Confessions of a Not So Crafty Momma.

When you are busy planning your Walt Disney World vacation, it can be helpful to make lists of things that you’ll need! I make a list of where I want to eat, what I want to ride, and what I need to buy before our trip. Today, I am going to share ten things that you should consider buying before your trip!

**This post contains affiliate links. We may get a small commission, at no additional cost to you, for purchases made from our links. All opinions expressed are our own.**

Sunscreen

Sunscreen is important all year round in Flordia. You can purchase it on Disney property, but it will cost a lot more than it will if you just bring it with you.

Hand Sanitizer

Disney World is a very clean place, but there a lot of visitors, so it is easy to pick up germs!

Sunglasses

A cheap pair of sunglasses will work great for your Disney World trip. That way, if you lose them somehow, you won’t be upset. If you are prone to loosing sunglasses, you may want to pack a few pairs!

Gum

You cannot buy gum on Disney property. So if you want it on your trip, you will have to bring it!

Your Tickets

If you are staying on property, you probably bought a package that includes tickets. If you are not, then you may be considering just buying your tickets the day you get to the parks. Do not do this! Visitors that are staying off property can book fast passes 30 days in advance if you have your tickets.

Portable Phone Charger

Between the My Disney Experience App, taking pictures, and killing time in lines, your phone may need charged more often than usual. A portable charger will come in handy. They do sell Fuel Rods on Disney property, but since their charging power is limited, there are definitely better options available to buy!

Souvenirs

Disney World has so many things you can buy! We encourage you to buy some of those things, but it is also fun to buy things before hand and surprise your children with them. On our last trip, one of us put a surprise on the bed before the rest of us entered several times throughout the week. We told our daughter they were gifts from Mickey!

Gift Cards

You can buy discounted gift cards at several retail stores. We have bought them at Target and Sams Club. We took these gift cards to use instead of cash.

Ponchos

It rains a lot in Flordia! If you do not bring ponchos, you may be stuck paying almost $10 each for them in the parks.

Disney Themed Clothing

A visit to Disney World is a wonderful, immersive experience. One way to get the most of your trip is to wear Disney related clothes. For extra magic, if your child is wearing a character themed outfit, make sure you meet that character!

I hope this list is helpful! When you go to on vacation, what do you buy in advance?

It is officially December! That means it is time for our first Christmas craft of 2019. To kick things off, we made a super fun ugly Christmas sweater! This activity is great for kids from two to six and can be done at home or in a classroom. This is very much an open ended activity, so I will list the materials that we used, but you can use anything you have laying around the house.

Materials Used

• Construction Paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Tinsel
• Crinkle Paper
• Pom-Poms

I started by letting my toddler pick out the color she wanted her sweater to be. Next, I drew and cut out a sweater like shape. It took me two tries to get something that looked anything like a sweater.

After it was cut, I helped my toddler put glue all over the sweater shape. Next, she got to work gluing on the assorted craft supplies.

The end result was a perfect ugly Christmas sweater!

If you like this craft, please share it with a friend!

Thanksgiving is almost here! Each November, many people take time to reflect on all the things they have in life, instead of dwelling on the things that they do not have. Today, I wanted to share some of the things I am thankful for right now!

Family and Friends

I seriously have the best family and friends! My husband works long days and still always finds at least a little time to help me make this blog happen. My daughter makes every day an adventure. She is also the inspiration behind this blog! My parents are amazing grandparents to my little one and are always willing us to help in any way they can. My friends are always willing to let me bounce ideas for the blog off of them and are always there to just listen when I need to talk!

Cooler Weather

This year, it was hot for longer than it usually is where we live. We did not see typical fall weather until late October. I don’t love really cold weather and snow, but I was ready for crisp fall weather to come.

My Home

I am thankful to have a place to call my own. We have lived in our home for about over 11 years now and although there are many things about it I can’t stand, I know that home ownership is not something everyone gets to experience.

My Readers and Followers

When I came up with the idea for this blog, I wasn’t sure anyone would actually read it. The response to my posts has been better than I could ever have imagined. At this time last year, we had around three hundred visitors a month. Currently, we reach over a thousand visitors each month. If you are reading this, I’m extremely thankful that you choose to spend some of your free time on this site!

Access to Food and Clean Water

It can be so easy to forget that not everyone has regular access to food and clean water. I am thankful that we do not struggle to fill our fridge. We try to pay it forward by donating to others who may not have that ability!

Every Sunrise and Sunset

I am thankful for both the beginning and the end of every day. The beginning is a new start and the end brings time to rest and recharge.

I’d love to hear from you! What are you thankful for right now?

As an adult, I look forward to a nice relaxing bath. However, children are not always as excited for bath time. One way to make bath time more fun is to offer fun bath products!

**This post is sponsored by Dresdner Essenz. All opinions expressed are our own.**

The Dirty Birdie product line by Dresdner Essenz offers natural and cruelty free bubble bath and bath salts specifically designed for children ages three and up. Our family was able to try the Fruity Tangerine bubble bath, Exotic Fruits Bath Crackles, Thyme-Peppermint Scented Bath, and some seasonal bath salts. We also were sent some samples of Dresdner Essenz Detox Body Lotion. The lotion can be used by both kids and adults. To be honest, if your anything like me, you’ll be sneaking a late night bath with the amazing bubble bath as well!

The bath time fun will start before you open these products. The brightly colored packaging even looks really fun. Once the products are open, they smell amazing! The bubble bath produces the perfect amount of bubbles and the bath crackles will entertain little ones with crackling and snapping sounds.

Not only will these products have your kids begging to take a bath, but you can feel good about using them in your home! While these products are fairly new to the United States, Dresdner Essenz is an established company in Europe. The Dirty Birdie line of products carry the NATRUE seal of approval. This means they contain no Parabens, Sodium Laureth Sulfate or PEGs. The affordable prices allow you to buy these natural products without breaking your budget!

If you’ve gotten a chance to try out any of these products already, please let us know how you liked them! If you have not, what are you waiting on? You can order through their website!

There are a lot of first aid kits on the market, but we recently got the Mini First Aid Kit from SUMPRI and after taking some time to look at the contents, we have to say, it is a wonderful choice for your next first aid kit!

**We were given a discount on this product in order to review it. All opinions are ours. We were not directly financially compensated for this review.**

The first thing I noticed about this first aid kit was the small size. I was a bit curious about how the advertised 80 pieces could fit into such a small case, but when I opened up the kit, I could see that it was packed full of useful things! It weighs only 0.35 pound, but contains a burn gel pack, alcohol pads, antiseptic cleaning wipes, iodine wipes, bandages, tweezers, emergency whistle, gauze, a tourniquet and more!

Besides all of the first aid supplies, SUMPRI also includes instructional information that could be very useful in an emergency.

To see more of the contents of the first aid kit, check out this video!

This first is a wonderful choice for your car, house, or garage!

You can get one of for yourself here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TC7B26G

November is half way over! Thanksgiving will be here soon. Last week, we shared a paper turkey that is great for little ones. Today, we want to share a writing craftivity that is perfect for older kids from ages six to twelve. Since we do not have a child in that age range, my toddler helped me create a sample turkey, but this activity is designed for older children. This activity would likely work best in a classroom or after school program setting, but can definitely be done at home as well.

Materials Needed

• Construction Paper (We used brown for the body, orange for the feet, and I let my toddler pick out the background color and the feather colors.)
• Glue
• Scissors
• A Marker or Colored Pencil

The prep work for this is pretty easy. First draw feathers and then two turkey feet like shapes to be cut out.

Once those are cut out, ask the child or children to think about what they are thankful for. Next, have them write it on the brown paper. If you are working with a child or children who has not mastered writing small, you will want to have them write the words first and then cut out a turkey-ish shape around the words. For children who are towards the older end of the suggested age of this activity, you can have them cut out a turkey shape and then write on it afterwards.

Next, it is time to assemble the turkey! We started by gluing on the body, then the feathers. After that was done, we flipped it over and glued on the feet.

This craftivity will only take about 15 minutes, but it is a wonderful Thanksgiving activity for children that are too old for the toddler and preschool crafts that we often share. If you’d like to go one step further, you could also laminate this so that it could be used as a Thanksgiving day placemat!

If you like this craftivity, please share it with a friend!