Walt's Eldest Daughter has Died - RIP Diane Disney Miller

I just came across this very said news on CNN.com. Diane Disney Miller age 79 passed away due to injuries related to a fall. She died in Napa California.

Tom Hanks discussing his upcoming role playing her father with Diane Disney Miller
courtesy of Hollywood Reporter 

This is very sudden and sad news and I'm sure the Disney community is mourning her loss. When I visited the Walt Disney Family Museum a couple months ago, I learned many new things about Diane and her sister Sharon. There was a room dedicated to Walt the family man which had many gifts he had given to his children. Also, they show footage of both  his daughter's weddings. Mrs. Miller was a huge proponent of the Walt Disney Family Museum and was the current board president at the time of her passing. The museum is accepting donations in lieu of flowers at the family's request. Below is a statement I pulled from the museum website:

     "In lieu of flowers and gifts, donations may be made to the memorial fund that The Walt Disney Family           Museum has created in honor of Diane Disney Miller. Donations will support the museum's ongoing               education efforts, exhibitions, and programs. Donations and cards can also be sent to the family through         The Walt Disney Family Museum, attn: Director's Office; 104 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA         94129."

See more at: http://www.waltdisney.org/DianeDisneyMiller#sthash.PhRDq6eo.dpuf

Diane Disney Miller on a 2005 visit to Disneyland with Art Linkletter.

If you are in the San Francisco area, I highly recommend visiting the museum. I am currently working on a future post about my visit.

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7 Reasons Why Walter White is Like Walt Disney

I am a big fan of the show Breaking Bad. I especially love the lead character Walter White. But would you ever have expected Walter White to have similarities to Walt Disney? Check out the seven reasons below why Walter White is like Walt Disney.

• Both Walts had mustaches:
• Walter White had a mustache most of his life, and grew it into a goatee after he was diagnosed with cancer.
• Walt Disney grew his mustache in at age 19, and was rarely seen clean shaven.
• Liked to wear a fedora:
• Walter White took on his Heisenberg persona when he donned his Fedora
• Walt Disney wore his fedora to many movie premiers.
• They each created an empire:
• Walter White built a meth empire in the Southwest.
• Walt Disney started a new theme park empire, still unrivaled today.
• Both men provided a premium product unlike anything else available:
• Walter White was able to cook 99.1% pure blue crystal meth. 
• Walt Disney produced the most renowned animated movies in the world.
• Did their best work in secret:
• Walter White lead a secret double life as a Meth chemist.
• Walt Disney secretly bought up 1,000's of acres near Orlando for his Florida Project.
• Had passion for the railroad:
• Walter White pulled off a Methylamine heist from a train.
• Walt Disney had a train in his backyard with over a half mile of track.
• Each had lung cancer:
• Walter White was diagnosed with lung cancer which drove him become a meth cook.
• Walt Disney was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away a two months later.

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Interactive Mickey Debuts at Magic Kingdom

Yesterday, the Disney Parks Blog posted this video of Magician Mickey interacting with guests. I knew they were testing this concept but did not know he was ready to go. Check it out...

You can meet Magician Mickey at the Magic Kingdom at the Town Square Theater daily. What do you think? Or what will your kids think?

Another way to interact with Disney characters is to write them a letter. To learn more visit our earlier post Dear Mickey-or-Mater-or-Donald-or-Buzz.

DIY Pirate Mickey Shirt

As we finish prep for our latest trip to Disney (just 4 more sleeps!), be prepared for cuteness and tutorial overload. While Jason's favorite parts about Disney are strategy and spreadsheets for the parks, mine is forced family matching and cute shirts. I often get comments when we wear them from people expressing that they wish they could make some for their kids but they don't sew/have time/ know where to start.  Here is the answer my friends: Pellon, also known as Under Wonder.

This amazing stuff is found in local craft stores. I buy mine from Amazon, it's cheaper and fast to ship. I'm a terrible seamstress at best and this has changed my crafting life. It's totally non-judgey and makes everything you do look good. It's the prefect best friend. It bonds fabrics to each other so that if you don't want to sew them, fine! If you want to go around the edges and add a bit of stitching, have at it, Pellon will hold everything still so you don't have to pin anything! Dreamy. You're welcome.

Today I finished up this cute Mickey Pirate Shirt

Materials: 1 yard of black material
                 1.5 yards of Pellon
                 0.5 yards of pirate fabric ( I used stripes)
                 0.5 yards of fabric for the letter ( I used white)
                 An iron
                 Shirt
                Mickey Head Outline

Since this one is for my Little, I grabbed a plain onsie, the kind that come in a pack. I didn't even wash it first. Print out this  Mickey Head Outline and cut it down to the size you need. If you are fancy I hear your computer can size it before you print, but "ain't nobody got time for that" I only have naptime to get this done!

Take a square of your black fabric large enough to fit your Mickey Head and lay it on a coordinating piece of your Pellon. You want the rough side of the pellon touching your fabric.

Flip the whole thing over so that the smooth Pellon is on top ( it feels like wax paper) and iron that sucker down. It takes holding the iron in place for a few seconds. After it's good and attached, trace your Mickey Head onto the back of your Pellon. Cut it out.

One side will be black fabric, the other will be smooth, white, wax paper-esq Pellon. Peel the Pellon backing off.

It may snag and not be perfect, that's ok.

Lay your Mickey onto your onsie with the Pellon touching your shirt and iron again. Make sure you focus on the edges.

Now repeat the Pellon process with your pirate fabric for the bandanna. Lay a small square over the Pellon and iron. Pay attention to how the stripes or pattern will end up so that it looks correct on Mickey. Lay your Mickey Head onto the smooth side and just trace between his ears and draw a tail.

 

 

Fill in the rest of the pattern freehand.

Cut out your bandanna, peel the backing off and lay it over your black Mickey Head. Iron it directly on top.

I didn't take pictures of this part but for the letter I just printed out an enlarged letter from Microsoft Word. I probably made it bold too. Then I followed the same process as above with Pellon, tracing, cutting and ironing. Here it is before I sewed it.

You could stop here if you don't like to sew, but I like the finished look and extra security that stiching gives the shirt. So I just whipped the whole thing through my machine, the Pellon held everything still while I zipped around the outside (no need to pin anything down), and it's done! Now my Little will match my Middle and Big! 

If you liked this post, check out other Shirt posts! Chevron Disney Shirts