Absentee

Well, once again I've been MIA.  I think I am just very easily distracted.  I have grand plans of blogging every day, or at least once a week, and then I forget.  Maybe I just don't have very many exciting things going on in my life, or interesting crafts that I'm making, or yummy foods that I'm cooking, to blog about.  Well, that needs to change!  I am making a prediction that I will be on here once a week from now until the end of November.  Surely there must be a reason, and there is.  WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!  Do I really need to say anything more?  There are many people out there, including my husband, who do not understand the draw to this magical wonderland, but there is an entire subculture of us who do.  I know that going to Disney isn't relaxing, and that you need a vacation to recover from your Disney vacation, but there's just something about the place.  Maybe it's the chance to throw yourself into a fantasy world, helping you escape reality and the stresses that go hand in hand with every day life.  Most little girls want to be a Princess when they grow up, and I was no different.  At Disney World, I CAN be a princess.  I can even wear a tiara, or blinged out Mickey Mouse ears, and NOBODY stares at me strangely.  In fact, I'm much more likely to get a smile or a compliment than an odd look. How awesome is that!?  Anyway, we are going and I'm extremely excited.  And, I'm planning....

My husband often asks me, "Can't we just skip all of this planning and just go and see what each day holds for us?"  Um... NO.  If we were able to go to Disney often, that might be an option, but it's not a place that our bank account smiles upon, so our trips are few and far between.  So yes, I will plan.  :D

Planning has begun, including making Tshirts a Countdown Calendar for the wee one, and Disney Tshirts for us ALL.  Yes, hubby will be sporting some homemade Tshirts as well.  Though he isn't thrilled about it! :D  Of course whatever crafts I end up making, I will share with you.  I'd love to take credit for all of the ideas, but more than likely I have found the ideas on Pinterest (love that site!).

So let's begin...  First, I have begun making some Tshirts.  My oldest daughter is VERY crafty, so we thought that we'd try our hand at some Mickey Head Tye Dye Tshirts.  I found the instructions on a Disney site that I frequent, called The Dis.  You can just follow the link above :)  Ultimately, though we really would like to make them, we have opted not to give them a go.. mainly due to time and $$.  The Tshirts I have decided to make are simple iron on transfers.  There are many images that you can find online that you can turn into an iron on transfer for your tshirts.  However, I purchased a few "Mickey Heads" on Etsy.  Go visit Michelle at Swirly Color Pixels on Etsy.  Her designs are the best I've found, and every single one I purchased from her printed AMAZINGLY.  Colors are vibrant and wonderful.   Here are some examples of the shirts I've made so far (I still have many to do):

These Mickey & Minnie Thanksgiving images were created especially for me.  Michelle at Swirly Color Pixels will work with you to make the perfect custom graphic!  Don't worry though, she also has a bunch of Disney creations already made and ready for purchase.  They are all very clever and cute!

Now for the question, "How did you do that?"  Well, first you download the graphic.  Then you have to get the image from your computer to an iron on transfer sheet.  I HIGHLY suggest using Avery transfer sheets for Dark Shirts.  The transfer sheets for Dark shirts hold the color much better, and print much more vibrantly.  I have an example in the picture below.  When I went to print this Mike W image on a black shirt, I had run out of the dark transfers.  So, I used a regular transfer sheet for the image.  I had to redo it on a transfer sheet for dark shirts, for you can see that the regular sheet barely showed up.  If you like the 'vintage' look, then go for it!  But we wanted bright colors :)

Avery's website has a very useful tool to aide you in the whole process.  Follow the directions that come with the transfer sheets, and it will explain everything to you.  Happy ironing :)