Oh Mickey, You’re So Fine

I swear every year I say I want to do more outfit posts, and then either I don’t have someone to take the photos, or I’m not feeling confident enough to do it, or whatever excuse I tell myself at the time, and then my good intentions go downhill a little and I get to the end of the year realising that I’ve done only maybe 2 and I end up wishing things had been different, then the cycle repeats..

Confidence has been a big thing for me lately. I seem to either have an abundance of it, or none at all, and it can go from one to the other in half a second with no real reason. This shoot, for example, took two attempts; Matthew and I had wandered over to Barton Square from the main part of the Trafford Centre, when I decided that this was going to be the perfect location to shoot the outfit I was wearing, but for some reason as soon as it came to standing in front of the pretty stone pillars and posing for the camera, I just couldn’t do it. I blamed the sun, saying that the lighting just wasn’t right, and there were quite a few people around and as I always do when this sort of thing happened, I talked myself out of it and walked away disappointed.

Matthew, on the other hand, is becoming quite used to me having these little wobbles, and suggested that we came back in the morning when it was nice and quiet, and bright, and although I hate admitting these things, he was right. Although it was VERY cold (I mean, it was 2C and I stripped down to a t-shirt for some photos), when we went back the next morning I was in the right mood, and felt totally comfortable posing in my entirely Mickey themed outfit despite early shoppers appearing behind me every now and then!

So pretty much this entire outfit is H&M, with the exception of my well-loved Converses, trusty coat (Pretty Little Thing but years ago) and the adorable Alex and Ani Mickey bangle from Walt Disney World. The beanie I actually picked up a few years ago now but I keep seeing it pop back up in stores and I’m pretty sure its around the £7.99 mark price-wise! The t-shirt was one I saw several people on Twitter and Instagram share, and I knew straight away I had to have it – I don’t think you can tell from the photos but the rainbow part is actually glittery too! – its a size S, but has quite a lot of room in it so if you prefer a tighter fit then you may want to size down from what you would normally go for. The jeans are a different story.. These are the jeans that I’ve been ranting about both on Twitter and in Saturday’s blog post – having ordered a size 12 originally (a size larger than I am), I went to exchange them in store and could actually only fit into a size 16 (well, I could just manage the 14 but only if I had no plans to eat or breathe whilst wearing them), so if you do fall in love with them like I did, I suggest going to try them on in a store, and just prepare yourself for not fitting into your usual size, and maybe not even the next size up. They are, however, my first pair of mom jeans, and I do love feeling a bit 90s in them!

Oh, and the hoodie is from the kids section, I’m wearing a 14+ years but its still got plenty of room in it!

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Mickey’s Toontown

THAT’S RIGGHHHHTTTT. Your girl’s heading off on another Disney adventure very soon, which means its time yet again for a weekly countdown outfit!

Now I know I haven’t really shouted all that much about my upcoming trip to Disneyland, mainly due to personal reasons, so it comes as as much of a shock to me as it does to you that its only 6 weeks away now. Despite having aspects of the trip booked for a year, the majority of the planning has happened in the last week or so, but y’all know outfit planning is my speciality and I’m pretty proud of the looks I’ve thrown together.

This outfit has been inspired by an area of Disneyland that is only featured here and in Tokyo Disneyland: Toontown. Its one of my favourite spots for taking photos because with the backdrop of a clear California blue sky, it really feels like you’ve stepped into a cartoon.

It features my favourite t-shirt from The Happiest Fitness Co‘s Oh Boy collection, paired with my Mickey splatter skater skirt from Poprageous, and my slightly wacky pom-pom ears, which I think I got from Asos ages ago!

Now I can’t help but wonder how quickly I’ll manage to spill something down this almost entirely white outfit, but maybe with that skirt design no one will notice..

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Baking Magic – Giant Mickey Cookie (gone wrong!)

It feels like ages since I’ve done a Disney baking post, and as the title suggests, I’m afraid to say this one went a little wrong, but its still delicious so I’m still sharing it!

‘Why did it go wrong?’ I hear you ask. Well, because while I love cookies, they seem to hate me, and I never seem to get them 100% right.

But seriously, this recipe is so good and so easy, and it makes SUCH A BIG COOKIE. Definitely sharing size. Or not.

1. Using a fork, soften 30g butter, then mix in 25g caster sugar and 25g soft brown sugar – light or dark are both fine!

2. Crack an egg into a small bowl and beat it, then add 2 tbsp of the beaten egg to the mix with 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

3. Mix together 35g plain flour, 2 tbsp cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, then add to the cookie mix and beat in with the fork.

4. Add 50g chocolate chips (whatever combination of white/milk/dark you like!) and stir in.

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At this point, I carefully scooped my mixture onto a baking tray covered in greaseproof paper in the shape of Mickey Mouse, added a few chocolate chips and it looked pretty cute:

Giant Mickey cookie

I then baked it at 170C for 14 minutes, and when the oven beeped, this is what came out..

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So I put it on a Mickey shaped plate and ate it anyway!

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And it was delicious.

What’s your favourite flavour of cookie?

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What I’m Wearing – The Main Mouse

So I had a little rethink on my last Shanghai outfit.. I couldn’t decide on a final princess to Disneybound as, so I thought, given that its a brand new park full of fresh Disney magic, I should really do a little something to honour the boss mouse himself!

Mickey Mouse Dress

Mickey Mouse Dress# Tokyo Disney ears

Mickey Mouse Dress

Once again, self timer and auto-focus aren’t always my friends..

This outfit is entirely from my trip to Tokyo Disneyland. I couldn’t resist buying the dress, and although its a tad short for climbing on and off rides, that’s what shorts are for, right? Plus I think it was under £20! The ears are also from Tokyo, and have fast become one of my favourite pairs of ears because they go with everything and they’re sparkly without being too out-there!

By this time next week we should have just about arrived in Hong Kong (I think!) before we get the train to Beijing, but don’t worry, I’ll be sharing our full itinerary with you guys on Sunday! I am literally so excited for this trip, you wouldn’t believe it!

Are you excited to read about my Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland adventures?

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Favourite Photos from.. Mickey and the Magical Map

I don’t really like taking photos during shows, mainly because when there’s a lot going on, things get a little blurry, but also because I love to just watch and absorb the magic.

Back in January, I finally got to see a show that I was so excited to see, and hoped like crazy that it lived up to my expectations, and given that I watched it 3-4 times in as many days, I think that shows that it did! That show was Mickey and the Magical Map at Fantasyland Theatre in Disneyland..

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Tiana peeking through in that last photo makes it, plus Mickey looks so handsome in his Map Maker outfit!

Do you love this show as much as I do?

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Baking Magic – Mickey Cake Balls

I was gonna start off this post by saying its a great way to use up leftover cake, but seriously, who ever has leftover cake? Like, is that even a thing?

So you might need to bake a cake in preparation for this; I think its a pretty good excuse. Personally, whenever I make a cake and I need to cut it down so its level, my offcuts are always destined for cake pop mix, saves waste! As well as pop mix, all you need is candy melts in black and red, and you’re good to go!

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Now you will find making these cute little Mickeys SO much easier to make if you use traditional cake pop mix, rather than just baking cakes using a ‘cake pop’ mould. Never made it before? Its the easiest thing: crumble up cake into a fine crumb, then mix with buttercream until it combines into a semi-sticky, mouldable dough of deliciousness.

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Ok, so get rolling the dough into little balls, place onto greaseproof paper and get them into the fridge to chill nicely while you start melting down your Candy Melts, starting with black. I recommend melting the buttons down with a splash of oil (I use a lump of Trex) to give it a better consistency and shine.

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Once you’re happy with the consistency, take the balls out of the fridge, and dip the top of the balls into the candy so it covers about half. Place the half dipped balls, dipped side up, back onto your greaseproof paper, then use two more candy buttons to create Mickey ears – do this one at a time, otherwise the candy could harden before you get the ears in!

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Back into the fridge with the balls, and onto melting the red candy. I always melt my candy on a double boiler rather than a microwave so that I can keep the mix warm while I’m working with it, but its probably 5x quicker to microwave them – just preference I guess! Once melted, grab onto those nicely hardened Mickey ears and dip the remaining half of the cake ball into the red to create Mickey’s trousers. At this point, you could pop the balls onto sticks and let them cool standing up, but I like to smush them back onto the greaseproof paper to make little feet!

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You could even go the extra mile and use a bit of white or yellow to add buttons or shoe details if you were really trying to impress!

Who’s the leader of the pack who’s made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E

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What I’m wearing – Steamboat Willie

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This outfit is essentially a compilation of a few of my favourite things: my favourite item from the new Black Milk Disney collection – the zoetrope skater skirt – and my favourite Mickey ears, which I bought in Disney World last August. The skirt depicts scenes from Steamboat Willie, which is particularly special because it was officially released on November 18th, marking Mickey Mouse’s birthday, but also my Dad’s!

This outfit is what I’ll be wearing to Hollywood Studios, especially to see Fantasmic!

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A Mickey-inspired Winter Look

So I was out shopping with a girlfriend today, and as two, not-entirely-broke-but-on-a-budget girls, h&m is our haven. And that’s where I came across this little beauty of a beanie hat, and at the same time as completely falling in love with it, inspiration struck!

I know its still a little early to be thinking about really, but its time to start preparing your wardrobe for winter, so here’s a Mickey Mouse inspired look to get you started 🙂

Obviously you’re gonna be needing this hat:

Then there’s this sweet little swing dress from ASOS

But its cold, so don’t forget to wear tights! These are from Primark, and are also available on eBay

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And a hint of red with these suede boots from Office

Just how sweet are these handmade fingerless gloves from Xasper8ing on Etsy?!

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Please remember I am not sponsored by any of these sites, I just choose items because I like them 🙂

DIY: Mickey Mouse Bedding

This week was a little crazy so I combined DIY Disney Wednesday with DisneySide Saturday.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how to bring more Disney magic into your life, and the most important place in your life is home (or Disney World!), so that’s where I decided to start!

A sad but true fact about Disney is that official merchandise, and even some unofficial merchandise, can be expensive 😦 I was looking into bedding, a guilty pleasure of mine, and the only real options for double beds are designs from independent artists on sites like Redbubble, which although amazing are around £60+shipping, ouch! So I took a little inspiration from fellow blogger Kayleigh and her DIY Disney bikinis, and realised I could do it myself; slightly less impressive, but the options are infinite if you’ve got the imagination, and leave a considerably smaller dent in your bank account!

But where to start?

Where it all started, obviously: with a mouse.

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There are tonnes of ways you can get Mickey’s style. I went for the classic: black mouse, red shorts, white gloves and yellow shoes, you don’t get more Mickey than that!

 I came across black and red reversible duvet cover on Amazon (two birds, one stone), and teamed it with my yellow fleece throw from Ikea, because who doesn’t love a £3 throw?!

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The pillowcases were a mini project: I bought plain white pillowcases from my local supermarket, and added the design of Mickey’s gloves on using black fabric paint and a basic elongated oval template. I think they add a nice touch and were really easy to do, but plain white pillowcases would work just as well.

Then of course you can cover the bed with all your Disney stuffed toys, tsum tsums and pillow pets!