Our family recently got back from a trip to Disney World and a Disney Cruise. It was a vacation that we had been planning for 2 years. Bless my parents heart, they took us 5 daughters, plus our spouses and families. We all live in different states throughout the US, so we don’t get to see each other all that often. It was the trip of a lifetime, and I am incredibly grateful for having such a wonderful vacation! My kids started asking when our trip was probably 3 months before it was time. So at our one month mark, I decided it would be a great idea to count down the days… not only for the excitement and anticipation, but it really helped them visualize how many more days there were until we left.
I love this paper ring idea, making it look like Mickey’s ears and trousers. I did not come up with the idea; I have seen several versions of it floating around on Pinterest. As far as I can tell, it originated here or here. Check out both of these posts for some fun family activities to help count down the days, in addition to the paper rings! For me, getting ready for a 2 week vacation at the
end of the school year was enough to worry about, so we didn’t do a
daily activity, but I think its a fun idea. Neither of the posts offer a printable, which is why I made my own to share with you!
end of the school year was enough to worry about, so we didn’t do a
daily activity, but I think its a fun idea. Neither of the posts offer a printable, which is why I made my own to share with you!
The countdown was really quick to put together- I just used construction
paper, staples to keep the rings together, tape for the ears, and a
hole punch to get the small white dots.
paper, staples to keep the rings together, tape for the ears, and a
hole punch to get the small white dots.
I made this printable, and printed it on white cardstock. Then I made a yellow paper medallion and glued it onto that. In addition to the papter rings, I wanted a place to write out the number of days so we wouldn’t have to count the rings each day. I originally planned to use two Mickey ears (printable found below)
for my countdown, but I got really tired of cutting them out. So my next
plan was just to cut them out of chalkboard vinyl and use chalk to
write new numbers every day. (You don’t need a cutting machine to do this… I just used scissors)! The vinyl worked out much easier! I left the
Mickey ear printables on this post just in case there’s anyone who
prefers them, or if you have any other grand ideas to use them for!
for my countdown, but I got really tired of cutting them out. So my next
plan was just to cut them out of chalkboard vinyl and use chalk to
write new numbers every day. (You don’t need a cutting machine to do this… I just used scissors)! The vinyl worked out much easier! I left the
Mickey ear printables on this post just in case there’s anyone who
prefers them, or if you have any other grand ideas to use them for!
I used a bistro pen (a chalk marker), to write on my vinyl.
Chalkboard Vinyl from Silhouette.
Bistro Pen found here.
These printables are totally free for you to use (for personal use only). All I ask is that you follow my blog in some way 🙂 If for some reason you are having problems downloading, please leave a comment. I hope you get some fun use out of these printables!
PS- If anyone uses these printables, I would LOVE to see what you do with them! Email a picture (familyeverafter at gmail) or leave a link in the comments if you have a blog!
Thanks for stopping by Disney Week on my blog! Check out yesterday’s post for 16 Disney Inspired Outfits, modeled by my little sis 🙂
