How cheap was this? Confessions of a freebie souvenir collector

[fa mulan]

Ok, I admit upfront that I did this. I saved and hoarded the Mickey coasters from our resort every day til we had enough for my 7 y.o. to give to her classmates as souvenirs. Is this the height of cheesiness? Has anyone else sunk to this level of economy? I thought they were cute, and it even crossed my mind to 'autograph' them myself . . but I thought that might be stepping over the edge!

Flame away!

 

[mad4themouse]

It's a nice thought. My kids never brought anything back for all their classmates. With 23 kids per class and 2 kids in school, it would have taken up too much suitcase space and $$$. At least your child had something from WDW to give her classmates. At the age of 7, I'm sure that they were thrilled.

 

[idontknow]

Not for DS school (when he was in public school) but for us I have taken coasters, soap, shower caps, napkins, plastic glasses, postcards, forks/knives/spoons/paperplates, parking permits(ours of course) and all sorts of other things that have WDW or Mickey on them. A few years ago, the WL had seed packets for their anniversary, really neat suvie! Our bathroom is nicely decorated with Mickey soaps! Ya know, if you stack the soaps, they make a standing Mickey. LOL Whenever I am in the shower and someone before me has used the soap up, I just reach out and grab a Mickey soap.

When DS was younger, I used to take the free postcards in the dresser drawers down to the lobby and ask the desk person to write a message and sign the card, then I would mail it to DS at home. A couple of days after we would get back, he would get a postcard from Mickey thanking him for visiting. I still do this for ourselves. We went on a cruise and in the message part I wrote "Miss you!" and mailed it to myself. It took 2 weeks to get here and I forgot all about it. It put a smile on my face when I reached into the mailbox and pulled it out.

 

[ceecee]

I got Mickey shaped lollipops at the dollar tree before our trip, so all 22 kids got a Mickey sucker and I only had to pay $2.00 (12 per bag!) They were large and thick too, really nice suckers. The kids loved them, of course it doesn't take much to please a 6 year old.

 

[crazymomof4]

Has anyone else sunk to this level of economy?

This has nothing to do with Disney, and I've only told it to my closest friends. Can't believe I'm writing this.....here goes:
I made my own baby wipes!!! There, I said it! You see, I got store bought wipes that had a musty smell. I called and complained so they sent a couple of replacement packages. Instead of the usual styrofoam, the box came padded with yards and yards of dry baby wipe material. When I ran out of the store bought ones I cut up the material and added my own liquid made with witch hazel, water and baby lotion. They worked great, in fact, DD had always shrieked and sqiurmed when I wiped her, she stopped this when I used my homemade wipes.(?)

 

[Steffi]

fa mulan, I think the coasters were a great idea for a class gift...and you can't do better than free! I have napkins from every visit (and coasters & soaps). I'll sink to ANY level of economizing(well...as long as it's legal & moral )

crazymomof4, great idea for the baby wipes, too...thanks!

 

[Ithastobe]

For our kids class... we got a few bags of Mickey Shaped pretzels and the kids ate them for their afternoon snack. The entire class, few bags..

 

[kelljacques@aol.com]

for my sons class we walked around epcot and got 20 masks for his 1st grade class! Boy were they hevey at the end of the day.

 

[winniedapooh]

On our last trip with our 5 Dcherubs we asked cast members for stickers for the 2 youngest to hand out at class. CM were only too nice and at the Belz outlet the cashier gave me 30 just in case! The kids loved it and their class mates thought it was cool.

 

[peg2001]

Originally posted by crazymomof4
This has nothing to do with Disney, and I've only told it to my closest friends. Can't believe I'm writing this.....here goes:
I made my own baby wipes!!!

Hey! I think that was very smart and resourceful. Good for you.

Peggy

 

[FFerret]

These are all AWESOME ideas!

Just a quick word of caution--Witch hazel is very dangerous when swallowed, so please be careful with it around kids.

 

[crazymomof4]

Just a quick word of caution--Witch hazel is very dangerous when swallowed, so please be careful with it around kids

Yes, you're right. Here's how I did it: I made the "mix" of witch hazel, water, and baby lotion in a plastic bottle, shook it to mix, then poured only enough of it over the cut wipes (in a wipe container) to moisten them.
I keep the bottle of witch hazel on the tippy-top shelf of the bathroom cabinet. Safe, even from my crafty 2 yo.

 

[beansmom]

we make our own glass wipes and cleaning wipes the same way. We use good quality paper towels (brawny) and just pour glass cleaner in over. Why pay the company to do it??

 

[jilljill]

We usually get the stickers from the CM's to take back to the class. We get extras to put in the 'treat container' so the kids can pick another one if they want it.

 

[crazymomof4]

beansmom~ I've made glasswipes that way too. When my 4th was a newborn I put the wipes on the bathroom vanity and on the top of the container I wrote: "Please help mom, wipe down the sink."

 

[tinksgirl]

i always bring goodie bags back to my daughters class,
our last trip i got 40 of the free stickers cast members hand out
just mention its for a class no problem.i bought 1 pk of the
choclate coins 20 for 5.95 (only 19 in her class).we were staying
at the poly concierge so i asked at the desk if i could please have
19 of the mickey coloring books,not only did they give me the books,the adventures magazine,post cards,and lais for all.my total cost was around 6.00 for great goodie bags the class loved
them.who knows how i will top that on our easter trip!

 

[welovedis]

Thanks for the great ideas for the class goodies! On another note--I've been making my own baby wipes since I started my own in-home daycare-at the request of one of my daycare moms. The recipe is simple, the ingredients are cheap and usually things you already have on hand and you know exactly what you are using. Here's my recipe:

Plastic resealable container (about 3.2 qt)
1 roll of paper towels (I use either Bounty or Viva as they work best)
2 Tablespoons baby bath
1 Tablespoon baby oil (you don't have to use this but they work better with it--if it aggravates your child's skin you can use 1 Tablespoon baby lotion instead)
2 Cups water

Directions:
Cut the roll of paper towels in half with a very sharp knife to form two short rolls. In your plastic container, mix the ingredients well. Add ½ roll of paper towels. Place the lid on the container and let sit for about 10 minutes. Then flip the container over for another 10-15 minutes. Check to see if all the ingredients have been absorbed thru the paper towels. Then, open the container and stand the paper towels on end with the cut side down. Pull the brown paper tube out of the middle, so that you can pull the wipes through the center--they come out very easily!

I have also used the same idea for making other wipes including:
Household multi-purpose wipes:Omit baby bath & oil and add 1/4 cup of whatever household cleaner you use, follow the same directions for making the wipes.
Auto wipes: omit baby bath & oil and add a small amount (less than 1/4 cup) of ArmorAll and you have some great wipes for the car interior and exterior.

Don't try to add bleach to the towels and have it sit, I have already tried this--it disintegrates the towels after a day or so, just an FYI!

HTH!

 

[crazymomof4]

So there are others using homemade baby wipes.
welovedis~ I tried a "recipe" similar to yours but I guess I was not using them up fast enough (not a problem for you, with an in-home-daycare!) When I got close to the bottom of the container they started to smell like mildew. yuch! It was summer and warm too. That's when I started adding a little witch hazel as a preservative.
I LOVE your directions on cutting the paper towels! I will be doing that!!!

 

[welovedis]

crazymomof4-yeah, I guess that would be a problem if they didn't get used fast enough-ugh! I've never tried the witch hazel myself but I bet that would work. Some people who have tried making them use a little less water but I have found 2 cups works for me.

The best way I found to cut the rolls is using a bread knife or a larger kitchen knife. I just cut the roll and then sharpen the knife-lol!

The kitchen wipes work well too and I have a set in my upstairs bathroom (no daycare kids allowed) where my DH & DS can use them to wipe up the sink and toilet--works great!

 

[mom2girls29]

We bought postcards and when the kids met the characters and got signatures in their autograph books, they also slipped the card to Mickey and Goofy for signing and they sent a card to the class. The teachers got a kick out of it too.

Mary