Magnolia Mamas : snack mix

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #TrainYourDragonAtWalmart http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

School is finally out for Summer! To say we are all excited is an understatement. We limped through the end of the school year, and still aren't quite sure how we survived the chaos that is the month of May. We've determined that this summer is going to be epic and what better way to kick off our celebrations with an epic movie night in?

Just before school let out the latest movie in the How to Train Your Dragon series was released. My kids have been begging to see How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. We missed it while it was in theaters, and for months they have let me know how bummed they were about this. So while the kids were wrapping up their last day of school, I was busy planning a fun movie night in.

I already had the perfect themed snack idea in mind, and wanted to grab a few other fun themed goodies to make it a special movie night for the kids. As I was placing my order for Walmart's pick-up in store option, I was so excited to learn they carried a special How to Train Your Dragon 3 Walmart Exclusive DVD Gift Set.

The set contains both Blu Ray, DVD, and Digital options of the movie as well as two super cute Funko keychains I just knew the kids would love. I quickly added the How to Train Your Dragon 3 Walmart Exclusive DVD Gift Set to my cart and threw in a fun How to Train Your Dragon t-shirt for Cute, and a few new toys as well. I couldn't wait to surprise the kids!

MEET THE LIGHT FURY

If you haven't heard of the How to Train Your Dragon series, get ready for lots of fun and dragon filled adventures. The story line follows a young viking chief, Hiccup, and his best dragon friend Toothless. The duo have had many adventures over the years to protect one another and each movie is jam packed with amazing animation, tons of adventure, and laugh out loud characters.

In How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, a new character is introduced. A girl dragon - the Light Fury! My girls were so excited about this! The original duo now both have female counterparts to share their lives with, but are faced with the ultimate challenge - stay together or be split apart to stay safe?

Grimmel the Grisly is hot on their dragon tails to steal Toothless and use him as a prisoner to be the alpha dragon and give him ultimate control of all dragons. Hiccup, Toothless, and their fellow dragon riders search for safety in the quest to find the Hidden World.

REVIEWS ARE IN

My kids loved the movie! It was just as fun and entertaining as the previous movies in the series. I was extremely impressed with the storyline and the roles the females played in it (there might be some alpha males, but the females become the heroes in this one!).

The animation in this one is also beautiful! There is one part in the Hidden World that is just stunning! My kids were so amazed and wanted to know if it was a real place they could visit.

Our fun celebratory movie night was a huge hit, and the kids have already requested to watch the movie several more times.

NIGHT FURY + LIGHT FURY SNACK MIX

For movie nights I usually just do a quick snack or charcuterie plate for everyone to munch on. For our How to Train Your Dragon movie night I wanted to do a little something special. We were celebrating, and the kids were so beyond excited about seeing the new movie. I came up with a quick themed dessert bar, including a themed snack mix.

My special How to Train Your Dragon snack mix was inspired by the new movie. I loved the idea of creating a black and white snack mix to represent Toothless and the Light Fury. Snack mixes are also great because they require little to no baking - just the way I like my snacks.

I opted for a salty-sweet snack mix, and at first thought a black and white only combo would be tough to come up with, but in the end it was actually quite easy and I had to limit the amount of sweet ingredients I used. The black and white snack mix was super easy to make and was ready to go in just under a minute (perfect for the movie goers who requested a refill and a mommy who didn't want to miss any parts of the movie).

What You'll Need

Popcorn (use as your salty base)
Black and white chocolate morsels
Cookies and creme crumble candies
Mini-marshmallows
Semi-sweet chocolate chips

**All sweet items can be found on the candy aisle.

What To Do

Pop popcorn according to instructions.
Place popcorn in a large mixing bowl.
Add in candy items and marshmallows. Stir together.
Serve and enjoy!

Note: Let popcorn cool completely before mixing in chocolate candies otherwise the popcorn will be warm enough to melt the chocolate. Still super yummy (obviously), but might get messy with small children.

Family movie nights are always so fun! I love that we were able to kick off summer with something the kids had been looking forward to for so long. And that I was able to be little "extra" about it with it feeling like additional pressure and stress at the end of the school year. Everything came together with ease and very little effort. Between the How to Train Your Dragon 3 Walmart Exclusive DVD Gift Set, the fun themed apparel and toys, and the convenience of in store pick-up, the movie night took no more than a few minutes to put together. Their little smiles were huge, not a single snack was left over for me to munch on for breakfast the next morning, and now we have three options to watch the movie where ever the kids summer adventures take them.

I expect by the time school starts in August I'll have How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World completely memorized.

Enjoy your own movie night in! Head to Walmart and purchase the new release of How to Train Your Dragon 3 Walmart Exclusive DVD Gift Set today!

Come spend the day with us on:

Now that it's February, let's just go ahead and put this out there - I love Valentine's Day! I might be in the minority, but I think it is just such a fun day - especially seeing how excited my children get about the day. There are just so many reasons to love Valentine's Day...

1: It's just fun to celebrate love. We need more days like that in our lives.

More love, less...everything else!

2: Conversation hearts.

3: The chance to wear pink head to toe (as if I need an excuse).

4: All the adorable theme wear for the kids.

5: Roses. Give me all the roses.

(And yes, you can buy these any day of the year, but you probably don't. So receive them, buy them, send them to a friend...get on board with a day about flowers!)

6: Any excuse to dig into one of those yummy boxes of chocolates.

(Dibs on the coconut crunch!)

Speaking of all the yummy Valentine's Day treats, feast your eyes on this yummy concoction...

Let me introduce you to the Cupid Crunch Snack Mix.

We put our own twist on this yummy salty sweet combo, and it is so so tasty.

I might have eaten it for lunch one day this week.

It's super easy to make, with less than 20 minutes of work from start to finish. It's also a huge hit with the kids if you have a treat you need to bring into class for a party.

Bonus: You can make it allergy free with just a few switch of products. I used these pretzels, these chocolate chips are a great alternative that are still super yummy, and Chex cereal is free of most allergens.