Sand Brush Fish Extender

This is another Fish Extender gift I am putting together for our cruise.  Disney Cruise Line is very serious about keeping as much sand off of the boat as possible, so they ask that you brush or rinse off before rejoining the ship.  I found several of these on Pinterest.  I grabbed some brushes at Home Depot.  2 in brushes (good for kiddos) are 98 cents each, while the 3 in brushes are $1.14 each.  I had some red acrylic paint (but a bottle will run you around 70 cents) and plenty of foam brushes.  You may have a few that need sanding, especially along the sides.  I did two coats, drying between.  Once dry, I used a hot glue gun to attach blue grosgrain polka dot ribbon to cover the metal band.  I chose to keep with the red, white & blue theme of the cruise line.  I stamped a Mickey head in Jet Black Staz-On and finished with a key fob on the handle for easy hanging.

I packaged them in cello bags and added a little poem I found on other pins.  They are attached to the bags with black baker's twine.  Thanks for looking!  April

Disney color palette book

I love the paint samples from the Glidden Disney line.  I also love that they are inspired by several Disney movies and I wanted to keep them together and close at hand for inspiration.  I decided to make a key ring style book.  I punched a hole in each page, as well as chipboard for the covers.  I covered them in scrap paper.  I also made dividers from scraps and vinyl for tabs.  Thanks for looking!  April

DVC member key chain

This is one of the little fish extender gifts I put together for our upcoming Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise.  I have these great Disney photopolymer stamps and it included the words "Disney" & "vacation" so I just had to improvise the last bit.  I used alphabet stamps to spell out "club" & "member".  I purchased the white Shrinky Dink plastic from Michael's, cut ovals from nestabilities, punched a hole for the key ring, then stamped Staz-On inks in Jet Black, Azure, and Blazing Red.  Once shrunk in the toaster oven, I used Crystal Effects (liquid glass or glossy accents) to coat the stamped area.  Once dry, I added jump rings and attached to the key ring.  I also used some leftover Mickey faces I had made into charms several years ago.
I put them in mini ziploc baggies, then mounted them on paint chip samples from the Disney line by Glidden featured at Walmart.

close up of shrinky dink

Thanks for looking!  April 

5 Minute Sympathy Card

It's sad that I find a need for so many sympathy cards lately.  I decided to make another stack so I wouldn't have to make more for some time.  These are super quick and easy, taking me all of 5 minutes to make 10 cards.  I stamped the medallion from Inkadinkado (on sale at Michael's this week!) in Smoky Slate.  The sentiment is stamped in Jet Black Staz-On using a SU Best of Greetings and the inside sentiment from Petite Pairs.  Last is to quickly pop a small pearl onto the center of the medallion.  Thanks for looking!  April

Mickey Mouse bracelets

So I am recycling a kids bracelet kit I had for several years.  It was technically a kids craft kit from a bookstore that I wore with the kids names.  I pulled off the stickers and cleaned off the plastic bobbles.  The little Mickeys are from...paint samples from Walmart!  I punched them out with a tiny Mickey icon punch, then cut off the ears, before attaching it to the bracelet base with liquid glass.  I put a small bead of liquid glass on top of the paint chip, then pressed the little bobble cap on top.  Now, I have a fun and colorful bracelet to wear on the cruise.  Thanks for looking!  April

Grape Soda Ellie Badge

My hubby and I are looking forward to going on the Disney Vacation Club Member's Cruise in August.  I wanted to make some fun swaps/fish extender gifts and this is the first...the Ellie Badge from Disney/Pixar's Up.

I purchased a 24 pack of bottle caps from Hobby Lobby (on sale, of course).  I used a nail to make holes in the cap.  With the large safety pin, I found about six bumps in the cap apart is enough to be able to thread the pin.  I found the Grape Soda graphics here and punched with my 1inch circle punch.  I used a little mod podge to attach to the bottle cap.  Once dry, I very used Liquid Glass to make a sealed, glossy cap.  The trick to it is to make a circle around the edge of the image, then fill.  Use the nozzle to drag liquid and be sure to not shake or suck much air into the bottle.  Once it sets up, about 24 hours, depending thickness, it is a hard glossy epoxy finish.  I found it easier to thread the pin first, using it to hold the cap in place while I covered the image.
Next, I found these great phone wallpaper images of the Up characters here.  I put them in a word doc and pushed them to the background.  I typed the sentiment on top, then printed nine cards per sheet on cardstock.  (It says: Congratulations!  I bestow upon you the highest honor for a fellow Adventurer...the Ellie Badge)  I cut them out and used a glue dot to attach pins and slipped them into mini zip baggies, ready to give.  Thanks for looking!  April

Disney's Up inspired SN@P album cover

This album is made to mimic Ellie's book from the Disney movie Up.  I love the whole story and we are a Disney-crazy family so it seemed like a truly appropriate book for my hubby and I to share our adventures.

I purchased a red SN@P album from Michael's.  It comes with three chipboard tabbed section dividers, a few coordinated sheets and clear divided photo pockets.  I picked up an extra set of photo pockets.  I will show what I did to the inside once the album is completed.  

After I set the included items aside, I used my Crop-a-dile Big Bite to punch the holes in the left side of the cover in the red section.  I used a couple of Mickey Mouse eyelets to fill the holes and then threaded the eyelets with thin parachute cord, tying a bow.  I used a little dab of liquid glass to keep the bow from moving around or untying.  I found this great distressed paper that kinda has an aged leather feel from Hobby Lobby in the specialty paper section.  I left around an inch on three of the sides, butting the fourth side up against the red binding, and attaching it with mod podge.  I papered the inside with a nice black print.  

After the paper was dry, I used a gold sharpie and a ruler to make the rectangle, then a roll of painter tape for the curves.  I used some scrap Early Espresso textured cardstock to make the corners.  I used Tim Holtz chipboard letters, colored with Stampin' Up craft inks, and the edges inked with Tim Holtz distress inks in Vintage Photo.  NOTE: craft inks take much longer to dry but are archival safe, so be patient, and don't the edges until the craft ink is thoroughly dry.  I attached the letters with liquid glass (AKA Crystal Effects, Dimensional Magic, Glossy Accents).  I found the western hemisphere online, punched out, attaching with tombow mono and a little bit of newsprint washi tape.  The finishing touch, a grape soda bottle cap embellishment.  (If you know the movie, it has a very special meaning!)

Thanks for looking!  April