Aladdin Movie Night

We've got a Disney World trip planned in our future and we are BEYOND excited.

(If you do Disney, you know what I'm talking about!)

 (2012 trip)

(2011 trip)

So, to count down and hype up the already-extreme-anticipation, I have planned a few 

Disney Movie Nights.

Here were some 'rules' I set for our Disney Countdown Movie Nights:

-Keep it simple.

-Keep it themed.

Easy, right???? 

I tend to over-think and drive myself crazy with 'crafting' party stuff. So I decided to focus my decorations on the kitchen table.

And I wanted to have the food go with the movie. 

(Helllloooo Pinterest!) 

Will you join us for the first one???

I'll give you a hint....

"Arabian niiiiiiiiights, like Arabian daaaaaaays..."

(You're singing the song now, right?)

We love riding the Magic Carpets at Disneys' Magic Kingdom so, of course, Aladdin seemed like a logical movie to start the count down!

I know, I know.... first picture and I've already broken rule #1.
Since I was planning dinner to be eaten at a low table with fancy pillows, there was no sense in decorating a kitchen table we weren't going to be using. So, the fireplace got a make-over. (I needed to take down the Valentine's decor anyway!)

I drew an 'Arabian' backdrop onto a big piece of cardboard. Then I cut it out with a straight blade right before I spray painted it black.
It totally set the theme and I was so excited to make it!
And I'm also glad I have a small lantern fascination these days. I didn't buy any for this dinner!

The gold pillows were made from extra gold fabric I've had for years that was tucked away in my Christmas decorations box. I sewed three sides for the pillows, slipped various couch pillows in and tucked in the fourth side. I didn't want to make them permanent because I really wasn't wanting gold pillows for my everyday look.

While I was in the basement storage, getting the gold fabric, I picked up some beads (also in Christmas storage) and found an old clear vase that I spray painted gold. The sticks and feathers that I placed in the newly painted gold vase came from my Christmas wreath.... the one that never got made.

I did purchase a few little things for the kids at the dollar store. Beads, coins, a tambourine for Reese,  and a plastic snake for Graham.

{Some of my photos came out blurry- there's no such thing as still excitement!}

Other than the Arabian backdrop that took me about an hour to draw, cut and spray paint, my other 'project' was to make Magic Carpet Placemats. What would an Aladdin party be without Magic Carpets???
I tried to make it simple but nothing seems to be as simple as I think it will be. (sigh)

Here's the quick description of what I did....
I purchased 2 different fabrics for each Magic Carpet. The purple (shown in the photo below) was cut smaller to be the top layer of the two-layered Magic Carpet. I lined the edge of the purple fabric with gold bias tape that I purchased at my local craft store. It was a little hard to deal with.
Okay, I lied.
It was REALLY hard for this beginner to deal with. So, instead of sewing it, I hot glued it. After all, hot glue is the solution to everything, right???
I sewed the lined purple fabric to the main fabric (pictured in the photo below as teal) and then sewed the teal fabric into a 'mini pillow case'. I know my kids and I knew they would love having a 'pocket' for their new prizes.
After pressing the Magic Carpets, I hot glued tassels to the corners and Wha-La!

{Again, excuse my blurriness!}

Reese already owned a Jasmine costume, so I knew I had to make some costume that would satisfy Graham as Aladdin.
Black sweat pants(in his drawer), a tank top from last summer (cut down the front center to resemble a 'vest') and a strip of the gold Christmas fabric as a belt. I was pretty excited we had all of what we needed. I kinda forgot about costumes until the last minute.

I did try a craft for 'Arabian Jewelry' on Pinterest.
Paper towel roll, macaroni noodles, gold spray paint.
Unfortunately, as soon as the kids put the bracelets on, the 'golden macaroni' (as we starting calling them) started falling off. Big choking no-no around here. To the trash they went even though it was a cute idea. Maybe I should have read the directions?!?!?!

Aladdin, Abu and Jasmine....

Abu was finished taking pictures.....

And now onto the cuisine of the evening.....

When we visited Jasmine and Aladdin at Epoct at Disney World, they were outside Morocco. That is why the main dish was Moroccan inspired. 

Here's what we ate:  

Don't let the Jasmine's Tea fool you.
I'm southern, so good, southern sweet tea is always in the fridge. Somehow calling it 'Jasmine's Tea' made it even more appealing to the kids.

The Cucumber Salsa was so good. Even better with sea salt Pita chips!

Cucumber Salsa

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1 Tablespoon freeze-dried parsley

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1/4 cup sour cream

lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon

lime juice from 1/2 a lime

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 

Directions:

In a bowl, combine cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, parsley, and garlic. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, lime juice, and cumin. Pour sour cream mixture over the cucumber mixture and gently toss. Taste and salt as needed. 

The Main Dish was called Beef Tagine with Squash and Couscous.

It was a meal I purchased from Plated. 

{Plated is a website that sends you fresh ingredients and instructions on how to make the dish. If you visit their site, you can order meals that will be shipped right to your door. They have different and exciting recipes every week that can satisfy any palette.}

When I saw they had a Moroccan dish, I knew it would be perfect with our Aladdin movie night.

And for dessert (and the favorite food of the night), Abu's Monkey Bread.
This deserves it's own post so I'm going to share it with you tomorrow. Believe me, you don't want to miss it.
(And in case you are going to the grocery store before I post the recipe tomorrow, pick up a can of Pillsbury Grands Homestyle Butter Tastin' rolls so you'll have everything you need!)

One Disney Countdown Movie Night done!

It was fun to plan and thrilling to see how excited the kids got over a themed dinner and a borrowed movie!

Oh, and one last MAJOR Disney Movie Night tip....
Make sure you have the movie you are planning the dinner around.
Or that you can buy it.
Come to find out, Aladdin is in The Disney Vault.
(Sister-in-law to the rescue!!!)