Works Of Heart - A Bit Of Disney Magic In Our Home

Every now and again you discover something amazing. Something that you know you will love and you will want to treasure forever.

It's like this a lot of the time when MC brings home her artwork from school or sits down to draw something at home. She loves drawing and I have a large folder full of her work that I just have to keep.

The thing is, apart from the ones I display on our 'This week at school' board and the ones I have framed in the play room, they do just that, they sit in a folder never really to see the light of day.

This makes me sad.

Luckily my wonderful artist friend Minty has created something very special that every parent of young children should know about. I remember Minty testing the idea on Facebook and quite a few of us thought it was wonderful….

Take a piece of your children's precious artwork and bring it to life!

How amazing does that sound?

Well, wait until you see the actual work from 'Works Of Heart'. It's even more amazing.

Minty has a very special creative talent. She didn't demand I wrote this blog post but her work deserves to be shared.

As soon as I saw Minty's new 'Works Of Heart'' venture I knew immediately which piece of artwork that I wanted re-created. Regular readers of my blog will know how much we adore Orlando, Florida and our love for The Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World. We first went in 2012 when I was heavily pregnant - it was meant to be a last big holiday before or baby boy was born. We loved it so much we returned in 2013 with a 4 year old and a 13 month old and we are going back next year too. We are all completely hooked.

MC often draws pictures of Disney characters and earlier this year she drew Mickey and Minnie Mouse and I loved it.

One wall in our dining room was still blank. Awaiting the perfect picture or photo to sit opposite the family gallery on the other wall. I wanted Minty to re-create MC's Disney picture larger than the original so I asked for A3.

I sent over a digital photo of MC's creation and simply told Minty that I wanted it to show our love for Walt Disney World, Florida. That was it. She did the rest.

What I received was beautiful.

You can't really tell from the photograph of the artwork but Mickey and Minnie, all the flags and hearts actually stand out from the background. There is also so much sparkle on the artwork too and I love the fact Cinderella's Castle is the backdrop. It's amazing and I love it so much.

I knew I wanted to pay to have it professionally framed immediately. I took both MC's and Minty's artwork to the framers and they said it was incredible - asking who had done it. The framer put a large mount around it and, with some left over paint from our kitchen and dining room, painted the perfect frame. He even mounted MC's original drawing on the back so the two will always be together and I want to pass this picture down through the family over the years.

It looks absolutely amazing - far better than the photographs show.

It's now a fantastic talking point over dinner in our house!

Please head over to Minty's Works Of Heart Facebook page and see all the other incredible children's artwork she has recreated.

Please contact Minty at Works Of Heart for all size options and prices

Mini Cheddar's Minnie Mouse Themed Party!

I've never thrown a big party for the kids at home. Although we had family (and a couple of close friends) over when she turned 1 she didn't have her first proper party until last March when she turned 4.

This year, what with the school issue, I wanted her to have a special party. I asked her if she would like a huge soft play party for all her school friends and some others like she had last year but she said she wanted family and some friends at home. Now we've moved house we have a lot more room and our kitchen is large and great for social gatherings so I figured why not?

"What sort of party would you like?" I asked her only a couple of weeks before her birthday (Last Minute Lucas!).

"Minnie Mouse!" she grinned.

I repeat….I've not thrown a big party for the kids at home… never mind a themed party!

I could do this I said to myself. After all, I'd been to two great themed parties at Susanne's house over the past few months.

I Googled some ideas and created some of my own too and within a couple of hours I had a plan of attack.

The Minnie Mouse themed party was on!

I simply invited family and friends in person, via text or Facebook rather than send invites out so that saved me a job straight away *wipes brow*

Next I decided that I wanted to make the cake. Not only had I not thrown a party for the kids before but I hadn't baked them a cake myself before. I know! I know! Mummy failure but, in my defence, I hadn't had the right tools. Matt bought me a KitchenAid mixer for my birthday last year and I adore it - and baking.

I set off Googling recipes and decided on adapting a recipe from Sweetapolita (if you haven't discovered Rosie before then go check out her amazing delicious recipes) which I liked the sound of. I did consider trying to construct some sort of Minnie Mouse decoration for the cake myself but having never worked with fondant icing or anything like that I was reluctant to let MC's birthday be the guinea pig. So, I admit it, I bought a bow and ears already made from eBay. BUT the cake itself was all homemade by my own fair hand and my awesome Sister as my sous-chef for the day.

The cake was delicious. Everyone commented on how lovely it was. It wasn't the best looking cake. I've never piped icing before and I have never frosted either - I actually had to borrow a cake palette knife from my neighbour - but I was impressed with our awesome work for beginners. I have since learnt that trying to frost a cake with your neighbours large old palette knife is seriously hard work. You'll be pleased to know I've now invested in a new small one and it will be having it's first outing on Thursday in readiness for TC's 2nd Birthday on this Friday.

The food for the party was easy. The Internet was awash with ideas and some I made up myself.

I'd bought some rice paper cupcake decorations that were personalised with MC's name and age but instead of using these on the cupcakes I baked, I cut them out and stuck them to some pink card I made into little tents. They were perfect for writing the food descriptions on and everyone thought they were fantastic. The food I prepared (with help from my sister again on the morning of the party) was really simple to do. A lot of it was just pre-bought things and the rest were simple things to make but the food cards made it all so much more special.


So here's the 'Minnie Mouse' theme menu (the ones I can remember!):

• Hot Diggity Dogs - mini frankfurters in finger rolls (cut in half)
• Donald's Cheese & Quackers - selection of BabyBel, Cheese Sticks etc, with cheese biscuits
• Minnie's Bow Pasta - farfalle tricolore pasta
• Mickey's Sandwiches - a selection of filled sandwiches cut with a Mickey cookie cutter
• Pete's Popcorn - Butterkist popcorn and salted popcorn
• Minnie's Mallows - heart-shaped pink and white marshmallows
• Clarabelle's Cheese Puffs - bowl of cheese puff crisps
• Daisy's Garden Veggie's - cut carrot, cucumber and mini breadsticks
• Chip's n Dale's Dips - Pringles with some dips
• Boo Boo Chicken Nuggets - breaded chicken nuggets

There were more adults than kids at the party so I also prepared an absolute huge pot of chilli con carne and rice and also made some barbecue pulled pork and hot rolls. These were wolfed down by everyone.  

In fact, all the food went down a treat! I'd got a small kiddies picnic table and set it up in the kitchen for the really small ones to eat at and it was perfect.

Better than the food and the cake was the 'Decorate Your Own Cookie Station'.

It wasn't much to look at but it was a high hit!

The kids all loved it. 

I made 12 large Mickey shaped cookies the day before the party with the largest Mickey cookie cutter I had. I wish I'd made more as I got asked later in the party if there were any more cookies. How bad did I feel?

I had put a small table in the corner of the dining room and bought some different decorations and put them in bowls along with icing writing tubes in different colours. The kids could then go and decorate a cookie (and make a big mess). It was brilliant and they all loved it.  

I'd highly recommend this for ANY kids party. If it's not themed you could just make simple round shaped cookies and do the same. It's a good alternative to your usual party game and keeps the kids very entertained.

I did organise one party game though... 

'Pin The Bow On Minnie'.

I had got some large black card and some pink card and made a Minnie silhouette. I used a large pizza tray to draw around for the head and a plate to draw around for two ears in black. I then cut out lots of bow shapes in the pink card and wrote all the kids names on them. The bows had a blob of Blu-Tack on them, the kids were blindfolded and turned then asked to 'pin the bow on Minnie'. The closest named bow won. Simple! The kids seemed to enjoy it. 

In addition to the usual balloons and banners which were shop bought, I also made up some simple Minnie decorations which I hung from the ceiling in the lounge and the dining room. I bought a couple of the round pink VISIONAR decorations from Ikea (I have since seen them cheaper in supermarkets) and cut out some smaller black circles from card and simply stuck them in. The result was perfect for a Minnie Mouse party!

So, that was it in a nutshell.

Would I host another themed party at the house?

You betcha! I loved it.

#SilentSunday 98

Silent Sunday #55

Inspired by...

If Only I Hadn't Picked Up That DVD

Picture the scene.

It's December 2010 and we are staying in an apartment in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. Mini Cheddar is 20 months old and there's a huge winter blizzard blowing outside - we can see the snow rising on the French doors. We just want to cuddle up and watch a DVD together so rummaging through them I find something suitable that I think MC will enjoy - Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas. It's almost Christmas so why not?

That was it. That was the start of the obsession with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  MC loved the DVD!

When we returned home we realised there was a young Disney Channel on Sky called Playhouse Disney (now known as Disney Junior) and episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse filled our TV screen. She was hooked. Cbeebies was cast aside and replaced by the Disney empire.

Then we made the mistake of introducing her to our local Disney Store. Seeing her face light up with the characters was just heart-warming. Birthday, Christmas and general presents began to have a Disney theme and soon MC's love for Minnie Mouse became apparent. 

If only I hadn't picked up that DVD. 

We would have saved a lot of money.

Yes but if I hadn't picked up that DVD we wouldn't have gotten to experience the pure joy of the last 15 months of MC's admiration for Disney.

Matt would never had made the suggestion that we had a last blow-out holiday before the new baby arrives and we would never have gone to Walt Disney World.

Yes, we would have saved A LOT of money. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Disney rocks!

And so does my daughter. 

Silent Sunday #51

Inspired by...

Silent Sunday #48

Inspired by...

Pregnancy Patter - 28 and 30 Weeks...The Disney World Edition

Last time I wrote an update was just after Christmas when I was 26 weeks so I've missed 2 whole updates. I'm 31 weeks today so I thought I'd better get back on track ready for the 32 week mark next week.

As you all know we spent from the 4th January to 25th January in Orlando, Florida. To say it was an amazing holiday would be a bit of an understatement if I'm honest. We all loved it. 3 weeks of pure happiness (apart from Mini Cheddar being really poorly for a couple days - and costing us $360) and not one of us wanted to come home. I would urge anyone and everyone to get there at least once in their lifetime, it really is the most magical place ever...and amazing weather to boot. What's not to love?

I have to admit, I was a little bit apprehensive about travelling so far when so heavily pregnant. When I was pregnant with MC I had severe swollen feet and ankles (aka cankles) in the last month or so. Therefore I was terrified of the 9 hour flight. I needn't have worried though, my Boots flight socks did me proud. No swelling at all! It helped that Matt had upgraded us on the flight so we had huge leather seats, bags of leg room, endless drinks (orange and water for me *sob*) and so on. It really was the most comfortable flight to the US I've ever experienced and a great start to the holiday.

The only pregnancy problem I experienced on holiday was when we landed. Those of you who have travelled to the US will know how hard the immigration people can be at the airport. The US is a tough country to get into, not just to live but to visit. Waiting in line I could see the official had already clocked I was pregnant so I was prepared for the worst. The grilling I received was so bad though, at one point I was scared he was going to refuse me entry. I think in the end he saw the look of panic on my face so he went easy on me and said "Don't worry ma'am, I'm just doing my job" and then smiled a little - very rare for someone in US immigration...or it could have been wind! Yeah, probably wind.

I was still able to enjoy the holiday to the max, despite being pregnant. Of course there were rides that I couldn't go on but I did the main Magic Kingdom rides at Disney Land, Paris many moons ago. The only ones I would have loved to go on were Test Track at EPCOT (Matt did ride this alone and loved it), The Tower Of Terror at Hollywood Studios and Kraken at SeaWorld (Matt was too much of a scaredy-cat to ride). Next time though - yes, we already have plans to go back!

I went away with a bumper 72 pack of Rennie. I had been getting heartburn quite bad before I went and I know the food in the US is immense so I was well prepared. I think I used about 8 tablets. I think the US food agrees with my pregnancy more than the food in the UK.

My bump has grown a lot over the time I've been away. I was watching videos from the holiday earlier today and you really can see the difference as the weeks pass. I'm getting really strong movement now, so much so that I can easily freak people out by asking them to watch my belly. This baby moves a lot more than MC did and I thought she moved lots. If I put a hand on my stomach the baby will kick or punch it off - needless to say I almost lost a sandwich the other day after resting my plate on it!

I was due to have a GTT at the hospital the day after we got back but I felt terrible with a cold I picked up just before we left Orlando - add onto that severe jet lag (I got about 10 minutes of sleep on the night flight home, I was a wreck!) so I cancelled it. I need to reschedule it as it was due at 28 weeks! Oops.

I have a routine midwife appointment tomorrow and then my consultant appointment is 21st February which is when I'll find out if it's another section or a VBAC. I can't believe it's only 9 weeks until my due date - exciting times!

So, those of you who have been following my updates will remember I have twice promised a bump picture. Not wanting to disappoint again, here is me (with a couple of my new friends). They actually patted my bump after this picture was taken.

Silent Sunday #45

 

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