Make Your Own Water Bottle Labels

photo credit: Keiko S. Dowell Photography

There are some things that look way more complicated than they are.  I'll see something online like, say, water bottle labels, and think, "Wow, those look so cool!  I wonder if I could do that..."  The answer, for any of you asking that same question is "YES!  Yes you CAN do that!"  There aren't many things that are simpler but the end result is fantastic and adds such a fun aspect to your party or get-together!  You could even do this to surprise your kids after school.  It's that easy.

Take Time For Today.  Take a few extra minutes to add a little something special to your day.  I know they are just water bottles, but picture the wide eyes and smiles when your family opens the fridge tonight!  It's worth it!

Here's what you'll need:

• Water bottles
• Clear packing tape
• Strip of paper that matches the width of the original bottle labels (If you want to make something fancy, you can search online for templates in many themes.  I used a free printable download from Piggy Bank Parties and then added a Mickey Mouse head inside the circle to customize.  You could also take off the original labels but I found this unnecessary and I'm all about simplifying where I can!)

Here's what you'll do:

• Make sure your water bottles are dry
• Cut a strip of packing tape a bit longer than your strip of paper
• Lay the packing tape sticky side up on a flat surface
• Carefully place your strip of paper, decorative side down on top of the packing tape
• Lift up the packing tape, with label now sticking to it, and wrap carefully around label of water bottle
• You can store in the fridge to keep cold

See?  You can totally do it!  And I'd love to see pictures of what you create!

Minnie Mouse (or Mickey Mouse) Headbands

Do you love the Minnie Mouse Headbands we are wearing in our Disney Party Planning video?  We do!  I am so thankful to have found the most AMAZING tutorial, both in written and video form, for making these over at The Surburban Mom!  I am not going to begin to try to replicate it, I'm just going to send you over there and let Jen teach you how to do it.  I know there are people you could purchase from on ebay or etsy but these really are not difficult at all and the supplies are not expensive.  This is a totally perfect DIY that creates a finished product that your little ones (and YOU) will love.

Here is what you'll need:

• Plastic headbands - I used ones similar to these
• Black felt - buy it by the yard at the craft store
• Foam Sheets
• Hot glue gun and lots of glue
• Pink polka dot ribbon
• Chalk
• Marker
• Ribbon or rubber bands

Here is what you'll do:

• Go check out The Suburban Mom's tutorial and follow along!  She will give you more details about the supplies you'll need as well as the process.

The only thing I did differently with our headbands was the bows.  Rather than securing them with ribbon, I used small rubber bands, the kind you might have in your Rainbow Loom kit.  I just wrapped one around the middle and then slipped it over the headband.  It's probably not quite as secure but I have plenty of rubber bands and can fix it if needed.  I'm all about using what I already have on hand (in case you hadn't figured that out about me yet)!

Once you've mastered these, you will become a themed-headband-a-holic like me!  I can't plan a party without creating a themed headband now!  Stay tuned to see what else we've made following this general outline.

I can't wait to see what you create!

Budget Friendly Ideas for your Disney Party!

Here's a little video that my 3 1/2 year old and I made a couple of months ago to share how we pulled together a fantastic Disney themed party without breaking the bank!

What are your favorite ways to stay frugal while party planning?  I'd love to hear!

Homemade Pizza Dough - no yeast needed!

I wouldn't necessarily say that I have a "yeast-phobia" but I'm going to put it out there that I have NEVER cooked with yeast.  At least not that I remember.  I don't really know why.  I guess maybe I just never have it and every time I've needed it and googled an alternative recipe that didn't use it, I've found what I've been looking for.

So given the popularity of the recipe I posted in the past for homemade biscuits with no yeast, I figured it was worth sharing the recipe that I've been using for pizza dough with no yeast!  I clearly am not the only person out there that cooks without yeast!


We love this pizza dough.  It's so easy and I always have the ingredients on hand.  Sometimes when you find a recipe online, like I did this one, you never really know how it's going to turn out.  I'm here to tell you that this one is just what we were looking for... hopefully you'll love it too!  Let me know!

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2/3 - 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Desired sauce and toppings
• cornmeal (sprinkle on pan to prevent sticking)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425°
• Sprinkle pizza pan or stone with cornmeal
• Whisk together dry ingredients
• Gradually add water and mix with fork until a ball of dough forms
• Remove from bowl to generously floured surface and work with hands a few times (I often add a little more flour since it's pretty sticky)
• Roll out to desired size and thickness (you can do this on the floured surface or on the pan)
• Brush on olive oil
• Spread on sauce
• Add cheese and toppings
• Bake for 20 minutes

You could use a stand mixer to save yourself some effort but I don't work hard to make this and doing it by hand saves me from some extra dirty dishes!

Adapted from the Canadian Moms Cook recipe found here.

Mickey Mouse Washer Necklace

During the planning process for our Disney party this past winter, I scoured Pinterest looking for every Disney themed craft, project, recipe, and party favor I could find.  I came across the sweetest Mickey Mouse necklaces made from washers and I knew they would be perfect for us!  Here's why:

• My daughter and all of her 3 and 4 year old friends would love the sparkly glamorousness of Mickey Mouse jewelry.

• My husband would help me make them since, even though they were jewelry, they were made out of things from the hardware store.

I was right about both things!

These necklaces were a huge hit at our party.  They were not difficult to make and they really added a fun touch to our celebration.  

Here's what you'll need:

• Appropriately sized flat washers, 2 small and 1 large for each necklace (Just play around with them at the store a bit and see which ones look right for the size you are going for)
• Nail polish (I used red and sparkly)
• Gorilla glue
• String
• Beads
• Clamp or clothespin to hold washers in place while the glue dries

Here's what you'll do:

• Cover your work surfaces.  You don't want nail polish or gorilla glue getting on anything!
• Paint all of your washers with nail polish.  I put 2 layers of red and then covered with a layer of glittery goodness after the washers were glued together.
• Once dry, add string and bead as seen in photo
• Glue the two small washers onto the larger washer for ears (this was my husband's job so if you need more details, let me know!)  
• Once dry, scrape off any excess glue
• Add nail polish to cover any glue you couldn't scrape off.  I was making these for 3 and 4 year olds so they did not need to be perfect.  You may choose to use more care in glue application than we did.

Adapted from the Becky Anderson Photography tutorial found here.

I'm Going to Disney Social Media Moms Celebration On-The-Road!

This week I was extended a very exciting invitation and I just submitted my RSVP!  I was invited by MomSelect and the Disney Parks Social Media Moms Celebration Team to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration On-The-Road this summer!

I should give some context by saying that earlier this spring, I received the most shocking and exciting email ever.  It came to me, totally unexpectedly one evening, from Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Special Events, inviting me to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at Disneyland in California, an invitation only conference for about 200 bloggers from all over the country.  You don't apply for it… you just get noticed and invited.  It was such an honor to receive this invitation.  It's kind of like the invitation you can't refuse… except that I did.  I remember googling, "Can you say no to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration?"  It was so sad!  I cannot even describe the pit in my stomach when I had to RSVP with a big fat "no thanks."  If I had had any inkling that I would have been invited, my schedule would have been clear and I would have had a little savings account ready to access to get us there!  But I had no expectation of being invited to this event at all.  Unfortunately airfare from here to California was through the roof and we had literally just planned another trip for within a month of that one.  There was just no way for our family to swing it.  Needless to say, I was devastated.

That celebration has since come and gone, and I have to say, even though I wasn't able to attend in person, I followed along on social media and felt like I was practically there!  The attendees were live tweeting, instagram-ing, and facebook-ing throughout.  It was fantastic and actually a whole lot of fun to be a part of, even from home!  I learned a lot and was actually really grateful for the opportunity!

The Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Team wants to include as many moms as possible in their events so they have created some On-The-Road Celebrations at scattered locations throughout the summer and have extended invitations to those over the past week.  Pixie dust landed in my email inbox again on Monday and I'm headed to Philadelphia with my family this summer for what I think will be a super fun, super informative, super motivating, and super amazing half day conference.  I couldn't be more excited!

I'll be live social-media-ing (is that a word?!) the event, so I hope you'll follow along the way I did to the Celebration at Disneyland!  The big day is Thursday, June 19, and we'll be going strong from 7:30 AM through 12:30 PM, so be ready!  You can follow me at any of these locations but I expect twitter to be the most active:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/loriann978 (or follow the hashtag #DisneySMMoms)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TakeTimeForToday
Instagram: http://instagram.com/loriallinder

Thanks for joining me on this exciting journey!

Refreshingly Sweet Cucumber Salad

So last night I put a good deal of effort into figuring out how to carefully pour cucumber salad juice directly from my empty dinner plate into my mouth.

True story.

It was then that I realized that I have finally discovered the very best cucumber salad recipe and that I must share it with you!  It is sweet, tangy, and refreshing.  It will be perfect for when you have a plethora of cucumbers in your garden this summer, but don't wait until then!  Run to the store and pick up a cucumber now!

Here it is, friends…

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced and diced
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup +2 tablespoons sugar (or 6 tablespoons sugar)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry dill

Directions

• Mix cucumber, onion, and celery in large bowl
• Mix vinegar, water, and sugar together in small pot on stove and bring to a boil
• Pour liquid over vegetables
• Mix in dill
• Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour (the longer, the yummier)
• Serve cold

Yum yum yum!

Adapted from the recipe found here.