Moms & Munchkins

Activity & Party Planning Inspiration for All Ages!

Updating Our Home Theatre

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We’re in the process of renovating our basement and turning it into our Little Man Cave for my 3 year old son. One of our favourite activities to do together is snuggling on the couch and watching family movies. He’s really into all things Disney right now and I’m pretty sure that I have Cars, Cars 2, Monsters Inc., Monsters University and Planes memorized. When updating our basement, I knew our home theatre area could use an update so I started gathering home theatre ideas.

Home Theatre Ideas

Home Theatre Ideas:

As much as I’d love a projector, large screen and theatre style seating, that’s not practical for our Little Man Cave. We want a cozy area to sit together with plenty of options for watching movies. We started by ordering a bracket to hang the TV on the wall, a speaker bar for better sound and a Google Chromecast for casting movies from the iPad to the TV.

 

Home Theatre Ideas

I will admit that before this, I really didn’t know anything about streaming media devices. Before now, we had a little DVD collection but the DVDs would often get worn out. With the Chromecast, we can use Netflix from the laptop and cast movies to the TV. This saves on the expense of buying and replacing our DVDs. We’re enjoying searching through Netflix and selecting movies and TV programs that we want to watch together. I love that we each can have our own profile so my husband and I can both separately flag movies that we want to watch later – we have totally different tastes in movies!

The Google Chromecast is so easy to use. Trust me, I’m not a technical person at all so if I can set this up then you can too! It easily plugs right into your TV and then you can cast programs from your iPad or laptop right onto your TV. So simple & convenient!

Home Theatre Ideas

Some other ideas we have for our Little Man Cave home theatre include:

  • a new couch complete with cup holders & storage to hold our movie night snacks
  • a mini fridge downstairs in the storage room filled with cold drinks
  • a storage bench for blankets and pillows
  • I know my husband would love this – a theatre style popcorn maker!

With the weather getting colder and the holiday season just around the corner, we’ve started to make a list of the holiday movies we want to watch together. Our home theatre area includes a fireplace so it’s the perfect place to relax on cold winter days.

One of my favourite holiday movies that is also family-friendly is Elf with Will Ferrel. I’ve watched this movie so many times already and I still laugh every time. I know my son will love it too!

Home Theatre Ideas

Family Holiday Movies:

Looking for a few family-friendly movies to enjoy this holiday season? Here are a few of my favourites that I look forward to watching with my son this year:

  • Elf
  • Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
  • Mr. Popper’s Penguins (not a Christmas movie but there’s snow in it so it still counts, right?)

Girls Night Holiday Movies:

Looking for a night of holiday movies with your best girlfriends and platters of holiday baking? Here are a few of my favourites:

  • The Holiday
  • Four Christmases
  • Love Actually
  • The Family Man

What movies would you add to these lists? My husband wanted to add National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to the list. I know my parents would vote for that too because they’re always quoting lines from the movie. I’m sure I’m watched it before but I can’t really remember it. My husband has already made me promise to watch it with him before Christmas.

Favorite Holiday Movies

Favorite Holiday Movies

I know I’m missing a few classics here but I haven’t watched them yet. We have some catching up to do on our holiday movies!

I’m excited to be a part of the #StreamInto2015 with campaign with Staples Canada. As promised last month, I’d be announcing my favourite holiday movie here and then giving you a chance to win your own Google Chromecast so you can enjoy movie night with your family.

Ready for my favorite: Elf! Probably no surprise but it’s going to take a pretty great movie to top this one for me!

Now here’s your chance to win 1 of 3 Google Chromecast streaming media devices for yourself!

Giveaway Rules & Restrictions:

  • This giveaway is open to Canadian (excluding Quebec) residents only who are at least 18 years of age. Giveaways are void where prohibited by law.
  • Winner will be chosen randomly. Winning entries will be verified prior to contacting the winner.
  • Odds of winning depend on number of entrants.
  • The giveaway ends on December 4th, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. EST .  A winner will be drawn randomly on December 5, 2014. The winner will be notified, by email, and will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If I do not receive a response from the winner within 48 hours, a prize forfeit will be assumed and a new winner will be chosen randomly.
  • I reserve the right to disqualify any entries. I reserve the right to end, extend, or change a giveaway for any reason and without prior notice.
  • By entering giveaways, you verify that you understand and meet the prize eligibility requirements.
  • Please note that Moms & Munchkins is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prize. I will not be responsible for lost or damaged items.  Replacement items will not be provided. We have represented each sponsor with the expectation that they will fulfill their prize in a timely manner. While we are not responsible, we will make every effort to assist the winner in obtaining their prize.
  • Please wait 6 weeks for fulfillment of prize. Winners have 8 weeks to report non-fulfillment of prizes.
  • Once the winner claims the prize, his/her name will be posted on the giveaway page. Your name, full mailing address and email address will be sent to the prize sponsor so they can contact you to award your prize.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Congratulations to Dayna C., Cathy C., and Tracey F.!

Join us on Twitter using the hashtag #StreamInto2015 and tell us your favourite holiday movies.

*Disclosure: I was compensated for this post; however, all opinions expressed here are my own.

Comments

  2. elaing8 says

    A Christmas Story is my favorite. I also like A Christmas Carol with AListair Sims. Its an oldie but a goodie. 🙂

    Reply

  21. Anne Derkat says

    It’s a very funny, very old movie done about the song, “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…..”

    Reply

  32. Eva Mitton-Urban says

    My brother Ralph coaxed me into watching – “One Magic Christmas” – tear jerker – but Christmas message well received – love those we are blessed with – they are on loan. Performances by Mary Steenburgen as Ginny Grainger and Harry Dean Stanton as Gideon – best acting that I’ve ever seen. Beautiful movie – well worth watching this holiday season – Viewer Approved.
    Eva Mitton-Urban

    Reply

  38. Edmond says

    Re: OMG, my fave: Home alone. Wow, prize is fab. & splendid. 2 fingers snap. It is tight, fly & off the chain. Thank you for the awesomeness, the contest, and generosity.

    Reply

  47. Billy Truong says

    I like it most since it can connect it to an audio device/receiver and stream Spotify or Pandora continuously without turning on the TV- this is a very good feature!

    Reply

  56. Tricia Hope says

    Every year I watched It’s a Wonderful Life with my Dad.Started when I was 3.Wonderful memory now he is gone.

    Reply

  58. Idalis Mendoza says

    My favorite Holiday movie has to be Elf. My whole family loves and we crack up everytime that we see it. It’s soo funny!

    Reply

  63. Angela SC says

    You can’t go wrong with Lampoon’s Christmas 🙂 Aand the original Grinch,and Charlie Brown Christmas! lol!

    Reply

  75. Anna Engdahl says

    I have 2 favorite holiday movies. A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim and Miracle on 34th Street with Maureen O’Hara .

    Reply

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