DIY Miss Minutes Loki Costume

Hi there!

Since Halloween will be here before you know it, I wanted to hop on to share a Halloween costume I made a couple of years ago for when we went to Oogie Boogie Bash, which is Disney California Adventure's (aka "DCA") yearly Halloween party!

I'm not the biggest Marvel fan, but I do enjoy some of the movies and Disney+ series.  With Avengers Campus being a new addition to DCA that year, I decided to dress as Miss Minutes - a character from the Loki series on Disney+. I had a feeling that many people would dress up as the different Loki variants (and they did!), so I thought Miss Minutes was a great choice for a more unique character.

DIY Sofa Table

I'm back! I always have the intention to come back & some-what regularly post on here because I do actually miss it, but between doing craft projects, Halloween costume-making, home DIYs, working a full time job, and going to Disneyland, I'm either too busy or too tired or just simply forget since I'm not in the habit of blogging anymore.  I actually started writing this post in February 2021, but never got around to finishing it. Oopsie.  

But, since I last posted in January 2021, my DIY skillset has grown tremendously! I have since re-done 2 rooms by removing the popcorn on the ceilings, removing carpet, installing luxury vinyl planks, installing new baseboards, repainting, and re-doing the closets! The last 1 1/2 years have been such a learning experience and I'm so happy with what I can do now.  My next project will be doing all of those things (and more!) to my bedroom and I'm excited to get that done!

Anyways, so I'm back with a big DIY.  Or at least, for me, at the time, it was a big deal. A few summers ago, during the height of quarantine, I built my first piece of furniture from scratch and I'm here to share what I've learned.  It should have been a fairly simple build, but in my true fashion, it wasn't so simple for me. LOL  Here's a sneak peek of the sofa table I built!

(staged it in my hallway! I want one too, now!)

(its final home at my friend's house)

Stranger Things The Drive Into Experience

Happy New Year!

Sooooo, I failed at keeping up with blogging last year - let's just call it a slow start ;)  I've managed to stay very busy during the pandemic & stay at home orders (I'm in California, so it's been fairly strict here, which, whatever - I'm ok with it).  All of this time at home has been making me nest, so I've gotten lots of things done here around the house: got new patio furtniture, a new BBQ grill, built a sofa table, built an extension for my workbench - I even bought some plants!  I have a black thumb, so that's actually a big deal. lol  I do have plans for more projects, so I’ll be sharing more & hopefully soon!

In the meantime, I want to share about the Stranger Things The Drive Into Experience that I took my niece to back in November!  This special event started at the end of October & is happening thru March 21st in Downtown Los Angeles.  It basically puts you into the Stranger Things world, via your car, and you "drive into" scenes that are happening all around you.  I've attached the link to the event page above, but our tickets were just regular (non-VIP) and it was $97.50 for the 2 of us (cost was per person, not per car & depended on which day of the week you went) and it was about 1 hour long.  It is a little pricey, but with the limited amount of things to do in California and with our love for this TV series, we thought it would be worth it.  Spoiler - we really had a great time!

Speaking of spoilers, I will be sharing some photos I took during the event, so if you plan on going or just don't want to see, this is your warning.

Knott's Berry Farm's Taste of Fall-O-Ween

 Happy October! It's officially my favorite month of the year!

I know I'm supposed to be making an effort on posting more on here and I'm slowly, but surely working on it - I swear!  (Really! I have a couple of drafts that I'm working on).  Ultimately, I have no excuse - it's mostly just taking me time to get back into the routine of blogging again since it's been such a long time.

I'll get into those projects another time, but for now I wanted to share about Knott's Berry Farm's Taste of Fall-O-Ween. This experience is an "...outdoor dining & retail experience celebrating the Halloween season and the flavors of Fall..." starting September 25 through November 1 on Fridays through Sundays (they have since added Columbus Day October 12 and select Wednesdays & Thursdays) . Knott's has opened their entire park (sans rides) and completely decorated for Halloween.  Included in the adult ticket ($35 plus tax) includes a tasting card for 5 tastings, while the children's ticket ($20 plus tax) is for a tasting card for 3 tastings plus the Camp Snoopy trick-or-treat trail.  Adults may also participate in the trick-or-treat trail for an extra fee of $8. Guests of ALL ages are allowed to wear costumes (please see their website for their costume guidelines). Parking is currently free, which was awesome.  Unfortunately, if you were thinking of going to the event & don't already have tickets, all dates are already SOLD OUT.

DIY Medal Sign Display

I'm back with another project!  It's been a couple of months since my last post, but I haven't forgotten that I'm making an effort to post over here on the Blog more often.  I've actually been very busy with DIY & projects - just a little slow with getting back into the habit of writing and getting the posts back together.

Today, I'm sharing a project that is super easy, but one to also be very proud of!

Copycat Dole Whip (just like at Disneyland)!

I'm back!  See - told you I am trying this time.  haha
Today, I'm sharing a Copycat Dole Whip recipe, similar to the famous Dole Whips at Disneyland!  It's actually more of a smoothie that soft serve, but tastes a lot like the real deal.  Also, it was super easy to make!

Hello, Again!

Hello!  Long time, no post!

It's been about 3 1/2 years since I last posted and that year I only posted a few times.  I had taken a break from doing DIY projects and life got busy, so blogging took a back seat.  I often missed writing and doing projects, but lacked motivation when I had any down time.

Now, with this pandemic & "stay at home" orders happening, I've had a bit more time.  Fortunately, I'm still working full time.  I've been working from home for 4 years now, so that is not new for me.  But, staying home all weekend is. There have been some projects that I've been wanting to do for awhile now, but was lacking the time.  Now that I'm home a lot more, I figured this would be a good time to get started on some of them and get back to sharing here!

We've been sheltering in place for about 7 weeks.  I've had bursts of energy & motivation, so I'm glad to say that I've managed to get quite a few things done.  I've also had some bad days and you know what? It's ok to take a mental break and just relax and press the reset button.

I will be making an effort to post here more often whether it be about DIY, crafts, Disney, and (once we're back to a new "normal") travel and other fun things going on.  I am active on Instagram, so if you'd like to follow along over there, just click here: Adventures in DIY Shop.

In the meantime, how are you all doing?  I hope you've all been doing well in the last few years and especially lately with these crazy times we live in.  Drop me a comment and let me know how you've been and what you've been up to - I'd love to hear it!

Mickey Snowman Faux Snowglobe

I've made a few of these faux snow globes in the past - they are just so darn cute!  My latest version happens to be Disney related.  Shocking, I know.

Photo credit:  Brenda at Chatting Over Chocolate

Adventures in DIY Has a Shop!

Hey there!
I'm hoping to get back to DIY'ing & blogging on a more regular basis soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some exciting news.  I have opened up a shop on Etsy:  Adventures in DIY Shop!  It's something that I've been wanting to do for a few years now and it's finally up and running!

If you've been reading for awhile, you know that I'm a big Disney fan.  Actually, to be precise, I'm a big Disney parks fan.  Being a Disneyland annual passholder, I go quite often.  I started making mouse ear headbands to wear to the parks and decided to start selling them as well!  I have some ideas for other items to sell also, but until those ideas go through development, I'll be selling just ears. for now.

Please feel free to check out my shop at the link above.  My shop's main social media account is on Instagram (I post more frequently there), but the shop is also on Facebook.  I also share pictures of my Disney adventures on Instagram.

Nightmare Before Christmas Man-Eating Wreath

If you've ever seen "The Nightmare Before Christmas", then you probably know what the Man-Eating Wreath is!  I've been wanting to make this for a few years now and finally got around to it!

Disney Princesses Zippered Pillow

So, I was originally supposed to share this post several months ago, but kind of forgot.  Oopsie.  I have been trying to learn more sewing techniques and this one might be a game changer - sewing with zippers!  I made this Disney Princesses pillow for my niece for her birthday and she LOVED it!

Cork Christmas Tree

I've got another Christmas craft for you today!  Now, I've mentioned in the past that I have a huge stash of unused corks in my arsenal thanks to my winemaker brother-in-law.  From time to time, I come up with ways to use them and am starting to incorporate them in my holiday decor.

DIY Camper Snowglobe

Can you believe it's almost December?!?!  I know I say this every year to just about everyone, but time flies by so fast.  I've already started getting ready for Christmas - I figure that the earlier I get things done, the sooner I will be done and have time to just relax and enjoy the season!

Today, I have a really cute Christmas decoration to share.  I actually made it as a gift, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to some for myself and for other gifts!  It's so easy and cute!

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: All of the Costumes!

I've been sharing our DIY costumes for the Disneyland Halloween Party that we went to a couple of weeks ago and here's a round-up of all of them.

Top picture via of Davelandweb

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Mr. Smee

Here's the last costume we DIY'd for the Disneyland Halloween Party....overall, it's a pretty easy one!

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Tiger Lily (Part 2)

Ok, kids.  Here's the last of my Halloween costume DIYs for this year (but I'll do another post with a round up of these plus the other 2 we put together).

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Tiger Lily (Part 1)

Are you ready for Tiger Lily?  This was the costume I was most anxious about since I've never actually sewn clothing from scratch.  I had originally wanted for my niece to be a Lost Boy since I could easily make a costume from a hoodie with matching sweatpants, but I couldn't find any!  I mean, I know it was early August when I started gathering supplies, but I figured I would be able to find some, but no-can-do.  So, Tiger Lily it is!

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes - Peter Pan

Alright!  Continuing on with our group Peter Pan group costumes...we have Peter Pan!

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Tick Tock Croc

Since Halloween will be here before you know it, I'm sharing our Peter Pan group costumes with you all.  I made 4 of the 6 costumes and 3 of them were super easy.  ;)
Next up is Tick Tock Croc!

DIY Peter Pan Group Costumes: Tinkerbell

Ok, people!  It's that time of year to start thinking about Halloween costumes!  YES!  So, back in July, I got our tickets for the Disneyland Halloween Party for the end of September and we started thinking up costume ideas.  Yep!  We started brainstorming in JULY as soon as we got our tickets.  Considering the Halloween Party was one whole month before actual Halloween and with 6 people in our group, we needed to start planning early.  Our original idea wasn't working out, so my friend suggested a group costume.  After a bit of research, we came up with Peter Pan - I've always wanted to be Peter Pan for Halloween and with our big group, we had several characters to choose from.

First up, we have Tinkerbell.