We read Disney articles, follow Disney blogs, frequent Disney themed pin boards on Pinterest, and “like” many Disney related Facebook pages. We talk about our trips to Walt Disney World or Disneyland, cherish the memories we have made while vacationing with Disney Cruise Line, and fondly admire trinkets we have acquired during one of our Adventures by Disney trips. Everyone has extraordinary Disney stories, unique Disney memories, and various reasons why we love the Mouse. But we all wonder from time to time … how do you keep that Disney magic alive every day, even at home?

We all love Disney, and obviously want to keep that magic alive as long as we can after we return from our vacations.  Our family is no exception. One way we sprinkle pixie dust in our home is to host monthly Disney Movie Nights. Sometimes it is just the five of us, other times we have friends join in the fun. Party of five or party of more, it has always proven to be a wonderful DIStraction right in the middle of everyday life.

Please join us for our Hercules Movie Night!

Our family had never actually seen this movie until we had our movie night. This one was a pleasant surprise. We all loved it, especially the music. (A great everyday DIStracted Tip is to purchase or download Disney music and movie soundtracks.)

Decorations for this one were relatively simple. One goal of these at-home movie nights, and another everyday DIStracted Tip, is to save money from the monthly entertainment budget to put into our Disney trip fund.  Decorating does not have to be elaborate; use what you have!

I had lots of greenery that I gathered from various locations in the house that I laid out on the table. After picking up some rubber grapes from the local dollar store and creating cardstock cut-outs of the main characters from the movie, and artfully displaying our food for the night, our table was ready!

Hercules Movie Night-Photo Credit Connie Sink

This particular movie night was all about the FOOD!  On the menu were:

Gyros made with pre-packaged sandwich steaks.  This I set up as a “make your own” station.

Hercules Movie night-Photo Credit Connie Sink

We also had Greek Salad.

Hercules Movie night-Photo Credit Connie Sink

For the salad, I found this delicious recipe on Allrecipes.com.

The star of the show on our menu, though, was the homemade Baklava.

Hercules Movie night-Photo Credit Connie Sink

Originally I had every intention of buying pre-made Baklava. However, after a quick search, I found this super easy recipe, also on Allrecipes.com.

The recipe is easy, but it does take time and patience … I am known for neither. Fortunately for me, my oldest daughter is long on both, and she loves to cook. We had friends over for this movie night, and they said this was the best Baklava they had ever eaten. These friends are foodies, and had a favorite restaurant they would frequent just for the Baklava. Yes, it was indeed the star of the show.

Every movie night has one more key element: a themed activity. For Hercules, we made Olympic torches. Again, one of our movie night goals is to keep it simple and inexpensive.  I had first planned to make this Olympic Gold Medals craft from the Thrifty Couple.

However, our food budget was little more than anticipated, so after a quick online search, I found a less expensive craft idea for Olympic torches for the children to make. These were crafted from paper towel rolls and colored tissue paper. I printed out a photo of the Olympic rings, and the kids used some craft paint we had on hand to paint the rings on the paper towel rolls. We then stuffed the painted rolls with yellow, red and orange tissue paper to make the flames coming out of the end of the decorated paper towel rolls. The kids loved doing this craft, and since I had all of the supplies on hand, it cost us nothing!

Our Hercules movie night was a great success. Are you and your family wondering how to keep the magic alive between trips to see your favorite Fab Five?  Do you have DIStractions you use to chase away the Disney blues at home? Tell us about them in the comments below! And just maybe a Disney themed movie night is a great new DIStraction you’d like to try!

For more Disney movie night ideas, follow me on Pinterest.

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