Fish extender gifts

[alicia1506]

i bought mine off etsy... she ended up embroidering our names on it too, so we got a really great deal.. i would be happy to PM you the name of my etsy lady if you're interested. ours cost us approx $25 plus shipping, which is relatively cheap.. most seem to be around $45 plus shipping...

 

[hjd0411]

Thanks all!! Alicia - if you could PM me those details that would be great!! I've only got a couple of months, so I'd better get onto it!!!
Thanks for your help.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

They are really easy to make and don't need to be fancy. I made ours, once you work the maths it's all straight line sewing but you can also do it with a glue gun. I think mine cost about $4NZ total to make. I do a lot of craft tho and I am sewing / crafting the majority of our NZ themed FE gifts.

 

[peter.scott279]

Cookie gift baskets are always a pretty cheap and cute option. You can either bake them at home or buy them online and deliver them to a location. A cool thing about ordering online is that there are a lot of companies that make Disney-themed cookies. Last year before our cruise we ordered some cookies from a company called Cookies by Design. We packaged them ourselves so they would be cheaper. Everyone loved them!

 

[CNDDisneyMom]

I am not crafty either but just started to make my FE out of canvas bags. My step daughter and I like it so far, not sure my DH likes the untradional look of it but since he didn't want to make it he will have to deal with it or buy one lol

 

[Marlea98]

We cut out and glued Micky ears on caramello koala packets for the kids. They looked very cute.

I might have to steal that idea!

 

[Marlea98]

Wow!! I'm doing an FE on my cruise too and have been trying to work out what to give! Love these ideas!
One other question - where did you get your actual fish extender from? I am in no way crafty, so am not really in to making my own! I have looked on ebay and most only seem to ship to the USA. I haven't asked anyone whether they would ship to Aus, but thought I'd check here to see what other Aussies have done!!
Thanks for your help!!!

Heather, I found a pattern online through DIS and had a friend make it up. They're similar to those hanging holders you can buy for shoes etc. Not everyone on our last cruise used the 'traditional' style though; some people used Christmas (because we cruised at Christmas) Disney bags or regular Christmas bags.

 

[shushh]

I bought ready made IKEA bags from the childrens section and ironed on personalised Disney designs. Cheap and easy!

 

[Marlea98]

I bought ready made IKEA bags from the childrens section and ironed on personalised Disney designs. Cheap and easy!

I've noticed a lot like that and they look great.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Babysaurs]

Anyone else got any ideas for Aussie themed FE's that would travel well?
Love the timtam and vegemite idea!
Any pics too

 

[Tashinwdw]

Anyone else got any ideas for Aussie themed FE's that would travel well?
Love the timtam and vegemite idea!
Any pics too

I am doing FE's this September and the problem is trying to think of things that will fit in the suitcase, especially since the kids cant see as the cruise is a surprise. so would also love ideas.

 

[bahamashic14]

I have been really lucky to find aussie animals with santa hats to go onto of cupcakes. Thought I might put them with some aussie cup cake cases and a cake mix and make it into a nice pack. I also found table tennis bats and Balls all covered with the Aussie flag. Got some Furry friends (the cadbury chocolate ones), caramel koalas, smarties, Tim tams and cadbury chocolate. I thought I may some photos of where I live (the Mornington Peninsula) and make them into post cards. I also have the Koala clip ons. some Aussie beer holders. Im doing 2 cruises so have a lot to make. Still looking for my local thing to add. Would love to find the small vegemite. Thinking I need a nice tea towel with names of Melbourne etc not sure maybe some local hand made soaps. Leaving in Dec so still have some thinking time would love more suggestions

 

[Babysaurs]

I like the idea of magnets *** they would be easy to take but not really sure how to make myself.
Might need to raid the shops next January around Australia Day.

 

[LisaAJ]

I don't know if there will be a FE exchange happening on my cruise yet (Jan 205) but id really like to participate if there is. I was planning on doing up an Aussie pack (which now seems completely unoriginal!) but will keep thinking in the meantime. I'm worried we will end up with heaps of heavy/bulky stuff that we can't bring home but I suppose it has to be small to fit in a FE!

 

[Tashinwdw]

so far I have collected some pirate things to go into a pirate party bag for the boys, jewellery for the girls. Also Australia pencils, clip on Koalas, stationary and some Australian boomerang magnets. I too was thinking about a tea towel or apron for the family. I wanted to make casserole carriers but have had no luck at all finding Disney material that would look good. I am also making some quiet books for the children. Its the teens and men I am not sure about.

I like the idea of the goodie bag of chocolates, minties etc but am not sure if I should do them now and post them over or trying get them to fit into my suitcase with everything else, what do you guys think? Also do you think they should be done for each person or for each cabin?

 

[*Nessa*]

We made up small gift bags with a combination of lollies & novelties in them (different for adults & children) and took them with us.

For the lollies we put mini tim tams, mini vegemite, Bertie beetles, furry friends, caramello koala, freddo's and chupa chumps with a note that explained what they were & what they had in them.

For the novelties I found a stack of Disney uno sets and disney coin purses at a $2 shop, which we gave to the kids and for the adults we gave them the mini Vegemite and some little clip-on koalas

 

[Tashinwdw]

Nessa, they look so cute.

I am torn whether to bag them all up like that really nicely or to leave them unbagged and let the kids help, but since they dont know about the cruise and wont know until we are leaving for the ship, which means we wont be able to do it until we have boarded then it will take time away from exploring the ship. Or maybe they could do it on the drive to the Port. what do you all think?

 

[*Nessa*]

I am torn whether to bag them all up like that really nicely or to leave them unbagged and let the kids help, but since they dont know about the cruise and wont know until we are leaving for the ship, which means we wont be able to do it until we have boarded then it will take time away from exploring the ship. Or maybe they could do it on the drive to the Port?

I know what you mean I contemplated the same (to save on luggage space) we were travelling with 5 families so had 5 x the gifts & could see it turning into a nightmare!

In the end I knew I would be the one who would end up sitting in our cabin doing it all so decided to do as much at home as I could (when assembling them it also occurred to me that I had the little bits & pieces I needed like tape, scissors etc I would have totally forgotten to take all that!!).

All wrapped up it filled a suitcase but I was so glad I did as when we got on the ship as if anyone wanted to sit in our cabin organising other people FE gifts! We also had an empty suitcase then for all the things we bought/collected on the trip.

Personally I would do as much prep work as you can before you go as once you get to the ship you don't want to waste precious time organising, sorting and wrapping!

The other thing we did was once all the gifts were wrapped up nicely I got brown paper bags (2 per cabin we were delivering too) and divided up the 5 sets of gifts between the two bags. This was brilliant as delivery was quick and each cabins got 2 delivers (from our group) in the week.

 

[LivingforDisney]

The small vegemite u can get from McDonalds, they have it out a brekky time. I took a couple with me last year so my son could have it on his toast

 

[WanderlustNZ]

... as if anyone wanted to sit in our cabin organising other people FE gifts!
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I didn't do FE gifts, but I think the above response sums up my thoughts perfectly.

It's a lovely idea to want to involve your kids in the packaging of the gifts, but I can almost guarantee that once you get on the ship (with it's wealth of fun activities) it's the last thing you'll feel like doing.