Loving Disney!

Who doesn't love Disney? It was like a dream come true when my hubby brought me to Tokyo Disney during our honeymoon (Dec 2010).

So I am just going to share the amazing time I had in Disney with you guys.

FOOD

Singapore does not have much amusement parks (until recently Universal Studios), and I always have the impression that food in parks are expensive and horrible tasting. I was so wrong! I can still taste those tasty dishes by looking at these pictures! Though one can get tasty food anywhere, but eating them in Disneyland is just different! My favourite would have to be the turkey leg, buffet breakfast and ice cold Asahi draft beer!

FUN 

There is no doubt loads of fun in Disney! To add to double the fun, in Tokyo there are 2 theme parks. 1) Disneyland 2) Disneysea. Each bringing a different feel: Disneyland is more fantasy and family friendly; Disneysea is just like Venice, romantic and with adventures. Just walking around in the parks brings a huge smile on my face. Even my hubby (who is not a fan of Disney) felt totally rejuvenated.

HOTEL

Though Disney Hotel stay burnt a huge hole in our pocket, it was totally worth it! Firstly, being the guest of Disney Hotel you are entitled a slightly earlier entry to the park than the rest of the patrons! Secondly, the service was fabulous! See that cute ducky made from towl? Our very adorable room service staff made that for us after she made the room!

SHOPPING

Bringing back a part of all that magic was an important part of the experience! Wearing all those cute accessories also brings out the mood of the park. Just look at all that I had. I even got my hubby to join in the fun!

Had you been to Disney? How was your experience?

Ash :o)

All things Disney!

We just can't get enough of Disney right? Hee, here are just more Disney stuffs that I love! It's so cool that Disney found themselves into adult's fashion. Now, I can wear my favourite Disney characters out and (hopefully) still look my age. 

Disney by Patterson J. Kincaid Raglan Tee with Mickey Mouse Fantasia Print from ASOS

Mickey Mouse tee from HM

Sequin Stripe Jack Skellington Tank Top for Women from Disney Store

Canvas black and white Mickey Mouse shoes from Disney Store

Disney Couture Mawi Presents Minnie Gold Plated Locket Pendant Necklace With Crystal Ears from ASOS

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Charm Bracelet from Disney Store

Disney Couture 7 Dwarves Ring from ASOS

Comic Strip Mickey Mouse Satchel by Dooney & Bourke from Disney Store

Black and White Striped Mickey Mouse Wristlet by Dooney & Bourke from Disney Store

Will you wear or use Disney clothes, jewelry or bags or do you find them too cute?

Ft

Guest post by Jen from Life Spelled JEN

Introducing beautiful Jen from Life Spelled JEN! She shares about lovely things which inspires her, pretty stuffs she loves and her winter wedding plans (congrats in advance babe!) at her blog. We are so happy that she's here to tell us why Disney has always stayed close to her heart. Thank you Jen!

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I have loved disney since as far back as I can remember. It was always a place of true happiness where anything and everything was possible! I remember waking up on the weekends and asking to go to disney, not knowing it was a four hour drive, and before lunchtime we had arrived.

As I grew up, the magic of disney never seemed to fade. It was the same place I had such fond memories of when I was a child, except now that I was an adult it held even more importance to me. It reminded me of my childhood, it reminded to always stay young at heart, it reminded me to always believe in magic and the power of your dreams. And wouldn't you know it, just this christmas disney is where I got engaged.

Disney will always have a special place in my heart!

Ohayo Mickey!

I loved my experience at Tokyo so much: great atmosphere; great service; great shopping; great memories! My 3 days there also gained me many memorables (and a deep hole in my pocket).

My favourite would have to be a little coin pouch (below). It also have a lovely story.

It was a gift from my husband as it was our honeymoon trip (you can imagine how darling it was to me). But while having fun, we dropped it! A very devastated me ran back to all the places we went before and to my amazement, a very friendly Disney staff was standing there with my pouch waiting for my return! Can you imagine how happy I was?! I must commend on the level of service!

Hence my project today is heavily influenced by my Tokyo trip: a Mickey coin pouch with Japanese influence.

This is an afforable project as all items are purchased from a Japanese S$2 shop (USD$1.6).

You'll need:

- Fabric

- Felt

- Circle shaped patterns of 2 sizes

- Ribbon 

Step 1: Pin the circle shaped patterns on the fabric and felt to cut out fabric.

Step 2: Using the felt as a facing between 2 fabric to give the purse more shape. Sew them together using a sewing machine.

Step 3: Join the 2 smaller circles as the ears.

Step 4: Join the 2 bigger circles but leave a hole on top as the opening of the pouch.

Step 5: Attach the ribbons to the opening of the pouch and secure them with small pieces of felt.

Step 6: Cut out small Mickey Mouse shapped felt and attach to the end of ribbon.

 Then you are done!  How do you like my Japanese inspired Mickey?

Ash :o)

Hand stamped Mickey Mouse print tote bag

The DIY inspiration came from talented Elsie from A Beautiful Mess. I bookmarked this fun foam stamp tutorial and wanted to try it for a long time! The canvas tote bag I used here is a really old which I always bring to the supermarket (oh yes, I'm a part time housewife). Here's my attempt to create my own Mickey Mouse print tote bag.

What you'll need:

A canvas tote bag

Fabric paint

Foam

A hard plastic container. It would be easier to see the position of the foam stamp if the cover isn't completely opaque. I used my empty Bodyshop body butter container. Acrylic glass block would be great but more expensive alternative.

Paint brush

Permanent marker

1) I folded and pressed the tote bag in half then in quarter to create temporary grid lines.

2) Draw a mickey mouse head on the foam. I printed a mickey mouse logo and used that as a guide for my foam stamp.

3) Now adhere the foam to the cover of the container. 

4) Hold the cover against the light and with the permanent marker, trace out the mickey mouse foam stamp on the inside of the cover. 

5) As a precaution, I placed newspaper in the tote bag in case the fabric paint stains the reverse side of the tote bag.

6) Brush paint onto the foam stamp and we are ready to stamp away! I stamped 9 mickey mouse heads in a 3 by 3 grid and brushed paint after every stamp.

The prints turn out faded and imperfect which I thought was really cool. Now I can look cool and cute while I'm in the supermarket. =b

Ft

Feel the magic - Mickey/Minnie Mouse ears DIY

Today, I would like all of you to meet a good friend of mine, Summer! She's the crafty mummy blogger behind A Happy Mum, where she writes about her loving family and shares creative DIY ideas. And, I must share our story of how we became great buddies! We were secondary school classmates and upon graduation, we went on separate paths to pursue our higher education. 10 years later, we met again, 6000km away from home in a little town in Sweden! Can you believe that? We hung out a lot in Sweden, talking about our life, sharing about our dreams and playing with her cute little girl, Angel! She has been so supportive and it is just so amazing to have found a great (old) friend!
Her DIY ideas are really fun for children and parents. If you are a fellow mum (or dad), you will love her awesome craft tutorials! Thank you Summer!


Ft

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The magic of Disney.


I never did think much of it until the first time I stepped into Disneyland and was blown away by its fairytale lands, dreamy castles and fantasy characters which never fail to evoke a great sense of euphoria.

One of my favourite characters has to be Minnie Mouse who always appears with a cheerful smile clad in her cute polka-dotted dress, round ears and big bow. I'd love to get a pair of the classic Minnie Mouse ears but decided it was not worth it for over US$10.

Then I thought, hey, why not learn to make these ears myself? Young kids can wear these ears and parade in the park, grown-ups can wear them as a fashion accessory or to dress-up parties, grandmas can wear them to reminisce the good old days and feel young at heart all over again.

What you need:
1) Black felt
2) Pink based, white polka-dotted cloth
3) Hair bands approximately 1cm wide
4) Foam paper
5) Scissors (Pinking shears and a sharp scissors for cutting cloth)
6) Glue (Suitable for use on felt)
7) Pens/ marker
 

Do up a template that consists of two circles, 3.5" in diameter, with a 2cm wide spacing in the middle as shown. Use the template to draw out as many shapes on the black felt, trace their outline with a gold pen and cut them out nicely.

Cut out rectangular strips of black felt. The length should be just slightly longer than that of the hair band and the width three times.

Draw 3" circles on the foam paper and cut them out. I used the base of a Pringles can for this. You don't have to cut these circles out too perfectly as they will be covered up with black felt later.

Apply glue on the hair band and roll it along the rectangular strip of felt. Then, apply glue on the two sides and fold them in one after the other. For the ends, use a little glue and fold them in neatly.

Stick two pieces of foam paper together so that the ears will be firmer. Apply glue and press it onto one circle of the black felt, place the hair band in the middle, apply glue on the opposite circle, fold to make the circles meet.

Press down firmly all around the circle to form one ear. Repeat for the other side and you would have made a pair of Mickey Mouse ears!

To turn it into Minnie Mouse ears, simply add a bow using the polka-dotted cloth. I used pinking shears to cut out big rectangular strips (28cm by 9cm) just to give it that ziggy-zaggy edging. Next, use normal scissors to cut out small short strips.


Fold the cloth to form four creases in the middle and secure them using the short strips. Place the bow between the ears, use the small strip to wrap over the bow and hair band, then tie a double knot at the back. Cut away the excess cloth from the strip and tuck away the corners.

Ta-dah! We now have Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears to wear whenever we wish to feel the spirit of Disney.

Believe in the M-A-G-I-C always!


For more craft ideas and DIY tutorials, visit A Happy Mum or like my Facebook page here.

Colours of Cheshire Cat

Remember the ever grinning, mischievous Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland and its quirky conversations with Alice? 

It's one of my favourite characters from the book. I love the wisdom behind his words, well because I'm not the one asking for directions! lol. His answers would probably have driven me nuts too if I was in Alice's shoes.
My makeup for this Disney month is inspired by the playful purple pink stripes on Cheshire Cat in the 1951 Walt Disney Alice in Wonderland animation. 

I didn't have the correct bluish purple so I did a little mixing and layering of blue and pink to get the correct shade of purple. First, I pressed bright pink shadows all over the lids up till the socket line. Then I blended blue on the lids to create the bluish purple. And finally, a winged liner and a baby pink lips to complete the look.

On a side note, I just realized today that the Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland animation was released in 1951 - that's 61 years ago! Wow! 
Hope u guys like my Cheshire Cat inspired look. Meow!
Ft