Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Wednesday Wishlist – Disney Style Books

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I have to admit that I’m super excited about this week’s wishlist, because I’ve been working on it for absolutely ages! I don’t read half as much as I’d like to as I’m always busy sewing or blogging, but if I did, I would read ALL these books I have listed and many more. This week I wanted to show off some of the many Disney/Fairytale style books that I’ve come across over the last few months. Some I’d never heard of before and others being sequels to books I already own or have read.

Disney style books

Disney is one of my favourite topics ever but I love a good spin on it too. Nearly all of these books follow that idea and so hopefully if you’re the same, you’ll like the sound of a lot of these books.

Starting off with Poor Unfortunate Souls, this book has been on my wishlist for a while now. When we visited Florida last year I discovered Fairest of All and The Beast Within, both of which I regretted not buying. However for my birthday the following month, I was lucky enough to get bought both. This third book is about Ursula and honestly she is pretty much my Villain spirit animal. It’s not released yet but I would love to own this book and add it to my collection.

As Old as Time is a similar story, it’s pre-order and not released yet. However I’ve had my eye on Once Upon a Dream and A Whole New World (Chris just bought me this a few days ago) in hardback for a while (they just got released in paperback) and now spotted this Beauty and the Beast Twisted Tale coming out soon. I have yet to read any, but I plan to start AWNW this week!

The next couple of books, Unhooked and Never Never, are both Peter Pan/Hook themed books. They both appeal to me to read, though I’ve heard nothing about them other than reading the information on Amazon. There is one on the next line down called Wendy Darling (and its a Part 1 I believe) and this is the same sort of thing. They all just sound like good books. Finally on this line is a book called Fairest and its part of The Lunar Chronicles series. I currently own Cinder which is by the same author and while I haven’t read it yet, I’m told it’s really good.

On the middle line is a book called Once Again, its by the same as the Twisted Tales but I think it’s co-written. From what I can gather its two stories in one, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Since I mentioned Wendy Darling above, I’ll skip on to Kingdom Keepers. This is a series that I only recently discovered and have to admit I’m thoroughly enjoying. The first book, Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, I actually bought for Megan for her birthday, but Lily and I ended up reading as a bedtime story. Once we’d finished, I moved onto Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dawn. Since we only read one chapter a night, it does take quite some time to work our way through, however Lily was lucky enough to get bought the next 3-4 books for her birthday so we should have enough to keep us going for a while. This particular book I listed is a sort of spin-off series I believe, called Kingdom Keepers: The Return. Obviously we will be finishing our current series, before heading off into that one though.

Finally on the middle line is another book which I believe is co-written, by Riley Pearson (the author of The Kingdom Keepers) and Dave Barry. There are several books in this series too and again I haven’t read any of them, but given that they are by the author of The Kingdom Keepers, I would definitely give it a try.

Finally on the bottom row is a couple of cheeky additions. Return to the Isle of the Lost is a sequel book to The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel. All I really know of the Descendants is the Disney movie that was on TV last year, which I watched with the kids, but I did buy this book for Lily and we haven’t got around to reading it yet. Given that the first book is good, then we’d probably want the sequel too! My next cheeky addition is actually Once Upon a Time (OUAT) related and though there were several to choose from, this one is my top pick. OUAT isn’t technically Disney but it’s pretty damn close so any book connected to the series is something I want to read.

Finally that leaves three books which I only found today as I was searching for last minute additions. I honestly know nothing about the three picks but the blurbs appealed so I threw them on. Disneylanders and The Disneyland Quest, remind me somewhat of the Kingdom Keepers style book. The last one, is Fairy Godmother themed and is part of a series, some of which Megan owns but hasn’t read yet (The Snow Queen and The Sleeping Beauty). The series is called Five Hundred Kingdoms and from what I can gather, all the books can be read independently.

So these are some of my treasure finds but I’d love to know if you have any other suggestions!

Wednesday Wishlist – Pop Funkos

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As always, I want a whole bunch of Pop Funkos and with my birthday coming up, I’ve started to think about which ones are top of my list. I figured I’d put together a variety options, in case anyone was looking to get me one ;)

Pop Funko Wishlist

 

I’ve tried to group the Pop Funkos somewhat, though it’s still a bit random. The first section is Disney. To be honest I would always be happy with a Disney Pop Funko but there are actually very few I really want. Merida, Alice, Mushu and the Evil Queen are my main picks. Honestly the Queen has been on so many lists now – she’s top.

Next is Harry Potter. I would like Harry, Ron and Hermione (though I have two Harry variants) but they aren’t my top picks. Since Megan has Luna, Sirius and Dobby would be my other choices so far, though I’d love Hagrid too.

Next is Superheroes and the main man, Stan Lee. To be honest there are hundreds of DC and Marvel characters that I would love to collect, especially when Chris started me off with Oliver Queen (unmasked). The new wave of Avenger ones are definitely better than the first wave, though I prefer the Iron Man from 3. Along with all these, Deadpool would be great but I had too many that looked like him (Spider Man, Flash and Iron Man) to add him too! If you want to stay updated on the latest entertainment and pop culture news, you might want to visit sites like The Direct for the freshest scoop on your favorite fandom.

Once Upon a Time has got to be one of my all time favourite TV series and I love the Pop Funkos too. The only one I have so far is Killian Jones (a Captain Hook variant) but I would love his regular version too. Regina is my top pick for OUAT though and she has been on many lists. Snow and Prince Charming would also be a great addition.

Last but not least is the odd one out of Katniss Everdeen. There are actually a couple I would like from Hunger Games (especially Effie Trinket) but Katniss is my top pick and I didn’t have much space left! Megan has her in the red dress and Mockingjay dress (with wings) so I would like this version for my collection).

What are your top Funko picks?

Once Upon a Time Bounding – Captain Hook

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Pretty much everyone knows what Disneybounding is, but to be honest you can bound as any fandom. Myself and my best friends Nat and Amy are heading to Paris in June, for a OUAT fan convention called Fairytales. We are there for a long weekend (Fri-Tues) and we’re even popping into DLP while we’re there too. Because of that my mind has wandered as to what we might wear while we’re there. Today I’ve put together a Captain Hook bounding outfit – a) because he’s one of my favourite characters and b) because it’s probably who I will bound as. Colin O’Donoghue will also be attending the convention so that’s a major factor!

Captain Hook - OUAT Bounding

Since we’re going to be in Paris during June and inside a hotel, I probably won’t bother at all with a jacket. At the moment I’m torn between this type of a corset top or instead wearing a light black blouse with a waistcoat over the top (I’ve been looking for fabric to make this from). The jeans are black flocked velvet and I know I would get plenty of use from these. To finish off the outfit a few rings, a hair bow and the choice of a pirate ship necklace or even a replica of the one Captain Hook wears on the show. It’s a really simple bounding to put together and I can’t wait to give it a whirl!

Wednesday Wish List – Valentine’s Special

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Valentine's Day

 

I’m not a massive fan of Valentine’s Day as for the most part I know it’s just a commercialised holiday. However I’ve always seen it as a day to show everyone that you love them, not just a boyfriend, husband, partner etc. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always bought the girls a gift, as well as my partner – now this year, we’re all buying each other gifts and having a romantic family meal for 4 in the evening. The following day is affectionately known as Galentine’s Day – a day to show your female friends that you care and although I’ll be a day late, I might well get my best friend’s some gifts too!

Anyway, despite the fact I don’t think I’ll get any of these gifts, I figured I’d share a few bits I’d like to get. Starting at the top is Lush. There aren’t many Valentine products I’d like from Lush this year, having previously tried both. However the Unicorn Horn bubble bar was a firm favourite last year and I’d like to give Lover Lamp bath bomb a go too. Next is a Disney Tradition – I have a whole ton of these but Minnie with a heart? Seems like a good one to get for V Day! Of course my wish list wouldn’t be complete without a Pop Funko and who better than Hook? If I had to pick someone to spend my imaginary Valentine’s Day, Captain Hook from OUAT would definitely be my top choice!

Next up is Ferrero Rocher, in a heart shape box of course. These are one of my favourite chocolates and even though I know Chris has bought some for the girls, I secretly hope I have a box too! Since we’re spending the day together as a family, a board game would be a great idea. I love Ticket to Ride and since the new United Kingdom version was released just before Christmas, I’d love a copy of this. Finally, last but not least, some Haagen Dazs. Strawberry Cheesecake is the big recommendation for Valentine’s Day this year but I’d happily take any flavour! Bailey’s has always been my all time favourite and I’d love to give Salted Caramel a try too!

Wednesday Wishlist – Disney Pop Funko

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As the whole of April on my blog is “Disney Month”, today’s wishlist is Disney related – specifically Disney Pop Funko figures.

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This is my current collection of Pop Funko figures. To be honest I never really considered buying them myself, but when Amy bought Belle and the Beast for Chris and I, it seemed wrong not to! For my birthday last year, a friend called Jon bought me both the large Maleficent and also the mini Maleficent and Evil Queen (I believe he made an error when ordering). After that Amy bought me Lumiere for Christmas and Chris got Judge Doom from her too. The girls also have Anna and Elsa but I don’t class them as part of my collection, since they’re upstairs in their room. Between Chris and I we do also have three other Pop Funko figures, but they aren’t Disney so I skipped them from this post!

funko

So rather than list each of these Pop Funko figures separately, I’ll just say that you can buy majority of them from places like Amazon, Forbidden Planet and Funko Pop Vinyl.

Row A: From left to right, these figures are Cogsworth, Belle and Mrs Potts. As I already have Belle (in her yellow dress), the Beast and Lumiere, I’d love these three figures to complete the set. My favourite is probably the other Belle (in her blue dress) but I would really love them all.

Row B: Next up is Alice, the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter. I was never really into Alice in Wonderland before but over the last few years I’ve developed a love for it (probably because both Lily and Chris like it). Wanting Alice is really because she just represents the Alice in Wonderland world as a whole, but the Cheshire Cat because he looks amazing and the Mad Hatter because he’s simply crazy!

Row C: For this row, it’s all princesses. As I have Belle already, it would be nice to have some of the others. Cinderella, Ariel and Snow White are fairly iconic princesses and would make a great start to my collection. There are a few others available like Merida and Jasmine, but these other three would be my first picks.

Row D: This row is Villains. Everyone who knows me, knows I like Disney Villains. These are just a few of the ones I like – Jafar, Captain Hook and Ursula. I also love King John, Scar and Cruella De Vil. They would all go perfectly with the Maleficent and Evil Queen I already have (and Judge Doom if you count Chris’) though I perhaps need a full size Evil Queen instead.

Row E: Final row is a bit of an assortment really – ones that don’t belong in a set or that I just don’t want the rest of. Tinkerbell, Boo and the Genie are just a few of the ones I’d like. In all honesty I would be happy with any Disney Pop Funko figure but there are plenty I would pick first, even before the others.

Do you have a favourite Disney Pop Funko figure?