Welcome Aboard letters

With our family cruise theme being Pirate Mickey, I wanted to send each of the 8 families in our Fish Extender group a little welcome aboard letter. 

On the first night, I am going to go to each stateroom and deliver these rolled up like a pirate map. 

I am so ready to start the magic. All this prep has really gotten us all excited. The anticipation for our family is almost as fun as the vacation!!!

Pirate Mini Banner

We are on the serious countdown to our Disney cruise that has been 8 months in the works. These last two weeks I have joined a FE group, made almost all of the FE gifts, made more crafts for our stateroom door, and have packed what seems like everything in our kids' closets. 

While I am still not finished with the gifts, and I will be posting one big blog about all the DIY activities next week, I wanted to share a quick post about a mini pirate banner I made this week. 

On the Disney Cruise, it is customary (and part of the fun) to decorate your magnetic stateroom door. Oh yeah! That is right up my alley. And while many people collect random Disney magnets and cover their doors with a mis-mash of characters, I wanted to have a theme. In thinking about that, what is the event we are looking most forward to? What is the thing that my kids think is the coolest? Pirate Night...Day 4. In honor of that, our stateroom is going to have a Pirate Mickey theme. 

The doors are small, so I wanted to create something on a smaller scale than the typical banner/bunting. Thanks to THIS site, where I was able to download a free printable, I created a free banner with string I already had, tape, card stock, this printable, magnets, and some Mickey cut-outs leftover from our FE gifts. 

Here it is on our refrigerator with our laminated name magnets. 

The boys have a little project they are working on...creating some personalized foam pirate sword magnets to put on the door as well. I can't wait to see everything stuck to the door!

Just trying to add a little extra *magic* to the Disney Magic. 

Fish extender gifts

This morning I received an email from one of the cruise people saying that they had several people who missed the fish extender group deadline, so they were going to make another one. That means we get to join. Let's hope everyone else wants to join up with only 2 weeks left. Either way, I went to the store today to get some supplies to make gifts, and to get some pirate accessories for the Pirate Party. 

Here is what I came home with:

Of course I found several things for my own kids...pirate tattoos, foam pirate swords, eye patches, pirate hats, and glow swords. I also found some red striped fabric in the swatch section of Walmart for $4 for my pirate outfit, and I may or may not use the rhinestone skull iron-on I bought as well. 

So I set out to make treat bags for the kids in our FE group. I am not sure how many are in our group yet, but I have enough for 16 right now. Some people give presents for adults, some just do kids, some do one gift, some do more....we decided to combine several things into one gift just for the kiddos. 

This is what I came up with:

Here is how I did it....
 I bought a bag of Disney candy, a bag of Blow Pops, some glow sticks, and some mini bubbles. 

First things first, I wanted to add some cute glitter pirate stickers to some dollar store bubbles....for the Pirate Party. 

I love these!

Then I set out the rest of my supplies (card stock, scissors, glue stick, hole punches, candy, glow sticks, finished bubbles, stapler, and baggies)

I decided to cut out some very simple designs with Mickey heads using the classic Disney colors of red, black, and yellow. 

After gluing everything together, I folded the card in half, filled the bags, and stapled the cards to the top of the baggies. 

They turned out pretty well! I wanted to make something small enough to fit in any of the fish extenders, something that was gender neutral, and something that had a variety of items in it. Mission accomplished!

Now onto finishing our pirate outfits!!!

Pirate Mickey Mouse shirt (no sew)

The Disney Cruise is coming up super fast...in less than 3 weeks. And slap my hand because I totally lost track of time, and just now joined the Facebook page for people in my state that are cruising with us. That means that I missed the cut off for the Fish Extender exchange. That also means that I am just now getting some information about activities on the ship. 

First the fish extender exchange. While I was unable to formally join a group, I was able to get with a few people who were willing to exchange with us. We already planned on using our extender as a family stocking just for our kids, but it is always more fun when we find unexpected surprises. So, now my thoughts are swirling around something that is not too expensive and quick to make in bulk, while not taking up too much space in our luggage. 

What I did find out today is that the Pirate Party on day 4 seems to be THE party of the trip. Kids and adults dress up in their best pirate gear and have a blast that evening. When talking it up to our kids, neither one wanted to participate. Now I know when they get there, they will change their minds. My husband, surprisingly, was all for it. He immediately said, "I'm in!" 

So the kids agreed to wear some type of pirate themed shirt, a pirate hat, and an eye patch. Tomorrow I will go to the party store to see what kind of accessories I can come up with for all of us, but as of today...I have the supplies to make some simple shirts at home!

Caleb and I googled the phrase "Pirate Mickey" and found tons of images with a Mickey outline with an eye patch...an even one with swords. I liked this idea....

But we decided to change it to the "skull and cross bones" outline. 

I grabbed an extra white shirt and lined the inside with a plastic bag. 

Then I free handed a Mickey head, an eye patch, and some cross bones and cut them out of felt.

Finally, I used fabric glue to adhere them to the shirt. 

Caleb was super excited and couldn't wait to show his dad when he got home from work. 

Since the boys will never wear these shirts again, I didn't really want to spend a lot of money on them. Caleb's is finished and I am in the process of creating Jansen's...and they didn't cost me a penny!!! Free shirts :)

Now to find accessories and something for the hubs and I to wear!

Liz Marie Blog

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New Job Survival Basket

My best friend has gotten a new job! This is not surprising because she is an incredible employee and is in major demand. People try to recruit her all the time. This time, she had a very corporate job an hour away from home, but it turned out not to be what she was hoping. She was able to find a job much closer to home, and will begin work there next week. 

I wanted to put something together for her, but couldn't really decide what to do. Do I send flowers? An edible arrangement? Some chocolate covered strawberries? A gift card? Hmmmmmm....

Well this afternoon, I thought of a survival basket. So I went to the store and bought some useful things and some just for fun things to put in a basket to give to her. 

Here is what I put in there and what the labels say:

• A plug in air freshener-to keep your office fresh and clean
• Highlighters-to remind you of the highlights in your day
• Rubber bands-to help you stay flexible when things do go as you planned.
• Notepads-to help you remember what is important
• White out-to white out problems you don't feel like solving
• Starburst-just because you love them
• Sonic card-for days when you need a drink
• Paper clips-to help you hold everything together
• Gum-to help you stick to your goals
• Erasers-to help erase all your fears
• Glitter polish-because.....why not?!

Yay! I hope she has a wonderful first day at her brand new job. I hope she is happy there. I hope she finds some emotional comfort in a more relaxed pace. I hope she loves her boss and her new co-workers. 

Happy Valentine's Day breakfast

Good morning everyone and Happy Valentine's Day. While the hubs and I don't really celebrate today, we do a few things for the boys to let them know that we love them and they are special. Honestly, I tell the boys I love them probably 5 times a day, every day.

Early to rise this morning, I made the kiddos some heart shaped cinnamon rolls and strawberry hearts. 

It went over really well. Both boys were very happy to have something different from their usual cereal or toast breakfast. Top that off with some properly masculine Star Wars Valentine treats and it was a happy heart morning. 

Oh how I wanted to fill their lunches with heart themed surprises, but they won the school Box Tops contest and will be eating pizza in class today! Easy for me...less lunch packing. 

Now to get a bunch of studying done, lead a PTO meeting, take my oldest to his quarterly psychiatrist appointment, and horse therapy after. Here's to a busy Valentine's Day.

Teacher Valentines...

Ugh, I cannot seem to find the link to this printable. I did not make it, and I am so sorry that I am not able to link to it right now, but as soon as I find it, I will update it on here. 

We made these for both my boys' teachers as a simple Valentine. 

These are really cute, and thank goodness I had black ribbon left over from a Disney craft. 

Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!!

Classroom Valentine Peep Pops

Our school sent home a letter explaining that while the classes would not be having a party, parents would be able to send treats that the kids would be able to take home in their backpacks. That rules out cupcakes :)

The boys and I came up with this idea:

Valentine Peep Pops

I dipped some heart shaped marshmallow Peeps in white chocolate and sprinkled them with some cute Valentine sprinkles. Then I added some lollipop sticks and wrapped them in clear plastic bags tied with ribbon. 

Jansen was so excited and wanted to make sure he would be getting to eat one. Little does he know that we are going to be making Valentine cookies tonight after dinner...just for fun. 

First official test grade is.....

I have had two quizzes in my lab class and thankfully, have made 104 on both of them. I have had two lecture quizzes and got 100 on both of those. Now the lecture exam is a whole other story. 

I am studying about 3 to 4 hours every day, easily. My study partner and I are both willing to put in the time to get the A in this class, and get our professor's recommendation for nursing school. 

Last Wednesday was our first major exam...and it was over an hour of pure craziness. Our professor was out of town, and a lot of the work was to be done on our own. 

Well, we just got our tests back today, almost a week later, and thankfully, I got a 99.5! Thank God!!!!

Two more quizzes are up for this week....a week of love...a week of goodies for the kids' school....another week of studying for me. 

100th Day of School shirts!

Thursday of this coming up week is our 100th day of school. I cannot believe that we have already been in school that long and we are on the downhill slide. Honestly, this is the busiest time for school....so while I am extremely stressed and overwhelmed with my classes, crafting and creating seems to calm me down. Thank goodness for that! I forsee a ton of craftiness over the next 3-4 months with Caleb's birthday, Valentine's Day, Easter, Jansen's birthday, and tons of parties in May at the boys' school. 

Anyway, since I have my first major test Wednesday morning, I will be locked in my house or at the college preparing for it for the next three days. It was now or never to make the kiddos' 100th day of school shirts. 

Do this! It is cheap, it is easy, it is fun, it is everything a busy mom needs!!! 

So for less than $20 for shirts and supplies for 2 kids' shirts.....you get these.....

This is Caleb's googly eyed monster shirt

This is Jansen's googly eyed monster shirt

Just take a solid colored shirt, use fabric glue to glue 100 multi-sized googly eyes on, then use a sharpie to draw a monster on the shirt!

There are so many variations for these cute little monsters. Change the colors, change the antenna, change the mouth...fun! I know several kids and a few teachers that will be wearing the same shirt! I hope I can get a picture of a group of those cute little googly eyed monsters!!

Happy 100th day of school everyone!