I have started offering digital courses for families and individuals. We can work together to ensure that each lesson is tailored to your requirements.
Courses: I can customize courses to fit your needs. We can cover conversation, grammar, vocabulary, reading, and reading comprehension.
Prices: I charge per 25 minute digital course. I charge $15 per 25 minute session. The first class is free. Our first meeting give you the opportunity to make sure the course will work for you. It also gives me the chance to evaluate what we will cover in our future courses together. Invoices will be sent either weekly or monthly.
Cancellation: Please let me know if you need to cancel a class as soon as possible. We can reschedule based on availability.
For further information or to schedule a class, I can be contacted at familycraftedtravels@gmail.com.
Costume Ideas Part 1
One of our most favorite vacation spots is Walt Disney World in Orlando. My kiddos loved dressing up as characters on our visits but hated the itchy, hot, and uncomfortable costumes available at stores. My remedy for that was to make costumes for them to wear. Unfortunately, I struggle with sewing. Fortunately, my mother in law does not. She is very talented at sewing and gladly accepted the challenges of making Disney-themed costumes. The first one we collaborated to make was a Lilo (from the movie Lilo and Stitch) costume.
My mother in law sewed the dress from red cotton fabric I found at Joann’s craft and fabric store. I then put cardboard on the inside of the dress (to prevent the paint from bleeding through to the other side) and painted white leaves using a stencil I made and white fabric paint. A Cricut machine would be perfect for a project like this. I recently bought one and can’t wait to use it on future costumes.
I found a plumeria-like lei at Party City that closely matched the one Lilo wore. I made a hair clip with a red hibiscus flower I purchased from a craft store. The stuffed animals were souvenirs purchased at Disney. The outfit was such a hit with my little Lilo as well as with park visitors and Cast Members. It was very common for cast members to yell out, “Hey Lilo, where’s Stitch?” My little Lilo was thrilled every single time this happened!
On our next trip to Disney, we planned a breakfast at ‘Ohana at the Polynesian Resort. My little Lilo had outgrown her Lilo dress so I decided to make Lilo t-shirts for both kiddos. I purchased t-shirts from Joann and followed the same process. I made sure to put a piece of cardboard between the two pieces of t-shirt. I used my handy stencil to trace the leaf shape with pencil. It took me several layers of white fabric paint to get the leaf to look opaque. One layer just doesn’t cut it!
The t-shirts were paired with shorts since we were going to be at Magic Kingdom all day. I love putting costumes together. I especially love to come up with outfits for the kids now that they are older. They can still Disney Bound (wear regular/street clothing that follows Disney themes or specific Disney characters). I think a fitted t-shirt painted in the style of the above photo paired with a full volume green skirt (think grass skirt color) would be absolutely adorable!
Pitt Stop: Ave Maria Grotto, Cullman, Alabama
I have this love hate relationship with road trips. I love all the planning that is involved in the weeks and months leading up to a road trip. I love visiting places. I dread the endless hours in the car. We routinely make the 1,100 mile trip to visit my family and friends in Louisiana. In order to break up the monotony of that long drive, we try to stop for a break at some point during the trip. In December, we decided to check out the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, Alabama. The grotto is located on the grounds of a Benedictine monastery called St. Bernard Abbey. The grotto was created by Brother Joseph, beginning in the 1930’s. It’s an amazing place to visit and stretch one’s legs. It had been raining for the first 8 hours of our drive. We decided to stop at the grotto and were fortunate enough to catch a break in the weather.
We entered the gift shop and paid $5.00 for each adult (AAA Member Price) and $4.50 for each child. The path leading down to the grotto was paved and sloped down to the beautiful creations. These creations include tiny replicas of historical buildings from around the world.
I found the details fascinating. I read that Brother Joseph used found and donated objects to make his wonderful creations. Upon closer inspection, I noticed marbles, tiles, small statues, and children’s toys were used to make lovely, whimsical scenes. My kiddos and I plan on making our own Ave Maria Grotto inspired houses this summer for our garden. We hope to stop again on subsequent trips. It will be interesting to see how the buildings look in the summer as compared to the winter.