nice. </div>
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My favorite souvenir was one we bought as a gift to share for our kids. We got it in Downtown Disney at Once Upon a Toy. My mom bought one for my sister as a request for her preschool class room and I went back and made my own. You can make your own Mr. Potato Head. There are so many Disney themed pieces to choose from and as long as the box they give you closes it costs $19.99 plus tax. One of the cast members working there told us that each piece is $2.45 on its own so if we wanted to fill the box with all the facial features and buy the head separately it would give us lots more room in the box for only $2 extra! So, for $23 and some change we got all of this:</div>
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My kids LOVE it!</div>
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Overall it was a GREAT trip. And, again I can't wait to go back :) If you're still here with me, thanks and I hope I helped. Here are some other great blogs that I used during my planning:</div>
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<a href="http://the-wilson-world.blogspot.com/2011/08/walt-disney-world-tips-part-1.html">http://the-wilson-world.blogspot.com/2011/08/walt-disney-world-tips-part-1.html</a></div>
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<a href="http://the-wilson-world.blogspot.com/2011/08/walt-disney-world-tips-part-2.html">http://the-wilson-world.blogspot.com/2011/08/walt-disney-world-tips-part-2.html</a></div>
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<a href="http://allgoodinmommyhood.blogspot.com/p/disney-tips-and-tricks.html">http://allgoodinmommyhood.blogspot.com/p/disney-tips-and-tricks.html</a></div>
Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-2211322593960772432012-08-20T07:32:00.001-07:002012-08-20T07:32:44.351-07:00Disney baby toysOur family vacation is close! We leave sooner than I can believe...six months of waiting and it's finally here!!<br />
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I made these for my son for our trip. I have been collecting Disney treats and prizes for my daughter (details in a post after we return) but didn't have much for my son. I know that an 8 month old will never remember the trip or know that he didn't get any special treats during it but I wanted to include him anyway.<br />
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But, what could I give to him? I was having no luck finding inexpensive trinkets appropriate for his age so I made my own. <br />
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First I made him a crinkle toy. Made from simple black felt and some ribbon taggies. I put some plastic wrap inside of it for the noise. I like to use the bags that microwave popcorn comes wrapped in...perfect sound and level of crunch.<br />
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The other toys I made are my favorites. I personally can't believe how good these turned out. For once the way they turned out looked as good as they had looked in my head! I used felt squares and made all my own 'patterns'. I cut it all out and glued it together with my glue gun...no sewing for these prizes!<br />
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Now, vacation just has to get here so he can have them!Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-72767178221460157092012-08-13T07:25:00.000-07:002012-08-13T07:28:58.861-07:00Tangled Inspired dressOur Disney World vacation is fast approaching. I have been trying to finish all of my projects and shopping for it...you would think that having planned this since March I would be a little more prepared. Not the case, my friends. <br />
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I was very proud of myself for finishing my daughter's 'princess' dress for our trip last week. I wanted her to have something special and princess themed for when we have breakfast with the princesses. I didn't really want her to wear a dress up dress or anything that looked like one of the princess dresses. I figured there would be plenty of those there and I wanted her to stand out :)<br />
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I got the idea from etsy. I go there for inspiration and figure out how to make it myself for much cheapper. I found a sundress with appliques on it and made my own version. I found pictures on Google of the sun and Pascal and free handed the tower myself.<br />
I made the dress in a pillowcase fashion for my own sanity. I am not crazy about them but I knew how easy they were. So I did it. Except I used a flat sheet. I found it for $2.99 at Salvation army and now I have plenty of fabric left for yet another Tangled idea I have for her. I used pieces of scrap out of my stash for the rest. It's all Steam a Seam on there and then hand stitched in place. I also used the top of the flat sheet, you know where you would fold it down on the bed, for the bottom of the dress so it already had a hem and I didn't have to sew it myself.<br />
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I know it looks homemade and very amatuer but I'm happy with it. But, the best part is so is she!<br />
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Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-28130470569022466032012-08-13T07:17:00.000-07:002012-08-13T07:17:12.666-07:00Ribbon OrganizationA few months back my husband and I took some time to organize each of our 'work rooms'. They are both in the basement and are both a mess most of the time. We do a organization day every few months. My room is a 'craft room' that also stores much of my holiday decor and baby/kid items and clothes. My room is also not as much of a disaster as his!<br />
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On this particular day I asked for his advice on how I could store my ribbons better. I have too many spools of ribbon. I use them mostly to make hair bows but I find other uses for them from time to time too. But, my collection had outgrown my original storage for them and they were everywhere and always unwinding. My wonderful husband came to the rescue and came up with an idea to utilize some empty wall space and some leftover peg board he had laying around. I am such a lucky lady! After taking this picture, he and my mom both asked me not to buy any more ribbon for a while ;)<br />
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Ribbon,ribbon,ribbon...So pretty!<br />
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In the back there is a wire strung holding all of my holiday ribbons....<br />
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In front of that is a tiny dowel for all of my tiny ribbon spools...<br />
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You can get those metal rods to stick in the peg board like they have in stores...did you know that? I don't remember where he found them but he bought a bunch. And I have plenty of space to hang my ribbons. I have different sizes, all different textures, all different colors.....<br />
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And, plenty of patterns to choose from.<br />
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The best part is that this freed up a bunch of storage space for new craft supplies!Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-34527197069382491802012-08-06T05:52:00.001-07:002012-08-06T08:20:52.082-07:00Princess Tea PartyThis month my niece turns 6. I have no idea how we got here so fast but in a few weeks she will be six. And starting first grade. Whoa.<br />
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Because she is six she got to have her very first friend birthday party. Growing up we got a celebration with the family every year. Our grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins would come over for dinner and cake and ice cream. We only got a birthday party with our friends three times. In first grade, when we were ten (sleepover!!!!) and when we were sixteen. This worked so well for my mother and I plan on doing the same thing. So does my sister. <br />
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My niece wanted a 'princess Kate' party for all of her friends. She is enamored with the newest member of the british royal family. So we explained to her how very popular tea time is in England, where Princess Kate lives and she wanted a princess tea party. <br />
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We were happy to oblige. And, we did it on the very cheap too!<br />
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Most of our decorations I found around my sisters house. Never underestimate what you can take off the wall and use for a party!<br />
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For starters, we told each of the girls to dress up on the invitation. I made an invitation using Word and some clip art and saved it as a picture. I then uploaded them to Walgreen's and my sister had very inexpensive invitations...this is my favorite party tip to date!<br />
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The day before the party we starting prepping and setting the stage. This is our 'tea room'. The green fabric is actually two sheer panels my sister has on the window of the playroom. My mom and I joined them together with a rubber band to make that pretty rosette and used 3M hooks to attach them to the wall. We hung some pretty beaded necklaces in the middle for some bling. The table was covered with vintage tablecloths that once belonged to my grandmother. I made the tissue paper poof balls hanging from the chandelier. My brother in law brought the chairs in after the picture :)<br />
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We decorated my sister's fireplace with the two pink sheers that go with the green ones in the previous picture. That castle is somethinng we found at Hobby Lobby for $2.80!! It was missing a few pieces and was very scratched up but with my good old Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and some scrapbook paper I fixed it all and you could never tell! The turret is actually a storage piece from the girls' bedroom my sister got at a garage sale a few years ago. The princess chair was something else they already had.</div>
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For atop the mantle I simply took some inverted bowls in varying heights and covered them with my sister's pink scarf. Then I added her tea pot from her fine china (first time it has ever been used for anything!) and some tea cups she has from her grandmother in law. The finishing touch for this was when my sister went and got her tiara from her wedding (I wore it too!) and we put that at the base of the tea pot. </div>
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We all searched thrift stores and garage sales and found a great collection of different tea cups. They ranged in price from $1-$4 depending on where we were shopping. Each girl got her tea cup to take home as part of her goody bag and they were very excited when they found that out! My mom found the cute plastic plates we used. They looked like crystal candy dishes and the little girls thought they were eating on the 'good' stuff ;) Each girl also got a fascinator/hat that I made after reading about them <a href="http://atsecondstreet.blogspot.com/2012/05/vintage-inspired-tea-party.html">here</a>. </div>
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I came up with the idea for the placecards at the last minute. Literally, after working from 10:00 on Friday morning we were putting these together at 4:00 that afternoon! I made a template for a tea bag, wroter each Princess' name on it and we made the 'tag' part (does that have a name???) with a piece of ribbon and a princess sticker. My niece loved picking out the best seat for each of her friends!</div>
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The centerpiece on the table was the cake stand we covered with the cupcakes. The middle cup cake is sitting on an inverted wine glass to give it height. My mom and I found those cupcake wrappers for $1.80 at Hobby Lobby! They were on clearance from $5.99!!! My sister got the pics after my niece found them at the party store.</div>
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On to lunch!!! We gave each girl her own cup of veggies and dip. I wanted to put the dip right in the bottom of the veggie cup but I was overruled :) The veggie cups were another Hob Lob find on clearance in their summer section. I think we paid $1 for 8! Each girl also got an edible tea cup filled with candy that I found via Pinterest on the <a href="http://family.go.com/food/recipe-842698-edible-teacups--t/">Disney Family website.</a></div>
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Of course we also had lots of finger food! The <a href="http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/sugar-cookie-fruit-pizza-dessert.html">fruit pizza's</a> were my favorite!</div>
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Three kinds of finger sandwiches were served at tea time. Peanut butter and jelly crown sandwiches. (Helpful tip here: cut the bread, meat and cheese with the appropriate cutter BEFORE assembling them...the shape was much neater that way for us at least.)<br />
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We also had turkey and Swiss cheese heart sandwiches topped with a cherry tomato for color. Ham and cheese butterfly sandwiches were our third choice. Each sandwich had it's own shape and we also used three different kinds of bread. </div>
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There were plenty of cute conversations while nibbling on their food....</div>
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And, of course there was LOTS of tea drinking! Our tea was actually pink lemonade :)<br />
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We only played one party game because my niece insisted. She really wanted pin the tail on the donkey. Well, donkey's don't come to tea parties :) so she said she wanted to play pin the diamond on the tiara instead. I took a picture of the birthday girl and added a clip art tiara to it and uploaded it as a 16x20 print at Sam's club and cut diamonds out of colored paper. The print cost $6 and the girls thought it was so neat that it was a picture of my niece.</div>
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It was a successful party, albeit a noisy one! 12 Six year old girls can really make a room loud!! But, me, my sister and my mom survived and my niece is still talking about it two days later!<br />
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</div>Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-58258375993816846272012-07-24T13:12:00.000-07:002012-08-03T13:36:21.824-07:00My biggest craft yet!Whew! Finally, a chance to blog. And, something to blog about.<br />
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Summer is always jam packed with things to do and I wanted to focus on this one BIG project in my spare time. Like I have a lot of that. But, haven't you ever had about a million projects all in the works at once? Some started a little, some almost finished, some waiting to be started including all the suppplies bought. Yeah, this one was special so I wanted to get it done and done well.<br />
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I first saw a play kitchen a year or so ago on a craft blog somewhere and they began popping up frequently. They were made out of an end table or old nightstand or something like that. I thought they were pretty cute and maybe someday I would make one.<br />
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Then, came Pinterest. Bad, bad, bad, addictive Pinterest :)<br />
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It was there I saw kitchens made out of old entertainment centers. It was there that I decided I WOULD make one someday. Soon. The hunting began for the perfect piece.<br />
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Finally in April I was united with the perfect entertainment center. My mom works at a church and each spring they host a 'rummage sale' as a fundraiser. Because my mom works there, she sees everything before the sale as it comes in and is priced. The best kind of pre-sale :) <br />
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My mom sent me a picture and I told her I wanted it. Unfortunately, when we went to pick it up that night it wouldn't fit in our van:( I was literally heartbroken. The perfect piece at a reasonable price-$40!! Luckily one of my mom's volunteers who was there that night with us offered to drive the entertainment center the hour to our house in his pickup truck the following week! <br />
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This piece had several hands in on it and is filled with so much love!!<br />
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I am going to put LOTS of pictures in this post. I took pictures of the entire process. I am going to show exactly how I did everything. When researching this project I would find ideas and inspiration and wonder how they did that or what they used. There are no secrets to my projects, I won't hide anything from you! So, bear with me and here we go. <br />
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I will try and include prices on everything but I don't know exactly how much was spent but I wouldn't put it over $100. For a huge, solid, heavy, hopefully long lasting kitchen set :)<br />
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Her are the before AND after shots:<br />
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About two months after the center came to our house we finally got started on it. My husband pulled out the power tools and began taking the doors and hardware off for me...<br />
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Our daughter had lots of fun with this part of the project :)</div>
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My husband cut holes for our sink and then I started to paint....</div>
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and, paint...<br />
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AND, PAINT!! <br />
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This wouldn't have been so bad except right around the time we did this was when the heatwave started to choke us. Temps near 100 during the day and in the 80's at night made the painting even harder...I hate sweat! I did three coats of paint (we used paint we had leftover from the last time we painted our living room) and I <em>almost </em>did a fourth. Then I decided that since this was for a two year old and would be decorated so noone was going to notice anyways we stopped at three.</div>
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The oven door was spray painted using a Krylon silver metallic paint. </div>
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After the painting was complete my husband had to put everything back together. Look at all of those pieces! <br />
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The doors of the 'fridge' had been glass and we of course removed those. The hubby bought a big piece of plywood (I think) and cut it to fit. We also used it on the back of the entertainment center to close off the area where the TV would go. We paid $10 for it and it would have been much cheaper if I hadn't been so fed up with painting. I wanted one that was already white so naturally it was about three times as much as the 'natural' one. <br />
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For the stove top I got a bit creative. I bought some unfinished wooden plaques and swirlies at Jo-Ann's. I painted the swirls with the same metallic spray paint and the plaques I painted orange and black with craft paint I had on hand. <br />
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I used two large 'burners' and two smaller 'burners' just like my stove has. The knobs are wooden pieces I got at Jo-Ann's and they already had holes in the bottoms. I spray-painted them and my husband somehow attached them so they turn :)</div>
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All of the handles were added to replace the wooden knobs the center came with. I got them in a six pack for $9.99 at Target. For the stove door I moved the handle from the side to the top and moved the hinges to the bottom so it opened like a stove. </div>
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Do you see my 'tile' backsplash? :) I got a roll of contact paper at Big-Lots for $2.99 and used my Cricut to cut it out and then hand applied it all. It may be my favorite feature!</div>
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The fridge didn't really seem like a fridge to me so I glued some of those magnetic letters to it. Much better :)</div>
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The sink was a bowl we found at Wal-mart for $1 in their summer/picnic section. I like that it's red. The fixture is an old one that my husband had saved from our last update. Finally, a reason to be glad he keeps everything! The window is actually a picture of our back yard-the same thing I can see from my kitchen! I printed it as a 8x10 and my husband made a window frame for it. I made the curtains from a fat quarter and hung them on a dowel using a set of those 3M removable hooks. The basket is a last minute find I got for $4 and I am working on getting more flowers for it. My mom gave her that empty soap bottle because she told me her sink needed soap. She is obsessed with washing her hands these days :)</div>
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The other side of the 'wall' really had me stumped. The hubby said the board wasn't strong enough to hold a shelf or anything and I was bummed. And at a loss. I finally decided to make a clock. I used a Chinet plate, some scrapbook supplies and number stickers. Perfect for the space. I used another fat quarter to match the curtains to make her a pot holder and oven mitt. </div>
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This may have been one of my most involved projects but it is currently my favorite. My daughter loves it and I hope we have it for years to come. Plus, I love to hear her tell people "mommy and daddy made me a kitchen".</div>
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A successful project if I ever saw one!</div>
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<br />Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-67290922911546143002012-06-25T09:41:00.001-07:002012-06-25T09:46:54.102-07:00Adding two feet to my living room :)I've finally gotten around to this little project. It only took me six months. Three months to (find time to) make it and three months to (find time to) hang it<br />
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I could have sworn I have showcased this idea before since I made one for my daughter two years ago. But, if you can find the old post, good for you :)<br />
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I have a huge wall in my living room that was designated for portraits of my children. <br />
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Emphasis on huge. And mostly empty with only two children. <br />
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I came up with this idea to fill in the space around the pictures.I have no idea when I made my daughters since I didn't write anything on it. I THINK it was somewhere around three months so that is when I did my son's.<br />
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And, then I wrote the date on the back.<br />
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Each frame cost $1 each since they are Salvation Army finds that I spray painted black to go with my living room. My daughter being the girl has pink scrapbook paper and my son therefor has blue. I'm traditional.<br />
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I originally wanted to do an actual print of each hand and foot. The foot was so easy but have you ever tried to make a handprint of an infant?? Hard! So each hand was just traced while they slept and cut out.<br />
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Such beautiful and cute keepsakes :)Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-74487953597562945632012-06-19T06:01:00.000-07:002012-06-19T06:01:21.212-07:00Candy ArrangementI made this for Father's Day but in reality it could be given for any type of occasion. <br />
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I wanted to give my husband something on the actual day of Father's day. I told him about his big gift a week prior since he began talking about it. I only had one idea for a gift and I didn't want to disappoint him if he wanted to pick something out for himself. So, I told him we would go to the store together and he could choose a new radio for our boat. He was pretty excited. <br />
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Still I wanted something for our daughter to give him on the morning of his day. I went to the Dollar Store and came home with the makings of an inexpensive gift.<br />
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My husband doesn't like many sweets but I got him some stuff that I've seen him munch on before. I also bought a bag of shredded paper filler. Yes, you could make this part yourself but I didn't want to! I already had the flower pot, styrofoam and those are wooden skewers I use for shish kebabs down at the bottom of the picture.</div>
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With a little bit of hot glue I attached the skewers to the candy (after measuring and cutting the skewers); the jolly ranchers and lemonheads got two skewers each. Stick them into the styrofoam, fill in with the shredded paper, add a sentiment or message and there you have it. Very inexpensive and incredibly fun!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3XeZIDAX42zdIw5evPYKm7s8eV8Kz95TvtF5UPALcehb2bUnd5yT8VZjXo4lOsLLreQXgAMobz_DL7FvxC99-y2uqHLLP_-XY1710jMT6K4cZH_5FwsPTqVn9VJGZn0S7eVv6nUuQ5QM/s1600/candy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3XeZIDAX42zdIw5evPYKm7s8eV8Kz95TvtF5UPALcehb2bUnd5yT8VZjXo4lOsLLreQXgAMobz_DL7FvxC99-y2uqHLLP_-XY1710jMT6K4cZH_5FwsPTqVn9VJGZn0S7eVv6nUuQ5QM/s320/candy2.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-57262385549951226272012-06-11T10:16:00.001-07:002012-06-11T10:25:25.760-07:00Ready to meet Minnie Mouse!Well, we don't leave for our Disney vacation for another two months but I am so happy to be knocking out some of the Disney projects I wanted to make for our adventure.<br />
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I <em>just </em>finished this one this morning. I started it yesterday while my mom was here-she brought my two nieces to play and told me to do whatever I wanted while she watched the kids. Yay craft time!!!<br />
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This is a semi-homemade outfit that I made out of a white t-shirt ($3 at Target) and a pair of black shorts ($2.44 at Wal-Mart). I also bought fabric at Hobby Lobby when it was on sale for $4 and used half a yard.<br />
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I cut a 8" x 36" piece of fabric for the bottome of my shirt. Oh yeah, I cut the bottom of the shirt off about an inch and a half below the armhole. Back to the red fabric...I ironed about 1/2 inch of one long side down for my hem and then sewed it. I sewed the two short ends together-wrong sides facing-to make a big loop. I then basted along the top and pulled my thread to get it to gather. Once that was done I attached it to the bottom of my shirt. <br />
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Let me try to walk you through this is case you are really bad at picturing in your head how to make things come out the right way....<br />
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I laid my shirt down, right side out. I turned my gathered red fabric 'inside out' so the wrong side was facing me. I then put it around the bottom of my shirt so the gathered end was against the bottom (now cut-off) end of my shirt. The hem of the red fabric was pointing toward the collar of the shirt. Still with me??? I pinned them together and carefully sewed. <br />
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Make sure you aren't so excited to be getting so much done and so well that you forget a step here. Make sure that the side seam of your red fabric meets up with the side seam of your shirt. :) Otherwise you will have a seam running down the front of your shirt. Thank goodness my mom was here and offered to rip the stitches out for me so I could do it again. Rookie mistake that I learned long ago and have no idea where my head was yesterday! <br />
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After that was in place and incredibly cute I decided to try something I had never done before. A freezer paper stencil. From some of the posts I have read about them, people seem to make these sound so difficult. I was scared for nothing. <br />
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I took a small piece of freezer paper and using a bottle of acrylic paint for the head and a quarter for the ears I traced a Mickey Mouse silhouette. I cut out my stencil from the freezer paper and with the waxy side down I ironed it to my shirt. I blotted some paint on there and easy peasy....not scary at all.<br />
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After the paint was dry I peeled the paper off and was so very happy :) Isn't that white bow the shirt came with just adorable? </div>
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I used the same concept of adding the red fabric to the shorts. Except the fabric was 18" x 4" for each leg hole. I made a bow out of ribbon that I had leftover from our <a href="http://mommysordinarymagic.blogspot.com/2012/01/minnie-mouse-birthday-party.html">Minnie Mouse birthday party</a> and hand sewed it to the shirt. i topped it with the ears I made her for the same party and she was so excited to try it on. The only problem I had was chasing her around the (messy) house to try and snap a picture! I can't wait for our dinner with Mickey and Minnie!</div>
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</div>Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-43597468762042194622012-05-29T06:44:00.000-07:002012-05-29T08:20:39.653-07:00Winnie the Pooh T-shirtMy family is taking a vacation this year.<br />
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A very big vacation. A very special vacation.<br />
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Some people may think I'm crazy for taking a 2 year old and an infant to visit Mickey Mouse but we are all super excited!<br />
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And, we got a great deal when I booked back in March. Yep, March. So, I have LOTS of time to plan things and create fun stuff for our trip. <br />
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We'll be driving down at the end of August with my parents in tow. So, I will have plenty of posts in the coming weeks before our trip and even after with my tips, tricks and ideas for an awesome Disney vacation.<br />
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I completed my first real 'Disney Vacation' project last week. I want to make my daughter a lot of her clothes for the trip-while also stocking up on a bunch of Disney character garb at mom2mom sales-OMG I have a ton! I am not talking about making a princess dress though. That talented I'm not. My favorite character growing up was Winnie the Pooh. I was obsessed. So, I wanted to be sure along with Minnie and the princesses, Poohbear would be in her wardrobe for the week too.<br />
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I found this Disney shirt on Pinterest and it's from <a href="http://www.honeybeevintage.com/2010/08/appliqued-silhouette-shirt.html">Honeybee Vintage</a>.<br />
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I had a different idea in mind for a princess inspired piece so I took this idea and turned it into my own Winnie the Pooh creation.<br />
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I simply found a picture of Poohbear that was a side shot and traced it onto my paper. I went through my fabric scraps and found some yellow cotton fabric and red felt. I used ironed some heat n' bond to the back of each and then cut out each Pooh bear shape. After attaching it to the shirt I hand stitched around it with some yellow embroidery thread since I wasn't sure I would be able to do all the curves with my machine. I found a pack of honeybee buttons at Jo-Ann's and they were the final touch. My little girl loves the buttons and makes the zzzzzzzzzzzzzz sound while she plays with them :)<br />
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There you have a very cute and extremely inexpensive Disney shirt for a fun vacation memory. And, now I don't have to spend an arm and a leg at the park or the Disney store to get her something to wear!<br />
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Garanimals shirt from Walmart: $3.88</div>
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Honeybee buttons from Jo-Ann's: $1.99 </div>
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(but I used a coupon too so they were cheaper!)</div>
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everything else I had on hand!</div>
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And, she loves it!</div>
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</div>Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-32650182895098336862012-05-20T18:23:00.000-07:002012-07-25T23:20:22.517-07:00Magnetic 'Princess Puzzle'My daughter named this project all by herself. I had no idea what I would call it but she calls it her 'princess puzzle' and since I had nothing better, it stuck. Pardon the pun :)<br />
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I bought some princess magnets in the dollar spot at Target a while back. I thought they would make a fun prize for her for one thing or another. Then I thought "what 2 year old would have fun looking at something stuck to my fridge"? Yes, she has lots of magnets on my fridge and I am constantly kicking on of her alphabet magnets but enough is enough. I decided I did not want anything else for her to play with on my fridge. <br />
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And, the idea for this 'toy' came to be. I made her an activity set she loves and since it is magnets it is also something she can only play with when with someone else. An adult someone else, to supervise, so I get to have lots of fun with her and this one!<br />
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I started with the magnets and an old cookie sheet.<br />
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This is a really old cookie sheet. It was actually one I kept in my oven as a 'drip pan' which is why it is so black and forever tarnished. I hate when my stuff starts to look like this so I didn't use it anymore.</div>
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I was hoping to find some scrapbook paper with pictures or scenes on them that I could just cut out and around but I didn't. I bought some plain green, plain blue, and a page of 'cloudy sky' paper. I also found a package of Disney chipboard pieces that included a castle, trees and flowers among a few other things (I didn't use the other pieces so I don't remember). Plus, it actually matched some of the magnets perfectly...it had the same coach and castle so I knew it would go together well! I had a 50% scratch off coupon so that only cost me $2.50. </div>
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A bit of white spray paint. lots of cutting, a bunch of two sided tape and my cookie sheet looked vastly different.</div>
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Now add the princess magnets and she has a fun new plaything! I just have to remind her every so often that only the princesses and the carriage move so if you do make this for a smaller child, using the chipboard might not be the way to go unless you are always going to be there to make sure they don't rip pieces off :)</div>
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<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://sewcando.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" button?="" height="175" look="" new="" size="" src="http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac133/cerise422/BigFeaturedSewCanDo-1.jpg" width="175" /></a></span></div>Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-73332435056623138452012-05-12T16:53:00.000-07:002012-05-12T16:55:26.228-07:00Personalized ClockI made this project as a gift for a bridal shower recently. I found the tutorial long ago and finally decided to make it. <br />
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With the hubby's help of course...I don't touch the power tools :)<br />
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My friend, who is the bride and the recipient of this gift loved it. In fact everyone at the shower was amazed that I made it myself. The mother of the bride was almost in tears over how much she loved this gift. I even had a little old lady (friend of the bride's family!) that wouldn't leave until I gave her my contact info so I could make one with all of her grandkids on it. <br />
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The tutorial originally came from<a href="http://rosyredbuttons.blogspot.com/2010/12/personal-picture-clocks.html"> Rosy Red Buttons.</a> I will give you my .02 worth on this project too.<br />
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1. Sam's Club does not offer a 12x12 photo size. They don't offer any 'even' (8x8, 12x12) prints that I could see. I had to order it as a 12 x16 and cut four inches off. This was ok since my photo was 'artsy' anyways and it didn't matter if I cut it apart. But, for a family photo or something with subjects all the way to the edges you may have to work on it. I really wish I had photoshop!<br />
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2. Sam's club does have the cheapest prices. My poster cost $3.14 after taxes and it was ready in about an hour. The next lowest price was $6.99 at my Walgreen's and the prices went up from there. I looked into having it done as a engineer blueprint at Staples but they start at $9.99. I wanted to keep this cheap!<br />
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3. PicMonkey is a great site. I never really got into Piknik so I was not too sad to see them go. Maybe I just didn't try enough. I didn't really 'get' it. But, I tried PicMonkey and it was so easy and I loved how the picture looked.<br />
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4. I bought my clock set at Hobby Lobby for $4.99 and bought an extra set of longer clock hands that were black for $3.49. The set comes with short gold arms and they didn't go with the image in my head.<br />
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5. I bought my numbers at Jo-Ann's for $2.99 in the Scrapbook section. Hobby Lobby has a much better selection. And, better prices. I originally bought some there but I didn't like the way they looked once I was done with the clock. Since Jo-Ann's is closer and the shower was two days away I didn't have much choice. They still looked nice but they were flat and I wanted them to 'pop' off the face a bit. <br />
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All in all once my husband cut the board for me it went really fast from there. I was so happy with how it turned out and so was everyone who saw it. I LOVE this idea and am so glad I found the tutorial!<br />
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My finished product:<br />
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This picture is one of their engagement shots and sums up my friend's personality well. She has had this shot as her profile picture on FB for months so she was excited to see it as the clock I think too!</div>Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-11767669407970933572012-05-07T18:12:00.000-07:002012-07-25T23:21:06.076-07:00Tangled hairbow holderMy niece turned one this past weekend and surprisingly I did NOT make her entire gift :)<br />
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When my daughter celebrated her Minnie Mouse birthday this January people took the theme and 'ran with it'. And, we now own nearly EVERY 'Minnie's Bowtique' toy on the market. Most of her presents matched the party for some reason. I decided I wouldn't do that for my niece since I figured everyone would probably be choosing 'Tangled' toys to match her theme. <br />
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Thankfully (in my opinion) she got a wide variety of items. I went against my gut and decided that the one piece of her gift that I was going to make would have a Tangled theme to it.<br />
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I simply bought a mini unfinished birdhouse at Michael's for $1; the one I chose had a tin roof to it. I also bought three wooden spools for .79 each and a round wooden plaque for .59. <br />
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A little glue, some paint, yards of yarn and some handmade bows (also by me) and she has a pretty cute hairbow holder if I do say so myself :) My sister-in-law has been asking for bows for my niece more lately so I thought this would be the perfect way to gift a bunch of them to the little cutie.<br />
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<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://sewcando.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" button?="" height="175" look="" new="" size="" src="http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac133/cerise422/BigFeaturedSewCanDo-1.jpg" width="175" /></a></span></div>Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-35268753546198991902012-04-30T12:23:00.003-07:002012-04-30T12:26:43.584-07:00Another cardboxLast summer my BFF asked me to try my hand at making her the cardbox she wanted for her wedding. I did and it turned out better than I thought I could get it to look. I <a href="http://mommysordinarymagic.blogspot.com/search/label/wedding">blogged</a> about it back then, too.<br />
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I guess I did a really great job because I was asked to make another one like it. A very good friend of mine from college requested one for her nuptials this June. She liked a lot about the original one I did and was pretty open to the design-she told me I could do what I wanted. It just had to be pink and black.<br />
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I began looking around online for some inspiration pictures so I could change up the original box a little bit. This friend is such a fashionable, modern yet timeless kind of girl. I mean, she always had the most chic dormroom in my opinion. This was a girl who used to dress up on Halloween as her icon: Audrey Hepburn and she looked fabulous doing it. I knew this box had to be great.<br />
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I used the same damask print in black and white on only two of the boxes. The middle box I made solid black so I was able to incorporate the pink on it. I also spray painted the box tops this time so they had a shny/glossy finish to them. I was afraid that the paint would warp or peel the papier mache boxes but they are still perfect and I love the way the black glistens :) I made the flowers myself out of satin and left the top blank this time. These flowers are what I would think of if my friend were a flower....the whole thing suits her and the 'feel' of her wedding to a 'T'. These boxes seem to get more detailed as I go along but I get better with each one I complete!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3WaVO-JoVyZeo_2Q0NtKzig8ItohE6k5LZ4AaowrMgw7tfnSf5Kn8ayupe_-okcvDqeV8L5Edl6cvApSEaz-FS2fWUrpVd1QQIVvTbAL6i-1zs_zafWJTw0XiuJlTpfykTpeJ9nUU8I/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3WaVO-JoVyZeo_2Q0NtKzig8ItohE6k5LZ4AaowrMgw7tfnSf5Kn8ayupe_-okcvDqeV8L5Edl6cvApSEaz-FS2fWUrpVd1QQIVvTbAL6i-1zs_zafWJTw0XiuJlTpfykTpeJ9nUU8I/s320/018.JPG" width="220" /></a></div>Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784148443332237969.post-60437481673893080042012-04-23T08:50:00.000-07:002012-04-23T08:50:19.520-07:00Triple Layer Lemon PieHave you checked out Kraftrecipes.com? You should. They have some of the easiest and idiot proof recipes. I have tried a TON of them and it's usually the first place I look when I want something quick and simple. <br />
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I made this pie for dessert after Easter dinner at my house. This is the 'laid back' meal of the day with just my husband and I and the kids with my parents. <br />
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Now, when I say idiot proof I mean only if an idiot reads directions and package sizes. <br />
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Be careful. I thought there were only TWO sizes of Jell-O. The really big box and the small box. However, there are TWO small box sizes and evidently you have to search high and low and in the back of the shelf and all around to find the right one in lemon flavor. The recipe calls for 2 packages of 3.4 oz. jello. I just grabbed the small box that I thought was right...no, that would be the 2.9 oz box. Really??? We need two boxes that are THAT close is measurement??? Needless to say my first pie did NOT turn out correct but after I bought everything over again adn got the right size this pie was delicious. Even my mom who doesn't care for lemon meringue pie and my husband who doesn't eat desserts often thought it was good. <br />
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Go here for the original <a href="http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/triple-layer-lemon-pie-112787.aspx">recipe</a>.<br />
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Triple layer lemon pie:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqLU7nTozelP4TciGv8CgWLGu1uVzw9HiGfl4Wv1vAf7KJyhyphenhyphenoUhg-qWsQHJWV6sJlK1h1evbPKdwwQzBWrWJQpNdj2KADjZCIyexBzvKsbz3dyBTPKxyDYcihe15mVib94AIEi3urAA/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqLU7nTozelP4TciGv8CgWLGu1uVzw9HiGfl4Wv1vAf7KJyhyphenhyphenoUhg-qWsQHJWV6sJlK1h1evbPKdwwQzBWrWJQpNdj2KADjZCIyexBzvKsbz3dyBTPKxyDYcihe15mVib94AIEi3urAA/s320/004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
You will need:<br />
2 pkg 3.4 oz. Jell-O lemon flavored instant pudding<br />
2 cups cold milk<br />
1 T lemon juice<br />
1 graham cracker pie crust<br />
1 tub Cool Whip, thawed, divided<br />
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Beat pudding mixes, milk and lemon juice with wire whisk about 2 minutes. This mixture will be thick. Spread about 1 1/2 cups of mixture into bottom of pie crust.<br />
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Whisk half of Cool Whip with the remaining lemon pudding mixture from above. Spread over pudding layer in pie crust. Top with remaining Cool Whip.<br />
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Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.Monicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03360330553557146145noreply@blogger.com0