SO WE'RE HEADED FOR DISNEY ... DO I REALLY NEED TO BOTHER WITH MATCHING SHIRTS? (part 2)

In case you missed the last post, the answer is YES!

We just returned from a happy (though scorching & wet) trip to our favorite vacation spot, after being away for five years.   Thought I'd post some thoughts on traveling to Disney with a big family ... if nothing else, it will help me remember for next time.   Upcoming posts:  How to Stay on Budget when you visit the World & What You Absolutely, Positively Must Pack.
Keep tuning in!

There is only one place where my husband will willingly run or wear matching clothes, and that is Disney World.  We've traveled with and without coordinating shirts, and even he agrees that they're extremely helpful (but I say it's just fun and they're so dang cute!)

In our last post you can read about Mickey and Minnie tie dye shirts that you see above ... this time I want to show you my new favorite thing:  Heat-n-Bond Ultra Hold.

I don't really sew and I don't own a sewing machine, but I aspire to be one of those crafty moms who can make adorable things.  So if I'm speaking your language, you've got to run out and buy some sheets of Heat Bond.  If you can iron, you can make an amazingly cute shirt, backpack, whatever.

Here was my first attempt.  I was just experimenting ... and after a day in Epcot and 3 washings, it has held up! Some DIY websites recommend stitching around the edges after ironing on the material, but since I don't sew, I didn't.  (The directions on the Ultra Hold package say don't sew, so I obeyed!)  This took me all of 5 minutes, from start to finish.  My kind of craft project.

This worked so well that it inspired me to keep going.  I had a plain white dress for Elizabeth Ann that I had been saving to monogram, but never did.  So I added yellow pom pom balls on the bottom, and another Mickey with her initial:

 I made coordinating shirts for Emma and me, and of course stitched on a little bow to make it more Minnie.  (I CAN at least use a needle and thread.)  Here is the design up close.  We were stopped by so many people asking about them:

And here is one last view of the dress:

OK, so how can you get started?  After you've got your Heat Bond (found it super cheap at Walmart), find some fabric you can get excited about.  I didn't like Walmart's selections, so I went to Joanne's and found a cute set of coordinating fabrics. I love, love, love these patterns.  It was only $10 for the whole set, and it was way more than enough for all our projects.  I still have a ton left:

Find some Mickey templates and cut them out.  There are a million out there on line.  I printed out several sizes because I have kids of all ages and sizes.  I just held them up to the shirts to see which one fit the best.

If you also want to add an initial, just print out a letter in your favorite font in your word processing program.  Again, experiment with a few different fonts and sizes.  I finally settled on "Curlz," the one on the right.  Cut out the letter to make a template, just like you did for the Mickey head.

And now you're ready to iron.  Read the directions carefully on the Heat Bond package; I did, and it was very clear what to do.  I'll just add a few reminders.  First, turn on your iron to get nice and hot, but turn off the steam.  Remember that each shape you add takes two steps.  First you iron on the backing, that turns your shape into a kind of iron-on patch, then you iron your "patch" on to the shirt.

So get the material ready.  If it's wrinkled, iron it a little.  Then flip the material over to the wrong side.  Iron on the Heat Bond.  Just takes about 8 seconds.  Let it sit for a few minutes to cool off.

Now you're ready to use your templates to make your Mickey head and letters.  Trace them on the Heat Bond.  If you're using a letter, be sure to turn it around backwards.  As you can tell, I'm a very messy tracer.  But that's OK; it's the cutting that's important.

Use your sharpest scissors to cut them out.  You want nice smooth edges.  Here are my 2 finished patches, ready to be ironed on.  (The tiny Mickey head is for Elizabeth Ann's Bitty Baby. I know, I know.  The kids say I'm this close to being one of those crazy Disney moms!)

You're almost done!  Peel off the backing (the white Heat Bond paper), carefully position on your shirt, and iron one last time.  So simple!

So I had so much fun with the shirts, I had to keep going.  Here is a backpack we made for Emma.  Came from the Dollar Store.  (Be careful when ironing, bc the backpack material tends to melt if too hot.)

With Dug and Russell from Up in the Animal Kingdom.  These guys were awesome (and the movie is awesome too.)

Here's the backpack close up:

One last picture.  Here is Elizabeth Ann's outfit for the Animal Kingdom.  Skort came from Walmart (again!) for only $5.  (Worked great for Chick Fil A's Cow Day, too.)  I can't take credit for the design of the shirt - saw it somewhere on line and I can't find it again - but whoever's idea it was, thank you!  So cute!

Now these are admittedly girly heat bond designs; if I were doing this for my boys I would do plain Mickey heads ... something like this:

This Mom used felt and spray adhesive.  Don't know how it holds up after a rainy, sweaty day in the parks, but it's sure cute.

Happy Ironing!