How to make a Mr. Smee hat {DIY Halloween Costume}

byKaren•September 20, 2012

Check out my DIY Mr. Smee Hat

I really want to be creative but I know my limits. So when it comes to Halloween costumes I’m definitely a semi-homemade type of mom.

I will do a store bought costume if I can get a super great deal on it. Lik e Quinn’s Peter Pan costume. I found it LAST year before Halloween at a local consignment store. It was an official Disney Store costume, the right size, and only ~$7. Plus I had store credit so it was free for me!

We already had flirted with the idea of a Peter Pan Halloween for the next year, finding the perfect costume for Quinn sealed the deal.

With Peter taking on the role of Captain Hook, it seemed like Mr. Smee would be a great fit for the littlest guy. Unfortunately Mr. Smee is not a SUPER popular character so I was on my own, flexing my creative muscles to make the costume happen.

Finding the right shirt and shorts would take patience but I figured it was possible. The hat was the most unique aspect of the costume and my biggest concern.

I briefly flirted with the idea of ordering a custom knit hat but after checking the prices on Etsy, I decided to make one myself. And my knitting skills are so lacking that I shouldn’t be allowed to put the word “skills” next to knitting!

So I decided to just modify a Santa hat!

We already had a cheap Santa hat in our play box so my only purchase was a small piece of red felt (~$0.25).

Start with a basic Santa hat. If you don’t have one check a dollar store, Christmas stuff has started showing up!
Cut off the white cuff. I didn’t both hemming the edge.
Cut a piece of red felt to cover the white pom pom.
Pin and sew the red felt around the white pom pom.

That’s it. So easy a child could do it.

Check out the rest of E.’s DIY Mr. Smee costume.

Are you buying or DIY-ing costumes this year?

Our International Wildlife Museum Adventure

byKaren•May 28, 2012

Even if you’ve never visited the International Wildlife Museum before, you have likely passed it if you have ever headed out west towards Old Tucson Studios, the Saguaro National Park or the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum.

The International Wildlife Museum is built like a castle complete with a drawbridge bridge and moat pond. The water out front is great because the boys enjoy checking out the fish, turtles and toads on our way into and out of the museum.

My two favorite things about the International Wildlife Museum?

It’s indoors.

We have lots of great places to visit in Tucson but in the summer heat most can be pretty unbearable. The International Wildlife Museum is air conditioned fun!

It’s interactive.

There are things to walk under and crawl through, not to mention lots of hands-on kid friendly things to explore!

The International Wildlife Museum features over 400 bird, insect and mammal species; there is plenty to see and they will likely have one your favorites on display.

Note I do affectionately call this the “dead animal museum”. Most everything is stuffed, donated by conservation groups, zoos, etc. Just fair warning in case you can’t tell by my pictures and are expecting more of a zoo…

Thankful the museum starts with a large insect room. The boys ran around checking out all the bugs and weren’t too intimidated by them.

Moving further into the museum encountering the mammals caused some concerns at first for Elliot who was certain they were alive and might attack.

Sort of a flight or flight response I guess. Luckily he was content to hang out in daddy’s arms until he was sure the museum was “safe.”

Besides the animals on display, there are also exhibits highlighting various types of animal fur, eyes, teeth, eggs and scat (poop)!

The boys loved pushing the buttons and watching the different animal eyes light up. Some of them are quite creepy!

Feeling the various types of fur and trying to guess the animal is also cool. Don’t worry the poop is not touchable.

There is no restaurant on site but they do have good sized eating area and you can bring your own snacks to enjoy. The gift shop also sells a few snack items along with fountain soda.
The museum is open year round (except Christmas and Thanksgiving) from 9am–5pm, Monday through Friday and 9am-6pm Saturday and Sunday.

Prices are reasonable. Adults are only $8, Military and Seniors only $6, kids 4-12 $3 and kids under 3 are free. Check out their facebook page for special events and discounts.

Have you ever visited the International Wildlife Museum?

Our Pima Air Museum Adventure

byKaren•April 14, 2012

What is a little boy’s dream museum?

80 acres with more than 300 airplanes and helicopters plus fire trucks and tanks!

And guess where it is located!!

Yup, in Tucson!

The Pima Air & Space Museum is one of the largest air and space museums in the world!

Even though I am a Tucson native, I can’t recall the last time I visited the Pima Air and Space Museum. I am just not big into aviation BUT I knew it would be the perfect place for a field trip with Papa Bob!

And I was right.

The boys had a blast!

There were plenty of hands on things to do including “flying” a plane and a control room with lots of buttons to push! (And the boys could have stayed in the control room for an hour if we had let them!)

From big planes and tiny little ones, there were plenty of different planes to check out.

The space gallery was also lots of fun!

And the fun continued outside with plenty more to see!

My boys were drawn to the helicopters and emergency/military vehicles.

And isn’t this art exhibit fun?

The Round Trip: Art From The Boneyard Project is on site through May 31st!

The museum is open year round (closed only for Christmas and Thanksgiving). Admission rates vary by season and there is a discount for Pima county residents. Kids 6 and under are always free. Check their website for more information on visiting and a possible survey/coupon!

I am pretty sure Quinn would tell you this is his favorite museum. I am sure we will be back soon!

I am curious.What’s your (or your kid’s) favorite museum?

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

byKaren•March 10, 2012

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is a must for both Tucson visitors and residents alike. It is a great place to experience the natural beauty of the Tucson and many of our desert creatures!

With over 300 animal and 1200 plant species on 21 acres, there are plenty of opportunities to wear the kids out! What parent can’t appreciate that?

The first thing to remember is that the desert is home to snakes and cactus. Please be aware of your surroundings, especially with little ones.

If you have kids, I would recommend buying a stamp book for $1 at the entrance. There are stamp stations throughout the museum grounds that help keep the kiddos excited throughout the visit. Quinn loves stamping his book at the “Desert Zoo”.

Animals and climbing are the main focus for our adventures at the Desert Museum.

The tortoise area being the hands down favorite because you can climb on top of a giant rock tortoise AND through a tortoise shell.

P.S. There is shade, a bench and water fountain here that makes an excellent place to watch the kiddos play.

You can climb to a special coati viewing area

The underground beaver and otter den is also fun!

While most of the museum is outdoors there are a few exhibits that are indoors including:

The Reptiles & Invertebrates – Snake house!

Earth Sciences Center – A lime stone cave!

Life Underground – Sleeping creatures like a kangaroo rat and spiders!

I didn’t get a lot of great animal pictures, but there are lots of animals to see including bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, bobcats, a black bear, and javelinas!

There are two aviaries, including one exclusively for humming birds but there are plenty of bird watching opportunities throughout the grounds. There is also a Raptor Free Flight demonstration twice as day (seasonal).

Don’t miss the javelinas at the entrance, they always take a great photo!

We always bring a stroller. My boys climb in and out all day but with almost 2 miles of paths, a stroller is a must in my opinion.

Strollers (total old school ones) and wheelchairs are available to borrow (free) on a first come, first serve basis at the museum entrance.

Hours and admission price varies by season, kids under 3 are free. Check out more details HERE. Check out the Tucson Entertainment book or Tucson Attractions Passport for possible B1G1 coupons.
Parking is Free
It’s 12 miles west of 1-10, so when you think you have driven too far. Keep driving.
The drive to the museum is quite scenic (picture saguaros everywhere!) and if you have the time there are several great stopping points to snap a picture.
There are several places to grab a snack or meal at the museum(snack bar, café, and restaurants). There is also a picnic area just outside the entrance if you bring your own lunch. Remember it’s 12 miles back to I-10…
It is a lot of walking outside, so wear comfortable shoes and bring sunscreen.

Right now it’s a great time of year to enjoy our gorgeous weather and the beauty of the desert. If you visit during the summer, the museum stays open until 10pm on Saturday nights. We have yet to experience an evening out there but it is definitely on our to do list!

Have you been to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum? What is your favorite part?

Our San Diego Zoo Visit!

byKaren•December 13, 2011

A few weeks ago we headed to San Diego for a quick family vacation. It was quite an adventure, we did a couple of crazy things including crashing at my best friend’s and after our visit she is no longer speaking to me.

Just Kidding

The boys did quite well and we didn’t drive her too crazy. We also gambled on a dinner out after a long day at LEGOLAND without NAPS. (I am shaking just thinking about that scenario).

The safest choice would have been to pick up take out and head back to the apartment but we were wild and crazy and threw caution to the wind. We took two over tired boys out to eat and survived.

Woo Hoo! Score one for crazy parents everywhere!

I will be blogging about our LEGOLAND visit another time, but today I wanted to share a little from our San Diego Zoo visit.

This was our boys’ first trip to the San Diego Zoo. Peter and I have been there several times but it had been a few years since our last visit. We were excited to show Quinn and Elliot all the fun stuff the San Diego Zoo offers!

And the fun started before we even entered the zoo! Check out the huge elephant that greets you at the entrance!

Our visit was on an overcast Friday morning and we lucked out with no crowds! Our first stop was the Reptile House! We went around “Ooohing and Ahhhing” over each of the slithering creatures. The boys could have stayed there even longer, checking out the creatures in each window over and over again!

We then took the Skyfari over to the back side of the zoo. This leads me to the first important thing I wanted to share. All 1 day tickets Include unlimited use of Guided Bus Tour, Express Bus, and Skyfari Aerial Tram. Like I said it had been a few years since our last visit and it used to be that you paid extra for the bus tours and Skyfari. I LOVE that unlimited rides are now included in your admission ticket!

Quinn thought the Skyfari was really cool, but riding with Elliot was a bit nerve racking, he was a wiggly worm and we were quite high above the zoo!

After hopping off the Skyfari tram, we headed to the Polar Bear exhibit. Besides seeing the super cute polar bears there are quite a few fun things for the kids to do including some fun photo opportunities!

Here my three guys seeing how they measure up to real life sized polar bears!

And the ability to do some crawling and climbing, a big hit with our rambunctious kiddos!

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the polar bear snow den.

And how do you top a snow den?

With a helicopter of course!

And don’t miss the reindeer exhibit tucked away near the Polar Bears too. <—Quite appropriate this time of year!

After a quick break for lunch…

We headed to the Children’s Zoo area. The boys burnt off lots of energy on the playground.

Both boys had a blast on the jungle gym and would have played there for hours…

Once we wrangled them away from the slide we headed deeper into the Children’s zoo area to the petting zoo!

The boys loved petting and feeding the goats!

And as a mom I really appreciate the kid sized hand washing stations and wipes dispenser!

We did a little more exploring on foot before catching the Bus Tour. (Remember it’s including in the ticket price!)

With only one day to explore and two little guys in tow, the Bus Tour is a great way to see a lot of zoo easily!

The Elephant habitats were very impressive! And easy for both boys to appreciate from the top of the double decker bus!

Quinn was quite excited to see Pumba (Warthogs) from the Lion King and also King Julien (Ring Tailed Lemur) from the Penguins of Madagascar.

I loved how excited he was to see them!

Elliot found the fish VERY exciting!!

The Verdict?

The boys loved the San Diego Zoo! And I know we will be back on our next trip to San Diego!

They were were so worn out from our adventure that they were sleeping as soon as we drove away!

San Diego Zoo Deals

Here are a few tips to save some money!

Bring your own water, snacks and lunch! There are picnic areas outside the zoo’s main entry or you can venture a little further into Balboa park.
If you are a soda addict, definitely invest in the refillable mug. It was the best $8.99 we spent. Free refills all day with your receipt and $1 refills on return trips!!
Check the San Diego Zoo website for discounts or consider buying a Go San Diego Card, Southern California City Pass or San Diego 3 for 1 Pass if you plan on doing other area attractions on your trip. You can see all ticket options including the passes HERE!

P.S. JUNGLE BELLS!

On our trip we noticed quite a few fun Christmas decorations installed throughout the zoo. The San Diego Zoo was preparing for their annual Jungle Bells celebration. Our trip was in mid November so we weren’t able to attend but it looks quite festive! You can read more about Jungle Bells HERE!

Disclosure: The San Diego Zoo provided my family with tickets. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Downtown on Dwellable

Star Wars Halloween 2011!

byKaren•November 1, 2011

We had a full Star Wars Halloween Party this year!!! Quinn was in heaven! I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!

And if you want to see a few more from our Star Wars Halloween, check out this post!

Happy Star Wars Halloween 2011

byKaren•November 1, 2011

We started doing Halloween parties over at my brother’s house a few years back and last year we started a new tradition with group themed costumes. It was Toy Story last year….

We had a full fledged Star Wars Halloween this year!

Complete with Quinn as a Jedi, Elliot as Chewbacca , Peter as Hans Solo and I was Princess Leia!

And by family theme… I mean our whole family, check out the rest of our Star Wars crew!

Darth Maul and Yoda: Uncle David and Aunt Nessa

Storm Trooper and Darth Vader: Aunt Lynn and Uncle Stevie

Jawa and the Emperor: Grandma Donna and Papa Dave

Quinn had lots of fun with all of the Star Wars characters. His favorite thing though was light saber battles with Darth Vader!

Grandma and Papa did a great job scaring up some fun!

Me and my boys!

The Leia buns were quite popular…And so was the Darth Vadar Mask!

Do you do a themed Halloween?

I have to admit we really enjoy doing a group theme and already have next years picked out!!

I linked this fun Halloween post to Parenting By Dummies, All Things Belle, and 5 Minutes For Mom

Our Favorite Disneyland Room: HOJO Kids Suite!

byKaren•October 30, 2011

I have previously mentioned our love of staying at the Howard Johnson Anaheim (HOJO) for our Disneyland trips. The value and amenities at the HOJO are unbeatable.

A few of my favorite HOJO features:

Within easy walking distance to Disneyland
Free Wi-Fi in all rooms
Castaway Cove (their water splash pad that my boys LOVE!)
On site convenience/gift shop
Free parking
Fridge in all rooms and microwaves in some.
Retro rates are available if you plan ahead! (available for those with the Entertainment card or Annual Passes)!

And the HOJO recently (within past couple of years) renovated to create 14 Kids Suites! Each Kids Suite includes a king bed in one room and a set of twin bunk beds with a twin sofa sleeper in the other room. The door between the rooms is awesome for privacy during naps/early bed times! And 2 TVs and 2 bathrooms are definitely handy as well! The rooms are done very nicely in a pirate theme with upgraded mattresses and bedding.

Plus with some luck and planning you can secure these awesome rooms at $99 a night using the Retro Rate. Even without the Retro Rate their night rate is under $200 a night which is still beats 2 regular rooms any day of the week!

The Kids Suites are quite popular though so if you are interested you need to book well in advance of your trip or just cross your fingers and hope you get lucky!

The HOJO has some great pictures of their rooms on their website, but I took a quick little video of the Kids Suite while we were there in September.

Please ignore Peter being silly, if you can.

Howard Johnson Kids Suite–September 2011

No disclosure necessary. They didn’t pay me to write this review and don’t know who I am. We really just love the HOJO. Although if they want to bring us back for an “official review” that would be fun!

Marana Pumpkin Patch and Farm Festival

byKaren•October 25, 2011

We made a trip to the new Marana Pumpkin Patch & Farm Festival last weekend. I loved that it was so much closer than other Southern Arizona pumpkin patch/farms. It’s only 5 minutes off the Marana road exit!

The $4 admission fee (1+ years) includes a tractor drawn wagon ride to the pumpkin patch, and petting zoo with pig races.

Other free activities include a Mini Straw Maze, a Hay Bale Slide, a Huge Sandbox and Pedal tractors.

Attractions with additional charges are the Jumping Pillow, Corn Mazes and a Train Ride. They do offer a few package options that save you some money!

We started with a quick train ride that took a tour around part of festival including a patch of the corn maze.

The boys loved it!

They also loved the Giant Jumping Pillow. Quinn wore himself out on that crazy thing. And Elliot even had a chance to check it out (with my help of course).

We didn’t wander the corn mazes but still had plenty of other fun stuff to do including the FREE Hay maze.

The boys loved running through it! The hay bales were tall enough for kiddos to be lost but low enough that parents could easily navigate it! It was an awesome activity!

Next to the Hay Maze was an Awesome Hay Bale Slide. It was a huge hit as well!

Elliot loved the tractor pedal cars (and Quinn would have too but he was glued to the jumping pillow).

And I loved these painted wood photo props.

The petting zoo was not a big hit with my boys. I think there were too many other fun things going on.

I did see lots of other kiddos enjoying the animals though! And we missed the pig races, we were buying food at the time but the races did draw a big crowd!

We didn’t try out the big sandbox but it was another awesome freebie!

The biggest negative for me was the food from their snack bar. We had hotdogs and hamburgers and they were gross. Seriously gross.

I would recommend eating before you go or trying the food trucks they also had on site. I saw a Mexican food one and a Grandma Tony’s Pizza one that I am SURE would have been better. Learn from our mistake.

We didn’t end up taking the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch because the boys were having too much fun and the rides stop at dark. They so have pumpkins available for purchase from their pumpkin garden area after dark. They are priced at $0.50/lb.

Overall we had a fabulous time. They offer lots of great freebies for the kiddos that are including in the admission charge. However the extras could add up quite quickly if you don’t watch it!

The Marana Pumpkin Patch & Farm Festival is open Fridays 3pm-11pm, Saturdays 10am-11pm and Sundays 10am-10pm throughout October. We will definitely be back next year!

Have you had a pumpkin patch adventure recently? What was your favorite part? I would love to hear about!

DIY Custom Disney Shirts

byKaren•September 20, 2011

While cleaning out my desk… (which is always a work in progress) I came across a package of HP iron on transfers. It was a great discovery because I hadn’t had much luck finding “new to us” Disney shirts for the boys for our upcoming Disneyland trip.

I always hunt for fun Disney shirts for the boys at local consignment stores. Buying the shirts second-hand helps us save money and also makes their shirts a little more unique because they aren’t the shirts that everyone is buying in the park.

My DIY “genius” came about when I decided to try my luck with the long forgotten iron on transfers. My first task was to find cheap plain t-shirts to use. I found 3 Hanes/Fruit of Loom shirts at our 99 Cents Only Shirt. Orange and green for Elliot and a turquoise one in Quinn’s size. Then I found a yellow on at our local consignment shirt for $1.99.

Next up finding some great t-shirt designs. I decided to go with KISS, a simpler design meant I’d have a better chance at success. So I started googling things like “Disney Clip Art” and “Mickey Head Clip Art”.

Easy DIY Custom Disney Shirts

Then I just used the “print screen” function on my computer to copy the images and paste them into my Paint program. I cropped the image and then inserted my text. I wanted the shirts to be personalized with the boys names and this was a very easy way to do that!

After I created a t-shirt image I liked I saved the file and opened it with my Word program. My transfer sheets were the size of regular sheets of paper. I played with the sizing and then did test prints on regular paper. Then I was able to test out the image size on my shirts.

EDITED – This process is much easier using an online program like PicMonkey. Just save the image you like and upload it into Picmonkey! Then add text and other overlays you like then save the image file.

Once I was happy with my design I printed the images on the special HP transfer paper. I made a HUGE mistake thought. Can anyone guess what I did??

Take a look at the picture above again and see if you can figure it out…..

The picture below is another hint.

I forgot to print the mirror image of the designs. The lesson learned is to read the directions on the iron on transfer paper. Some require you to print the mirror image design and others you print normal.

So my first set were a loss. But no biggie, I had more transfer paper left. I went back and changed the print settings to print the mirror image.

I trimmed each image, leaving a little edge around it.

Then I carefully centered each image on a shirt and followed the directions to iron on each transfer. The key seems to be time and pressure. Make sure you have enough of each!

The Moment Of Truth…

Was the transfer really going to work??

Yay! It totally did. I carefully peeled of of the paper backing and then did a happy dance around the kitchen!

What a fun spread of color!! I was so excited with the results!

Project Cost:

4 T-shirts $5 total

Iron On transfers free <—I did price out a package of iron on transfers at Michaels and they worked out to about $1 per piece transfer paper.

Project cost ~$2 per shirt depending upon what deals you find!

Other Posts You May Like: