The Castle Before a Show

Many people looked at me like I was a looney bin when I told them we were taking our kids to Disney World for 4 days and 3 parks.  Sophia is 3.  Miles celebrated his 2nd birthday at Disney.  Violet was just 13 weeks old.  I am here to say that each and every day was magic.  I saw more smiles in that time than in the last year as my kids enjoyed rides, met characters, saw amazing shows and explored the different lands of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and the Animal Kingdom.

There is a whole side of Disney that is made for little ones, perfect for encouraging imagination, getting their first thrill of a ride, learning about different places around our country and our world and yes, practicing patience.  Disney has a whole program called Magical Beginnings for their smallest friends and they treat every little girl and boy like the prince or princess we all know they are.  Disney made my kids feel like their dreams came true! 

There was a lot of planning that went into this trip to make sure we got the most out of every day.  I am going to write a series of posts on planning your trip with small children and I will give you my super successful itinerary for each of the parks we visited.  If you can, put Disney World on your list.   You will be tired at the end, but you will never forget the magic.

Why?  Because kids this young BELIEVE the magic.  The kids think that Mickey and his friends live in Toon Town.  They think Cinderella and her friends live in Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom or Akershus at Epcot.  They believe that each and every day all of their favorite Disney friends have a huge dance party and that they were invited.  Sophia was astounded that Minnie invited her to the dance party by the castle and that Belle invited her to breakfast.  Miles gave priceless bear hugs to giant fuzzy characters that he knows are his friends.  He loves them.   

Sophia was a Princess and met Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Mulan, Cinderella, Pohahontas and Sleeping Beauty.  Hello?  Could anything be better for a 3 year old?

Sophia and Belle at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Miles finally rode Dumbo (which he has been watching of YouTube for months) and got to see Dumbo in front of the castle.   You cannot see Miles in the picture.  Kids must sit on the inside.  Still, Ross is having a blast!

Ross Enjoys Dumbo with Sophia and Miles

Miles is 2 – so even the little Iron Dumbo was awesome for him! 

Miles and Dumbo the Elephant

Lest you think we forgot our littlest princess Violet – nope!  She had a great time snuggling with Mommy, riding rides (yes, there are tons of family rides) and meeting the princesses and fairies like her.  Actually, Violet was a huge hit with all the characters.  Mommy LOVES the pictures!

Violet Meets Tinkerbell's Friend Fawn

We loved our Disney vacation and I am trying to plan another trip as soon as possible!  I will be posting all my juicy travel tidbits, reviews of rides and attractions, tutorials on making your own rockin’ character autograph book and of course, my itineraries so stay tuned!

Should you take pre-schoolers to Disney?  My answer is a resounding yes!

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Presenting Princess Sophia

Sophia realized she was a princess right out of the womb at a very early age.  Since the time she could speak her royalty has been a main topic of conversation.  She has had dress up clothes since shortly after her first birthday and yes, she loved them then and is obsessed with them now.  Between gifts and donations she now could clothe a small court in fancy dresses, heels and jewels and is taking applications for ladies maids.  The only pay is the pleasure of her slightly bossy company.  I have already been told that I can wait on her because I am pretty and good at working (Gee, thanks).  I tried to explain that I was the Queen and she just laughed and told me I was funny.  Other applicants will have to try out for the privilege to serve her.  Ross is not good enough.  Miles is not pretty enough, but he can be a handsome prince. 

As an aside – I think Sophia and my husband are in cahoots to keep me working for her and him playing guitar for her on the couch.   I also think if I asked him why he married me he would say something along the lines of pretty, funny (or maybe just pretty funny) and a good worker.  Where’s the romance huh?

Besides creating her royal court, she has been concerned about the fact that she has not had a princess party since her birthday in September.  We have discussed the annual nature of birthdays and parties but with Hanukkah already here and Christmas just weeks away she has been constantly begging for another princess party – not a holiday party.  I am considered quite the cheeky lady in waiting for actually denying the princess’ requests on such a regular basis.  According to Princess Sophia “It’s going to take such a long time until I am 4 and I really need a party!”  Don’t we all?  She is disappointed.

Then, this weekend, I convinced Sophia that I am, in fact, a kick ass mother and wonderful Queen.  While walking through Nordstrom for some tights we ran smack dab into a giant Princess Party.  With Make-Up.  And Crowns.  And Crafts.  And cookies.  And other princesses.  She thinks I did it.  She thinks it was a big surprise!  She screamed “Oh, Thank You Mom!”  I made her say thanks to all the nice ladies who threw the party but I took the credit.  I myself cannot thank Nordstrom enough.  They threw a little girl princess party that rocked!  

First, there was a long table with a white tablecloth and on this table was a giant tower of juice boxes and gourmet white cookies with pink and white icing.  They were in little clear bags with sparkling ribbons.  They were delicious!  The girls hosting the party gave some to Miles and Ross too before we went them on their way to Get Our Princess On!   At the other end of the table was a glitter picture frame project where we decked out our frame in preparation for our Princess Photo Shoot!  We had a blast meeting other little royals and socializing over our apple juice, cookies and glitter!

Glitter Crafts - Perfect!

Then, as if the cookies and crafts were not enough excitement, the little girls got to have their full glitter make-up done in one of the grown-up chairs by a real make-up artist.  The pink glitter was included in everything from the lip gloss to the blush to the eyeshadow.  I don’t think Sophia has ever had so much fun!  Her whole face was sparkling and her smile was ear to ear.  When they gave her a sparkling crown and wand her “Oh my goodness they are beautiful!” scream rang through the girls department.  I don’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry at her overwhelming enthusiasm.  While it was all very funny, Sophia and all the other girls were just beautiful and the moments spent with their moms and dads were priceless. 

Following the application of gobs of makeup we were sent on to our Princess Photo Shoot in front of a dazzling Christmas tree on a red velvet chair.  Sophia said it was perfect for her!  So, fully decked out in her crown and wand we proceeded to the picture station and smiled for our royal portrait.

She Graces Us with a Smile!

All of this partying was completely FREE!  Sophia hugged all the Nordstrom girls ( I wanted to give them mushy kisses for giving my daugther so much joy)  and then we got another beautifully wrapped bag of cookies, for the baby of course, and went to meet Daddy and Miles.  They actually asked me if we would be back for the Tutu and Tiaras party next month.  UM….YES!  I COULD BE IN LABOR AND WE WOULD NOT MISS IT!  Sophia agreed with a hearty “Of Course we will be here!  I am a ballerina too!”

So thank you Nordstrom.  Usually having fun in your store costs a lot more money.  And causes marital distress.  This was awesome.  We Got Our Princess On and We LOVED it!

I would love to hear of any randonly wonderful things you have discovered with your kids.  When you thank God that some marketing genius thought of this activity to get you in the store…or whatever…you get it.  Share!

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Sophia has very strong opinions on fashion and as yet she will share her knowledge and lessons with anyone who is interested.  Her most important fashion rule is to always wear heels when you are allowed.  If possible one should wear mommy’s heels.  Otherwise, the heels in the dress up box will do.  Sophia’s most devoted follower is her little brother Miles, who has been trying to learn from her the art of walking in heels for weeks.  She gave up on me when it comes to fashion.  Miles actually wants to wear heels every day with her, while I am just fine in my flats, thank you.

Miles has taken many bumps and bruises on his journey.  She told him to keep it up.  She screams “Go Miles!  You can do it!”  She is a good teacher.  Firm but supportive and always honest.

These are Cute - Not Easy!

He has learned from Sophia that his feet are too fat for her smallest heels.  These barbie ones are just right.  Wide at the top with a rubber bottom.  She taught him that wearing socks with heels was dangerous because it was slippery.  Thanks Sophie – now he takes off his socks as soon as he comes in the house looking for his dress up shoes.  She told him the yellow ones were ugly with his outfit – and she was right.

He has had to come to her for help putting on a lost heel many a time.  He tries to run with one shoe off and one on moaning about his “sh”.  She never runs out of patience helping him put on the shoes.  I can’t help thinking this is so funny and so cute!

Can you Help Me with my Sh?

Well today, Miles finally walked the Catwalk without falling once.  The catwalk around here is our downstairs hallway.  You put the music on the cd player in the playroom and then you walk from the playroom to the living room while everyone watches and applauds.  Everyone includes all grownups and children not in the show.  Miles being able to walk the whole walk is so important because Sophia does not like people in her regular fashion shows who cannot make it down the hallway in the outfits she picks.   This is Miles – almost finished with the hallway.  He made it to the end.  H even had a little model attitude!

You don't like the shoes or the drool?

Sophia was so excited by her pupil’s success that I was unable to capture the final moment with my camera.  They hugged and kissed like he just won Miss Universe and then they fell over together.  She told him she was proud.  Then she got all serious on his ass and said he could be in the show as soon as he learned to wear a crown.  He must have been devastated. 

Rule #2 in Sophia’s book includes wearing a crown whenever possible with hairbows.  He will rock the hairbows if she puts them in but come on now – he is a little man – he draws the line at a princess crown!

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Sophia's Retro Play Kitchen

Monday is DIY day in bloggy land and this might be my proudest achievement to date.  It is certainly the one that has brought the most joy!

My daughter has always loved play kitchens.  She finds hours of fun in making dinners, having tea parties and washing dishes.  I think it is just precious.  Now my son plays too.  My heart melts.

When we go to the mall and “play” at Pottery Barn Kids, we spend at least 30 minutes with the play kitchen (and another 30 with a vanity – next project!) every time.  I think all of their little kitchens are to die for.  Having said that, my husband would actually die if I was ever to purchase one of these kitchen sets.  Currently the cost for a 3 piece kitchen starts at $450 and runs up to a whopping $879!  This does not include a 10% delivery and processing fee!

Here was the look I was going for from Pottery Barn.

PB Retro Kitchen

So, I searched the web, found some wood and decided to build her a large kitchen of her dreams!  I happened to have had an old closet that had tile in it from before we moved the laundry area so she also has a white tile floor and a WORKING SINK!  We love this kitchen and we build it for a total cost of less than $150!  Pretty good wouldn’t you say?

Here is where I started.  I found a set of plans for a wood play kitchen at Lowe’s.com and then modified them to be closer to the retro look I wanted.   The plans were cute and I followed the dimensions but rather than fake on the sink parts and stove knobs I found the real thing for this kitchen.   I also built a drawer for below the stove to store pots and pans!  The shelves in all of the pieces are closet shelving.  The handles were a bit expensive at $20 all together but they were scratched or they would have been a lot more.  I think they really add something cute and retro feeling!  I also installed a little white shelf in the extra space to hold silverware and pantry items.  The paint was a can of red oops! for $5.  It is a little brighter than the perfect red but man is it close!

We have so much fun with this!  I found bins at Target to store dress up and other toys in cute khaki and red above the kitchen so that all the imagination fun mess would be contained in the closet and the kids would need to ask before we play with this!

Here is where I started after I cut my furniture grade plywood found on clearance!

A Long Way to Go

Here is the basic box assembly of the sink.  All of the pieces follow the same simple assembly pattern.  After I did one with hammer and nails I got out the nail gun but it is possible with just a hammer!

The Basic Box

Little Oven

Working Little Sink

Working Plumbing

 The Fridge fits everything!  I love that I can keep all the food in the bins it came in.  It’s easy to clean up and easy to transport to the table for “parties” or cooking school!

Little Fridge

Old Laundry Closet

Little Kitchen in the Closet

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My princess loves her castle!  This is Sophia at the END of her birthday.  She is exhausted and still smiling!  And the castle still looks great after 25 kids playing in it!  There are pics of the finished castle in the daylight further down.  Enjoy and good luck!

The Background

Sophia wanted a princess party for her 3rd birthday and I wanted a party on a budget.  She said she wanted a castle and I found a way to build her one!  The best part – it was very inexpensive!  The worst part – it was really hard work!

It was totally worth it.  The kids play in it every day.  Sophia’s party was a big hit and her social schedule is now full of tea parties with her friends in the afternoon in the castle.  I love how much fun it is to watch them play with it and I am so glad that I did this instead of getting a bouncy for a lot of money that then gets taken away at the end of the party.

The Project (as completed by me) Requires:

• The Mr. McGroovy’s Plan:  He has a ton of other AWESOME plans for boxes.  Please – if you do not use the widgets send him something for designing these great plans!  They rock!
• 8 Large Boxes (Wardrobe or Refrigerator) – you can find free or very cheap boxes.  See Mr. McGroovy’s tips on acquiring boxes for free!  If you want totally free start WAY in advance.  I spent approximately $30 for the 8 boxes and started 2 weeks in advance.
• Mr. McGroovy’s Box Widgets ($24.99) and/ or
• Plain ol’ Nuts and Bolts (Plastic or Metal) long enough to go through 2-3 layers of box. (app. $5)
• Corner Brackets available at any Home Depot or Lowe’s (app. $5)
• Utility Knife with sharp blade
• Drill (Hand or Electric)
• Brown Spray Paint (to cover markings on boxes) ($3)
• Large Black Sharpie (app. $4)
• Gray Paint (Oops! Paint $5)

In addition to the above the project requires patience, time and lots of love.

If you want to be very special…

• Black and White paint if you want to add highlighting to the stones.  (I chose not to as I opted to make my own castle cake for the party.)

The Nitty Gritty How To:

The first few steps are detailed in my Curses!  The Castle! post.

1.  Find Boxes – 8 of Them (9 if you want to build a throne).  This project is easiest if you have 8 of the same boxes.  I did not.  What is cheap is not always easy! I used wardrobe boxes.

2.  Cut all the boxes using utility knife so they are all rectangles without flaps and all look the same (curse a little a lot).  Save the flaps.  My next “how to throw this cheap awesome party” post will include how to make these into swords, shields and magic wands for your complete royal party!

3.  Arrange lovely boxes in castle shape as per plans.  If your boxes have big flaps like wardrobe boxes they should be at the top (we will deal with this later) or you will be unable to make the cuts to the boxes.  I also marked which boxes were what because I knew I had to move them to the porch.

4.  Make your cuts as per the plans.  Don’t forget your door!  I also left one flap from the wardrobe box that I made a “secret” door by painting it to match the castle.  You can see this in the picture below in brown.

5.  Rivet (or bolt) your castle.  This is not as easy as I had thought it would be but it was actually much easier where I chose to use bolts (not in the crawling tunnels) because the screwing was a lot easier than the pushing and let’s be honest – I like to build things and I am more comfortable with bolts than rivets .

6.  Cover the box markings with spray paint.

7.  Cut out the entry way(s) and rivet (or bolt) to the top front of the castle.  I actually used two entries – one at the front and back of the turrets to increase stability.  You will see the two I did in the final picture.  I measured from the opening of the one turret across to the opening of the other and then made sure that the arch would be about 6 inched taller than Sophia.  With refrigerator boxes this will be less of a problem but your castle will be very large.

8.  Add any interior braces / supports.  This was not in the plans but I did not like how much the castle moved and I thought that with 25 kids coming over I would find a way to make it more stable.  Also, wardrobe boxes have a flap on the top of one side which has to go on the top so this was a great way to bring the two sides together!  On side has the rivets and one has the bolts.  It was a LOT easier to do this with the bolts.

9.  Paint your castle!  Kids can help here!  Use a foam roller for the best coverage and least waste of paint.  This was the easiest part of the whole project!  Sophia had a blast!

The Princess Paints!

Only One Coat of Paint!

10.  Draw Your Lines for Brick Layers and Windows.  I used a template that I made from extra box flaps so my spacing would be even and my windows the same size.  Still, this took a long time.

11.  Draw Your Bricks.  I made a brick template out of the extra cardboard as well.  Again though, this was painfully slow when I think about it and not that exciting.  There are  a LOT of bricks to draw.  I tried to be centered on the front entry way and then below the center of each turret and work my way around from there.  Then draw all of your curved edges so the stones look more realistic.

12.  Cut out your windows and add any special treatments to the castle.  I added some lovely window treatments and a walk through out of tulle.  Sophia loves it!  I stapled it to the back of the cardboard and it worked great!  It did not even come down during the party!  It also hid the inside of the castle (bare cardboard) from the front view of the castle.  This picture is from the day AFTER the party and the castle still looks GREAT!

13.  Let your kids enjoy it for as long as you have the space!  Here is Sophia’s first Rock Concert at the castle.  Hannah Montana is in the background thanks to her cousin Nicole!

I love this castle and it is totally possible for far under $50 if you start way ahead on boxes and already have the drill and such.  My total cost was about $75 for everything.  It would be less if you chose to build this without the rivets but them like I said, please send Mr. McGroovy something for his incredible plans!  I am reusing this castle, cutting off the turrets, repainting, and making it a western store for Miles’ 2nd birthday party with a cowboy theme.  Since I also made swords, shields and wands out of this I had very little else to get for an awesome princess party!  The money went a long way!  And we get to keep the castle!

Next Box Project:  A Vanity for my little princess’ room for under $15.  She is SO excited!

I am posting this to the DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.  Please check out Kimba’s awesome blog and all the other fabulous DIY ideas…most for your own home and not your child’s play place.  Enjoy!

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I will write about the party and the castle and all the preparations soon but tonight I must sleep.

Here is my idea of a Knight in Shining Armor…..ahhh…screw the horse and grab a broom babe!

Thanks Miles!

p.s. This knight picked up trash and helped wipe the table too!  Be still my heart!

Yes, it has started.  Football is here and with a 3 1/2 year old boy in the house and a love of dressing up – we are all about this game. 

First of all, for some reason the kids will watch it with Ross and like it.  They think they know what is going on. 

Second of all, pretending to be a football player involves imaginative play and therefore we are being good parents by letting them explore this game. 

Third, this game involves dressing up in jerseys or “team shirts” as the kids call them, and this is exciting for them without making too much of a mess.  See here as Lily is a princess football player.   Anything goes on this field!  Dress up is awesome!!!

Finally, and most importantly, playing football releases stored up energy and involves any number of poses and roughhousing that take up gobs of time!  When the jersey got too big we did a little shirts and skins.  I laughed my ass off for a good half an hour!  And laughter is worth a million bucks.  Thank god for kids!

 So we are again in football season and I think we will stay here as long as it stays this fun for toddlers!

I have already revealed our families love of New Orleans.  My hubbies family has been there for years and we spend time there twice a year – Thanksgiving and Jazz Fest.  We do not attend Mardi Gras but as I have stated previously, my boobs get enough action right here in Charlotte and we have tons of beads so I am set.  I make a mean hurricane and I am an easy drunk so I can get that Mardi Gras feeling anytime.