These felt stars are easy and adorable to craft (from Purlbee) and are the epitome of the primitive look.  You could easily make them into a string garland  or incorporate them into a primitive theme (along with salt-dough ornaments below) with some burlap garland!

I absolutely adore these wood ornaments with scrapbook paper modged podged on (from Brown Paper Packages)  – another easy project:

These swirl nail polish ornaments (from Beautylish) are gorgeous:

My kids have made salt dough ornaments before and with the stamping here, they make a nice personalized ornament (from Design Editor):

It would be a great idea to host an ornament crafting party to make these for friends and neighbors who lost their Christmas Ornaments.  These are all fairly easy to make and you could definitely crank a bunch out over some hot cocoa (maybe with some schnapps). I hope you are as inspired as I am!

Happy crafting!

One of my greatest fears is to keep taking the same, old pictures at Disney.  Everyone gets shot in front of Cinderella’s castle, fireworks etc but I look back at photos from past trips and there is a trend. So this time, I’d like to step out of the box a bit and mix it up.  I found a great website, the Disney Photography Blog for tips, tricks and inspiration.  I particularly enjoyed their post about Family Photography and making it fun. He set up some really cool shots, from different perspectives, that we will have to try in Disney. I have some fun photos, especially this one of Ginger from 2010:

This was another fun shot of my mother-in-law on Toy Store Mania:

Travel Hyper has a printable list of must-take Disney Photos:

I also found another great list here and I love some of the suggestions such as getting a shot while you and your family compare hand prints with the stars found in the Great Movie Ride in Hollywood Studios.  I also love this idea for the World Showcase in Epcot:

World Showcase: When visiting Epcot a big part of the experience is visiting the different Pavilions in the World Showcase. A great way to remember each stop is by taking a picture in each of the countries wearing or holding something that represents those specific cultures. If you can get some sort of landmark in your pictures that represent the countries you visit that is a great idea too. For example, in the France Pavilion, you can get the Eiffel Tower in your shot by setting up between the United Kingdom and France Pavilions.

So, I’ll be getting my camera cleaned and ready for our upcoming trip and looking forward to getting some varied shots this year.  Do you have any suggestions for me? What are your favorite Disney photos?

Of course, it didn’t stop there.  Ryan wanted to know what the “sink” (baptismal fount) was; he mouthed the words because he didn’t want people to know he did not yet know the words and so forth. Danny was so totally embarrassed and I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants.  Now I digress but I needed to give you some background.  That church episode took place about 3-4 years ago.  Today, Ryan had to go to church to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

For those of you who aren’t Catholic, the Sacrament of Reconcilation or Confession allows the sinner to confess their sins to the priest and be absolved of them after doing a penance. Ryan’s 4th grade religious education class was scheduled for this afternoon so off we went. I gave him the sheet that outlined the process with the appropriate words and prayers.  The religious education director called him up to wait for his turn to go into the confessional.  As he was 2nd online, Ryan’s turn came pretty quick and Danny, Matty and I watched carefully from our pew.  Now, Ryan had decided ahead of time he did not want to go “face to face” but traditional. But, when he went in the confessional, he went into the face to face by mistake.  Instead of staying there, Ryan walked out and went in the traditional side.  We couldn’t imagine what was the point since the priest already saw you but well hey, that’s Ryan.

He was in there for a while and I couldn’t imagine what he was saying. He is only 9 – what could he have done? But, I know sometimes the priests take a bit longer because the kids are still new at it. Finally, he came out and he went to the rail to say the prayers that were part of his penance. Now, the church has a row of electric votive candles at the railing and Ryan knelt there and began to pray. I took one look at that row of dark, unlit candles and I knew there would be no way he would be able to resist.

I turned to Dan and Matt and you could see they too had the same thought.  So we turned and watched Ryan, kneeling there all angelic.  All of a sudden, one candle flickered to life.  Then another. And another – bing, bing, bing until at least 7 or so were flickering merrily.  We could barely contain our laughter! They we are sitting in a solemn church with all the statues covered up (a bit creepy if you asked me) and the Desio family is laughing. Great – yeah us the irreverent bunch. Finally, Ryan returned to our pew and we told him you aren’t supposed to light the candles without making a donation.  Ryan looked at us contritely and Dan fished out a few dollars from his pocket and told Ryan to go back up and make the donation – BUT DON’T LIGHT ANY MORE CANDLES! Ryan did what he was told and then we left with a smile on our faces and in our hearts – Ryan never fails to disappoint!

Matty & Tigger – he was so darn cute!

That first year, we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Since then, we have stayed at the Polynesian, the Boardwalk and, my favorite, the Yacht Club.

Isn’t it Beautiful?

I absolutely love the Yacht Club. The main reason – the close proximity to Epcot. Almost every night, we walk to Epcot, along the serene, Crescent Lake, to enjoy not only the rides, but the World Showcase. There is absolutely no reason to spend an entire day in Epcot when you have the luxury of having it right next door to your resort. Last time, we stayed at the Polynesian and while it is beautiful, I missed that walk to Epcot.  Sure we could take the monorail, but it dumps you in the front of the park and not at the World Showcase.

So, this year we are staying at the Yacht Club and I have promised myself that Danny and I will go to Jellyrolls at the Boardwalk Resort – a short boat ride across the lake from the Yacht Club.  I have been dying to go to Jelly Rolls – a dueling piano bar – but have never gotten there.  I think 2012 will be the year!

Do you vacation at Disney? What is your favorite resort?

As you can see, my Ryan was such a little wiseguy! I completely forgot about this until I decided to download all the video to the computer with the intent of creating some family video dvd (a subject of a future post).

To get those every day moments make sure your video camera is handy and CHARGED. If your home videos are anything like mine, you will hear your husband’s voice saying “honey I only have a few minutes of battery left…” UGH! A video camera in its bag, tucked away in a closet isn’t capturing anything. If your cell phone has a video recording feature, make sure you know how to use it. Cell phones are wonderful for capturing candid video and that video can easily be uploaded to facebook and YouTube for sharing.

Here are 5 tips to improve your videotaping skills to make sure you capture the moment perfectly:

Get down to their level

When videotaping kids, try to get eye-level with them, whether on your knees, the floor, or a low chair. This position allows for greater interaction with the children.

Keep the Tape Rolling

Don’t be so quick to turn off the camera when the event you are capturing is finished.  When you feel you have captured the performance or giggle, let the camera continue to recordl for another minute or two. Some of the best moments happen unexpectedly, so if you have the camera on and focused on the subject, you’re more likely to get them on tape.

Keep Camera Movement Down to a Minimum

Don’t use a lot of movement with the camera. Feel free to adjust your shot according to what is taking place but minimize zooming and panning. Your subject should be providing the movement, not the camera. Here is a tip: when you see something you want to record, get a nice long shot of whatever is happening without any camera movement (zoom or panning) whatsoever. Then, move in to adjust the shot and then let it roll for a while. This way you will have both a wide-shot of the activity (something that shows all the action) and a close up.

Fill the Frame With Your Subject

This is especially important when videotaping infants. Some of the best video is where you can see the expressiveness in a baby’s face when she is playing peek-a-boo, or her determination in trying to get the spoon from the cereal to her mouth. Don’t be afraid to get really close!

Flip the Screen

Toddlers are such hams and if you flip around the LCD screen on the camera so the kids can see themselves in action you’ll a) get a nice extended close up shot because most children can focus on themselves for a while, and b) you’ll get some hysterical footage as kids figure out who’s on the screen and start making faces at themselves!

Remember, they are little only once and these movies are the best family movies! Get out there are video tape!