{Disney Countdown Calendar}

I soooooo wish I had more (and better!) pics of this, but this will have to do. We were in the middle of the chaos otherwise known as Christmas-is-coming-and-we're-going-on-vacation, so I didn't get a ton of pics. You get the idea. I've been wanting to post this for a while and keep forgetting about it. Now WE always go to Disney in either November or December, but I know everyone else goes year 'round, so maybe this will be a fun activity for you and your family as you look forward to your own trip to Disney!

This was for my daughter's second trip about 6 months ago(6.5yrs old at the time), and since she's a big reader, I wanted something that was fun and educational, too. (My teacher brain NEVER stops working. It's in the blood.) I saw a few countdown ideas online, but they were very fact-based, with Disney trivia, etc. All very well, but just not what WE were interested in, or something that I thought would be fun for my kiddo. So here's what I came up with, at the above mentioned time otherwise known as Christmas-is-coming-and-we're-running-around-like-crazy-people....meaning it was put together FAST. You could make yours much, much cuter if you were not in the middle of the aforementioned time!

I used:

small package of smaller posterboard

Mickey paper punch

miscellaneous Disney stickers from our stash (not my fancy scrapbook stickers mind you!)

marker

printer

On one side I punched several Mickeys with my paper punch, then printed numbers to 28 (about a month in advance) and circle punched those to fit inside the Mickey face.

On the right side, I typed up 28 little tidbits about our trip or Disney World, then printed and cut them out. I personalized these in a way, because they are really geared toward things we had talked about doing, rides we have/have not ridden, characters we wanted to meet, etc. I will list them for you here, so if there are any questions, please email me! :) I did try to make them in tune with us, so I hope they make sense to others. Then my daughter helped me embellish with our el-cheapo Disney stickers. I actually had to continue the 28 'tidbits' to the backside as well, but it was no big deal to flip it over when needed. Each day she crossed off a Mickey ear until the big day.

Here's my countdown : Disney Countdown Printable . It will give you some ideas to personalize your own countdown!

It was a big hit, and fun for all of us Disney nuts. :) I will definitely do this for our next trip as well. Have fun with it and make yours really geared toward your family, ages, interests, etc!

Take care,

I Heart Naptime

{A Sprinkle of Pixie Dust}

My precious kiddo is in full fairy mode with her imagination lately.  We were playing 'fairies' yesterday...along the lines of pretending we were sisters that were trying to catch fairies in our backyard. :) Of course we CAUGHT one with our fairy house made of blocks, but when we brought her inside we had to make a bed for her.

As a mom and a teacher, I love it when those imaginative juices start flowin'!

If you've got a little person in your life who loves fairies, you gotta make one of these!

(Tink is our fairy of choice at the moment.)

So fun and so easy. Literally 5 minutes and you're off again...playing 'fairies'. :)

WHAT YOU NEED:

lightweight cardboard out of your recycling (a food box)

scrap square of fabric (or a leaf - mine wanted a real blanket)

scotch tape

little pom poms (or anything else you think would make a good fairy pillow!)

scoring tool (unless you can fold better than I can)

I started with a piece of a Wheat Thins box, measuring about 5 1/2" x 4". Whatever size you want and I only measured afterward to give you an idea. It was just a guess and we started cutting!

Score your square on all sides at ABOUT 1/2". Again, didn't measure. This was an on-the-fly-we're-still-playing deal, but it was around 1/2". I darkened my score lines with a pencil so you can see better.

Snip just up to where the corner score lines meet on the long sides of the square, and fold everything inward, like this:

Fold those little flaps on the ends into the long side flap and wrap scotch tape around it to secure. Now you have a bed.

Add whatever you think would work as a pillow. My kiddo chose these little poms. We used a dot of Elmer's on each just to keep them in one place. I cut out a little rectangle of scrap fleece for a blanket. You could use a leaf, too...I hear that's more like the REAL fairies. :)

There you have it! Your very own authentic fairy bed! You know they are always making furniture, etc. out of our trash, so this is perfect. ;) 

Tink seems to be very cozy in there!

Now go play fairies, and see what other cool things you can make together!

Have fun!

I'm linking up to:

Also to Tatertots & Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party...but I can't get Blogger to take any codes or links, so I apologize in advance!