Are you sitting down? Have a snack? Ready to be wowed? I hope so, because I have been giddy waiting to introduce you to a personal friend of mine. Her name is Amy Workman and she is one CRAFTALICIOUS  babe. She is a wife, mother, photographer, scrapbooker, baker, and decorator extraordinaire, and I think her kids are probably some of the luckiest on this planet. Why? Because she regularly spoils them with “Movie Nights”. Now, these aren’t your ordinary, popcorn and a flick type movie nights. She comes up with adorable treats, crafts, and decorations to make her movie nights full of fun and completely memorable. I was so ecstatic when she agreed to share her Toy Story 3 movie night idea with us at HowDoesShe! So, sit back and be prepared to be inspired!

I was so honored to be asked to share a guest post with you today here on How Does She. I’m even more excited to share with you an awesome family activity that we just love at our house, and I’m sure will be a hit with your own family too.

Once or twice a month we do a whole themed night on a particular movie, complete with goodies, decorations and fun activities, we call it Movie Night and today I get to share with you the new Toy Story 3 movie. (If you haven’t seen it yet, I can’t recommend this movie enough! It is fabulous!)

We’ve all been VERY excited to see this movie, and my kids have been counting down the days until it’s release. So, lets get started shall we?

I usually start with a fun and yummy treat, and this time we did make-your-own Mr. Potato Head cupcakes!

Start by baking up a batch of your favorite cupcakes, and frost them with peanut butter icing. If you have peanut allergies at your house, no problem, butter cream frosting tinted brown is a great substitution.

So now we’ve got the body of our potato and here’s where the fun begins… he’s about to get a lot cuter!

Check your local bulk food store or candy isle for different sweet treats that can represent the various body parts of a Mister or a Misses Potato.

Don’t limit yourself to just candy, I ended up using cereal pieces for the nose; and licorice makes great hairy eyebrows and mustaches.

My kids had so much fun decorating their potato head cupcakes!

After eating that yummy cupcake you’ll want something to wash it all down with, so how about a squeeze toy alien milkshake?

Blend up your favorite flavor of ice cream into a milkshake (we used mint chocolate chip). Next, cut the backs off of 3 marshmallows and stick them to the side of the cup. Add some black eyes with an edible food marker, a green licorice straw and you’re done! A huge hit with the kids, and so easy to make!

Now that we’ve covered the food for our movie night, just a couple more simple touches and you’re ready to watch your show.

I printed a picture of Buzz Lightyear from the Internet and made it into a small sign to go with our Buzz Band glow bracelets.

This next prop was an awesome find at my local dollar store. (A great place to get inexpensive treats and decorations for your own movie nights) These monkey candy toys. (Makes SO much more sense if you’ve seen the movie) They happily clapped along with the movie.

Last but not least, I like to do a little bit of decorating to bring the whole night together. So I wrapped a big box in brown paper, wrote Sunnyside on it and grabbed a bunch of the kids toys to represent different characters from the movie.

For most of my movie nights, the first time I watch it is usually with the whole family. Most of the time I can get an idea of what the movie is about by reading an online plot summary or from commercials or pictures. But in this case, I did watch the movie before hand, so that is why my treats and decorations are so specific. I of course didn’t mind watching the movie again, it’s that cute!

I love doing movie nights for my family, and the kids think it’s just the greatest thing ever. Plus, it’s like I get to throw a party every month, and I love the creative outlet this provides for me. I hope you found some inspiration from this, and want to start your own family movie nights!

I have to tell you that we adopted these movie night ideas, and it’s amazing how a few simple touches can transform an ordinary evening into something magical. We had a “Nim’s Island” movie night at our house when it was released. A few dollar-store leis and grass skirts, some tropical treats, and the movie made it SO fun for us all. The girls still talk about it.

Thanks, Amy, for being willing to share your ideas with us, especially with a brand new baby in your life! I hope you’ll contribute again, soon! Here are a few more of Amy’s projects that caught our eye. Just a warning, though. If you click over to visit her blog, be prepared to spend a while perusing! I could get lost looking through her stunning and fun projects. Take a look at these to whet your appetite!

Thanksgiving Place cards

Mermaid Party Decor

Camp Rock Movie Night

If you could create a movie night for your family, what movie would YOU choose?