We’re a day late, but today we celebrated Nikolaustag! We wanted to wait until Bunny was home from college, which just happened to be today. We did all of our favorite Nikolaustag things, starting with stockings and decorating the tree. In addition to the children’s yearly ornaments, I also added two new ornaments…a Christmas Tree Cake that Ryan surprised me with this morning, and Hallmark’s rendition of “It’s a Small World.”
We always have wassail while we decorate:
And for dinner, we had our traditional meal of döner kebab:
I like to make a gingerbread dessert for Nikolaustag…this year, it was gingerbread whoopie pies:
This is one of my favorite days of the year, and between Bunny being home and the traditions, it feels like Christmastime is really here!
“It’s a world of laughter A world of tears It’s a world of hopes And a world of fears There’s so much that we share That it’s time we’re aware It’s a small world after all.”
I think by now, my love of all things Mary Blair and especially “It’s a Small World” is pretty evident, so you won’t be surprised to know that as soon as I learned that a twirly dress with a print that reflects the children of the world showcased in the ride was coming to the Disney Store, I put it on my wishlist.
Puff sleeves aren’t usually a style I embrace, because I prefer not to draw attention to my upper arms, but these puffs are so extreme, I find that I don’t mind the extra attention, because that’s kind of the point!
Did I mention the matching ears? I’m dreaming of wearing them to Disney World in a few years, when Ladybug and I hope to take a trip together!
Besides the ears, I accessorized with a stack of Splendette Duchess Bangles, an Erstwilder brooch, and a Crislu necklace that features the clock face from the ride!
I love the blue background of the dress, and I really love the way the print pops against it!
There are so many lovely colors, the options for accessorizing are endless…I decided to wear a purple belt this time, and I really like how it looks.
There is also a matching Dooney & Bourke handbag. I don’t normally go in for designer bags, but this one was too good to pass up!
It is absolutely the perfect outfit for me!
I love Disney’s special collections…they’re so well-designed, and there’s truly something for everybody!
Did you know that on this date in 1964, “It’s a Small World,” designed and color-styled by the inimitable Mary Blair at the request of Walt Disney himself, opened at the 1964 New York World’s Fair? The Disney Store currently has ears and a dress just in time for the happiest celebration on earth!
Following its 18-month run at the fair, where the ride raised money for UNICEF, it was dismantled at rebuilt at Disneyland. Due to its popularity, similar rides have been installed at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Park in Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. In addition to the holiday overlay that is featured annually at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland will be debuting a special “It’s a Small World with Groot” overlay in 2025, celebrating characters from the Marvel universe. The iconic song, which was written by the legendary Sherman brothers, charmed Walt Disney and resulted in the name of the attraction being changed from “Children of the World” to the famous title we know today. It truly is “The Happiest Cruise that Ever Sailed!”
In the past, I’ve shared makeup, jewelry, books, and of course clothing illustrated or inspired by Mary Blair. This year, I’m taking a look at something completely different, an “It’s a Small World” Scentsy warmer!
Let me preface this by saying I’m not into Scentsy at all. I don’t buy or sell Scentsy stuff, and I don’t even use this warmer to heat wax for the, well, scent. But I saw this adorable warmer last fall, with a rotating shade that depicts Mary Blair-inspired scenes, and I fell in love with it. My mom gave it to me for Christmas, and it sits on my nightstand, where it offers a lovely, gentle glow in the evening:
I love taking Mary Blair March from my wardrobe to home decor!
If you’ve been around these parts for a while, you know I’m a huge fan of Mary Blair’s work, especially with Disney. Last summer, I was over the moon to get to ride “It’s a Small World,” at Disney World but this year’s trip to Disneyland was even more special, because that’s where the original “It’s a Small World” was relocated after its time at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Instead of the bright colors that the ride in Orlando has at the entrance, the California version has the white and gold color scheme from the end of the ride out front:
Another difference is that the ride begins (and ends) outdoors:
The interior of the ride has the same bright, beautiful colors, which is Mary Blair’s signature:
You might notice references to Disney movies scattered throughout…we were especially excited to find Stitch surfing!
It doesn’t matter where you ride it, it’s still the “happiest cruise that ever sailed!”
As was the case at Disney World, I really didn’t want to say goodbye!
I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to ride this attraction at any of the other Disney parks?
We saved Disneyland for our second (and final) theme park…seeing the train station for the first time was just as much of a thrill as it was at Disney World!
We got to watch the welcome show that is held on the steps leading up to the station when the park opens. The characters (minus Donald and Daisy, sadly), were all were their beautiful Disney 100 costumes!
We decided to take care of two things at once, and rode the Disneyland Railroad (something I really wanted to do since its Disney World counterpart was closed last summer) to the back of the park (where we wanted to get coffee).
What I didn’t realize is that station was practically on top of “It’s a Small World!” So we rode that first thing, and I loved it (of course)!
We then made our way to the Alice in Wonderland area, where not only do they have the teacups (a different experience because in California, they’re fully out in the open), but a second Alice-themed ride as well. And we ran into Alice herself, plus, the Mad Hatter!
We also visited New Orleans, home of the Haunted Mansion and beignets, and also Princess Tiana!
We wanted to make sure we saw the Sword in the Stone and the Wishing Well, since we missed both of those things at Disney World. Sadly, none of us was worthy to remove the sword, but we did all get to make a wish!
We were lucky that the “Star Wars Month” events were still going on while we were, and Turkey and Bunny got to ride “Hyperspace Mountain.” While they did that, I walked around and took some pictures of the castle (and let a Disney photographer take a photo of me!). Not as grand as the Cinderella Castle, but still lovely!
We walked back to the castle when they were done, and I found someone to take our picture:
The Disney photographers also got some nice pictures of the three of us:
And then we headed over to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. I’m pretty sure there are some minor differences, but it felt pretty much the same as the Disney World version! We got to have ronto wraps for lunch, and do some shopping and sightseeing.
One of the things Turkey and Bunny were most looking forward to, though, was having another lightsaber building experience at Savi’s Workshop (especially since they updated the parts since last summer). It was pretty cool to just get to be an observer this time, and watch other people do the work!
We didn’t see the Mandalorian and The Child, but we did get to meet Boba Fett!
We didn’t get to go on Rise of the Resistance because it was either shut down or the line was two hours long or it closed early (that was probably the biggest regret of the whole trip), but we did go on Smuggler’s Run…I got to blow things up!
After that, we walked through Downtown Disney on our way to dinner. Of course we had to stop at the Lego Store and admire their creations:
I really like this beautiful floral display:
And then we went to the Disneyland hotel to have dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen…it was so much fun! (Full details to come…)
After our meal, we hopped on the monorail to get back to the park:
We rode Star Tours (always a fun experience), and then went in search of Dole Whips:
We were barely able to find a place to view the fireworks…the crowd was massive!
The park is open for a couple of hours after the fireworks, so we had time for a few more things. We were three minutes late for Rise of the Resistance, so we headed toward Runaway Railway, instead. I love how the line is set up like a museum dedicated to Mickey Mouse!
After that, Turkey and Bunny decided to ride the Matterhorn while I took care of what was left of our shopping, and took some more pictures:
We rode the teacups one more time, and even managed to get on Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
We shut the park down (which I would somewhat regret the next day), and didn’t get back to our hotel until about 12:30. It was really hard to get to sleep after all that excitement and knowing we had a full day of travel ahead of us!
You’ve seen “Sartorial Saturday” and “Mani Monday,” now it’s time for a new endeavor…”Shadow Sunday!” I’ve been working at improving my eye makeup (especially winged eyeliner!), with some limited success…I thought if I turned it into an occasional feature on my website, that might motivate me to continue to try to do better! To start, here’s a glimpse at one of my favorite recent looks (that you may have already seen), featuring the “It’s a Small World” shadow palette from Colourpop Cosmetics…the wing is decent (I used Maybelline’s Hyper Easy Liquid Pen Liner), but what I really love is the color blending I accomplished!
Mary Blair March is drawing to a close, but before it’s over, let’s take a look at the perfect makeup to celebrate one of Mary Blair’s most famous designs…”It’s a Small World!”
I was so excited when Colourpop Cosmetics unveiled a collection named after the ride at Disney that has the catchiest tune of all. It includes blushes, highlighters, lip stains (which I also have), and this gorgeous eye shadow palette. I waited to use it for the first time so it could be part of a Mary Blair March look…the colors are so beautiful, and I quite unintentionally ended up with a very Mermaid-y look:
I can’t wait to see the next Colourpop Disney collaboration!
