I honestly can't even believe that we are heading to Disney in a little over a month! For us, it really wasn't financially feasible but when friends say, "lets rent some houses in Orlando for the week," you know it's not an everyday occurrence and you want to make those memories, so you make it happen! Life is too short not to in my opinion. And honestly, my kids have been through hell this year and deserve a break! And so do we. Gavin's eosinophilic esophagitis diagnosis last year at Christmas turned our world around. His food restrictions are so strict that only the magical chefs at Disney can make it an amazing experience food wise for him as well as everyone else.
So, long story short...we're headed to Disney! We're going the first week of December so there was no way we could pull off Disney and Christmas so Santa is coming early this year! On the morning that we wake up, there will be gifts under the tree and notes from Santa with our surprise. They each will get tote bags with a simple iron on stating "this kid is going to Disney World." There are reservations made on our last night there for Minnie's Magical Christmas Dinner and VIP tickets to the Fantasmic show. I want to make Christmas memories so that when they wake up on actual Christmas and have scrapbooks of their pictures, they are still excited! I also want to be that silly family with matching shirts! There are a ton of cute ones on Etsy and through the internet but we don't have extra funds right now for that kind of stuff so I decided to make our own. Now I warn you...I am the Pinterest Fail Queen so even starting these projects was scary. But they worked!!! So that means that I need to share with you how super simple it was, because I promise you can do it too!
Bleach Mickey Zip Up Hoodies
All you need for this one is a colored sweatshirt, a spray bottle and some bleach. I went with zip up ones because I figured they could act as coats and last the whole week. I also chose black because it goes with everything! I would definitely recommend a dark color. You could also use tee shirts too.
I must have deleted my pictures of this whole project in process but I promise you can figure it out!
1. Find a mickey silhouette online to print out. I just searched "Mickey ear silhouette" to find this one and printed different sizes on card stock.
2. Prepare your bleach spray bottle with Bleach/water solution.
3. Place the mickey cut out on the area where you would like to see the Mickey head and lightly spray around it. ***You do not want to saturate it, don't even do a full spray. I used like little squirts after I learned this lesson the hard way on sweatshirt number one.
4. I made symbols on the front and back. For the boys, I just did a larger Mickey on the back, centered. For the girls, I used a smaller one in the corner and sprayed up towards the shoulder for effect.
5. Once they dried, I washed them in cold water, dried them, and hid them until we are ready to go!
Next project is for our "Christmas dinner" date with Mickey and Minnie. These are our matching family tees and I love them!!! My only downfall was that I did not use soda wash so make sure you get some. Now for this one, I actually save the step by step pics so I hope they help.
Tye Die Mickey tees
Step 1: Cut out a Mickey template or find cups and bowls to trace Mickey's head onto your tee shirt.
Step 2: Use a needle and dental floss to sew a basting stitch around the mickey head. Do NOT tie off at the end.
Step 3: Holding the beginning stitch, pull the other end together to scrunch up your Mickey head, keeping the fabric of the mickey to the front of the shirt and tie the ends together.
Step 4: This is where I should have used soda ash to keep the colors bright but I just wet the fabric with water instead.
Step 5: Rubber band directly behind the Mickey head where the floss is bunched. Then, holding the Mickey section, turn the head to get the shirt the roll up into a cinnamon bun looking shape.
Step 6: Rubber band the remainder of the shirt. I used four bands making a pie like shape on the shirt. Then you get to color! Starting with the Mickey head. Make sure to get the top and the ears underneath to get the whole head effect.
Step 7: Color each section according to what you want. Since we are doing Christmas, we chose red and green.
Step 8: Place shirts in a plastic bag sealed for 24 hours. Once the time is up, unwrap the shirt and rinse with cold water. Then wash!
Thats it!!! I will add a pic of the whole family rocking them once vacation actually happens! But I couldn't wait to get this all down into the blog. Partly, because I never have time to write anymore. So I had to take advantage of a quiet evening and an early bedtime. If I come up with any more projects, I will make sure to keep adding! And leave your comments if you try them, with pics!!! Or if you have any other great ways to do fun family Disney projects on a budget!
