Fish Extenders?

[Luv2Diz]

Here's a picture of my FE when it was still being made. I wanted to make mine a bit differently then those I've seen online.

This is adorable! Very cute design!

You should be fine with the 8" width. Ours is about 10" and fit fine. I used about 2 feet of ribbon to hang ours from the fish. As for the dowel rod, I would think a 1/2" one would be plenty sturdy.

My only thought....I can't tell from the photo if your gift pockets expand. We've both received and given gifts that were 3" - 4" thick. We've also received several hand painted 8x8" photo frames, for example, that I'm not sure would fit in your pockets (again, not sure how wide or deep the pockets are.) If gifts don't fit, you'll find them probably on the floor by your cabin door.

Have a great time with the FE!

 

[White Rose]

This is adorable! Very cute design!

You should be fine with the 8" width. Ours is about 10" and fit fine. I used about 2 feet of ribbon to hang ours from the fish. As for the dowel rod, I would think a 1/2" one would be plenty sturdy.

My only thought....I can't tell from the photo if your gift pockets expand. We've both received and given gifts that were 3" - 4" thick. We've also received several hand painted 8x8" photo frames, for example, that I'm not sure would fit in your pockets (again, not sure how wide or deep the pockets are.) If gifts don't fit, you'll find them probably on the floor by your cabin door.

Have a great time with the FE!

It's like a giant tube (like a big sock or Xmas stocking) I should be able to fit a larger 8-9 inch item too. My pockets are deep, if you look at the picture and check out the pencil... that pocket actually goes down to the bottom where the shoes are. The top pocket is even deeper...the pockets are 7 inches wide. and at least 10 inches deep, the top one about 2" deeper...and should expand well because of the Velour material and the sock/tube shape...I hope!

I tried to put in some gifts I made and they are shaped 5" x 3", and I had no problems getting a few of them in it, so I am hoping I'm good! I never expected that some people would give such big sized items!! thanks for the warning just in case! I better keep an eye on it!

Thank you for the advice on the dowel - I thought mine was too thin - Hubby seems to thik it was too thick but it was really tiny and I would be afraid a young one could pull on it and it would crack.

That is a good check for me!!

 

[TinkerbellinNY6]

What kind of gifts do people put in the fish extender? I am going on my first cruise in January and have no idea what kind of things people do for fe gifts

 

[martinm]

Different people will do different stuff.

Some people do candy. Some do themed gifts like pirate patches.

For my next cruise I'm getting silicon bands with the cruise info embossed on them.

Maybe some cheap refrigerator magnets from your home town....

 

[Luv2Diz]

What kind of gifts do people put in the fish extender? I am going on my first cruise in January and have no idea what kind of things people do for fe gifts

Disney themed (or themed to your home area): magnets, postcards, candy, embossed pens, highlighters, bookmarks, keychains. We enjoy all of these plus the handpainted photo frames, embroidered tote bags, and coffee cup cozies that we've received. Also hand-made Disney or hometown ornaments for holiday cruises.

 

[mwins78]

Here's a picture of my FE when it was still being made. I wanted to make mine a bit differently then those I've seen online.

It's about 8 inches across.

I purchased black velour (like a mickey mouse plush) for the body of the FE and made a long rectangle sock using hot glue to seal the sides and bottom, and used felt to reinforce it at the bottom. Afterwards, i turned the sock inside out, and cut two horizontal slits for pockets on one side, and lined the inside of the opening slit using felt and attached it all using hot glue. (I left about 1/2" on each side of the velour uncut.) There is a small lip of the fabric which I turned over the flap and glued to the outside.

I also purchased red felt with white polkadots, yellow felt, black felt, white felt. I found pictures online of mickey's shoes and shorts and minnie's shoes and traced them/ cut them out using felt. (trace the reverse side to avoid trace marks from showing up.) I pleated the dress first, folding evenly to give the apperance of pleats. I used small amounts of hot glue to keep the pleats stiff. To cover the edgs, I cut a small 'belt' of marerial to hide the top edge. I should have made it wider and folded it over to cover the top of the pleats, but that is the perfectionist in me talking.

I also used small rectangle pieces of fabric to make a bow, just put a small dab of glue in the center of a felt rectagle and press together

Last but not least: I bought sticker letters and the cruise words from Michael's in their scrapbooking/sticker section. They had quite a collection!

The picture shown is with the bottom pocket cut out, and it goes to the bottom of the velour. There is a pencil sticking out to give you an idea where the pocket opening is on Minnie's dress. Mickey's pants and shoes are not attached yet, but in the picture it shows where he will be. Minnie's shoes are not attached either. (they actually wound up closer to the dress.)

I know this is very different from most I've seen, and I kinda 'winged it'

This was all done using a hot glue gun - something I use for making some small cloth ornaments and ballerina bears in the past. I actually just finished it.

Now I have a question - is 8 inches too wide? The dowel adds about 3/4" inch past it. How thick of a Dowel do you suggest? I think the one I have might be too thin. How long should my string be?

Thanks![/QUOTE
So cute what a great idea and very different

 

[maggie_sam]

What kind of gifts do people put in the fish extender? I am going on my first cruise in January and have no idea what kind of things people do for fe gifts

Hello to a fellow New Yorker! Lots of other forums on the Dis about FE gifts and with pictures or instructions. Pinterest has a wealth of ideas and I will PM you-I have several FE and Disney themed boards. Lots of people who are crafty make gifts, everything from key fobs, autograph books, CDs, drink cups from the Dollar Store with Disney themed decorations, coasters, the list is really endless. Some make 'emergency" kits with bandaids, trial size tylenol, tissues, wipes, hand sanitizer, etc. Another popular are ice cream sundae kits, with sprinkles, gummies, all kinds of toppings to use at the soft serve station. Pirate themed items, hair bows, light sticks. Hope this gets you started.

 

[AustralianJetsetter]

In one FE thread someone posted a FE they bought at Ikea. I checked and it was available at Ikea here in Australia. Pretty reasonably priced too, if that helps.

Hi michellekcm,

Do you know whereabouts I would find them? Like what section they are in? I would love to checkbthem out as we have an Ikea about 20mins from home

Cheers,
AJ

 

[dama2000]

New to the whole fish extenders....do you have to give gifts to everyone who decides to participate during your cruise?

 

[Disney Dreams]

New to the whole fish extenders....do you have to give gifts to everyone who decides to participate during your cruise?

It depends on how your FE group is set up. On our last cruise, there was so much interest that it was decided to divide into two groups. In our group there were 16 staterooms (15 + us). Every was to give gifts to each stateroom in our group of 15. Whether they gave gifts to each person or each stateroom was up to each person.

HTH,
Dreams

 

[dama2000]

It depends on how your FE group is set up. On our last cruise, there was so much interest that it was decided to divide into two groups. In our group there were 16 staterooms (15 + us). Every was to give gifts to each stateroom in our group of 15. Whether they gave gifts to each person or each stateroom was up to each person.

HTH,
Dreams

thanks for the info

 

[2disneycruzrs]

I've never participated in an FE exchange but I see people make amazing items and spend a lot of time and even money. I make passport holders for my family's and CC photo postcards from an aerial shot of the Dream I took while parasailing. I wonder if either of these items is too cheap? I don't have a lot of time due to work and an active 3YO. Any feedback is welcomed.




Here are the links to larger images:
Passport Holder
Photo Postcard

 

[erk711]

I've never participated in an FE exchange but I see people make amazing items and spend a lot of time and even money. I make passport holders for my family's and CC photo postcards from an aerial shot of the Dream I took while parasailing. I wonder if either of these items is too cheap? I don't have a lot of time due to work and an active 3YO. Any feedback is welcomed.

Here are the links to larger images:
Passport Holder
Photo Postcard

I think those are both great! I'd enjoy them.

 

[twokats]

I've never participated in an FE exchange but I see people make amazing items and spend a lot of time and even money. I make passport holders for my family's and CC photo postcards from an aerial shot of the Dream I took while parasailing. I wonder if either of these items is too cheap? I don't have a lot of time due to work and an active 3YO. Any feedback is welcomed.

Here are the links to larger images:
Passport Holder
Photo Postcard

I think both are very nice and not cheap to me at all!!!

 

[2disneycruzrs]

Thank you for the quick feedback - I may go ahead and participate if our cruise gets one together.

 

[s3rndpt]

I've never participated in an FE exchange but I see people make amazing items and spend a lot of time and even money. I make passport holders for my family's and CC photo postcards from an aerial shot of the Dream I took while parasailing. I wonder if either of these items is too cheap? I don't have a lot of time due to work and an active 3YO. Any feedback is welcomed.




Here are the links to larger images:
Passport Holder
Photo Postcard

I would definitely use those, especially the Passport Holder. What a great idea!

 

[Runyan4]

New to DIS and have a DCL fish extenders question.

We are planning a large family cruise for my moms retirement. It will be many of our groups 1st cruise but everyone's 1st Disney Cruise.

We are doing the fish extenders but we have a question about the list. When you sign up and the list is made will you know which family (all their names) will be in which cabin? We want to maybe personalize one of our gifts but before we decide what we are going to do we want to know this question.
Thanks

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

New to DIS and have a DCL fish extenders question.

We are planning a large family cruise for my moms retirement. It will be many of our groups 1st cruise but everyone's 1st Disney Cruise.

We are doing the fish extenders but we have a question about the list. When you sign up and the list is made will you know which family (all their names) will be in which cabin? We want to maybe personalize one of our gifts but before we decide what we are going to do we want to know this question.
Thanks

Cabin numbers are usually included on the FE lists - the only time you might not have a cabin number from the start is if the family has booked GTY cabins, and then the cabin numbers should be updated as soon as they are assigned.

When I manage FE groups, I include columns for first & last names as well as favorite characters to help out those who would like to personalize a bit more.

 

[Rozzy]

New to DIS and have a DCL fish extenders question.

We are planning a large family cruise for my moms retirement. It will be many of our groups 1st cruise but everyone's 1st Disney Cruise.

We are doing the fish extenders but we have a question about the list. When you sign up and the list is made will you know which family (all their names) will be in which cabin? We want to maybe personalize one of our gifts but before we decide what we are going to do we want to know this question.
Thanks

In our FE group for our cruise, the person who is managing the FE list has made a spreadsheet with columns that include first names, last names, children's names and ages, cabin number, favourite characters, what is being celebrated, if anything. It is great to have as much info as possible for those of us that would like to tailor their gifts to each person or family.

Have fun!

 

[DisneyBride1214]

I am new at FE's and I love to do homemade stuff. Are there any good patterns out there for Fish Extenders. I would prefer not to buy since I have several of my family going for wedding/family cruise and everyone wants to participate. But of course they want me to make them...lol

I would be so forever grateful if someone can either provide me with a nice pattern or direct me to somewhere with patterns. You can email me at nanasb1214@yahoo.com if you would like. Thank you so much!!!!