FREE Itinerary for a Week in Europe for London, Paris, and Edinburgh (Including a PDF, Cost Breakdown,& links to purchase!)

I am a planner. BIG time. I have no shame in ironing out every minute detail of anything I'm going to do - especially something big and expensive! This Thursday, my boyfriend and I are taking a trip to Europe for about a week and immediately I began planning.

 

And kept planning...

One kind of silly thing I am doing from all this planning though is creating laminated cards of each day's itinerary with hand drawn pictures of the sights. I hope one day my future children will find them and want to take the same trip Mom did and they'll have the exact itinerary down to the tube stops to do it. So, I thought, maybe other people might want something a bit more personalized and free to do the same?! Sure, you can pay to have a travel agent or you can do it yourself. Or you can wing it which can turn out to be a real adventure! But if you're a planner like me, save yourself the time if you like where we're going! I should mention the main reason we planned this trip is all the Harry Potter activities Europe has to offer. And I'm a yuge fan...yuge. So, if Harry Potter isn't your thing, feel free to take it out, however I encourage anyone to visit AND it only takes up a small portion of our trip. We're still visiting all the London sights, Edinburgh sights, and everything in Paris!

Here is the PDF of our itinerary. 

Click on the image to access the printable and editable PDF!

Here is a breakdown of the costs of each item. At the end of each cost is a link to where you can directly purchase the same vouchers or tours we did. Including travel in your cost with advance tickets is a lifesaver and necessity. We've done all the work for you! Please keep in mind that prices for activities and tickets change daily and sales are sometimes running so our cost may be higher or lower than what you see when you book your own trip!

Travel Expenses: All prices listed are the total for ONE PERSON except where noted

• $2.415.86 roundtrip with hotel for two people - Qbic Hotel purchased WITH flight through Expedia: https://qbichotels.com/london-city/gallery/
• $102.33 - Train from London to Edinburgh, Scotland: Virgin Trains East Coast https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com
• $94 roundtrip - Train from London to Paris, France: Eurostar http://www.eurostar.com/us-en
• $48.61 - Oyster Card 1 week pass to ride the tube unlimited per day in zones 1 & 2

Attraction Expenses: All prices listed are the total for ONE PERSON

• $39.01 - River Thames Cruise with Afternoon Tea https://www.viator.com/tours/London/Thames-River-Sightseeing-Cruise-with-Afternoon-Tea/d737-3542AFTEA
• $120.76 - The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour and Oxford Day Trip https://www.viator.com/tours/London/Warner-Bros-Studio-Tour-London-The-Making-of-Harry-Potter-and-Oxford-Day-Trip-from-London/d737-5528IFPOTTER
• $17.91 - Walking Tour for Muggles https://www.tourformuggles.com
• FREE - Walking Tour of Edinburgh http://edinburghfreetour.com
• $34.54 - The London Dungeon https://www.thedungeons.com/london/en/
• $18.44 - The Louvre Museum https://www.ticketlouvre.fr//louvre/b2c/index.cfm/home *If the site pulls up in french, change the language at the top right of the page. The first of three options (Musee du Louvre) is the option we chose.
• $14.86 + $1.57 to print at home - Musee D'Orsay https://musee-orsay.fnacspectacles.com/processreservation/disponibilite.do *This site is partly in French and I couldn't figure out how to change it though I speak some french so I navigated. To purchase simple day tickets, go to that link, type in the number of tickets you want, choose the "print @ home" option under the "Credit Card" section and click continue. The next page allows you to purchase ticket insurance. Click continue and make an account. It will walk you through the rest. Comment below if you have any trouble!
• $18.44 for adults ages 25+ to go to top floor/$11.93 for second floor - Eiffel Tower http://ticket.toureiffel.fr/index-css5-sete-pg1-lgen.html?_ga=1.2897141.453521011.1490493465 *Tickets for those aged 12-24 are cheaper!
• $40.60 - Paris Big Bus Tour with Seine River Cruise https://www.bigbustours.com/en/paris/paris-tour-tickets-and-passes/paris-bus-tour-tickets/?qty[adult]=0&qty[child]=0&focus=top-filter-form/ *Their bus tours change throughout the year so check and see what's available when you book.

A couple of things:

• We used Expedia.com to book our hotel and flight at the same time. I obviously can't guarantee matched prices for those things, however, if you go at certain times you'll get cheaper rates. We're going during spring break, April 1-9 which isn't really considered peak time for London. 
• The hotel we booked is called Qbic. I immediately fell in love with its modern and quirky mix of modern and minimalism. It's got amazing looking breakfast (will do a follow up post!) and is eco-friendly! Personally, I would recommend this place over a regular hotel because a) it's similar or cheaper in price and b) it's an experience in itself! Check them out at qbic.com
• We planned our days out based on our flight times and on spacing out heavy walking days with heavy travel days. Feel free to switch things around!
• Prices of any item listed may change at any time. 
• Purchasing advance tickets for attractions in France can be finicky. Make sure your bank doesn't have restrictions placed on purchasing out of country items. Also, if you plan on buying advance tickets for the Eiffel Tower, you need to get your tickets waaaaaay in advance. The Summit ticket (travel to all three floors) is booked up until May for us, so we'll have to buy tickets on site. 
• Again, lots of items on this itinerary are Harry Potter centered. I'm a huge fan and this is a dream come true trip for me. If you aren't keen on the series, substitute in another walking tour or show! Or just go get converted into a Potterhead - it's great. :)
• If you intend to go to The London Dungeon attraction AS WELL AS The London Eye, Shrek's Adventure, and/or The London Aquarium please note you can buy these attractions in packages and save money. We only went to The London Dungeon but if you have kids and want to work the strip and see all four of those attractions or even just three, they have money saving packages you can purchase here https://www.thedungeons.com/london/en/book-tickets/ticket-prices-and-offers.aspx or in person!
• We printed out every possible ticket, voucher, confirmation page, hotel itinerary, map, etc. possible for two reasons. 1) I don't believe you should rely solely on your phone for mobile tickets because you're going to be taking pictures and videos left and right. Don't get stuck out and about without your ticket. 2) Several places in London and France require a paper ticket over a mobile ticket. Carry a small, secure backpack or purse and take the day's activities tickets with you just in case.

I really hope at least one person finds this itinerary fun and useful! It's been months of excited planning and I'm 99% sure I didn't forget anything, but please let me know if you think of something else! With this itinerary, you should be able to take the exact trip we are and purchase everything with ease just by following the above information. A personal travel agent service for free! I'll be doing a follow up post when we return with pictures, reviews, and any changes I would suggest. 

If you have any problems or questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them!

With love, Jessica.

DIY: Faux Leather Nightstand

I have returned!

I know it's been a while since I've made a post. So, to kick things back off, I have a little DIY that is everything I'm about: cheap and shmancy looking. I've had one of those ugly little chipboard round tables for a while now. I picked it up for $1 at a thrift store a while back thinking I was going to do some project with it and true to form, that project never happened. ;) But now it has been reborn! I have a really tall bed and my current nightstand wasn't cutting it height wise. I also wanted something edgier and more in tone with the rest of my room's style, which I've recently redone as well. I'll post pictures later! Anyway, cue up my ugly little decorating table. 

Get your own ugly table here!

One of the things I did on my hiatus was take a trip (or three) to California where my friend recently moved.

Of course I scoped out every Goodwill in a 20 mile radius from his apartment, and while I was there, I found a yard of amazing brown pleather for less than $2! I stuffed that shiz into my carry on and brought it home. It sat for awhile until the other day, when I was ranting about how I couldn't find a nightstand high enough for my bed, my dad suggested I cover my ugly table with the pleather. I was SO on board! 

My only tweak to the idea was to cut down the table top to have a straight-edge side that I could push up against the wall. Trying to save as much room as possible!

What You Need

- ugly little table

- thick, durable fabric

- staple gun

- scissors

- saw

So, we started by cutting off one side of the round tabletop, keeping in mind the placement of the legs on the underside. 

I didn't take pictures of the next part but it's incredibly easy. Whip out your staple gun and go crazy. I just flipped the table upside down on the pleather, cut around the edges giving myself about three inches extra to work with, and wrapped it around the sides and stapled, stapled, stapled. My suggestion would be to start stapling down the fabric on the straight-edge first, then switch across to the middle point of your half-circle and work your way around each side until you get to the back corners. Folding is your friend! This is what I ended up with.

Please forgive the horrible photo quality (it was nighttime and my room gets pretty dark) but this is the finished product in my room! You can see how tall my bed is, so I was very excited to get this edgy little table in there! Some things I might do to this later on to make it ever more industrial-chic is add gold or brass caps to the ends of the legs and 'maybe' stain the legs a slightly darker color. I thought about adding a brass brad trim but thought that might look a little outdated. What do you think?

Hope you like it as much as I do. These little tables are abundant at thrift stores all year round so if this is something you'd love to throw in your bedroom, hall, or entryway, you won't have any trouble snagging one of your own!

DIY: Flower Embellished Sunglasses

Hey y'all!

So, I mentioned in my Sunglasses Case post that I would share a tutorial for making my funky flower sunglasses, and here it is! This DIY was inspired by my all time favorite blogger Emily Schuman's tutorial you can find here. She's a fantastic blogger and her content is so easy to read. You should definitely check her out if you haven't already!

So, here is how I went about making my version of her embellished sunglasses.

1. You'll need:

~a pair of sunglasses with area to glue on

~any embellishment you want

~hot glue gun

2. Decide how you want your embellishments placed. 

3. Start gluing! Word of warning: if you drop a glue covered flower on your hand, don't try and fling it off while screaming. Glue burns are a serious hazard, people. 

4. Admire your work while you ice your blistered palm and four fingers....

5. Voila! An easy, five minute update to cute and personalized sunglasses!

DIY Fabric Sunglasses Case

The other day when cleaning out my bathroom I found an old glasses case. The liner had become unattached and it wasn't being used. It isn't much of a change from glasses case to sunglasses case, but giving it a cute facelift (for almost nothing!) was reason enough for me to break out my glue gun. I also don't have a hard case sunglasses holder for my purse so this is also a functional craft!

To begin, you'll need:

~ decoupage glue

~ fabric (fat quarter at Walmart for 97 cents!)

~ old glasses case (check goodwill)

~ pencil

~ scissors

~ glue gun

I started by removing the liner from my case. Easy work since it was already coming off ;). 

Next, I cut out two rough squares of fabric larger than the size of my case. I used my case as a guide to mark notches that I cut out for the hinged part of the case. Your cuts don't have to be perfect, just make sure you have enough to wrap around the outside of your case and into the inner side to secure. 

Cover the outside of your case with decoupage glue (Mod Podge). I did one side at a time so the glue wouldn't become tacky. Cover the side with your fabric and smooth out any wrinkles. Make sure your cut out notch edges match up with the hinges on your case.

You should end up with something like this. At this point, I used my scissors to trim the excess material from the inside. 

Next, I glued down the edges of the fabric to the inside of the case to make sure they were thoroughly secured. 

Now I could reattach my liner. Simply use hot glue to secure it. 

Here is the finished product from all sides! I'm very pleased with how it turned out, especially since I only took about ten minutes to fix it up. 

Just pop your favorite sunnies in and throw them in your bag or car! This is a really quick and cheap DIY (or facelift) that still lets you be creative. You can find these cases at goodwill ALL THE TIME for cents. And the Walmart fabrics are endless with some really cute options. You could even use scrap fabric if you have some. The case kind of reminds me of the fabric cases you can buy at Vera Bradley! But for a huge fraction of the cost! Like my funky sunglasses up there? Check back next week for a tutorial on how to make your own, inspired by my favorite blogger!

DIY: Mini Binder Purse Companion & 14 Free Printables!

Have you ever been grocery shopping and got to the end of the store only to find that you've forgotten several items on your list that are scattered all over previous aisles? I don't have enough digits to count... So, it got me thinking of how to combat this problem and my solution is this handy mini binder purse companion for several areas of my life, including grocery shopping! In this post are all the free printables you need to make your own mini binder. Just slip it into your bag and you'll have it whenever you need it. Here's how I did mine.

*First, gather your materials. If you choose to buy an Avery brand Mini Binder, it will have a pocket, thus making the 1 sheet of card stock/tape/scissors/ruler unneeded. 

HOLD UP!!!!

This step is very annoying important. While Avery has lined filler paper for sale online and at most office supply stores, they and many others have yet to create a simple pack of 5.5 by 8.5 inch plain filler paper. You don't want lined because the lines will show up behind the template. Therefore, do this nearly as simple step instead. You'll already be at the supply store anyway ;) Go find yourself a ream (pack of) plain printer paper. Got mine for $2.49 at OfficeMax. Go over to the printer services station and ask them to cut your ream of paper in half. This costs $1.79. My OfficeMax didn't have this option but most should have a hole-punch machine that can hole punch your paper for you. If not, my templates come with a pre-printed guide for you to follow!

*Now that you have your halved paper, simply stack it in your printer, print out the templates you're going to use and hole punch your sheets following my guide of black dots!

*Next, assemble your binder using your mini dividers. I used Avery's label printing service to add the categories of Calendars/Groceries/Blog/Personal/Notes. See below for a full list of available templates.

*If your binder doesn't come with a pocket, you can whip up a quick pouch like I did. I just took 1 sheet of card stock, measured, cut, and folded it into the above shape and taped it together. I also just used tape to attach it to my binder in case I want to change to another option later. I plan to use this pouch for pens and coupons!

*And there you have it! A purse friendly binder with several helpful pages to organize your life!

To Do List/Reminders Template

To Do List/Reminders Template

Monthly Calendar Template

Monthly Calendar Template

Weekly Calendar Template

Grocery Expenses Tracker Template

*Use the master grocery list as a reference page. Write down the items you buy most often at the grocery store and use to look back on when writing new grocery lists.

Master Grocery List Template

*For the grocery map templates, it requires some planning. Take a quick snapshot of your grocer's aisle signs to find out what's on each aisle. Then, transfer these items onto the line under each aisle so that when you make a grocery list, simple categorized your items under the appropriate aisle! Now, when you're in your store, simply flip open your binder and set it in the buggy and buy from your list on each aisle! Never forget an item again!

Grocery List Map: Bakery-Aisle 3

Grocery List Map: Aisles 4-9

Grocery List Map: Aisles 10-15

Grocery List Map: Aisles 16-21

Grocery List Map: Aisles 22-Misc.

Blog Ideas Template

Personal Expenses Ledger Template

Password Keeper Template

Notes Template

DIY: Craft Bucket List Sticks

Evenin'!

If you're anything like me, I have tons of crafts and DIY's pinned on my pinterest boards. Sadly, they most often go unseen and worse, undone. And believe me, I hoard pins only to sift through them every once in a while, none of my cute ideas ever making it to fruition. But, no more! As I've said, most of my projects come out of boredom or need, accompanied by a tight budget. So, I whipped up this quick (and I mean super quick) DIY to help foster a more creative spirit and hopefully get some of these crafts done!

- any type of wooden stick (Popsicle/skinny sticks)

- paint colors of your choice

- assorted paintbrushes

- marker

** Simply scour your Pinterest boards for the names of your favorite crafts and copy them onto your sticks with your marker.**

** You can paint your sticks in any way you like. Several dots of each color per stick would look cute. **

** They'll be dry by the time you finish painting the last one. I only needed one coat. **

** Whenever you're feeling crafty, simply pull one of your sticks out at random and get creating! **