DIY Star Wars chocolates

Since "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" premiers in theaters next week, I'm hosting a Star Wars 6-movie marathon tomorrow.  So I thought it would be fun to serve chocolates in Star Wars shapes.

I bought these Kotobukiya ice molds from Amazon.  Dearth Vader, R2-D2, Millennium Falcon, and Han Solo in Carbonite.

I used 1 1/2 bags of chocolate chip morsels (the kind you bake cookies with) to fill all 4 molds.

To make the chocolate, I melted chocolate chips in a Pyrex measuring cup in my microwave for 2 minutes. I stirred it with a teaspoon until it was a smooth consistency.

Then using a teaspoon, I put dollops of chocolate into each ice cube mold. To flatten the chocolate, get rid of bubbles, and make sure that the chocolate got into each crevice of the mold, I lifted each mold and banged them up and down against the table a few times.

I set them aside to cool at room temperature overnight, but I found that they were too brittle when trying to remove them from the molds. So I stuck them in the fridge for a while and that worked perfectly.

Here is the final product. My favorite was the Millennium Falcon because of he level of detail.  The large R2-D2 can stand upright which is cool for a decorative effect. And the Darth Vaders seemed to be the best at sturdiness & ease of removing from the molds.

Now go forth and make some Star Wars chocolates. May the Force be with you!

Run10Feed10: 2015 swag bag

This is my third year participating in the Women's Health Run10Feed10 event.  Unlike last year, I wasn't able to attend a live running event this year.  So this year I did the "Run Your Own 10K" virtual race option for a $28 registration fee.

I received my goodie bag today. This is the swag bag that all participants received.  It is a limited edition FEED projects bag.  And it came filled with goodies!

These are the contents of the bag:

1. Limited Edition FEED projects Voyager canvas & jute tote bag, retail value = $50.
2. Medela promotional collapsible water bottle, retail value = $1.43.
3. Colgate Total Advanced Whitening toothpaste, 0.75 oz, retail value = $1.19.
4. Colgate Total $1 coupons (2)
5. Colgate Total Gum Health mouthwash, two 2.0 oz bottles, ($5.29 for 16.9 oz), retail value = $0.62 x 2.
6. Hydroxycut Drops liquid supplement in Fruit Punch, two FULL SIZE bottles, retail value = $6.99 x 2.
7. Geico promotional Malibu Sunglasses, two pairs, retail value = $1.89 x 2.
8. Strong Girl Pre-workout supplement in Strawberry Mojito, 0.26 oz ($49.99 for 7.73 oz), retail value = $1.68.

TOTAL RETAIL VALUE: $73.30.

I have to admit that participating in all of these runs is made even more fun by all of the swag that they give runners at these events.

runDisney featured our Avengers group costume on Twitter

runDisney featured my group costume photo for the Avengers Half Marathon on their Twitter account!  I'm famous!  Okay, I'm exaggerating.

During the 2014 Inaugural Avengers Half Marathon (see my race recap here), one of the runDisney publicity photographers followed us throughout the park and shot a few photos.  She even took a group photo of us in front of the Haunted Mansion.  But the only photo I ended up seeing during race weekend was the photo of us high-fiving cast members that runDisney posted on January 16, 2014 on their Facebook page.

After the 2014 Avengers race weekend was over,  never saw the one of us in front of the Haunted Mansion in any of the runDisney Facebook photos, so I just figured that it was lost and that I'd never see it.

But then for the 2015 Avengers Half Marathon Weekend, runDisney posted that photo on their Twitter account.  How cool is that!?

Happy Back To The Future Day!

Happy Back to the Future Day!  THE FUTURE IS NOW!  Today is the day that the movie Back to the Future Part II sent Marty McFly, his girlfriend Jennifer, and Doc Brown from 1985 to October 21, 2015.

Growing up in the 1980's, I watched countless marathons of the BTTF trilogy.  We may not have flying cars, hover boards, Mr. Fusion, and time travel, but I still think Marty & he Doc would be impressed. Who in the 1980's would've imagined the internet, cell phones, hybrid electric vehicles, smart phones, iPads, social media, on-demand streaming of movies & TV shows, online shopping, and paying for purchases thru a watch?!

Welcome to the future Marty & Doc!

P.S.  The following meme just blows my mind. LOL.

DIY Disney costume: Jake and the Neverland Pirates

My son outgrew his store-bought Jake costume, so I made him a new costume.  The problem with a store-bought jumpsuit-style costume is you have to take the whole costume off in order to use the restroom.  But since this DIY costume functions like real clothes, it won't have that problem.

This costume was actually made from upcycled clothing.

I made the vest from a thrifted blue hoodie and yellow T-shirt.

I made the shirt out of a hole-y men's undershirt and black scraps from my quilt project.

The pants are just any pair of blue jeans that my son wears.

The boots are from the original Jake costume.

The bandana is from the original Jake costume.

First I started with the blue vest.  

Step 1:  I cut off the sleeves from the hoodie.

Step 2:  I removed the hood & front pocket.  Then I cut straight down the center of the front.

Step 3:  I used the material from the sleeves to make the collar flaps.  I pinned them to the vest collar.

Here's the front (left) & back (right) of the collar.

Step 4:  I sewed the flaps in place.  Then I trimmed them into the shape.

Here's the front (left) & back (right) of the collar.

Step 5:  I cut a yellow T-shirt into strips and used the strips to line the edges & collar of the vest.

Now onto the pirate shirt.  I started off with one of my husband's old undershirts. It had a few holes in it, which was perfect for the tattered effect.

Step 1:  Spread out the adult shirt flat on the floor.

Step 2:  Placed one of my son's T-shirts on top of the adult shirt.  My son's shirt served as a pattern.

Step 3:  I cut around my son's T-shirt, leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Step 4:  I sewed up the edges of the fabric to make at new shirt.

Step 5:  I cut a through the front and back of the sleeves.

Step 6:  I cut a slit in the front collar, then sewed two pieces of black ribbon (also upcycled) into an X over the slit.

Step 7:  I used black fabric scraps to make a "belt" and sewed the belt to the bottom of the shirt.

 

To assemble the costume, all my son needs to do is wear ANY PAIR of blue jeans, put on the boot covers, put on the pirate shirt & vest, and put on the bandana headband.

Yay-hay, way to go Mateys!  We just made a pirate costume!  Yo-ho, let's go have some fun!  Arrgh!

Pandora Jewelry Experience at Coachella 2015

PANDORA Coachella 2015 swag bag

I must admit. I'm a Disney fan and a Pandora jewelry fan. So when I got the Pandora Club email invitation to Pandora's first ever off-site Coachella party, I was thrilled.

The Pandora Jewelry Experience #ArtOfYou event was a three-day "Fashion Experience" of runway shows by designers Tracy Reese, Nanette Lepore, WHiT and Siwy Denim. It took place on Weekend One of the 2015 Coachella Music Festival (April 10-12) at the Gene Autry Estate area of the trendy Parker Hotel in Palm Springs.

Here is the Disney Style video of the event. I'm in this video twice!

Here are some photos that I took of the April 11th event.

The lawn.  Near the check-in table at the entrance was a cocktail bar.  DJ Whitney Fierce was spinning some tunes.  A Minnetonka mural was being painted. And they were handing out yummy popsicles from Popshop.

The Pandora tent, where they were handing out blue & orange tote bags.  Pandora jewelry was displayed throughout.

The Minnie Style tent by Disney Style.  It had a photo booth, a nail bar where you could get a manicure, a candy bar, and fashions by Lauren Conrad and LoungeFly on display.  They were also giving out a polka-dotted fan, polka-dotted red sunglasses, and a polka-dotted black-and-white scarf.

Showing off my new #MinnieStyle manicure.  I just like love how it goes so well with my Minnie & Mickey Pandora bracelet, Alex and Ani bangles, and ring.

The Minnie scarf tied onto my Harvey's Seatbelt Bag Minnie purse.

The Think Style tent by Disney Style. They had a hair bar (where you could get your hair done up into a TinkerBell style top bun), a tattoo bar (for cute glittery temporary tattoos), and bohemian Tink inspired fashions on display.  They were also giving out white fairy wings to wear.

That tattoo was perfect with my Pandora TinkerBell dangle, TinkerBell glow-in-the-dark green murano, & runDisney dangle on a Pandora leather wrap bracelet which I styled into a leather necklace with the Flower muranos (all from Pandora's Spring 2015 collection).

The Hawaiian Tropic Tent.  They had yoga sessions, hammocks, a juice bar, and a lounge.  They were also giving away suntan lotion & sunscreen.

Entrance to the Fashion Show tent.  I was so happy to get a front row seat for the Tracey Reese fashion show.  On the runway, I loved how Tracey Reese strung stacks of Pandora rings onto leather cord and styled them as long bohemian necklaces.  Nanette Lepore took a different approach and styled the jewelry using stacks of rings on fingers and stacks of Essence bracelets around elbows (armbands) and wrists.

Swag from the event:

• Cocktails
• Popshop handmade popsicles
• Minnetonka moccasin keychain with coupon
• Juice Press organic juice
• Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen
• Disney Style Minnie manicure bar
• Disney Style Minnie sunglasses
• Disney Style Minnie fan
• Disney Style Minnie photo booth photos
• Assorted candies from candy bar
• Disney Style Minnie scarf
• Disney Style TinkerBell glitter tattoos
• Disney Style TinkerBell top bun bar
• Fairy wings
• An issue of ELLE magazine
• Plenty by Tracey Reese tote bag
• Pandora tote bag

PANDORA Coachella 2015 swag bag

Thank you Pandora for a fun day in the desert!