The Land of Fairy Tales

I don't know where this idea came from, but last week or something I was like, WHAT IF I MADE A MAP FOR THE SEAHORSE, WITH FAIRY TALE LOCALES?! And then as projects do, the idea wedged itself into my brain and I had to see it through. This is not what I had planned, I actually have no idea what I had planned, but this spiraled into something far more colorful and crazy. Which, obv, I love.

I googled Fairy Tale Maps for ideas, because they are in fact a thing, and they were all very flat. Which maps usually are. So I schemed to make my own. I made a list of all the places I wanted to include, and duhhhh a lot of them were Disney inspired. But there are also some classic tales thrown in too. After I had my list I sketched it all out, planning where each location should be in relation to the land mass/each other. Because if you're going to do something you ought to do it right. Then I bought a nice big piece of watercolor paper and drew this baby out. And then I colored it!

I haven't painted with watercolors since maybe freshman year of college? And that was like once. I swore up and down by oils back in my painter hey-days, but I really enjoyed using watercolors! They're more like drawing than painting. And gosh set up and clean up is so easy and so fast, something oils are definitely not. I haven't painted anything in a very long time, so this was a fun jump back into it!

Here are some rather poor quality close ups. I tried to take decent photos but my shadow kept getting in the way, also I was sleepy. That's a pregnant as hell excuse.

Can you guess all the locales? Here's what I included, in no particular order: The Emperor's Palace from Mulan, Agrabah, Eric's castle from the Little Mermaid, the Beast's castle from Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella's castle, Sleeping Beauty's castle, the Snow Queen's ice castle (yes, Elsa.), Rapunzel's tower, the Seven Dwarf's cottage, Jack's beanstalk, the Three Little Pig's homes, the Witch's gingerbread house, a troll bridge, a wishing well, the Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe's... shoe, Wonderland, and Neverland. I think that's everything. My favorites are Rapunzel's tower and Neverland. It would be a blast just to do a map of Neverland.

There is like zero scale or logic involved here, perfection and crazy details are not something I'm good at. I just wanted it to flow decently and for it to be pretty, but not overly girly. I used the Disney versions of most everything as a reference, but they're not exact by any means. I decided to NOT label everything because I felt it would be visually obnoxious, and it gives the Seahorse a chance to use her imagination. Make up yo' own stories, girl!

I had WAY too much fun making this. Like, it was a blast. I sketched the main buildings out but a lot of the background just happened as I went. I mixed colors as I moved along and gosh, it was just FUN. It took me less than a week from plan to finish and actually drawing and painting it took me two days. It was a fantastic time waste, of the productive variety.

I'm pretty happy with it! I could nitpick little things that bug me about it, but that would make me crazy so I'm just calling it done! It will go somewhere in the Seahorse's tiny box of a room, but it will probably take some rearranging and help from a taller human like her dad. I hope she likes it! Obviously she wont even realize what it is for a while, but I wanted her to have something that I made for her, that she can keep for years! 

God forbid she hates Disney. I'm not sure how any child of mine could, but that would be inconvenient to say the least. ;)

California 2015 - Disneyland!

OKAY. This is going to be a looong post, so mentally prepare yourself if you feel like tackling it.

Somehow, by some magic, we managed to go to Disneyland twice in a years time. Just barely, but twice. Buuuuut, I think it was meant to be. We were there last December. We were watching the holiday fireworks show at the end of our one very long day at Disney and I was close to tears because I didn't want to leave and I didn't know when we'd be back, and Brendon hugged me and told me that he'd take me back soon. AND BOOM, look what happened. To be fair, we are very fortunate that my parents and step grandma asked us to come to Cali. That's the only way this happened. And because Brendon is the best husband to ever be a husband. But still. Meant to be, right??

We were staying a little north of San Diego, and Disneyland is obviously in Anaheim. Which is a good hour or so north. But we got up extra early and made the trip (we were one of the first cars into the parking lot) because I cannot be in California and miss out on Disney. My dad and step-momma played on the beach all day while we crazies went wild at Disney. We stayed aaaaall day long, and by the end of it we were beat. But it was worth it. We only did one park this time, because trying to do two in one day just isn't fair. We saw most of California Adventure in December, so we just did Disneyland this go round since we didn't get to see it all before. And this time we saw it ALL!

Last year when we went we got to see Disneyland all Christmas-ed out and this year we got to see it spookified! Pumpkins galore! It is also the 60th anniversary celebration so we got to see some of that magic as well.

And because I am an uber nerd and love a good theme, I made us Halloween outfits to wear. So we could match Disneyland, duh. I made Brendon a simple button up shirt with crazy pumpkin fabric and I made my dress (a highly altered version of the Hazel dress by Victory Patterns) out of spooky fabric also. We both got lots of compliments, but oh my gosh people lost their minds over Brendon's shirt. Strangers came up to him all day long and told him how much they loved his shirt. One of the cast members actually followed us out of a ride to ask about it. It was insane. I was like, but but but... I made my dress too! Note to self, brighter colors get noticed easily.

We broke a ride! Not us, personally, but Autotopia broke right after we got on it. Like they shut down the ride and made everyone get out of line. We had some good timing, we got to finish the ride! But dang, last time we were there the Pirates of the Caribbean ride broke and we were stuck on it for like 20 minutes. What luck we have!

I LOVE THIS RIDE! And that man. It's a Small World forever, y'all.

We got to ride soooo many rides this time. Last time we were only able to ride a few in Disneyland, we spent too much time in California Adventure. I couldn't ride the crazy rides this go round because preggo problems, which was a bummer but we still rode a TON. There are a billion kid/pregnant lady friendly rides, and we rode almost all of them. We missed a few, plus we've still never ridden a bunch of the crazy rides (the Matterhorn! Space Mountain! Thunder Mountain Railroad!), so we STILL have things to go back and do for the first time! I love that! And I say the first time, because we might have done these things when we were kids but we can't remember so it doesn't count. :)

Storybook Land! Super cute. Tiny models of magical lands from the films. Adorable.

The Teacups! I will never ride this. I think my dad and I rode it as kids, but as an adult, pregnant or not, this ride is nightmarish. Going in circles? No thanks! Cute ride though.

Mary Poppin's penguins! Eeee! We ate lunch at the Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe, which was very vegetarian friendly, and dinner at the Carnation Cafe where we had a veggie burger and a reeeeeeally good chocolate milkshake. I love chocolate shakes.

SO! We were waiting in line to ride the Mark Twain riverboat, and just before they let everyone on TIANA PEEKS OUT! She's on the boat! And we get to ride with her! I'm pretty sure I said a bad word out of excitement when she showed up. It was so awesome! This was the only character I got to officially "meet", and it was too perfect! Not hectic or crazy or anything. Super bonus and again, excellent timing.

Grinning like a fool. She told me she liked my dress, so that means an official Disney Princess has complimented my sewing. Have I made it??

Congrats for the classiest fall decor Disney. You know how to spook it up right.

The haunted mansion was cool, but the line was insane. We got a fast pass for it. It was basically the same as it was for Christmas, which was kind of a bummer. I want to see the original sometime!!

Tigger! We spotted quite a few characters while there, and although I only got to meet Tiana, it was still awesome to see them out and about! We saw Mary Poppins and Bert (we were stuck in a line, otherwise I would have loooved to meet them!), Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame (creepy!), Aurora, Jack Skellington and Sally, Goofy, and Tigger! Plus basically everyone in the parades. But there's something really neat about finding them just walking around the park. The Big Princesses you have to wait in line for, they're treated like a ride, which I think is not so fun. Although, I'd totally do it if we had more time!

The Castle at night! Heart eyes!!!

Rapunzel's Tower! We love love love Tangled.

Mainstreet USA is a MADHOUSE at night. There's a parade and then fireworks at 8:30, and people started lining up at like 5! It was crazy. We just rolled up and snuck in to a spot, which worked just fine. The Paint the Night Parade is insane. We saw another parade during the day, and it was really good, but this one... Dang! It's kind of like the Electrical Light Parade they had waaaay back in the day I guess? Lots of lights and so many neat effects. It was really something. And then after the parade everyone moves into the middle of the street for the fireworks. Which are hands down, my favorite.

Because it was the 60th anniversary, they went all out. The effects were insane. Lights, music, fireworks, actual characters flying over the castle on wires... I mean, it was so good. Disney knows how to do it, they don't miss a detail. And because they were celebrating 60 years, there were so many throwbacks to older movies. I feel like the Christmas fireworks we saw last year revolved around Frozen, which is cool and they were soooo good, but I adore the older movies. That's what we grew up with! So seeing the fireworks and the show pay homage to the older films literally brought tears to my eyes. They did a little Step-in-Time bit from Mary Poppins, and I lost it. I think there was some Jungle Book? And When You Wish Upon a Star? It was over. All the tears, and I can't blame it all on the hormones. It was just so good. 100% worth the bazillion people crowded in with us, the exhaustion, the blisters, the ticket price! It was worth it all.

The magic you guys. You can't help but love it. Even ol' rational pants Brendon was getting into it. We were driving back home and remarking on how pricey Disneyland is he said, "I forget that it's worth it." WHICH IS A BIG DEAL YOU GUYS. I am obviously a Disney freak and wouldn't think twice about dropping cash on all things Disney, but Brendon, I always figure he just goes along with it all because it makes me happy. Which is so so sweet. But to hear him say that it was worth it!! Gosh! That's far better than any souvenir. Putting that one in the memory bank.

But seriously, we did get matching sweatshirts. And Brendon got a stuffed Stitch!!! He looooves Lilo and Stitch! It's adorable, because I never really thought much about the movie until he saw it and loved it. And I love it because he loves it. So now we have a stuffed Stitch next to our bed, to match my Pascal. BECAUSE WE ARE CHILDREN. And I never want that to change. :)

Such a FUN day. Going for just one day kinda stinks, but it also makes it that much more special. We don't have season passes and we don't get to go for a week at a time, so we've gotta cram a lot of magic into that one day. And we did! And just thinking about how much fun we had is making me grin like a kid. I'm so glad we were able to go and I'm so glad I have a partner who will do this sort of stuff with me (and puts up with my fanaticism). AND THEN WE CAN TAKE THE SEAHORSE. I can't even. It's going to be so awesome. She's going to love it, and I can't wait to watch it all.

Congratulations to you if you made it through this post. I apologize for the length, but you can't cut corners with this kind of stuff if you're me! Here's last year's trip if you wanna check it out: California Adventure and Disneyland!

Disney Princess Dress Project - the drawings! (part 1)

Y'all! I promise promise promise I have not abandoned this project. I just had some major life changes in the middle of it... quitting my job, moving, getting knocked up, you know... one of which has altered my err... body shape. So it's just on hold. I promise! I even have Mulan totally planned out (although I'm having a hard time tracking down a certain pattern), and as soon as the Seahorse is out, I have regained some normalcy (spare time? does this happen with babies?) in my life, and have something that resembles a waistline again, I SHALL CONTINUE!

But, to bridge the gap, I have some planning drawings from my little sketchbook for each dress. I did it with Snow White and just kept going with each one. I got a little carried away, but whatever. It was fun to draw and color and pretend I was a kid for a bit. Why I drew the hair? I don't know. But those princesses have dang good hair, right?

Forgive me, the photo quality is not the best. Neither is the drawing. Or my handwriting. But silliness aside, these were what I planned that nonsense out on so I think they're "important". The drawings ended up matching the dresses pretty well! I've yet to acquire the hair or castles... but I'm working on it.

Belle was a two pager, because I had one dress completely planned out, then scrapped because it required too much fabric and just wasn't doing it for me. I'm glad I did though because I looooove her dress. Even though I've never gotten to wear it, it hangs in my closet proudly.

The last two I was totes preggo for. But thankfully not enough to where it mattered, fit-wise. Although Pocahontas' got real tight in the boob area over about a week's time. I couldn't put any of these on now, and that makes me just a little sad. And I'm not sure some will ever fit again. BUT it was a lot of fun, and I've still got SIX princesses left to make! Mulan's planning page is totally done, but since she's a work in progress, you'll have to wait until next year to see. ;)

So if you were remotely interested in this project at all, hopefully this holds you over for a bit. I have NOT abandoned it! Because my favorite princess (Belle, forgive me, it is so so so close, and sometimes it flip flops or you two are tied but you were my favorite the longest, I'M SORRY! You have my childhood!) is in this last half so obviously, I have to finish! Just lemme make this baby real quick first.

And you can see all the Disney Princess craziness here!