"FREE" Disney Souvenirs

 

So I've been MIA from blogging. The holidays kept me busy, which carried into the new year and before I knew it it was time to pack for our long awaited Disney cruise-- which nicely leads into this post.

You know those souvenirs you buy on vacation- the overpriced, made in China stuff that end up in the junk pile 2 weeks after you come home? Well, I didn't want to buy any of those. Instead, we opted for two "free" souvenirs. I use the word free because they weren't things we bought while on vacation but rather things we took with us from home.

Now let me just say I didn't think of this myself, I saw several photos online of this idea and I am just sharing how ours turned out.

The first souvenir we got was an autographed photo mat.  I bought a white photo mat at Michael's ( I think it was around $5 with a coupon) and colored Sharpies. Immediately after boarding the ship, I took the mat and markers to Guest Services. I filled out a short form stating our stateroom number and who we wanted autographs from. I Think you can choose Princesses only, all characters, Mickey and Friends, only, etc.. We also included some candy for the characters as a thank you.

On the last night of our cruise, we had this waiting for us in our stateroom.

 

Cute, right? While it's not technically a free souvenir since I bought the mat and candy, I think it's still an awesome keepsake. Now I just have to decide which photo we want to frame.

 

Our next souvenir is truly free. Our kids received a Disney storybook collection for Christmas.

 

 

Instead of buying an autograph book, we had the characters sign the storybook during the meet and greets.

 

On a previous cruise, we had a scrapbook signed and filled it with photos after we came home.

 Next time, I'm thinking of bringing some ceramic mugs. There are tons of "free" souvenir ideas out there.

I hope this helps some travelers out there!

 

Milk & Cookies Wedding Buffet

 

Of all the sweets tables I've set up, this may just be my favorite one. Candy tables have been a staple at weddings for years, but there is just something nostalgic and just plain heartwarming about milk and cookies at the end of the night.

My friend Linda asked me to design this table for her wedding. She didn't want anything over the top. Just a nice display of cookies and mini cartons of milk.

The display included cookies from Costco's bakery, Oreos and some of Linda's favorite cookies from a local bakery ( lemon sandwich cookies, chocolate meringues, thumbprint, chocolate lace and checkerboard).

The hotel brought out mini cartons of milk and chocolate milk.

We opened the table around 9:15 p.m.which gave people on the dance floor a nice reason to rest their feet and have some milk and cookies.

Congratulations Linda & Rimon. It may be cliche but I'll say it anyway-- may your new life together be sweet!

more photos can be viewed on the facebook page.

Election Day books for kids

 

Did you vote today? As I write this, we are waiting for my husband to come home from work so we can go vote together. Sure, we could have mailed in our ballot but I think it's important for our children to see the process. We will be taking our kids to the polls so they can see first hand this wonderful privilege we have as Americans.

To explain this day in their language, I borrowed some books from the library. I think these were great choices to help introduce the concept of voting to our girls.

Our 1st grader read Clifford for President.

 A cute story about Clifford running for president of a dog park. 

 

Our 2nd grader read Elizabeth Leads the Way. There was a time in our country when women couldn't vote, and in some countries today, women are still not heard, so I felt it was important for my daughter to learn how important it is that we have the right to vote.

 

Who am I voting for? The winner, of course! :)

So, how did you get your kids involved in Election Day?