How to Make a Fun Adult Mickey Birthday Party

Like I said, it has been a whirlwind of Disney things these last few months.  I guess that it started in February with my birthday.  I decided to have a Disney Birthday (at the young age of 39).  It started because my girls had innocently asked what theme my party was going to be, and I told them there wasn't one.  Their answer to that was that THEY would always have a themed party.  And I realized that I wanted one, too.  I had seen so many fun things and didn't want to wait for a kid's party to do them.

Here is my pinterest board of Disney stuff.  Check it out.

First thing in the morning, my dear hubby made me breakfast with Mickey-Head shaped pancakes!  How sweet.  Love that man-o-mine :)

We had a full day, but I made time while breakfast was being made to paint my toes to look like Minnie Mouse.  Really easy - just paint red and add white spots with a french manicure polish.  It wasn't perfect, but I loved it.

I had my friend with a Cri-cut cut out some big black Mickey-Heads and I hid them all over the house for my own Hidden Mickey Hunt.  Do you see the hidden Mickey on our fish tank?

I made a Mickey Head out of red tissue paper flowers.  I used it as decoration with other items.  

Plus, I added other fun Mickey elements all around the house.

I made Mickey Head Oreo suckers.  It was really easy (more on the how to's later).

I also made my own version of a Dole Whip - which didn't really turn out like a real Dole Whip.  I am going to have to work on this one some more.  Don't get me wrong, they were still yummy, but . . .

Then, to top it all off, I made Peanut Butter Cupcakes to look like Mickey Mouse.  My favorite thing.  These even had peanut butter cups sunk in the middle.

There were a few other things that I thought about making, but ran out of time.

The best part was that all my friends came, we had a yummy dinner made by my husband.  We all sat and chatted (a lot of talk about Disney :) of course) and had a great time.  What a great birthday.

So, just goes to show that you are never too old for a themed party and certainly never to old for Mickey!!

August Disney Fan Photo-A-Day Challenge

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted anything!  Bad Blogger!!
We have been busy just living life and an AWFUL Lot of Disney :)

For the first time, we got Annual Passes to the magic and when we haven't been at Disney, we have been talking about, or making plans for it, or scrapbooking the pictures from it!  It has been great.
In fact, I wanted to share something with you that I am doing.  A Disney Fan Photo-A-Day Challenge over on Britt-ish Designs Blog.  The Challenge is for the month of August and can be of anything, but I am going to see if I can do them all of Disney-related items.

Day 1 was to take a picture of Mickey, so here is mine.  It is a figurine that my husband's grandmother gave us from her collection.

 Day 2 was to take a picture of something red.  This is the popcorn holder that my 2 yo had to have during the grand opening of Cars Land.  He loves Lightning McQueen

Day 3 was "movie".  This is one part of our Disney DVD collection.

That is it for now, but I plan to come back and post my pictures of the days challenges.  You can participate, too!  Let me know that you are doing your own challenge and we can share with each other.
At the end of the month, I plan on putting them all on a scrapbook page together.

How to Appreciate your teachers (for Teacher Appreciation Week)

It is Teacher Appreciation Week this week - did you know?
This is the week that you let your (or your children's) teacher(s) know that you are thankful for all that they do.
What should you do?  Some grand gesture?  Actually, some of the best ideas are simple ones.
How about a bookmark.  It is easy to make your own, printed on cardstock or stamped with a bit of ribbon.
How about a simple baked treat?
How about a handmade set of Monogram cards, perfect for them to send a little note to someone.
Here is how you can very easily make a set:

1.  Open an 8.5" x 11" page in your print program (I use Storybook Creator by Creative Memories, but you could use Adobe Photoshop and can even do a very simple set in Word).  I set mine up to be portrait.

2. Determine the measurements that you want for your card (usually determined by your envelope size).  To keep things simple, I am dividing my page in half, so that I will have 2 cards on one sheet, each card will be 5.5" x 4.25".

3.   Create a text box in one of the right hand boxes that is about 1.5" wide.  Type your monogram letter in this box.  It should be about large and take up most of the center and in a very bold font (I choose Pickwick, 132 pt.)

If you are doing this process, you will then need to flatten it, in order to fill it with a paper.  Some programs, allow you to insert the shape of the letters and fill them immediately with any paper.  Here is the difference.  In the upper corner, I added a letter in a text box, and then flattened it (therefore, making it an element).  Then, I was able to fill it with a digital paper.  In the lower corner, I inserted the same letter, as a shape, filled with the same paper, but in this program, you can add a border, so I did.

Either way would work.  Now, all you need to do it print them and cut them in half and then fold those in half.  Walla - Monogram cards!

There are many things that you can add to these cards - shadows, elements, ribbons, etc.  But simple is very nice, too!  Make up 5 or 6, add envelopes to match, tie with a ribbon together & instant present!

Thanks to all the teachers in the world!  We love you!

Meagan

Public Service Announcement - How to save your toilet from flooding the house

About a year ago, my dear friend came home from work to see water coming from her house.  She rushed inside to find water filling up her house and gushing from her bathroom.
What had happened, you say?  A little tiny plastic connector that goes from the back of the toilet to the wall broke.  Simple as that.  Every toilet has one.  This is what it looks like:

The thing that really is amazing is that EVERY house has one and they are only rated to last 5-10 years and they DO NOT make them in stainless steel like their connecting hose!

So, back to my friend.  She tells everyone she knows - "go now, learn from me and replace this simple connector before your house is flooded.  The most amazing thing; this little connector costs less than $10." 

She had tons of professional dryers going 24 hours a day trying to get the floors & walls dry.   In ruined almost every floor in her house.  All her carpets and hardwoods had to be replaced, some of the walls and some furniture.

Would you like to know how much it cost to replace all the damage done to her house?  Over $40,000

Did I rush out and buy said connector??  No!  

Why not?  I am sure there are reasons, got busy, didn't think it would happen to me, forgot, etc.  The reason doesn't matter, just that I never did.

So, fast forward 1 year.  

Fans going full blast

Chamois - I even had the 2 yo soaking up water

Shop Vac - not just for dirt!

Yep!  You got it!  It happened to me!
I do not have any pictures of the water gushing out or of the 2" of water that were in my bathroom, because I was too shocked and panicked to get a camera at that point.   The big difference between my friend's situation and mine is that I was home when it happened.
It was early on a Saturday morning and I was in my living room with all my kids asleep still.  I had gone in to tell them that it was time to start waking up and gone back to the living room.  I heard the water running about 5 minutes later.  Not just "running" . . .it was on full blast.  I thought that one of my kids had gotten up and was using the bathroom.  When the water didn't stop after about 5-8 minutes, I went to check.  The light was off in the bathroom, and as I stepped forward to push open the door and turn on the light, my foot squished in the carpet and I noticed that the sink was not gushing.  It was coming from my toilet!!
My husband had left for work about 20 minutes before.  I panicked and called him and made him turn around to help.  What followed was a morning and afternoon that I had not planned on.  Hours spent bailing water off the linoleum, sucking up the water from the carpet with the shop vac, soaking up water with towels, and chamois and trying to air dry with our fans.
Boy, were my muscles hurting that evening!
And my "flood" was nothing like my friend's.  I caught mine in under 15 minutes and it did all that damage. The water not only got into the carpet in my bathroom (why do contractors think carpet in a bathroom is a good idea anyway???), but it went under the wall, into my closet and into my hallway.

Have I scared you enough yet to make you go out and purchase this simple connector??

I hope so!  Please learn from our mistakes.  If you have not replaced your connector in more than 10 years or your house is older than 10 years - go down to your hardward supply store.  The best part - you can do this yourself.  You do not need a plummer, you only need a wrench.  I will show you how!

1 - See what kind of connector you have.  It is easier if you disconnect your current part and take it with you as there are many choices.  Mine is connected to the hose, so I had to buy this:

Stainless Steel 12" Toilet Connect with 3/8" x 7/8"  - It was under $7,  after tax

2. Turn off your water supply

It is connected to the wall behind your toilet.  Turn it until it cannot go anymore.

3. Flush the toilet, until there is no more water in the back of the tank.  (You do need to take off the led from the back of the toilet to see if it is empty.)
4. Unscrew the plastic connector from the toilet.  You should do this with a bucket underneath - just in case there is water.  You should be able to disconnect it with your hand.

5.  Unscrew the other end with a wrench.

I loosen mine with my wrench and then unscrewed the rest of the way with my hand.    Once you do that, you can remove the whole thing.

6.  Take your connector to the store and buy a new one.
7.  Reattach the connector to the water inlet, first with your hand and then tighten with your wrench.

8. Reattach the plastic connector to the back of the toilet by hand

9.  Turn the water back on.

You're done!  It really is that easy.  Now remember to that again in 5-10 years!

If you replace this simple connector, I hope that you never have to deal with a flooded house.

Good Morning!

I have so many cool things that I am working on that my head woke me up at 4 am this morning!
I just laid there in bed, working through all the things that I need to do in my head.  So when my little man wanted to get up at 5:20, I was okay with it.

What am I working on?  Here are some of the things:
Lego Party for my 12 year old
Travel Party
End of Year Banquet for my Mom's Club
Mom's Club Newsletter (due on Monday)
(at least) 2 Science Fair Projects with my kids
Finishing my Disney Album from last year before I go this year
Just Between Friends Consignment Sale
Trip to the snow
Blog post about creating an Altered Book Invitation


I think that there may be more, but my head is spinning right now!  Wish me luck and I hope to have my blog post up soon about the cool way to invite someone to a party.

Book review: "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs

Here is my review from the book that I finished in January:


The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I decided to pick up this book since so many people suggested it.  All in all it was a "good" book.  Not really my style, but it did keep my interest for the most part.  There was a lot about knitting in it that maybe if I knitted, I would have found interesting.  I did enjoy how knitting brought together women from multiple backgrounds and abilities, but I did not really "love" the main character, Georgia.  I found her bad self-image hard to keep taking.  All the self-doubt bothered me, so I just couldn't get into her.  I know that most people, especially women, are plagued with huge amounts of self-doubt, but hers was a bit over the top.

I don't plan on reading any others in the series.


View all my reviews

maybe you will like it more than I did. . . 

Meagan

Book Review: "11/22/63" by Stephen King

I just finished Stephen King's new book and realized that I have not been updating my Good Reads site since last fall.  So, although, I completed my goal for last year, it doesn't look like it.  I am going to have to go in a update what all I read.  I hope that I can remember it all!  :)

11/22/63 by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a huge book by my favorite author.  It took me a lot longer than his books normally take me.  I found all that "history" hard to sift through.  I thought he had an interesting theme though and I really enjoyed the parts that intersected his "It" storyline.


View all my reviews

I hope you enjoy it.  Stay tuned for some more reviews!  Plus, I have a new book challenge for this year - 15 books!