~~~SEWING my way to POFQ ~ American Girl outfits & Custom Park Bags! ~~~

[DMGeurts]

First of all... I must thanks Marianne to take the time out from her trip to find me a couple of items for projects I am working on. I just really appreciate it - it turned out to be the icing on the cake, and I couldn't have done it with out her.

Sooooo.... The sneaky girl that she is, she also included some Pixie Dust in this package she sent...

I guess my love for Donald is a bit transparent (I didn't think anyone knew?)...

Aren't they cute!!!!

I added one to my Duck Butt Bag:

And one to my Zip Wallet:

Thank you Marianne!!! I love them!

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

And here's the sneaky project I've been working on.... Thanks for all the wonderful ideas everyone!

I came up with this pattern on my own... Again, certain features that I liked about a lot of them I found on my internet search - but I had to put them all together.

Lined....
Loop for a carabiner clip.... (don't need another thing hanging from my shoulder)
Toggle closure....
Insulated....
Quilted for strength...

And a close up of the loop:

D~

 

[aboveH20]

And here's the sneaky project I've been working on.... Thanks for all the wonderful ideas everyone!

I came up with this pattern on my own... Again, certain features that I liked about a lot of them I found on my internet search - but I had to put them all together.

Lined....
Loop for a carabiner clip.... (don't need another thing hanging from my shoulder)
Toggle closure....
Insulated....
Quilted for strength...

And a close up of the loop:

D~

Wow. It turned out great. I made water bottle holders for a Big Give once and was trying to figure out how to add a tiny pocket for those little "tubes" of powdered drink mix that are made for adding to water. I decided against it.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Oh Lisa... Ok - I have a bunch more questions for you...

1. How does ME notify us the day before? Do they slip something under our door?
ours was left on the door handle

2. We are not flying on a participating airline... What happens then?

you can't get your bags checked or your boarding passes...bring your luggage down to bell services, they will keep, pick up and take on the bus with you...you will have to check in at the airport like usual then go through security

3. What happens if you are late for your ME check in time?

you may be late to the airport and your flight....they pretty much fill up each bus so might not have room on the next one for you....DON"T BE LATE!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Where is the ME check in at POFQ?

its in the main lobby to the right of all the check in desks

5. So, a return voucher will come with all of our Micky Mail - which I need to keep around for our entire trip, and than not lose it?

yes you will get a seperate mailing with the ME booklet, will have two vouchers...one for going to resort, one for going to airport ...along with yellow luggage tags with your names and resort on them...put those on your bags before you leave home if you want ME to pick up your bags....we have done that in the past...but in Oct we decided to get them and take on the bus so we could unpack sooner (can take up to a couple of hours before they will get delivered to your room)
depending on your luggage decision, follow the directions on the ME book to ME check -in....they will check you in and tell you which bus to go on...get on the bus and enjoy the ride - sometimes you will have other resort or two to stop at first - get to hotel, check in ENJOY YOUR TRIP!!!



JUDY!!!!!!!!!!! I am so glad to see you here! I just posted in your TR this morning. (((HUGS)))



Thank you so much for your kind compliments. LOL about Lisa having your bag... I would have walked really close to her, so it appeared that I was carrying the really fabulous bag. Thank you so much for stopping by, I know you have a lot on your plate right now, and I've really been praying hard for you and your family. The Christmas card you sent was beautiful... It is going to go in my (now) very large stack of cards to someday get put up on my "memory board that has yet to be made".

she tried to get my rosetta everytime we were together sorry, love her dearly, but not enough to give that up

Well, I do have pictures to post today... Which I will do shortly. All this time I've been making Victoria's and Allison's bag, I've had to have a side project to work on, to make it look like I've been doing something else aaaaaallllllllll day. You all are going to laugh at this project, because I've been working on it for quite a few days, and in all honesty - I could whip it up in a few hours... So, I think it's kind of humorous that the girls think it's taken me this long to make it. Tis the season to be sneaky.

Today, I plan to finish up the portion of Allison's bag that I can finish. I did almost all of it yesterday. These messenger bags are really awesome to make, and I just love how "finished" they look when they are done - but there are A LOT of pattern pieces - which takes me hours to cut out. So, it's pretty labor intensive. I also plan on working on Allison's applique. I have it all drawn out, so I just need to cut out the pieces - so it's ready when the main flap returns home from the "really awesome Diser that's helping me out with this project". Once that returns, I will still have about a day's worth of work to complete on it.

Meanwhile, I plan on starting another "fake" project this afternoon.

D~

can't wait to see Allisons bag!


love your donald keychains, perfect for your bag!

me thinks you will be adding those water bottle holders to your BG list!! great job!!

 

[cogero]

And here's the sneaky project I've been working on.... Thanks for all the wonderful ideas everyone!

I came up with this pattern on my own... Again, certain features that I liked about a lot of them I found on my internet search - but I had to put them all together.

Lined....
Loop for a carabiner clip.... (don't need another thing hanging from my shoulder)
Toggle closure....
Insulated....
Quilted for strength...

And a close up of the loop:

D~

okay this is again absolutely fabulous. Totally love it.

Marianne ROCKS.


Okay now I have to work on my excell chart since it isn't getting done at home

 

[miprender]

And here's the sneaky project I've been working on.... Thanks for all the wonderful ideas everyone!

I came up with this pattern on my own... Again, certain features that I liked about a lot of them I found on my internet search - but I had to put them all together.

Lined....
Loop for a carabiner clip.... (don't need another thing hanging from my shoulder)
Toggle closure....
Insulated....
Quilted for strength...

And a close up of the loop:

D~

OMG how cute! I can barely find the time to finish up my Christmas pjs and you keep coming up with such cute new projects.

Marianne love D's pixie dust it is "wicked" cool

 

[DMGeurts]

Wow. It turned out great. I made water bottle holders for a Big Give once and was trying to figure out how to add a tiny pocket for those little "tubes" of powdered drink mix that are made for adding to water. I decided against it.

That is an excellent idea... I am not sure how to accomplish that either. We don't use those packets often, so I didn't even think of that.

can't wait to see Allisons bag!


love your donald keychains, perfect for your bag!

me thinks you will be adding those water bottle holders to your BG list!! great job!!

Thanks for all the answers to my questions!

okay this is again absolutely fabulous. Totally love it.

Marianne ROCKS.


Okay now I have to work on my excell chart since it isn't getting done at home

Thanks! I know, she is just the besy - all of you are!

OMG how cute! I can barely find the time to finish up my Christmas pjs and you keep coming up with such cute new projects.

Marianne love D's pixie dust it is "wicked" cool

Awww... I bet your pjs are awesome.

I finished up what I could do yesterday on Alli's bag, without the front panel. So, once it gets here, I just have yo do the applique and assemble. I also started on her zip wallet, but I think I wrecked it... I finished the applique, then I decided to do some detailed stitching (like Victoria's Tink the other day - I don't know how she did that) but my stitching started to unravel, so I thought I'd be smart and put some fray chack on the back of the stitching (I had a layer of heavy stabilizer back there) - well it soaked through to the front, and no amount of rubbing alcohol is taking it off... So, I might just have to start over and omit the stitching next time.

I have to work today, so no sewing.

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

So, I thought I would give you all something to look at today.

We don't get a day off during our trip, until day 7...

D~

 

[cogero]

Love the new planner pages.

 

[Lidian]

D, I feel awful that I'm so far behind. I glimpsed through, and totally love your water bottle holder. I need to go back and see what I actually missed.

I have a call in to my TA ... will update my PTR later with figures in case anyone has ideas.

Anyway, sorry I'm behind. Totally love the water bottle holder though!!!

 

[mommy2mrb]

happy to help out with the ME questions!

bummer about the wallet and having to work today!

 

[VBAndrea]

Whoops. I thought this was Andrea's PTR. My mistake.

It is my ptr for the trip I can't afford to go on so I'm making D sew for me. I've been lax on posting lately so glad D has been here to fill in. Would you like to come along on the trip? D has probably earned enough for the both of us to go by now since she designed those park bags.

So I went back pages and pages for an hour and saw BEAUTIFUL bags you have been designing, Andrea looking as if she had stepped off of a runway, Read Cheryl's DS was OUT of the Navy , got excited about your incredible plans and added days to your trip with fabulous savings and an American Girl collection that would make my Lisa drool (I had already seen Megan's beautiful stuff).

More like I fell off the runway -- less than a week b/f wearing that dress I fell while running and scraped and bruised my arm -- I had to cover it in tattoo cover makeup!

Alexa will soon have a decent AG collection as well as I have been stocking up for Xmas and her b-day -- I had to buy a bunch of clothes form ebay since I don't have time to sew.

First of all... I must thanks Marianne to take the time out from her trip to find me a couple of items for projects I am working on. I just really appreciate it - it turned out to be the icing on the cake, and I couldn't have done it with out her.

Sooooo.... The sneaky girl that she is, she also included some Pixie Dust in this package she sent...

I guess my love for Donald is a bit transparent (I didn't think anyone knew?)...

Aren't they cute!!!!

I added one to my Duck Butt Bag:

And one to my Zip Wallet:

Thank you Marianne!!! I love them!

D~

How perfect!!! Marianne is a sweetie

And here's the sneaky project I've been working on.... Thanks for all the wonderful ideas everyone!

I came up with this pattern on my own... Again, certain features that I liked about a lot of them I found on my internet search - but I had to put them all together.

Lined....
Loop for a carabiner clip.... (don't need another thing hanging from my shoulder)
Toggle closure....
Insulated....
Quilted for strength...

And a close up of the loop:

D~

Awesome as usual And BTW, belated Happy Anniversary. I tried to post a couple of days ago but Dis keeps locking up on me.

OMG how cute! I can barely find the time to finish up my Christmas pjs and you keep coming up with such cute new projects.

Marianne love D's pixie dust it is "wicked" cool

Christmas PJS!!!! I want to see them. I wanted to make pjs for gifts as I have oodles of fleece, but I can barely get my shopping done. I have been spending way too much time on e-bay scouring for AG deals which are hard to find at this time of the year -- I got one awesome set though and a couple of other small things for good prices. I think I need a doll for myself -- it's so much to shop for them! Everything fits and nothing looks bad on them.

 

[dianemom2]

Happy belated anniversary! It looks like you've been married for just a little bit longer than I have. We got married in March, 1998. Then, just like you, we had two little girls very close together. Hope you were able to celebrate!

The water bottle holder looks fantastic and I love the Donald pixie dust that Marianne sent you. They look awesome!

Sorry that you ruined the wallet. We all have mishaps like that. I know it is frustrating after you've put in the time and effort to make something special though. I can't wait to see the messenger bag!! I am sure it will be super!


Andrea- isn't you who had the rolls of fleece and you were trying to hide them from your husband?

 

[DMGeurts]

Love the new planner pages.

THanks!

D, I feel awful that I'm so far behind. I glimpsed through, and totally love your water bottle holder. I need to go back and see what I actually missed.

I have a call in to my TA ... will update my PTR later with figures in case anyone has ideas.

Anyway, sorry I'm behind. Totally love the water bottle holder though!!!

Don't feel bad that you are behind... I saw that good news in your PTR, I am just glad that things are working themselves out for you.

happy to help out with the ME questions!

bummer about the wallet and having to work today!

I'm glad - I dunno what I would do with out you all answering my questions.

I hope you have a wonderful trip and I can't wait to hear all about it - I especially can't wait to hear about Meg's reaction to the surprise!

It is my ptr for the trip I can't afford to go on so I'm making D sew for me. I've been lax on posting lately so glad D has been here to fill in. Would you like to come along on the trip? D has probably earned enough for the both of us to go by now since she designed those park bags.

Ummmm.... Yah.... About that.... No. I only have 4 weeks left to pay off this trip... It's gonna be close!

Alexa will soon have a decent AG collection as well as I have been stocking up for Xmas and her b-day -- I had to buy a bunch of clothes form ebay since I don't have time to sew.

Christmas PJS!!!! I want to see them. I wanted to make pjs for gifts as I have oodles of fleece, but I can barely get my shopping done. I have been spending way too much time on e-bay scouring for AG deals which are hard to find at this time of the year -- I got one awesome set though and a couple of other small things for good prices. I think I need a doll for myself -- it's so much to shop for them! Everything fits and nothing looks bad on them.

And you thought I wouldn't notice this statement??? You just snuck it in there... See... those AGs are so addicting... Soooo cute, and so much fun to shop and sew for. A totally legitimate "adult" collection... besides - they are some of the most cherished memories with my girls - I got to sit on the floor and dress/display dollies with them for 6 years of their lives - probably one of the main reasons I didn't lose my girls to electronics and why we can still relate to each other. Don't get me wrong - we didn't sit there and role play or anything, we just dressed the dolls for the seasons and displayed them... Like at Christmas, all the dolls put on their Holiday finery and we have a miniature tree with a bunch of miniature ornaments with presents that we display on our sofa table... So much fun! Andrea... You need a doll.

Awesome as usual And BTW, belated Happy Anniversary. I tried to post a couple of days ago but Dis keeps locking up on me.

Thanks for the anniversary wishes. I know, the Dis has been very irritating lately... I can't wait until they get the new servers up and running.

Happy belated anniversary! It looks like you've been married for just a little bit longer than I have. We got married in March, 1998. Then, just like you, we had two little girls very close together. Hope you were able to celebrate!

Thank you... We went to Applebees for dinner... It wasn't fancy by any means - but we enjoyed ourselves. Then we went to the girls' choir concert - it was wonderful.

The water bottle holder looks fantastic and I love the Donald pixie dust that Marianne sent you. They look awesome!

Thanks - I loved the goodies from Marianne too... She is such a sweetie!

Sorry that you ruined the wallet. We all have mishaps like that. I know it is frustrating after you've put in the time and effort to make something special though. I can't wait to see the messenger bag!! I am sure it will be super!

Well, I plan to go upstairs today and dig it out again... Maybe it will look better after a couple days locked in the bag??? LOL Otherwise, I will do it all over again - minus the pretty stitching.

Andrea- isn't you who had the rolls of fleece and you were trying to hide them from your husband?

ROFL...

Soooo... The plan for today....

First of all, I am going up to my sewing room to see if I can't rectify that wallet - otherwise I will start over. I need to get it finished today. Obviously, once I post the wallet - you will all know what the theme of the Messenger Bag will be.

Then, I am not sure what I am going to do up there... I have a couple of little projects I can work on until the bag flap gets here, today or tomorrow - I think... Which means I won't be able to finish it up until Tuesday, because the girls will be here all weekend.

This afternoon, my next door neighbor and I are gonna head out and do some last minute Christmas shopping... I am still trying to figure out what else to get for Josh - he only has one item under the tree. He keeps buying everything that I have in mind to get him...

Then, tonight... D~ and her family are going to head out to buy lots of GC for our trip. I plan to buy enough to almost pay my trip off in full - I will be about $300 short. I will be able to earn the $300 pretty easily - I think. Then it will be time to save for the remainder of our park tickets. Once that is done, I will have to save for any OOP dining that we need to do, tips and souveniers.

Here are the costs I anticipate... What do you all think???

Park Tickets will be an additional $700 roughly (I can't quite figure this part out... maybe I can call Disney and get a quote???)

OOP dining... $200?? I anticipate that I may have to add a couple of pastry breakfasts or possibly a couple of CS lunches. I really need to go through our plans and get some more realistic numbers here.

Tips... $200... This includes all of our tips for meals, Mousekeeping and Bell services.

Souveniers... I have not come up with a number for this yet. We are big pin traders, I would really like to order a couple of pin sets before we leave, so we have some to start out with... I am hoping to find a few "meh" ones on Disney online, on sale after Christmas. I also like to get a WDW sweatshirt every time we are down there - I'd be thrilled to find a Donald one. I am thinking $200 per person, as a goal - but I am not sure if we will get that much. It will be the very last thing I save for, and however much I get, it will be divided almost equally between us - I will get more because I did a lot of the work to get us there.

Can any of you think of any other hidden costs that I may be missing????

So, my final saving right now, is approx $1600 - after I pay off the trip... <----- Really need a fainting guy there.

D~

 

[nowellsl]

We are big pin traders, I would really like to order a couple of pin sets before we leave, so we have some to start out with... I am hoping to find a few "meh" ones on Disney online, on sale after Christmas.

Do you live anywhere near a Disney Character Outlet? I got some cute pin sets with hip lanyards (4 pins) for $7.99 a couple of weeks ago. I can post pictures later if you want.

 

[dianemom2]

Then, tonight... D~ and her family are going to head out to buy lots of GC for our trip. I plan to buy enough to almost pay my trip off in full - I will be about $300 short. I will be able to earn the $300 pretty easily - I think. Then it will be time to save for the remainder of our park tickets. Once that is done, I will have to save for any OOP dining that we need to do, tips and souveniers.

Here are the costs I anticipate... What do you all think???

Park Tickets will be an additional $700 roughly (I can't quite figure this part out... maybe I can call Disney and get a quote???)

OOP dining... $200?? I anticipate that I may have to add a couple of pastry breakfasts or possibly a couple of CS lunches. I really need to go through our plans and get some more realistic numbers here.

Tips... $200... This includes all of our tips for meals, Mousekeeping and Bell services.

Souveniers... I have not come up with a number for this yet. We are big pin traders, I would really like to order a couple of pin sets before we leave, so we have some to start out with... I am hoping to find a few "meh" ones on Disney online, on sale after Christmas. I also like to get a WDW sweatshirt every time we are down there - I'd be thrilled to find a Donald one. I am thinking $200 per person, as a goal - but I am not sure if we will get that much. It will be the very last thing I save for, and however much I get, it will be divided almost equally between us - I will get more because I did a lot of the work to get us there.

Can any of you think of any other hidden costs that I may be missing????

So, my final saving right now, is approx $1600 - after I pay off the trip... <----- Really need a fainting guy there.

D~

It is great that you are going to be able to finish buying your gc to almost pay off the trip. I am not sure about the other costs. They look about right to me but I am sure other people who have been more often can give you a better estimate. You could check the undercover tourist website for their ticket prices.

For the pin trading, the last time we went, I bought a lot of pins off of ebay. I'd give each of the kids a few pins in the morning before we left. They kept a few of the ebay pins but those were most of the pins they traded since they were their favorites or they were not attached to them. Saved me a ton of money on pins too. Of course the girls still spent quite a bit of their souvenir money on more pins.

 

[DMGeurts]

Do you live anywhere near a Disney Character Outlet? I got some cute pin sets with hip lanyards (4 pins) for $7.99 a couple of weeks ago. I can post pictures later if you want.

Not that I am aware of... Is this something you'd be willing to grab extras of for me the next time you are there - if you're there before our trip??? I'd be happy to pay you for them + shipping.

It is great that you are going to be able to finish buying your gc to almost pay off the trip. I am not sure about the other costs. They look about right to me but I am sure other people who have been more often can give you a better estimate. You could check the undercover tourist website for their ticket prices.

For the pin trading, the last time we went, I bought a lot of pins off of ebay. I'd give each of the kids a few pins in the morning before we left. They kept a few of the ebay pins but those were most of the pins they traded since they were their favorites or they were not attached to them. Saved me a ton of money on pins too. Of course the girls still spent quite a bit of their souvenir money on more pins.

Excellent idea... I will look on Ebay, as well.

I just finished going through our dining a bit more thoroughly... I've figured that I will have to do 2 oop lunches/cs... 2 oop breakfasts at our resort... and I plan to bring enough Quaker Oatmeal thingys for 2 breakfasts on the run. So, the total for those meals (not including the Quaker) would be $129... So if I brought $200 for extra meals - in case we need one more CS or snack somewhere - I think that would be perfect.

I remember going through and figuring the oop for tips when I first started planning, and it was $200, right on the dot... So, I am only planning to bring $200.

I just feel like I am missing something important.

D~

 

[nowellsl]

Not that I am aware of... Is this something you'd be willing to grab extras of for me the next time you are there - if you're there before our trip??? I'd be happy to pay you for them + shipping.

Sure, I'm pretty sure I'll be going before your trip. I'll post a picture tonight so you can see what I'm talking about. You really have to be carefull buying on Ebay, believe it or not there are counterfeit pins out there

 

[DMGeurts]

Sure, I'm pretty sure I'll be going before your trip. I'll post a picture tonight so you can see what I'm talking about. You really have to be carefull buying on Ebay, believe it or not there are counterfeit pins out there

That would be really awesome!!! I'll plan to go with out them, so then I'll be extra happy if I get some.

Bummer about the pins on Ebay, I was hoping to score a few from there.

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

Every time we go I am always feeling like I am forgetting something. So I now have a line item in the budget called 'What Mom forgot!'. I put $100 in there. It is really nice to home home with an extra $100!

I also always add $200 for the bounce back offer...but have only actually taken advantage of it once.

I always work my tip budget twice... once in the initial planning stages and once after all plans are firm. Usually a couple weeks before we go. It helps to find anything I may have forgotten or any price changes in the menus.

We also sit down about 2 to 3 months before the trip and go over all items in the budget, and give everyone a chance to make comments...not so helpful from Mr D, but Miss B usually has a few things to add that we had forgotten about. Last trip, in going through that part of the budget, we decided to forget about the Halloween party and use the money for something else. It really helped to get everyone on the same page!

Sometimes, just saying it out loud helps you to remember things.


(of course, I am a planner junkie! I plan EVERY THING! Including where we stop on the interstate for bathrooms, gas, or meals! (and yes, I do keep up with which places have terrible bathrooms! LOL!)


Nini