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Big Hands, Celebrations, Crafts, Everyday Life

Mickey Top Hat Tree Topper

December 3, 2013December 3, 2013 chantelledoll

Creating a Mickey themed Christmas really hasn’t been that difficult given the amount of Mickey stuff already in our home. I loved Mickey when I was a kid and that certainly hasn’t changed as I’ve gotten older. For evidence, you need not look any further then my kids toy box or closets. With a boy and girl I think it is that much worse because I have reason to buy both the Mickey and Minnie versions of things!

I have slowly been adding Mickey and Minnie themed Christmas items to our main floor over the past week and it finally took until Friday for my husband to comment “I guess we’re going with a Mickey theme for Christmas, eh?”. I love that he rarely questions my obsession and was even willing to go so far as to go give me my dream wedding in Walt Disney World.

While in Disney World for our wedding and honeymoon, they had bride and groom themed mouse ears that I purchased. I wore my ears headband for most of our time in the parks, but the groom version was a bulky top hat and was too uncomfortable for my other half to really wear in the hot Florida heat. My bride ears got packed away in a box somewhere in the basement after our wedding, but the top hat has been sitting out on top of a shelf in our living room for the past several years.

While searching on pinterest for different tree topper ideas, I came across an image of a Santa Mickey top hat and was instantly reminded that we still had the groom hat sitting around. After trying it on my little tree, I decided it would make the perfect tree topper.

The hat looked good on the tree as it was, but I have a hard time not adding my own personal touch to things. To Doll it up and make it more festive, I simply added a strip of red ribbon and a poinsettia embellishment I found at the Dollar Store.

It’s a little quirky and different, and I love the way it finishes off our tiny tree.

Hooray for being able to repurpose things I already own!

Big Hands, Celebrations, Crafts

Salt Dough Mickey Snowman Ornaments

December 2, 2013December 2, 2013 chantelledoll

This year we have decided to keep our Christmas pretty scaled down in terms of decorating. After last Christmas, we nicely boxed up all our ornaments and Christmas décor thinking we would be moved into our new house by this point. We are still a good two months away from being in our new home, but we have made the decision not to pull out all the Christmas decorations and then have to box it back up when we’ll have enough other packing and organizing to do right after Christmas. I was originally disappointed by not being in our new home for Christmas and not getting a real tree like we normally do, but it has proved to be a bit of a fun challenge for me to come up with alternative cheap and simple solutions to decorate the house.

We have a 4 foot artificial tree I bought several years ago and we will be using that as our tree. I decided to make some quick Mickey shaped ornaments for it out of Christmas balls, and then things kind of snowballed from there with Mickey themed DIY projects throughout our main floor. This week I will be sharing with you what I have been up to and highlight a different Mickey themed Christmas project each day.

Today we have some relatively simple salt dough ornaments I created to hang on the tree alongside the large Mickey Balls. In my search for ornaments inspiration I came across these adorable Mickey snowman ornaments from busykidshappymom and thought they something simple I could recreate in salt dough.

I remembered I had bought a Mickey shaped cookie cutter about a year and a half ago with the intention of eventually doing a Mickey or Minnie themed birthday party for one of the kids. I have all kinds of Mickey party ideas pinned on pinterest, but there are just so many other fun themes to pick from that now I am not sure I will actually ever end up doing a Mickey or Minnie birthday party. I wasn’t originally planning an entire Mickey/Minnie themed Christmas, but it worked out nicely due to our circumstances and has been a good excuse to put some of those pinned ideas to use.

Salt D0ugh Recipe

1 part salt (1/2 cup)
1 part water (1/2 cup)
2 parts flour (1 cup)
A small bag of glitter to add some sparkle (optional)

To make the dough, I just dumped all the ingredients into my stand mixer bowl and used the dough hook to combine. They came together fairly easy with a bit of hand kneading afterwards, but my dough was a little dry and I ended up having to add more water.

Once the dough was made, I simply rolled it out with a rolling pin, and used my cookie cutter to cut out my Mickey Shapes. I then transferred the cut shapes to a cut sheet using a metal spatula, just as you would making sugar cookies.

For the ear hat portion, I used the same Mickey cutter and then used a circle cutter to cut off excess at the bottom. I decided to do them separately and not stick the two pieces of dough together at this point so painting the ears would be a little easier.

For the small snowman noses, I free shaped them from bits of the dough.

The final step with the dough was to put a hanging holes in each piece. I used a drinking straw and just poked through each head and set of ears to create a hole for my string to go through.

Once happy with my cut shapes, I put both pans of ornaments into a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven and let them slowly dehydrate for 2 hours.

Once dried and cooled, my next step was to paint the ear and nose pieces using acrylic craft paint, and then assemble each of my snowmen using hot glue. Most of my string holes lined up pretty well when stacking the pieces, but I did put the strings through before gluing so I wasn’t struggling to feed them through afterwards. Finally, I drew on the mouth and eyes with a small sharpie pen.

I also had some snowflake pieces I had cut out and baked so I gave those to my son and let him go to town on them with my sharpie markers while I was busy assembling my Mickey’s.

This was my first attempt with salt dough and it was so easy it is something I will definitely try again. If I were to make these same ornaments again, I would make the ear pieces a bit thinner, but overall I love the way they turned out. They look cute on my tree and it was a very inexpensive project using ingredients and supplies I already had on hand.

We’ve Got Ears!! Mickey Christmas Balls (dolledupdesign.wordpress.com)

Crafts, Everyday Life, Little Hands, Two Legged Fun

Letter to Santa – Free Printable

December 1, 2013October 27, 2015 chantelledoll

SONY DSC

It is December 1st and the countdown to Christmas has begun! We put our first cottonball on Santa’s beard this morning, hung our first ornament on our new Advent tree from Grandma, and then I decided it would be a good day to write and mail our letter to Santa.

To keep things simple, I used the same template I created last year for my playgroup kids to use to write their letter’s to Santa. They are all preschool aged, so this was a quick and easy way to get the letter’s written and let the kids have a bit of fun coloring a picture for Santa.

You can download pdf version of the Letter_to_Santa file here. Enjoy!

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

Pictures with Santa 2013

November 29, 2013November 29, 2013 chantelledoll

This week I took the kids to have our annual visit and photo’s with Santa. Keira wasn’t in much of a smiling mood, but I did snap some good pictures nonetheless. At least she wasn’t screaming her head off, right?

I keep seeing Santa pictures popping up on my facebook feed with fake-bearded Santa’s and I must say that I love how authentic looking this Santa is! He was also warm and friendly with the kids and patient while I snapped a hundred photos. This is our second year visiting this Mall Santa and I love that they allow you to take your own photos. For Camden’s first Christmas, I paid $15 for a single printed photo and was severely disappointed with it. They do ask for charitable donations to the Christmas Bureau, however, so I was happy to give my $20.

In the car on the way to see Santa, I asked my 3 year old what he was going to tell Santa he wanted for Christmas. His reply was “Maybe just everything”. I guess that would about cover it! Luckily he was a little less greedy when speaking to Santa and asked for “1 dino bot and a big Optimus Prime vehicle”.

I guess this “Santa” needs to work on hunting down that Rescue Bots toy…

Crafts, Little Hands

Kids Cottonball Christmas Countdown

November 25, 2013November 26, 2013 chantelledoll

I am planning to do this craft with our playgroup at the beginning of December, but my 3 year old son saw me working on the digital file today and couldn’t wait to color his Santa. He did such a good job coloring I decided we might as well finish off the project this afternoon and have it hung and ready to start adding the cotton balls December 1st. I am sharing today so you can hopefully do the same with your kids.

I always had a chocolate advent calendar growing up, but have resisted the urge to buy the kids one this year. The chocolate is always pretty crappy in them and the last thing my kids really need is more treats. I loved the simplicity of this one when I found it on pinterest. It is cheap, easy, and interactive for the little guys. Plus, I am hoping it will help with counting as we work our way up to December 24th.

Supplies

Printer
White Cardstock
Crayons
Scotch Tape or Stapler
24 Cotton Balls (I used 12 and cut them in half)
Double sided tape or glue

1. Open the CottonballChristmasCountdown_DolledUpDesign file and print both pages on white cardstock or heavy paper. The original Santa image was found on kidsdomain.com.

2. Have your child color the Santa image using crayons or felt markers.

3. Fold the “Christmas Countdown” page along the fold line and staple or tape the sides shut to create a pocket.

4. Staple or tape the pocket portion to the bottom of the Santa picture.

5. Count out 24 cotton balls and put them in the pocket.

6. Beginning December 1st, put one cotton ball each day on the circle’s on Santa’s beard using glue or double sided tape.

Big Hands, Crafts

We’ve Got Ears!! Mickey Christmas Balls

November 23, 2013March 28, 2017 chantelledoll

SONY DSC

It isn’t much of a secret that I love all things Mickey. I first saw these Mickey Christmas balls in the Christmas Store at Downtown Disney on our honeymoon and instantly fell in love. They were a bit pricy, breakable and I was short on suitcase space so I didn’t end up buying any at the time. Since then I have found tutorials online how to DIY and have been meaning to make them for the past several years, but never gotten around to it. This year I finally bought the supplies (Dollar store, of course!) and they were way easier to make then I could have ever imagined. I can’t wait to see them hanging on our tiny 4 foot Christmas tree! Continue reading “We’ve Got Ears!! Mickey Christmas Balls” →

Recipes, Savory

What’s For Dinner? Bruschetta Chicken Bake

November 22, 2013November 22, 2013 chantelledoll

Thursday nights are curling nights for my husband. He alternates weekly between the early and late draw and, on the early nights, I need to have dinner cooked and ready for him to eat and head right back out the door. 5:00 always seems to be when my kids are at their absolute worst so I need quick, easy recipes that require very little watching. Bonus if it is something I can prep while the baby naps and then just throw it into the oven!

I discovered this recipe one night when I had no idea what to make for dinner. After staring into the pantry for inspiration, I eventually pulled a box of Stove Top stuffing down from the shelves and was happy to discover a recipe on the back of the box with ingredients I already had in the house. It came together so quickly (prep time is 10 minutes) and was a lot tastier then I expected. I think it is one of the easiest things I make and is my go to when I am feeling particularly lazy and don’t want to cook.

Ingredients

1 can (540mL) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 package Stove Top Stuffing Mix (I use the lower sodium version)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine tomatoes, stuffing mix and garlic in bowl and mix together.
Cut chicken breasts into bite sized cubes and layer in the bottom of an oven safe baking dish.
Sprinkle chicken with dried basil and shredded cheese.
Top with stuffing mixture.
Bake 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Serve with steamed veggies and enjoy!

Doll House, Our Forever Home

Finished, but not Finished

November 19, 2013 chantelledoll

It has been awhile since I shared any photos or updated on the progress of our new house. I am enjoying seeing all the pieces come together and so far we are really happy with our selections, but it is certainly an exercise in patience waiting to see the completed product. Unfortunately on our last visit the painters were just starting to tape and prepare for painting so I wasn’t able to get many great photos, but I figured it was still worth posting.

The finisher seems to have completed his work installing the baseboards, molding, doors and closet shelving. My husband picked the baseboards and doors and I think he did pretty good. For the molding and headers, we went very simple and clean.

I was hoping to get some better shots of our interior door style, but they had been removed by the painters along with the shelving the finisher built out in several of our closets.

Speaking of closet shelving, we ended up drastically reducing the finishers work in that area by making the decision to install some of the closet systems on our own. We looked at different solutions, but in the end settled on the Ikea PAX system because we liked the way it looked and it seemed to be the most economical. It was all 15% off in September so we decided to pick it up then and store it in the in-laws garage until our house is ready. It was a long shopping trip that involved pushing 4 heavy cartloads through Ikea, juggling two overtired kids, putting thousands of dollars on the credit card and then needing two full sized SUV’s to move it all. Hopefully the pretty walk-in closet will make it all worth it in the end.

Elsewhere in the house, the glass panels have also been installed in the railings. The maple railing is finished beautifully and I love the sleek, modern look with the glass. I know I will curse the decision everytime I have to clean little fingerpints off the glass, but since we plan to be in the house long term, I won’t always be cleaning off toddler handprints.

The countertop has finally gone in in my laundry room and I should be more excited to tell you that the granite is in in my kitchen. The granite is beautiful, but we are currently struggling with some issues on the kitchen island that are overshadowing my feelings of excitement I should have for the granite. The builder is working with us to find a good solution so I will devote an entire picture filled post to the granite and my kitchen island once we have it that way we want it. We figure if we are going to be stuck looking at it for the next 30 years, we really want to get it right now!

So now to wait for the painting to get done and then hopefully we will get to start seeing some of the other fun stuff like hardwood, tile and lighting going into the house!

Everyday Life, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: Bailey’s in my morning coffee

November 15, 2013 chantelledoll

I managed to make it through a 4 year university degree without developing a coffee habit. I didn’t really care for the taste and didn’t end up needing it to fuel any all nighters – perhaps I could have studied a bit harder.

The Christmas before we had my son, I bought my husband a mini Kuerig coffee maker as part of a baby survival themed gift to him. He was a coffee drinker so it was initially bought for him, but it turns out that I get far more use out of it now. I never was completely turned off by coffee, enjoying the occasionally fancy coffee drink from Starbucks or Second Cup, and quickly discovered that with some flavored creamer my coffee at home could be just as tasty.

I enjoy trying the different flavored creamers and get excited when I see something new in the grocery store – like the Bailey’s Irish Cream flavored line of creamers. I discovered them a few months ago and in my excitement bought all 3 flavors to try – Hazelnut, French Vanilla, and Original Irish Cream. They are all really good, but I think I prefer the original so that’s what is currently in our fridge.

I have gone from being a non-coffee drinker to having a once a day habit. Late nights and early mornings with kids will do that to you! I now look forward to my morning cup of coffee during my hectic mornings with the kids and some mornings will even get up a wee bit earlier then the kids so I can sit and enjoy it in peace while it is still hot.

Thank you Mr.Coffee and Bailey’s!

Recipes, Savory

What’s For Dinner? Sweet Chicken

November 12, 2013 chantelledoll

One of the best wedding presents I received was a lovely recipe book my mom compiled of all our favorite family recipes. I know it took a lot of time for her to type up and put together and I am thankful to have all the tried and true recipes I enjoy from my childhood. I have added my own recipes to it over the past couple years, but there are still a lot of the originals I come back to time and time again.

Last night I decided to make the sweet chicken that was included in our books. It is a simple recipe that consists of chicken baked in a combination of honey and soya sauce, and proves that sometimes simple is best. The sauce is a lot like a teriyaki and I enjoy it best served over rice to soak up the extra sauce. With a steamed veggie on the side, it makes for a quick meal that both the adult and child family members of my family enjoy – the dogs seemed pretty pleased with the kids leftovers too!