Disney and Diabetes: Crafting a Pin Trading Book

Pin Trading Books via Naturally Sweet Sisters

It's January 4th and already I am ready to tell winter to pack it in.

The wind chill was below zero (BRRRRRR!), the forecast is calling for 6-12 inches over the weekend, the day is dark almost as soon as it is light, and every board game has been played to the point of wishing Monopoly was never created!

Yuck.  I am soooo not a winter person.  Why do I live in the north anyway????

With the big emptiness of not being able to stay outdoors to play, the girls and I are going a bit stir-crazy.  For the first time, we braved a drive in the cold to get to our favorite local craft store.  After a few minutes consideration, we decided to make something fun.  

With happily behaving blood sugars (yay! Because for whatever reason, the cold weather has been GREAT on blood sugars!), we put together two homemade Disney Pin Trading Books for our (hopeful) trip sometime to Disney.  

In the past, the girls have loved wearing their Disney Lanyards with special Disney pins (you can buy the Disney pins virtually anywhere in any of the four Walt Disney World Parks or in Downtown Disney).  The lanyards represent which people visiting the park that are also into pin trading - even adults get in on the pin trading fun.  

The only issue we had was having some of the pin backings - miniature mouse ears made from rubber - dislodging from the pin.  If one was lucky, the pin stayed on and only the backing was lost.  However, a few times, that precious trading pin was also lost with the backing.  

I also noticed that several of the pin traders carried small official Disney binders.  When I checked into the price of these, I figured that unless my kids were going to be PROFESSIONAL pin traders - ha ha!, that I needed a way to make these on my own.  

With medical co-pays deeply cutting into the frivolous mouse spending budget, we try to make these little extras on our own.  

And hey, it pays off!  I find that most things Disney are even better when they are made especially for the person that needs them.

Now, I couldn't find anything like this on Pinterest or through a Google search, so this might just be a one-of-a-kind project and since I haven't tested it in real life, I am hoping that it will work as good as we hope!

Here is a picture of the supplies we gathered:

Supplies:  

1.)  Small CD case (at the dollar store)

2.)  Felt Squares (we found ours at JoAnn Fabrics 4 for $1.00.  I bought 14 to make 2 books.  You may need more or less.

3.)  Disney ear appliques.  JoAnn Fabrics for $4.99.  You could make this as well but I wanted something easy to use.

(not pictured... scissors, glue gun, initial cardstock stickers and ribbon)

Our dollar store had several colors of the CD pouch.  And I think almost any similar style would work,  In fact, if you wanted, you could even recover the front so the design on the outside wouldn't matter.

I also considered adding a crossbody strap but the girls vetoed me and said they would rather keep the books in their backpacks.  

Before I started, I checked the size of my applique against the front and determined a plan for the outer cover.  With two girls, I needed to make sure that each one could recognize the pins as their own and not be confused by accidentally using a sibling's pins.

Oh, can you imagine how that would end up????

I also bought a couple of initial cardboard letters from a bin at Michaels.  These were only a dollar for each package but would be invaluable for identifying each child's pins.

Next, using an actual CD, I measured loosely for size on the felt.  This would be my template for determining how much felt per backing that I needed to hot glue onto each CD layer within the case.  Without the felt, the CD layer would be too flimsy and the heavy pins would tear or fall off.

 Just cut around the edges and glue right on top of each CD page.  I did both sides (not pictured) and it felt more secure when I put the pins on.

Now, your case may be more roomy but mine was not.  After adding the pins, we discovered that we needed to add a hot glued ribbon to close the case.  The kids liked that idea better and said it was easier to get in and out of.

In the picture below, you can see that I used a leftover scrap of felt to give the ribbon more stability.  Believe me, those ties are solid and no matter how hard the kids tug at them, they are staying put!

 Here are the books finished and loaded with pins.  The ones on the floor have been declared to be 'keepers' and will be kept in a special box for each child.  The others will happily be traded for potentially more 'keepers'!

  

And no, I haven't made plans but since it is on my New Year's Resolution list, I figure that part of achieving our goal to vacation with the mouse is to have fun while we wait! ((insert big happy smiles!!!))

Pin Trading Books via Naturally Sweet Sisters

New Year = New Resolutions

Welcome New Year!

A few days into the New Year and I thought I should probably write down what I have been planning for my New Year's resolutions. 

Although the list is pretty short, it never hurts to have it written somewhere so that you keep on task when life attempts to derail you.  And when you live the highs and the lows of type 1 diabetes, that can happen quite often.

So without further ado, here is my list:

New Year's Resolutions of 2014

1.)  Have Fun!

2.)  Have Fun!

3.)  Have Fun!

4.)  Repeat numbers 1, 2, and 3 in no particular order.


And that my friends, really is the short and sweet of my list. 

Now if that seems odd, I am going to direct you back to the review of 2013 where I learned a bit about the pearls of the oyster.  That wisdom has brought me to where I am right now.  I can't let another year go muddled in sadness and so I am embracing all of the things that bring joy and light to our life... simply put; the things that bring you joy.

If I subtitled some of that, than I might add the following:

1a.)  Go to Disneyworld.

2a.)  Run a 5K but only the silly ones like the ColorRun where rainbow paint is dumped on willing participants.

3a.)  Take in a Drive-In Movie.  The girls have asked to go for a few years and I can't believe we haven't done it.  2014 is our year for this.

4a.)  Enjoy the 'quiet' and savor the 'laughter'.  And repeat again and again and again. 

It is all pretty darn simple stuff and I feel confident that I can make it happen. 

And if you want, you can join us in our quest for fun too!  Shouldn't this be a new movement? 

Welcome to 2014 - the year of joy!

Project Blood Sugar Fairy

Shortly before Christmas, a dear friend and local mom of a little boy that lives with type 1 diabetes, posted an adorable picture of a present that he received in the mail; his Blood Sugar Fairy.

Standing just about an inch tall and made simply from a bit of wire and repurposed diabetes supplies, the little fairy brought out an enchanting quality that is rarely seen in the world of needle pokes, A BIG SMILE!

The Blood Sugar Fairy Book

Each fairy also arrived with a cute little book and an index card that says, "They say that when the sun has been tucked into bed at night and the stars are twinkling trying to stay awake... that is when the Blood Sugar Fairies come out.....".

Aw!  Total sweetness!

Oldest daughter with her newly opened Blood Sugar Fairy, now named Sitearia.

Instantly, I was smitten.  As a mom of two little girls that still keep tiny fairy-sized homes in their closet and bookshelves, I thought that this might be the most fantastic creation for those that are living with type 1 diabetes.  Magic and sweetness entwined together, the tiny little fairy was the perfect size for slipping into a pocket on a tough diabetes day or to dangle from a lamp used in middle-of-the-night blood sugar checks.

For my Youngest Daughter, the thought of having a little fairy to keep watch over her at night was also important.  Her moments of anxiety are heightened on the days that we struggle with blood sugar management.  Even Oldest Daughter has had difficulty from time to time.  Sleepovers took on a new dimension last year when she realized that being away from mom also meant the need to figure out who would be responsible for those late night/early a.m. checks.

So I wrote a note to the kind woman that is making these, inquiring about getting two for a pair of Naturally Sweet Sisters.  The inventor is also a mom of a little girl that was diagnosed with t1d and has great sympathy for the stress that the disease can give children (and their parents!). Instead of sitting idly while we wait for a cure, she went ahead and created these adorable fairies to simply help kids of all ages to cope.

She also encouraged me to share this special fairy with all of you.

In her words, 

"Spreading the word is the best way anyone can help with our mission. SO please do share. There might be someone who sees it who really needs the hope."

Even our night watchman had to get in on this.  I swear he knows when the girls are having lows.  

Here are a few special pictures of the Naturally Sweet Sisters opening their own blood sugar fairies.  I purposely waited until after Christmas, so that the magic would come at a time when our world was once again quiet.

It was the perfect time!

Just about a third of the size of a DexCom.  

Youngest Daughter said, "She is so pretty!".

Oh and in case you are wondering what they named them, Youngest Daughter has decided to name hers Poksie (for the little pokes that she gets!) and Oldest Daughter named hers Sitearia because she said that it would help take the pain from infusion site injections.  Of course, hearing them talk about their fairies and how they would help sort of broke my heart, BUT knowing that they had a special moment with their fairies and that for at least that moment, none of it seemed to bother either of them.

Thank you Blood Sugar Fairy!  You are making a difference!

For more information on getting your own Blood Sugar Fairy, go to www.facebook.com/ProjectBloodSugarFairy

or visit www.bloodsugarfairy.com