Get Crafty: Disney Ideas Book

Disney Ideas Book by Elizabeth Dowsett offers more than 100 Disney-inspired DIY projects you can try at home. The ideas in the book range from costumes and games to abstract art and imaginary play and cover Disney characters from Snow White to Coco. Should you grab one of these colorful books for yourself or one of your Disney-loving friends? Today’s post shares a quick review of Disney Ideas Book.

Let’s start with the less-than-great stuff so we can finish on a high note.

Sound good?

Not-so-great

Disney Ideas Book offers a fairly equal distribution of projects in five main categories: Make Believe, Games, Art, Activities and Crafts. Although all of the sections provide inspiration, some are weaker than others in terms of originality, practicality and fun.

The Games section is probably my least favorite overall. Most are really simple Disney spins on old classics. Musical chairs, for example, becomes Musical Flying Carpets from Aladdin and Pin the Tail on the Donkey becomes Pin the Lips on the (Princess & the…) Frog. Kind of cute, but not necessarily something I couldn’t come up with on my own.

Other ideas are just a little too ridiculous, like the 101 Dalmatians Game. The book instructs you to flick black paint onto white paper with a toothbrush to make 101 spots. Then you’re supposed to cut out the 101 (microscopically small) spots and hide them around the house for others to find.

Wouldn’t it just be easier to ask the kids to pick up the 101 pieces of lint and toys that are already out of place instead?

Maybe that’s just my house, and I suppose looking for the tiny spots would keep the kids busy for a while, but I’m a little concerned it would keep me busy trying to remove splattered black paint from the walls and furniture too.

Speaking of messes, this is a good spot to mention that most of the projects in the book require adult supervision. Many could require a fair amount of adult assistance too. The instructions, while beautifully presented and clearly numbered, are a little over-simplified (lacking?) at times. Young kids (and some adults?!) may find some of them too challenging.

The book offers a few traceable templates to assist with the more intricate projects. It’s a nice touch, but some of them don’t really help you create the designs as shown on the pages. It’s a minor issue, but it could be another point of frustration for the younger set.

Overall, these complaints are fairly mild and somewhat typical for craft books. Let’s get on with the good stuff.

Good Stuff

Fortunately, there’s quite a bit to like about the book too. For one, it’s definitely a book that can make you smile just by glancing through the Disney-character-filled pages. I also like the range of activities and the simplicity of the supplies.

The range of activities is particularly impressive. I already mentioned it was organized into five different sections. It’s also arranged by movie and character, if you want to skip to your Disney favorites first. The author includes other fun touches, like Disney Trivia questions, peppered throughout too.

I spent a few hours over the last week attempting some of the book’s offerings, like the super cool Concertina Cards shown above. Although a few of the projects require odd supplies (shrinking plastic?!) most use standard fare you can find at home or in a typical craft store.

The Make Believe section offers a lot of fun dress up ideas too, such as pillowcase card costumes from Alice in Wonderland or cardboard Buzz Lightyear wings from Toy Story. I liked the Coco-inspired guitar idea too (shown on the book’s cover). Once you make the guitar, you can just dress your child in a red hoodie and jeans like Miguel for a super easy (and comfortable!) costume idea.

Summary

Overall, I enjoy the Disney Idea Book by Elizabeth Dowsett. The colorful pages offer more than 100 Disney inspired DIY projects you can make at home. Some of the projects are a little challenging and others don’t seem worth the effort for the final reward, but that’s probably typical of most craft books. Others ideas, like the paper crafts shown in the images above, are fairly straight forward and fun to make with supplies you probably already have on hand.

If you’re a big Disney fan with a bent toward craft projects (or know somebody who is!) then the book is definitely worth considering. It’s fairly new too, so the odds of your friends already having it is lower.

If you’re looking for other Disney craft ideas, please check out my previous posts or my Disney Craft section on Pinterest.

Until next time, add a little (crafty) magic to your world!