Tag Archives: Disney Store

Things I Broke My Spending Ban For

After having a bit of fun in the January sales, I put myself on a rather strict spending ban a few weeks ago in an attempt to pay off what’s left of Christmas, January birthdays and stuff for my holiday in April. I mentioned in Wednesday’s post that it’s inevitable that whenever I go on a spending ban, I always end up spotting things that I want more than when I’m free to spend what I like, so of course in the last month there have been a few little exceptions to the ban.

Disney Store picked the most unfortunate time (for me) to release the first month of their limited edition Mickey Memories collection, and it was just my luck that January’s release was the one I wanted to get my hands on the most. I thought maybe I could wait to buy this adorable little Steamboat Willie Mickey, but FOMO got the better of me and I was there on the website at 7:55am waiting for the launch to drop online, and I’m so glad I did because I know a lot of people who missed out on this limited edition cutie, and I’ve already seen some going on eBay for £50-60, when he was only £25. What I am happy about, however, is that I paid for him using some of my Etsy earnings from January, so my bank account didn’t actually see the effects of this spend at all!

My friend Rachel makes the sweetest fandom inspired coffee cozies, and having bought my first one back in December and loved it, I was keen for more. Then she brought out a Porg cozy and I was absolutely sold, plus I bought it when she was running a buy one, get a surprise one free offer, so I also got another design that is also been eyeing up, this little Mickey glove. I love supporting small businesses, so this was well worth breaking the ban. You can buy her darling creations here!

I actually popped into Clintons looking for the next item, not knowing it hadn’t actually been released in stores yet, but while I was nosing around the store I found this amazing vintage Disney poster patterned notebook and I couldn’t not get it.. But the bonus was when I got to the checkout, it actually scanned up cheaper than the label – winner!

Last, but certainly not least, I have been waiting to get this amazing Winnie the Pooh dish for months. Clintons dropped spoilers for this collection back in November and I’ve patiently waited since then to buy it, but as soon as it released on the website it sold out, and I just knew how unlikely it was that my local stores would stock it. Luckily, the lovely Clintons Twitter team were nice enough to notify me when it came back in stock online, and I snapped it up within minutes! This was also paid for with Etsy earnings, so another little victory!

Worth breaking the ban? I think so..

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How to Create a Disney Inspired Desk Space

In reality, my desk is a very fluid space. It goes from my creative space, complete with sewing machine, a million pins and strewn with fabric off-cuts, to my blog photo studio, to the place I pile up rubbish I need to get off the floor, all in the space of a few hours at times.

Every now and then, however, I can bring order to my little desk, and last weekend was one of those occasions. With the help of my recent Disney Store purchases, I was inspired to create a magical little work space, perfect for any dreamer and doer.

Want to create your own? Here’s what you’ll need!

The desk lamp

Proper lighting is super important when it comes to an area that you’ll be working in – eye strain is not cool. My desk is a subtle nod to the classic Pixar lamp, but there are a tonne of cool Disney themed lights out there to match the look you want.

Adorable stationery

Can anyone honestly say that they don’t have a weakness for cute stationery? Notepads, pens, sticky notes, you name it, I’m all about it. Right now, Disney Store are absolutely killing it with some of their stationery, but there are so many places you can buy Disney inspired products on the high street and online.

My Mickey Mouse highlighters were from John Lewis a few months back, but there are similar ones now available on the Disney Store website!

All the mugs

I’m all about any excuse to buy a new Disney mug, but they’re so multi-functional! Sure, you’re gonna need a lot of mugs for drinking from while you’re busy at work, but they also make for excellent pen pots, or storage for push pins, paperclips.

Practical decorations

I’m obsessed with my new Mickey and Minnie washi tape dispenser and Mickey glove business card holder from the Disney Store, they make for great desk centrepieces but are also actually useful. You can also find practical uses for some of your favourite Disney items; how about using a Funko Pop as a paperweight?

Magical artwork

Now your desk is kitted out, bring a little magic to your walls! My desk is surrounded by Polaroid style prints of my favourite Disney trip photos from Sticky9 (who also do cute little magnets!), but there are also so many amazing Disney artists out there – try Etsy and Redbubble!

How do you bring magic to your workspace?

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My Spring/Summer Disney Haul

So over the last month or two, I’ve picked up quite a few new Disney bits. Some have been impulse purchases, some are things I’ve been lusting over for a little while, and some are in preparation for my WDW trip in October/November, and today I’m going to share what I’ve bee buying!

First up, how amazing is this MK t-shirt?! Its from Great Adventure Supply Co, and the second I saw it on Instagram I knew I had to have it for my trip to Florida at the end of the year. I love how to the untrained, non-Disney eye it could be mistaken as an old-school MTV shirt, meaning I can get away with wearing it more often than some of my other Disney shirts! I also nabbed the blue castle hat (top picture) from Just Peachy when there was free international shipping going, and this hat will be accompanying the shirt for a Magic Kingdom day.

Despite telling myself I wouldn’t be buying any more ears, I’ve had my eye on these gorgeous Tangled inspired pair from Aloha Ears, and I was browsing their site following a shop opening, and this one pair was left in stock while everything else had sold out. I mean that’s fate, right? Also from the lust list, I’ve been wanting to treat myself to some Lillian&Co bracelets for a while, and after busting my butt doing so much overtime at work, I decided it was time!

For a bit more small business support, I bought this cute little pouch from Swish and Stitch on Etsy – I just love the adorable Toy Story print, it arrived really quickly and its so well made, I’d 100% recommend a purchase!

Lastly, I finally decided to get the Tangled journal from the Disney Store – although I’ve yet to find the courage to write anything in it – and I got my hands on the sweetest little poetry book there ever was, written by fellow blogger Sophie Jo. She is an incredible writer, and when I found out she was releasing her poetry in a book, I knew I had to have it. I did, in fact, squeal when it arrived, and shed a few tears flicking through it. The book consists of Disney inspired poems, and you can buy it here!

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The Ocean Chose Me*

As a blogger, I think it was the greatest email of my life when I was contacted by the Disney Store to be part of their 30th anniversary celebrations.

Its definitely no secret that Disney plays an enormous role in my life. As well as bringing me so much happiness, its brought some incredible people into my life, and I have so many wonderful memories, not only from recent years, but throughout my whole life, and while I have over 22 years of magical Disney memories, I don’t think anything has made me happier than the release of Moana last year.

A lot of people fell in love with the movie when it came out for the obvious reasons: it was a stunning movie with an incredible storyline, world class cast and catchy soundtrack, but for me, the release of this film meant so much more. In the run up to the release, I wrote about why Moana is so special to me, but the long and short of it is that it means the world to me that Disney made a movie celebrating the culture of my cousins and their side of my family, creating a princess that they can not only look up to, but can identify with.

The first time I watched the movie, I cried because baby Moana is a spitting image of what my girls looked like as toddlers, and as Moana grows up, she practically turned into my eldest cousin, Bella, just in animated form. My uncle is Samoan, one of the Pacific Islands that inspired the movie, and even he cried when he saw it in the cinema.

Disney Store were kind enough to send me this adorable Moana doll to celebrate the anniversary and recreate some scenes from the movie, and the ocean called me down to the beach to recreate that beautiful scene from the start of the movie, when the ocean chooses Moana to restore the heart of Te Fiti. The doll is so pretty, and detailed right down to the little sandy feet, and of course I also had to take my Pua and Hei Hei tsum tsums!


Want to be part of the celebrations? Recreate your favourite Disney scenes and share them on Instagram and Twitter using #DisneyStore30!

Happy anniversary Disney Store!

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A Disney Day in London

If you read my New Years Resolutions post, you would have seen that this year I really want to spend more time going on adventures, and meeting more of my lovely Disney friends, and a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do both in one day!

After a massive amount of Twitter discussion, the lovely Eleanor managed to set a date for a trip to London for a get-together, and being that London is only a £20 return away by coach, it seemed like a day off well spent!

After an early morning start and a coach journey that I pretty much slept through, I arrived at Victoria slightly earlier than predicted, giving me plenty of time to get to the underground station and work my way to Oxford Street; I’d done the same trip back in December luckily so I knew where I was going! Our meeting place? The Disney Store, of course!

I arrived pretty much bang on 11am, and was soon found my Ellie and Jade, and soon enough the group grew to include Sophie, and as we migrated into the warmth of the store, the whole gang appeared: Lizi, Amy, Charlotte, Milly and Gracie. Obviously we all needed a good look around the two story shop, which is way bigger than my nearest Disney Store, and if you don’t get a photo in Cinderella’s carriage then it didn’t happen, right?

By the time we left the store – probably to the relief of the cast members – we were all kinda starving, so we made our way to Piccadilly and ended up in a Pizza Hut (that didn’t look particularly pleased to see a group of our size) for the lunchtime buffet, and ended up staying for well over an hour, just talking about Disney and life and Disney.. It was so nice to be able to discuss the magic with people who think the same as you!

After lunch, we headed back towards Oxford Street for some window shopping in Lush and h&m, then good little fangirls we are, got the tube to Kings Cross to visit Platform 9 3/4 and the Harry Potter shop there. The platform looks a little out of place in the modern new station building, and I had no idea there would be such a queue just for a photo, but we were all quite content looking at the merchandise and discussing what house we’d be in.

Somehow, we all seemed magnetically drawn to St Pancras, but we all claimed it was 100% to do with Starbucks and not at all to see when the next Eurostar to Disneyland Paris was.. The station was totally rammed with people due to two hours worth of train delays (YIKES), but there was just about enough space for the remaining members of our group and our hot chocolates! For me, this was the last stop of the day, as being totally terrified of missing my coach, or a repeat of the last time I got a coach from Victoria station (hello pickpockets), I said my goodbyes to all my lovely new friends, and Gracie and I caught the Victoria line back to the coach station for me, and Gracie went on to her station.

The coach trip home was a little longer due to traffic, but I had a blueberry muffin to munch on and I’d just had such a lovely day that I wasn’t too bothered! All the girls were so nice, and we had so much to talk about and it was just so great to have a day with people who share my intense love of all things Disney! Please go and check out all of their blogs/Youtube channels because they’re great!

I can’t wait for more adventures!

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My Christmas Haul!

Well happy Boxing Day everyone! Did we all have a lovely day yesterday?!

Christmas is my absolute favourite day of the year, so when its all over its always a little sad, but Boxing Day is still a good day as (well at least for our family) its the day you get to collect all your presents together and admire them, and it always makes me feel incredibly grateful for my amazing family!

But you guys want to know what I got, right?

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Quite the pile, right? I’ve been super lucky!

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If you read my Christmas wishlist post, you’ll see some familiar items!

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A rock cushion? Nope, its my new little troll friend in his alternative form, and I love it! I can’t wait to use him as a travel pillow when we go to Disney next month!

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INFLATABLE BAYMAX (he’s a bath pillow really)

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At first I thought I was above the trend, but actually I fell in love with adult colouring books, and I got three!

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Peanut butter. Nuff said.

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There’s a little pile of Lush goodies there, and some amazing Finding Nemo pyjamas, as well as Maximus and a Nanoblock Neuschwanstein.

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A late addition to my Christmas list was the Magnitone Barefaced, and I’m really excited to start using it, my skin needs some major TLC in 2016! It came with a cute little travel pouch, and because Mum ordered it from FeelUnique, while they were running a promotion, I also got a free shower holder for it!

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And the present that I genuinely squealed opening: this adorable Minnie Mouse hat which my sister had bought (without my knowing!) in Disneyland Paris in October! I had been regretting not buying it while we were out there, and I haven’t really taken it off since!

There’s a few bits from Fabletics (which I picked out in the Black Friday sale, ha!), add a few little stocking fillers, chocolate etc and that’s my haul!

What did you get for Christmas?

xoxo

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My Christmas Wishlist

If it isn’t already abundantly clear, I love Christmas. Well, who doesn’t really?!

And in these modern times, I’m sure Santa spends more time checking blog wishlists than he does reading physical letters! So here’s mine:

xmas list 2015

1. Reversible Troll soft toy from The Disney Store

I’m totally obsessed with this little guy, I think he’d make the best travel pillow for my trip in January!

2. Lets Do Lunch business card holder from Kate Spade

Simple and elegant, this makes my inner business-woman very happy!

3. Duff Bakes cookbook from Amazon, among other sellers

Ever since the first time I watched an episode of Ace of Cakes, I have worshipped Duff, and now he’s released a book, I need it in my life!

4. Honey I Washed My Hair shampoo bar from Lush

I love Lush, but as I’m not a bath person, its their haircare and shower products that do it for me! I had a shampoo bar years back and loved it, so definitely up for trying another one.

5. Best Day Ever raglan shirt from Happily Ever Tees

I’ve discovered these guys on Instagram and I’m dying to wear this shirt in the parks in January!

6. Crown ring from Applelatte on Etsy

I’m a huge fan of this store on Etsy, they make amazingly pretty jewellery, and this ring in the rose gold colour is beautiful!

7. Funko Pop Maximus from Amazon, among other sellers

When the Tangled collection was released recently I rushed to get Rapunzel, so now I just need this little cutie!

8. Red Converse All Star High Tops

My shoe collection is pretty much 90% Converses, and I’m not even ashamed of that, so if Santa could bring me red high tops in a size 6, they’ll be much appreciated for my January Disney trip!

9. Sugar Daddy-O solid conditioner from Lush

Another hair product – I can’t live with dirty hair, and I like to believe maybe a solid conditioner will reduce the amount of bottles I get through!

Are you asking Father Christmas for anything special this year?

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Friday Favourite Five – Disney Mugs

Now I am a great anomaly: I don’t drink tea or coffee.

BUT, that doesn’t mean I don’t like mugs, and I’m fairly certain that a lot of cold drinks taste better when you drink them from a mug, and the cuter the mug, the better! So this week I’m sharing my five favourite mugs from my Disney collection:

1. Art of Aurora

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Sleeping Beauty was my favourite movie as a kid, and I love the artwork on this, and the little bird on the handle!

2. Wall-E and Eve

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Ok so this is two mugs, but they have to be together, right?

3. Stuck in the mug Pooh

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Despite the really simple outward appearance of this mug, how cute is little Pooh stuck on the inside? Also its a really big mug!

4. Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

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I picked this up during our stay at the hotel in July; I love the Victoria style artwork, it reflects the hotel perfectly!

5. Hamm

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When I saw this on the Disney Store website, I knew I had to have it, so when it sold out I was pretty gutted.. Until I stumbled across him on a trip to my local Disney Store!

Are you a bit of a mug collector like me?

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RunDisney 2016 – 21 Weeks to go!

 Time seems to be flying by at the moment, and we’ve completed another week of training!

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So once again, we’ve completed 3 runs this week: two 45 minute runs, and a 5k on Saturday. We’ve had great conditions this week; running really late on Tuesday (about 9-10pm), through cooling drizzle on Thursday, and early along the beach on Saturday.

Saturday’s run felt really good; we’d normally ParkRun on a Saturday morning, but my sister was doing her first triathlon at the beach, which started at 7am, so we decided to go down and support her, and run while she was on the cycle leg of her race. Dad and I do a lot of running at the beach, either running from home to the cliff and down to the beach and back, or just running up and down. Its a love/hate relationship: Bournemouth beach is beautiful, the sea breeze is cooling and its a nice stretch for longer distance runs, but at the same time it can be too windy, too crowded and there’s no real shade when its really sunny. Its also great because basically all of the races and fun runs that happen in Bournemouth take place at the beach, so its easy to gauge distances. For example, our local Race for Life is from Bournemouth to Boscombe pier, slightly further on and back, and knowing that, that’s what we did on Saturday. We didn’t set any PBs, but we did some good continuous running, and we weren’t slow!

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Another really exciting happening of the week was finally receiving our Rebel Challenge training tshirts. Training shirts for the races are released for pre-order for a limited time on the US Disney Store, and are for US delivery only, so I enlisted the help of a lovely friend from California who ordered them on our behalf, and shipped them over to us from there. She’s a star!

We’re coming for you, Rebel Challenge!

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Tokyo Disney Haul

For me, the only thing that was going to be more exciting than my Tokyo trip, was all the wonderful goodies I knew I would find in Japan. I packed the bare minimum (which by my standards is still probably more than anyone else) so I could fill my case to bursting with amazing ‘stuff’ to bring home, and I think I did a pretty good job..

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This isn’t even all of it! BUT a fair few of these goodies are for giveaways, so its not all mine, but I’m going to share what I did buy just for me!

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Nanoblocks have a small following here in the UK, but they were everywhere in Tokyo Disneyland; every character you could imagine in teeny tiny Lego-like building blocks. I was going to resist, but when I saw the castle I couldn’t help myself, and because the Tokyo Monorail was just so darn cute, I ended up getting that one too, and I’m really excited to give building them a go!

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Next, the wearable goodies! The Japanese really go all out when they dress for Disney, and the range was endless! From the parks, I got myself a pair of sparkly Minnie ears, a Minnie scrunchie, the amazing LGM ears, monorail socks, and Winnie the Pooh clip-on ears. A lot of people in the parks choose to wear clip-on ears, and they came in a pretty impressive range from Minnie to Pooh to Stitch. I picked up some Tsum Tsum hairbands from the Disney Store just outside the parks, and the Tsum Tsum socks came from some crazy shops we found in a Tokyo shopping centre.

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As we all know I’m a total homeware nut, and I honestly expected more of it in the parks but the range didn’t span much more than mugs and chopsticks in most places, but I did manage to get some cute lunchboxes, a large rice bowl and a plastic cup, as well as a Tokyo Disney mug and a Tokyo Disneyland hotel mug to add to my collection, as well as some Winnie the Pooh nail clippers – random, I know – and The Queen of Hearts plate came with one of our desserts in the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall. From another store in Tokyo I also got some cool Pooh and Mickey sushi mould sets, as well as my favourite buy of the holiday: a Toy Story Little Green Men tea set! I had really hoped to get a tea set while in Japan, and this little guy stole my heart. As you can see in the top picture, the cups all stack up into a tower, and the head lifts off the teapot to act as another cup/sugar bowl, while the body is the pot; I’m in love!

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I also picked up a few crafty bits from various stores around Japan: a Minnie Mouse tape measure, some Disney washi tape, sew on Tsum Tsum appliques and a tin of little paper tsum tsum cards!

As well as all these wonderful goodies, there is one more beautiful buy, which I’ve snuck a picture of as its going to be my birthday present, so I can’t have it until October (waa!), but I have to share..

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We came across a Samantha Thavasa store in a shopping centre and I just wanted to have a quick look until I found this beautiful Dumbo purse – the picture doesn’t do justice to just how gorgeous it is!

I’m a pretty happy girly!

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My Ultimate Disney Christmas Wishlist

Christmas is coming, eek!

I am the ultimate Christmas shopper. I have most, if not all, of my presents by the end of November, because a) I like to get it out of the way, b) I’m good at shopping for other people, so I don’t normally have too much trouble finding great gifts, and c) for both of the previous reasons, my mum tends to rely on me for help doing her shopping!

And as I’ve bought most of the family Disney on Ice tickets for Christmas this year, its left me with a little bit more time to think about what I might be writing to Santa for this year..

Xmas list

1. Large Dumbo soft toy – Disney Store – half price until December 23rd

2. Art of Aurora mug – Disney Store

3. Disneyland Castle Cake Mould – Disney Store

4. World of Disney Limited Edition Finding Nemo Print – Disney Store

5. Mickey Mouse Sweatshirt – ASOS

6. Lost Princess Tiara Ring in Rose Gold – AOS Design on Etsy

7. Bag of Pixie Dust Gift Set – Selfridges

8. Purple Daisy Mouse Ears – MouseCaEars on Etsy

9. Tangled Lanterns underwear set – Hot Topic

10. Hamm Tsum Tsum – available from US Disney Stores or eBay

11. Wicket Ewok Vinyl Pop Figure – available from Amazon or eBay

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What’s on your Disney Christmas wishlist?

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