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

[DMGeurts]

The girls were complaining last night that I hadn't made, ordered or sent out Christmas cards this year... Honestly, I wasn't planning on doing them... But they talked me into it...

This is what I came up with... Too cheesy???

D~

 

[dianemom2]

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

I read up on that before I bought the pins on ebay. I can't remember where I read about how to spot the counterfeits since it has been a while. Anyhow, the pins I bought were perfectly fine and my girls had no trouble trading them at any time.

The girls were complaining last night that I hadn't made, ordered or sent out Christmas cards this year... Honestly, I wasn't planning on doing them... But they talked me into it...

This is what I came up with... Too cheesy???

D~

I think it looks great!

 

[mommy2mrb]

The girls were complaining last night that I hadn't made, ordered or sent out Christmas cards this year... Honestly, I wasn't planning on doing them... But they talked me into it...

This is what I came up with... Too cheesy???

D~

Love your photo!! why do you think its cheesy

I bought pins off of ebay before our March trip....they all looked in good shape and had disney on the back...can't remember who I bought them from though.

I will be checking throughout our trip....will post a "surprise" Megan photo for you to see!
the little stinker two nights ago asked if I had any surprises for her this trip...said no...she said well thought maybe we were going to DLR since we will be so close ...said nope, just seeing friends! which isn't a total lie, we are meeting some DIS friends in DLR think keeping our Feb trip a surprise is going to be tougher!

 

[DMGeurts]

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 like this idea!

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

I would love to use this idea, as well.

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.

You are just full of great ideas today... OK, I will rework my #s in a few weeks to see if I come up with anything different. Actually - now that I think about it, I bet I will... forgot to work in the extra day we added.

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

LOL

I read up on that before I bought the pins on ebay. I can't remember where I read about how to spot the counterfeits since it has been a while. Anyhow, the pins I bought were perfectly fine and my girls had no trouble trading them at any time.



I think it looks great!

Thanks and thanks for the pin info... If anyone wants to pass any sellers you've used in the past, on to me via PM - I would appreicate it.

Love your photo!! why do you think its cheesy

Because I put "The Netherlands" on the bottom - I don't want people to think we are bragging... I mostly put it on there becausee the sign under the key is in Dutch - so I didn't want people to wonder if they were going nuts. So, you think "The Netherlands" is OK????

I bought pins off of ebay before our March trip....they all looked in good shape and had disney on the back...can't remember who I bought them from though.

Well, if you figure it out - will you let me know?

I will be checking throughout our trip....will post a "surprise" Megan photo for you to see!
the little stinker two nights ago asked if I had any surprises for her this trip...said no...she said well thought maybe we were going to DLR since we will be so close ...said nope, just seeing friends! which isn't a total lie, we are meeting some DIS friends in DLR think keeping our Feb trip a surprise is going to be tougher!

Can't wait to see the surprise photo of Megan! LOL about her being a stinker - they aren't supposed to be soooo smart.

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

OK - so I am well aware that this will totally give up the surprise on the theme of the bag... So, if you know the answer, don't give it up for the rest of the readers. Please just act surprised when you see the bag.

A small back story... The other day, when I was having fray check issues... I had doused the front piece of the wallet in rubbing alcohol - scrubbed like crazy - then washed it out with soap and water - ironed it a bit... Still looked awful. But the girls were due to be home, and I had to get it packed up. So, I threw the stinkin' thing in my hiding place (damp) - assuming that I would have to redo the whole thing today. It sat there for 2 full days, and imagine my surprise this morning, when I pulled it out and nearly all the fray check stains were gone! If you squint really hard, you can still see them - and I think they show up more on the pictures than they do IRL.

I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the Zip Wallet - so I will leave that a surprise for the actual messenger bag...

D~

 

[mommy2mrb]

I will go back and look at my ebay history!

you are not bragging....I wouldn't of known it was the Netherlands unless I had known you had gone there!

love the wallet....hmmmm is it Haunted Mansion can't wait to see the rest!!!

 

[VBAndrea]

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!


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

We were married in September of 1999 -- close to you but a bit behind. And we wanted two girls -- not sure how we got a boy

Yep, that was me with five rolls of fleece. Two are hidden in my closet. Two smaller ones got unrolled and washed and were supposed to be made into pj's for Xmas presents (though I never specified what year!!) and the other I used to make blankets for Lisa's BG -- Lisa and Rachel each got blankets -- I think they were 6 feet x the width of the fleece and I still have a wee bit left over!

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.

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~

Well, dd wants another doll, so I may just get her one and then we will have two between us to play with. She wants a MAG doll. There are some on e-bay that say they an "X" on the bottom. Since you are my AG expert, do you know what that means? Is it an outlet doll or something? Chances are I will buy new anyway as the used prices are close to buying new.

I have three presents for dh, but none amount to more than $10!!! I have a rule in our house though, I FORBID dh to buy himself anything two months prior to Xmas. It helps. His birthday is tomorrow. I got him a huge flatscreen last year so I will consider that to be the gift that keeps on giving

I think your food estimates are good. We hardly spent a thing on souvenirs but that's because dh is NOT a shopper and I dare not waste time in a gift shop

Are they still doing Military Salute tickets? That saved us oodles on our tickets and was actually the whole reason I was able to get the trip to fly.

N

I just feel like I am missing something important.

D~

One thing you are forgetting is your guests. Cheryl, my dd and me will add a significant bit to your budget, so you best get sewing

The girls were complaining last night that I hadn't made, ordered or sent out Christmas cards this year... Honestly, I wasn't planning on doing them... But they talked me into it...

This is what I came up with... Too cheesy???

D~

Adorable and I like that you have the Netherlands on the card

OK - so I am well aware that this will totally give up the surprise on the theme of the bag... So, if you know the answer, don't give it up for the rest of the readers. Please just act surprised when you see the bag.

A small back story... The other day, when I was having fray check issues... I had doused the front piece of the wallet in rubbing alcohol - scrubbed like crazy - then washed it out with soap and water - ironed it a bit... Still looked awful. But the girls were due to be home, and I had to get it packed up. So, I threw the stinkin' thing in my hiding place (damp) - assuming that I would have to redo the whole thing today. It sat there for 2 full days, and imagine my surprise this morning, when I pulled it out and nearly all the fray check stains were gone! If you squint really hard, you can still see them - and I think they show up more on the pictures than they do IRL.

I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the Zip Wallet - so I will leave that a surprise for the actual messenger bag...

D~

Sweet! I don't see any stains at all. And unlike Lisa, I will not give the theme away. Once again I amazed you can do such tiny appliques by hand!

 

[cogero]

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Christmas Card

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the wallet. I don't think I have ever been on that ride

Oka I am working on an ornament for a swap I am doing with some of my creative gals. So I will post that tonight.

Oh and I plan on pulling a late night working on trip things.

 

[mommy2mrb]

We were married in September of 1999 -- close to you but a bit behind. And we wanted two girls -- not sure how we got a boy

I can help you with how babies are made if you need a refresher

One thing you are forgetting is your guests. Cheryl, my dd and me will add a significant bit to your budget, so you best get sewing

hey don't forget me, I want to come too!!!


Sweet! I don't see any stains at all. And unlike Lisa, I will not give the theme away. Once again I amazed you can do such tiny appliques by hand!

sorry if I gave it away....it seemed obvious to me

 

[solana131]

I don't think the card is cheesy at all...people would be wondering where it was. I'm jealous! Back in 2000 I went on a cruise that left from Amsterdam and I fell in love with the area. Can't wait to go back again

And I love all your talk about budgeting and tips and all that. I didn't even think about that stuff. This is the first time I will be paying and I am realizing all the little things I have to figure in

 

[DMGeurts]

love the wallet....hmmmm is it Haunted Mansion can't wait to see the rest!!!

Nope... It's not Haunted Mansion...

D~ <---- I think I just lied.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Nope... It's not Haunted Mansion...

D~ <---- I think I just lied.

i think you did

 

[DMGeurts]

We were married in September of 1999 -- close to you but a bit behind. And we wanted two girls -- not sure how we got a boy

Maybe dh secretly wished for one?

Yep, that was me with five rolls of fleece. Two are hidden in my closet. Two smaller ones got unrolled and washed and were supposed to be made into pj's for Xmas presents (though I never specified what year!!) and the other I used to make blankets for Lisa's BG -- Lisa and Rachel each got blankets -- I think they were 6 feet x the width of the fleece and I still have a wee bit left over!

ROFL... I still LOL when I think of this - I would never hide fabric from DH.

Well, dd wants another doll, so I may just get her one and then we will have two between us to play with. She wants a MAG doll. There are some on e-bay that say they an "X" on the bottom. Since you are my AG expert, do you know what that means? Is it an outlet doll or something? Chances are I will buy new anyway as the used prices are close to buying new.

The "x" on the bum means that the doll was purchased at the annual MCM benefit sale (Madison Children's Museum). Any of the dolls that AG receives back as returns or defects are donated to MCM... Regardless if that doll is in pristine condition and can be resold - AG won't ever put a returned doll back on the floor to be resold. The "x" is put on the bum to identify the doll to AG - so people can't return it or claim it's defective, because that's already been done once. These dolls have absolutely NO warranty from AG, so you can never get AGs help with a doll that was purchased from the MCM sale - they are "as is"... Other dolls go there, as well... Every 2 years, AG changes the "meet outfit" on the MyAG line - rather than undress and redress all those dolls, they are simply donated to the MCM sale - nothing wrong with them at all - they still get the nice little "x" on the bum though. When I went to the MCM sale 2 summers ago, I found a pristine Felicity in her original "meet outfit" (the Rose Garden Gown), AG had found an entire box of them in their warehouse - nothing wrong with them at all, except they were in the wrong outfit - so they got sent to the MCM sale. I was very excited to get this Felicity - AG archived her the following December - and I had a brand new Pleasant Company Felicity.

So, just be careful if you buy an "x" on the bum doll - they have no warranty - and the only way to get your $$ back is Ebay. Personally, unless I can look at the doll in person and verify it's a good doll, I would just buy from AG directly.

I have three presents for dh, but none amount to more than $10!!! I have a rule in our house though, I FORBID dh to buy himself anything two months prior to Xmas. It helps. His birthday is tomorrow. I got him a huge flatscreen last year so I will consider that to be the gift that keeps on giving

I just assumed that my DH's gift that keeps giving is me?

I think your food estimates are good. We hardly spent a thing on souvenirs but that's because dh is NOT a shopper and I dare not waste time in a gift shop

Not me, I just stop anyways. LOL

Are they still doing Military Salute tickets? That saved us oodles on our tickets and was actually the whole reason I was able to get the trip to fly.

I will have to look into this, I thought of it a few weeks ago, but I am not sure how much it will actually save us, since I think we will be there much longer than what the tickets are valid for - I might be better off buying from Disney?

One thing you are forgetting is your guests. Cheryl, my dd and me will add a significant bit to your budget, so you best get sewing

No comment...

Adorable and I like that you have the Netherlands on the card

Thanks!

Sweet! I don't see any stains at all. And unlike Lisa, I will not give the theme away. Once again I amazed you can do such tiny appliques by hand!

Cool, I would hate to have to lie twice.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Christmas Card

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the wallet. I don't think I have ever been on that ride

Oka I am working on an ornament for a swap I am doing with some of my creative gals. So I will post that tonight.

Oh and I plan on pulling a late night working on trip things.

Thank you... I can't wait to see what you are working on too.

sorry if I gave it away....it seemed obvious to me

It's OK Lisa... maybe you should have your eyes checked before you leave on your trip????

I don't think the card is cheesy at all...people would be wondering where it was. I'm jealous! Back in 2000 I went on a cruise that left from Amsterdam and I fell in love with the area. Can't wait to go back again

DH and were talking about taking a cruise to Amsterdam to celebrate when the girls graduate HS... LOL He'd have to take 3 months off of work though, because we'd spend a month on ths ship (taking the longest route possible), a month in The Netherlands and a month to come home... We would book a trip that leaves out of FL and we'd stop at WDW at both ends of the trip. I better start planning.

And I love all your talk about budgeting and tips and all that. I didn't even think about that stuff. This is the first time I will be paying and I am realizing all the little things I have to figure in

All those little things add up... Hopefully we don't forget anything.

D~

 

[solana131]

DH and were talking about taking a cruise to Amsterdam to celebrate when the girls graduate HS... LOL He'd have to take 3 months off of work though, because we'd spend a month on ths ship (taking the longest route possible), a month in The Netherlands and a month to come home... We would book a trip that leaves out of FL and we'd stop at WDW at both ends of the trip. I better start planning.

Wow! What an amazing trip that would be! Thats what this cruise was for me...a graduation trip with my aunt and uncle. 2 Week cruise to northern europe on Celebrity. We saw 9 countries in 14 days. Loved it!

 

[DMGeurts]

Wow! What an amazing trip that would be! Thats what this cruise was for me...a graduation trip with my aunt and uncle. 2 Week cruise to northern europe on Celebrity. We saw 9 countries in 14 days. Loved it!

That would be an awesome graduation trip... Unfortunately - the youngn's would stay home. The would be the "honeymoon we never had" trip. LOL I doubt it will happen though... I am sure we'll go back to The Netherlands, since DH's brother lives there, and we may even cruise one way - but I doubt we'd cruise both ways - however, if you look at the price of airfare, and compare that to the price of the cruise - plus they feed you.

I'd have to start sewing now... Do I smell another PTR??? ROFL

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

When was your trip... I have pictures of the Celebrity Constellation docked in Amsterdam...

D~

 

[Corrine 1973]

So since you came over to say hi on my PTR I thought I would come over and retun the favor. Now I just have to catch up, and with almost 100 pages it is going to take me awile.

 

[nowellsl]

These are two of the pin sets they had, I think there were a couple of other sets. I'll let you know if I can pick some up for you. Those hip lanyards look like something you could make fairly easily! They feel like they have something stiff inside, maybe a piece of plastic, or cardboard.

 

[mommy2mrb]

looks who's going to Disneyland!

D~ sent you a text too, but wanted to share here! Megan loves her bag!

 

[cogero]

Love the toy story bag Lisa. Have fun