Collecting autographs

[jmccoy18]

Anyone have any good ideas on different ways to collect character autographs other than in a book? I was thinking maybe a photo mat, but I am open to suggestions

 

[monorailsilver]

We did a photo mat one year. I only brought it to chef mickeys because I had no desire to lug it around the parks.

I did do the books my daughters 2nd trip and my sons 1st trip. I have no idea where they are, possibly tossed them?

Going back to the photo mat trip, my kids picked out hats early on and we had the characters autograph them.

Made life so much easier since they wore the hats in the park and I just needed to carry a sharpie! My son the last trip chose not to get a new baseball style hat so he just had the characters sign his Yankee hat.

I know people have done pillowcases but we are out of stroller age and the less I have to carry the better!

 

[krm222]

I got some sketchbooks from Joann's. They are a bit larger than 5x7 and with a 50% coupon were about $5 each. I covered them with a piece of Disney scrapbook character and used ribbon to attach a Sharpie.

The autograph goes on the lower page and then on the top page I put a photo of the character and my child. Because the sketch pads have so many pages they will last for many trips: my son just used his for a second time.

 

[brinkley07]

I have seen people having t-shirts signed and pillow cases. Both fun ideas!

 

[Crystal824]

When I was a CP, I bought a poster that had a wide border around it. It was a poser of different WDW characters. Anyway, I got characters to sign it. It hangs in my basement these days.

 

[Bubblegum1286]

• Someone already suggested it, but pillowcases are sweet.
• You could take a wide photo mat from a picture frame and have them sign on the mat, and then use that to mat around a picture of your kiddos with their favorite character.
• On Pinterest, I saw someone with a Polaroid camera snap a picture of their kids with that character, and then the character signs the blank space on the photo.
• I also saw on a blog where they took a wooden letter initial from Hobby Lobby, painted it white or a light color, and had the characters sign that. After the trip, it can be hung in the child's room.
• My favorite idea (because I'm a quilter) is taking fabric squares and having each character sign one, and then using those in a special Disney quilt
• Etsy has several cute autograph books and albums that you can buy before your trip.
• I've also seen Disney storybooks being used as autograph books. Or those Disney art books that tell all about each movie and how they were made. I think they're called Disney anthology books. I found one for my mother in law on Ebay for Christmas a couple of years ago.
• Bring a silver or white paint pen instead of sharpies and have the characters sign your classic black mouse ears
• Have them sign a pair of Toms
• Bring a 9'' blank Vinylmation statue and have them sign that.
• Make a Shutterfly book of pictures with each character from your previous trips and custom design space by each picture for the character to autograph their own image

 

[jmccoy18]

Thanks everyone! These are great ideas.

 

[snowman]

Is it difficult to sign a t-shirt? Don't you have to keep it taut? I like the idea of a hat. Maybe DS could get a plain white painters cap signed? Use different colored sharpies?

 

[HopperFan]

Is it difficult to sign a t-shirt? Don't you have to keep it taut? I like the idea of a hat. Maybe DS could get a plain white painters cap signed? Use different colored sharpies?

If you are taking fabric, shirts whatever, take along an embroidery hoop. They are only a few dollars at craft/sewing stores. You move it after each character and it allows you to pick the spot. Easy enough to carry with you.

 

[Muskrat191]

We did pillowcases on our trip a couple weeks ago. I bought the pillowcases on Etsy - they were embroidered with a Minnie Mouse and my daughters' names (I did one pillowcase for each girl). I brought fabric markers, a small MDF board (maybe 6" x 8") and binder clips. As long as the material was tight on the board, it worked well.

 

[BubblyTrip]

I just saw someone with a painted wooden letter that they were going to hang on the wall after. Maybe 8-12 inches.

My main issue is that I bought a fancy book on Etsy and its kind of big and heavy. I wish I had something smaller now that we are out of the stroller years.

 

[jmccoy18]

I'm thinking we might do either a photo mat or a pillowcase. I just don't want something that is going to never get looked at again and be thrown away.

 

[Bubblegum1286]

I'm thinking we might do either a photo mat or a pillowcase. I just don't want something that is going to never get looked at again and be thrown away.

I think next time we'll do the photo mat. We just used an autograph book for our last trip, and it's now in a cabinet. Lol. Just like you said- never being used or looked at.

If we used a photo mat, we could use it to frame a beautiful family photo in front of the castle or the EPCOT ball or something iconic like that, and could be put on display in our house.

I thought about a pillowcase, but sometimes sharpies fade or smear on fabric when it's washed. You could use a fabric pen, but since they're kind of thick, I worried some characters would have a harder time getting them to write. For the past several years, we've had a Thanksgiving tradition of having family members write their "thanks" on a white tablecloth that we use each year. Everyone loves it, but washing it has proven that Sharpies sometimes don't hold up in the wash. I don't know what to do about it, and I hate that my tablecloth may not last

 

[Figmentmommy]

We had the characters sign the backs of Disney postcards. When we checked in we had our boys pick out some of their favorites at the resort gift shop. It was different than the autograph books they used in the past and became a nice keepsake.

 

[Bubblegum1286]

We had the characters sign the backs of Disney postcards. When we checked in we had our boys pick out some of their favorites at the resort gift shop. It was different than the autograph books they used in the past and became a nice keepsake.

That's a great idea! I love looking at all the different post cards, but I never buy them because I don't know what to do with them other than keep them in a drawer. Do you keep them in an album, or have you put a ring on them or something?

 

[snowman]

I'm thinking we might do either a photo mat or a pillowcase. I just don't want something that is going to never get looked at again and be thrown away.

Totally agree. Did the books with my nephew when he was young. He had fun collecting autographs but has never looked at them again. So with the son I am thinking maybe a cap, t-shirt or one of those string backpacks. Something that won't get tossed in a drawer for eternity.

 

[Figmentmommy]

That's a great idea! I love looking at all the different post cards, but I never buy them because I don't know what to do with them other than keep them in a drawer. Do you keep them in an album, or have you put a ring on them or something?

We haven't done anything formal with them - although I'm liking your ideas! My boys just keep them in their keepsake boxes with other things that have special meaning to them.

 

[KirbyLouWho]

It's so funny to me that no one looks at their autograph books. I mean. When I think about it, I don't look at the ones from when I was a kid because they're literally just the autographs, but for my daughter's first two trips we got small books that when you opened each page, one side was a photo slot & the other was the blank page for the autographs. My daughter LOVES looking through them at the photos of her and her "friends" and seeing the fun ways they signed. Now, admittedly, on our upcoming trip we have opted to get the 9" Vinylmation because I wanted something we could keep "out" to look at all the time, but it almost feels weird NOT having the book so we can compare the photos from each trip so we may end up getting one anyway lol

 

[mzsarah10]

We did the photo mat for our character meals...this way we could put a picture from the meal in the frame with it. For other M&Gs we used colored 4x6 card stock from michaels. When we got back we made a picture book with the autograph on one side and the picture from the M&G on the other.

 

[mkla2015]

Last year was the first year we had the kids get autographs- DD loved carrying her book around and getting the characters to sign, DS had no interest at all.

But, as others have said, we never look at the book... it's put away in my closet right now.

For our trip this year, we bought a white vinyl mickey and lots of different colors of sharpies and plan on having all the characters sign the Mickey. I saw it online a few months ago and thought it looked like a great idea. Then we can display it somewhere in our home when we get back.