Disney Care Package: Mickey & Minnie Cup Cozies

This month, my sister & brother-in-law are taking my nephews to Disneyland for a few days.  I was originally going to join them, but we've been told at work that we're not allowed any time off in January, so I won't be going (they'll be there during the week and not a weekend).  Bummer!  I decided to surprise them with a care package, which I mailed out to them last week (got a text a few days ago saying how much they liked the surprise!).   I only recently came up with the idea, so I didn't have much time to put it together (especially since I needed to allow for mail time).  I made up a big list of things to include - once I got to shopping for the items, I could then narrow down the list to handful of things (more on that in another post).

Part of my list included a few handmade items.  If you've never heard of the website, Disney Family.com, you should really check it out.  There's lots of official Disney crafts, printables, and recipes there.  So, I searched the site for different crafts and settled on three; two of which I will be sharing here today.

The majority of the items in the care package were for the kiddos, but I figured that mom & dad deserved something too.  Mom & dad love coffee and I thought these would be perfec - his & hers coffee cup cozies!

Minnie Mouse Cozy

and

Mickey Mouse Cozy

Cute, yeah?  Just click on the links below the pictures - they will take you right to the tutorials that also includes the templates.  Super easy.  As an example...all you do is cut out the felt using the templates and follow the rest of the directions to put it all together.  There's only a teensy bit of sewing (for the buttons) and for the rest, you'll be wielding your hot glue gun.

For all my projects, I've been trying to use supplies that I already have on hand.  I have so much crap stuff that I've accumulated over the years - it's ridiculous.  So, I vowed to start using it and only buying more if absolutely need be.  For this project, I had everything on hand already - score!   There was just one color of felt I didn't have, but found a decent replacement.  Also, the two white buttons I used, were more of a clear white and I didn't have two of the same, but well, it's close enough.  :)

Here are the final products:  Minnie cup cozy for sister...

And the Mickey cup cozy for brother-in-law (aka Dad)...

There are other versions using other characters on the website - really, really cute stuff.  I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do love me some Starbucks hot chocolate and these would be perfect for that as well!

Originally posted by: Adventures in DIY

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Blog Hop

Hey all!  A quick post here to let you know that Blue Skies Ahead,  Happy Go Lucky, I Heart Crafty Things, and Keeping Up With Kristi  are hosting a Blog Hop this week.  I've linked up!  Stop on over and check it out.  I'll be poking around the linked-up blogs weekend.  :)

New Gas Range

I'm slooooowly converting all of my kitchen appliances to stainless steel.  Here is the newest addition the kitchen family...

Isn't she a beaut?!  Ok, so, it's not anything super fancy, but it looks really nice in there with the updated dishwasher and fridge. 

Although, I was not looking to convert the appliances to stainless steel so quickly, opportunities arose.  And when opportunities arise, you sometimes just have to grab them while they're there!  After a few years of researching gas ranges, I scored a great deal online this past Black Friday.  I was on the Home Depot website and since they started their Black Friday sale early, it gave me time to think about it and do more research before taking the plunge and I'm sure glad I did.

The old range was decent enough, but it was white & the oven door's hinges were a little off.  It seemed to work fine, but you just had to make sure to really push the door in.

Also, the grates were nice because it was one long piece - it made sliding pots and pans to another burner really easy.  But, then it also made it more difficult to clean them really good.

There would be no cleaning of the grates via this pin from Pinterest.  Hmph.

But, with the new range, the grates are separated, yet when sitting on the stove, the design makes it act like one big piece - pretty nifty.

The night before the delivery, I removed the old range (got some help from my stepdad since I wasn't able to pull it away from the wall myself - I needed some extra muscles).  Once it was pulled away from the wall, I just unplugged it from the outlet, shut off the gas valve, and unscrewed the gas line from the valve.

Wow!  You see that dirty floor?  Nasty.  Ick.

I made sure to clean it up really well because who knows when it will be cleaned again.  :)

The delivery guys came at 7am.  On Sunday morning.  Yeesh, that's early.  But I'm not complaining - just glad I didn't have to wait around for hours.  I decided to have them install it because when my old range was reinstalled after doing work in the kitchen (not by me, for the record), it would faintly smell like gas most of the time the oven was on, so I thought it would be good for them to install it to ensure that it was done correctly.  It was worth the extra bucks to have them take care of that for me.

Oh, you want to see the new range again?  Sure, why not!

I need to adjust the height on it still, but it sure is looking good in there.  And did I mention that it's a self-cleaning oven?  Woo!

So, I guess I need to start researching prices & details on over-the-range microwaves next and the conversion will be complete.  I'm waiting for you, Black Friday!


originally posted by http://adventuresindiy1759.blogspot.com/

I've Been Featured!

My Love *Heart* Map Frame has been featured today over at Smart School {House}!   Go check it out!

originally posted by: Adventures in DIY

Grover

It's with great sadness to say that my 2 1/2 year old kitty, Grover, passed away today.  It was very, very sudden - I had no idea he was sick until it was too late.

Now, I will be the first to say that I've never been a cat person.  I have always been a dog lover.  But, one day, I found this in my backyard.

How stinkin' cute!  His mother had him and 2 other kitties on my front porch.  After that day, she took them away and a few weeks later, he showed up in my backyard. I felt so bad for him - his momma and siblings left him behind.  I did find a home for him at first, but they weren't able to keep him, so after 2 weeks he came back to live with me.

What can I say?  I bonded with him pretty quickly.  It's hard not too when they are just so cute and playful.

And he could be a punk sometimes, but he was a very smart and good cat.  He loved when I would scratch and rub behind his ears or on his cheeks.  He would purr so loud and lean into to my hand.  And he made friends with my neighbors who loved him too.

RIP Grover - I'll miss you!

New Year's Shopping

My bff and I had our first outing 6 years ago on New Year's Day,  so we decided to spend this New Year's Day together by going to a movie, lunch, and a bit of shopping.  Corny - yes, but it was really just an excuse to get together.  :)   And by the way, we went to the 10:10am movie showing and wow - it was totally dead there.  When the movie let out by 12pm and we went to a restaurant - it was still really dead out.  I guess everyone was still sleeping away their New Year's hangover.

Just wanted to share some of my findings from shopping today...

I have been looking for one of these ceramic egg crates.  I saw them on a blog (can't remember which one) and thought it was a clever idea to put jewelry in for daily use - easy to grab and go.  There was a link to a site where it was, I think $12.  I didn't want to spend the money at the time, but had regretted not getting it.  I ended up seeing it online at Cost Plus World Market and for only $5.99!  I happened to be by the store today and they had 2 left in white.  Score!

Then,  I went to Joann to use a gift card I got for Christmas.  I bought some of the smaller letters (12 inch) for a project.  I originally was going to get the larger ones.  They were 23 1/2 inches - I decided they were way too big and I didn't think they were chunky enough.

Here are some cute mugs from Target.  I almost got this Rome one since I was just there and it happens to be in the blue/aqua color I love.  And that moped is too cute.  But, I don't drink coffee and rarely use mugs, so I didn't get it.  :(

This New York City one was cute too.  I've been there as well and love the coral color.  They also had a Miami and Paris one too.  I thought about getting the whole set, but I've never been to Paris (yet) and still couldn't justify getting them since I don't use mugs.  They were very hard to resist.

Another Target find - these canisters with chalkboard tags are so cool!  I love the lid colors and anything chalkboard is a bonus!  Didn't purchase these either, though.

It was a really good day and after being sick for 2 days, it was good to get out, but boy was I beat by the time I got home!  

Can't wait to start some new projects for the new year and see what everyone else has in store!

Happy New Year!

Here's to another year!

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Many wishes to you and your families for a wonderful new year!