Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Life

Category: Home Entertainment

  • How to Create a Backyard Cinema

    Discover how to create a cinema in your backyard so you can watch movies under the stars all summer long. 

    In this video our outdoor pro, Carson Arthur, shares few simple ways you can transform your outdoor space into a tv room everyone can enjoy. All you need is a projector, a white sheet or white outdoor wall, and some furniture or blankets to put outside. If you want to step it up a notch hang string lights around the yard for ambiance. Then all you need to do is pop the popcorn, pick a movie and unwind.  

     

    Our Recommended Movies to Watch: 

    Family fun:
    Monsters Inc
    Shrek 
    E.T.
    Inside Out
    Matilda
    Onward
    Mrs. Doubtfire  

    Romantic:
    Sixteen Candles
    The Notebook
    Casablanca
    The Way We Were
    When Harry Met Sally  

    Action/Thriller:
    Black Panther
    Jurassic Park
    Shazam!
    Predator
    Lord of the Rings  

    Feel Good:
    Little Miss Sunshine
    The Pursuit of Happiness
    The Way Way Back
    Forrest Gump
    Remember the Titans
    It’s A Wonderful Life
    The Peaks of Being a Wallflower 
    The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
    The Upside   

    Drama:
    Catch Me If You Can
    The Help
    Silver Linings Playbook 
    Moonlight
    Good Will Hunting
    Green Mile 
    Whiplash 
    Dead Poets Society   

    Comedy: 
    Bridesmaids
    Crazy, Stupid, Love
    Booksmart
    The First Wives Club
    Weddings Crashers
    I Love You Man
    Pitch Perfect
    Three Amigos  

    Classic:
    The Princess Bride 
    The Shawshank Redemption 
    Pulp Fiction
    GoodFellas
    Ferris Buellers Day Off
    The Sandlot
    The Sound of Music 
    The Goonies 

    Enjoy!

  • Fun Ways to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

    The show must go on! We might be practicing social distancing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo in style. Below are some fun activities, crafts, and ideas you can use to celebrate using things found around your home. Let’s make this a fiesta to remember. 

    Let’s Taco Bout a Party

    • This Cinco de Mayo falls on Tuesday… Taco Tuesday to be exact. Don’t have any tortillas? Here is a simple recipe using just a few ingredients that can be found in your pantry. All you need is all-purpose flour, salt, water, and vegetable oil. There’s nothing better than a fresh–made tortilla hugging all your ingredients together.  
       
    • For other scrumptious recipes click here. Can someone pass the guacamole? 

    Craft Ideas

    • DIY Maracas 
      Take plastic eggs from Easter and fill them with rice or beans. Place the eggs between the heads of two spoons and tape it in place. You can also wrap the spoons and egg in tinfoil and tape the outside for a smoother finish. Then just shake, shake, shake. Another option would be to fill empty water bottles with beans or rice and paint the outside with festive colors.
        


    • Piñatas
      No piñata, no problem. Click here for fun DIY piñata instructions.  
       
    • Paper Flower Headbands
      Wrap a headband with green ribbon or pipe cleaners and then glue your paper flowers to the top of the band. 
       
    • Plant Away
      Clean empty cans in order to paint and decorate them as planters. If you don’t have paint, wrap the outside of the cans with ribbon or colorful yarn. Fill the cans with the vibrant paper flowers you made to brighten up the room. 
    • More craft ideas can be found here. 

     

    Celebrate Together 

    • Zoom party! Wear bright and festive colors and schedule a time to video chat with your loved ones. Have everyone prepare or order their own tacos so you can all share a delectable Mexican meal together. 
       
    • Take a poster board and paint a llama or cactus on it. Cut a hole out for your head and place your face in the hole to take silly photos you will always remember. 
       
    • Cheers to refreshing margaritas! Sip on this sweet drink.  

     

     

     

     

  • Seven Casual Dinner Party Menu Ideas for Warm Summer Nights

    The classic summer dinner party is usually a barbecue, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, there are lots of other casual dinner party menu ideas for warm summer nights when you want to get together with friends but just can’t stand the idea of a formal meal.

    Main Course Salads

    A grilled chicken, melon, and feta salad with red onions and poppy seed dressing is a fantastic main course that ticks all the summer eating boxes: fresh produce, bright colors, and easy to prepare. You can grill the chicken breasts the night before and cut your cooking time down to next to nothing. Choose honeydew, cantaloupe, or even seedless watermelon. Arrange a bed of mixed greens on a large platter, add the grilled chicken in bite-sized pieces, then add melon, thinly sliced rings of red onions, and feta, and drizzle with the poppy seed dressing. For dessert, try a lemon pear crisp made the night before and served with or without ice cream.

    For vegetarians, a black bean and couscous salad with red, yellow, or orange peppers, corn, grape or cherry tomatoes, red onions, and feta served with a rice wine vinaigrette makes a substantial meal. You can make this salad up to two days ahead and refrigerate so that all you need to do is pull it out of the fridge and let it get to room temperature. Sprinkle freshly chopped coriander on top. Invest in a farmer’s market rhubarb pie if it’s too hot to bake and serve with custard, sherbet, or ice cream.

    A warm quinoa salad with an orange balsamic vinaigrette is another casual crowd pleaser. Cook the quinoa the same way you do rice: bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes. While it’s cooking, chop up some baby carrots, zucchini, cucumber, peppers, green onion, and tomatoes. Mix the quinoa and the veggies together, toss with the vinaigrette, and serve. This would go well with corn on the cob barbecued on the grill. Round off the meal with a fresh fruit salad and brownies.

    Pasta salads are also a good choice for vegetarians, and they too can be made ahead of time. Cook the pasta the night before and all you’ll have to do the night of your dinner party is chop the veggies, dress the salad, and bake some garlic bread. Pasta salad variations are as infinite as pasta sauces. They can be served hot or cold and take their flavor direction from any part of the world. Think Greek pasta salad, ratatouille-inspired pasta salad, even cold sesame noodles with broccoli and kale. Follow it up with a gorgeous red velvet or Black Forest cake for dessert. Lemon squares also make a wonderful finishing touch.

    Fondue

    Chances are good most American homes own at least one fondue set. While you’ll have to prepare the fondue itself on the stove, you can get it ready for half an hour before your guests arrive, keep it warm with a candle, and have time for a quick shower to cool off. While main course fondues are primarily cheese-based, you could try a beer and Italian sausage fondue served with crostini and fresh vegetables instead. Serve with a large green salad and follow it up with a homemade watermelon or lemon sherbet and some gingersnaps.

    Another option for a casual dinner party is a dessert fondue. If you’ve just served the traditional steak, hamburger, chicken, or fish main course, a chocolate fondue with fresh fruits and berries is the perfect end to a fantastic meal.

    Barbecue

    If you’re a traditionalist, carry on with burgers, hot dogs, sausages, corn grilled in its husks and, of course, potato salad. If you want to change things up a bit, try making some grilled fish tacos, grilled veggies, or even pork chops. The grilled veggies can be turned into lovely open-faced sandwich served on thick wedges of crusty bread and topped with a little grated cheese that will melt without going back on to the barbecue. A fudge chocolate pudding cake made the night before and served cold is the perfect way to finish off any barbecue.

    Remember when you’re planning your casual dinner party menu that our appetites tend to decline about 10 percent when the weather is hot, as our metabolism slows when the thermometer more closely matches our normal body temperature. Focus on serving foods that have a high water content, like lettuce, celery, cucumber, and melons to ensure everyone stays hydrated.

  • Three Classic Dining Arrangements

    Explore how to make every meal a pleasant experience with these three dining arrangements. No matter the placement, a dining table and its accessories must function to make meals enjoyable and allow for loved ones to move around freely. As such, chairs should be placed around 18 inches apart for ample elbow room. Additionally, rugs should extend 18 inches beyond the back legs of the chairs with the dining table in the center.

    Use windows as the focal point

    For sunshine-filled breakfasts and a view to set the ambiance, move the dining room table next to windows. Casters will make this rearrangement doable if this only works for weekends or special occasions. While Mother Nature may be the best accessory, the right type of window treatments will make your décor shine. Roman shades offer a casual style with minimal fabric. Corniced and woven blinds enhance the color and pattern of a dining set when the sun hits it. These blinds also give off a sense of continuity and provide architectural interest. Swags generate a luxurious feel for traditional dining rooms. If you are seeking an unexpected treatment, consider going asymmetrical or creating depth and a dramatic mood with black curtains. Dashes of pink create a whimsical glamour, while traditional draperies in any color provide privacy and light control.

    Invite every loved one

    Thanksgiving and other holidays are the perfect reason to invite a large number of guests to celebrate at your home. Don’t worry about having enough space for everyone; placing your dining table in the traditional position at the center of the room is ideal for a formal atmosphere or large groups. To make any shared meal extra memorable, focus on crafting the perfect tablescape. Gorgeous linens will ground your feast and express creativity. If serving a meal with sauces as part of the piece de résistance, consider darker colors and laundering tablecloths as soon as possible. Try patterns such as paisley in seasonal colors for an inviting look on a large or small scale. While florals for spring may not be groundbreaking, you can select unexpected hues, such as gray or Pantone’s Color of the Year, Ultra Violet. Fabrics can include burlap or velvet for any occasion. Think about layering or using a runner to set the right tone for your gathering.

    Serve the perfect meal on a grander scale

    For a buffet service, push the table right up to the wall. This will leave ample room for traffic in the center of the room. As the host, consider the following etiquette tips to put guests at ease. Serving a bounty of food offers the opportunity to sample a wide variety of dishes. Give guests a tour of the food stations beforehand or while placing dishes on the table. Ensure that there are plenty of tongs, spoons and serving forks to fend off the use of fingers. Encourage guests to place all serving utensils in their original dishes to avoid cross-contamination and allergic reactions. Keep in mind that spills happen. Provide plenty of napkins or paper towels to keep guests from feeling embarrassed. Handle any mess graciously and discretely if it requires more than a few wipes. Announce whether guests can start eating as soon as they are seated or if you would like for everyone to wait until a prayer is said, speech given or guest of honor is seated.

     

    Serve meals in any of these three arrangements to create a memorable feast that were inspired by the September 1958 issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

  • A Few Ideas for an Entertaining Family Game Night

    Spending time with loved ones is a great way to unwind. The best part? Unlike other gatherings that can require a lot of planning, an evening at home is simple. Pull out a board game, whip up some easy snacks and you’ve got yourself a fun family game night. Below are a few of our favorite ideas for making the night a success.

    The games

    Make sure to check in advance how many players a game requires. If you only have three people and the game needs four, you’re in trouble. Also, consider the age of each member of your family and the decade the game was made. While some games are timeless—Scrabble, for example—others, like a Trivial Pursuit game from the 1980s, might not be much fun for younger players. Interactive games and those that inherently have a little healthy competition are always a hit. Gauge the needs of your family. Games with loud noises or buzzers may be fun for some people, but they may cause stress to family members with sensitivities to sound. Games that don’t require boards, bells or whistles are also fun. Charades, for example, has been a parlor game since the 19th century. Originally played by English aristocracy, this game requires only the imaginations of its players.

    Make your own games

    If your family enjoys being crafty, making your own board games can be a lot of fun. A do-it-yourself checkerboard, for example, requires only small, wooden disks that can be picked up from your local craft store, as well as a couple of cloth napkins, painters tape, and paint.

     

     

    The food

    Whereas most parties require a certain amount of food planning and preparation, a family game night can be as simple or as difficult as you make it. For an easy night, order pizza or your favorite take-out. Make sure to have your family’s favorite beverages on hand.

    It can be fun, however, to prepare some simple foods with your loved ones. A big pasta dish with an accompanying green salad is a simple meal to make. You can also concentrate on finger foods. Local grocery stores have a number of ready-made appetizers that you can pop into the oven for a few minutes. Another option is to cut a vegetable or cheese platter. Also, make a few of your favorites such as stuffed mushrooms or buffalo wings.

  • Ten Ideas for Fun Family Games

    Games are a fun way to connect with family. Playing games together creates memories that each family member can cherish forever. The following 10 family-friendly games are perfect for game nights or for any time you want to come together and share each other’s company.

     

    1. Pictionary

    This classic game requires a great deal of drawing, but you don’t need to be an artist. It’s more fun if participants can’t draw. Laughter is sure to ensue when each family member takes a turn sketching an object while others try to guess what it is.

     

     

     

     

    2. Charades

    Charades is another classic that is always fun. Split your family into two teams. One person from each team takes a turn acting out a book, movie or TV show. The actor’s team members must guess what the title is. You can play Charades by timing each team as they perform and guess individually, or by having a timed contest with both teams taking the challenge at the same time.

     

     

     

    3. Telephone

    Many people played Telephone as a kid. To play, have one person whisper a sentence into the ear of someone sitting nearby. In turn, that person will whisper what they heard into the ear of another person. Often, it’s hard to hear anything concrete. However, that doesn’t mean the game stops! Players must simply make up what they can’t hear, and that’s when the real fun begins.

     

     

     

    4. Egyptian War

    Egyptian War has long been a popular card game. This game is similar to the classic War, in which taking possession of the deck is the goal. With Egyptian War, however, there is a lot of card slapping going on, and players must pay attention and strategize.

     

     

     

  • Tips and Tricks for Hosting the Best New Year’s Eve Party

    From catching up to planning resolutions, spending time with loved ones enhances the season. December 31 is the perfect time to craft a new you for the upcoming year by hitting the reset button. Whether you’re trying to move on from the past or are simply eager to head into 2018, host the best New Year’s Eve party with these tips.

     

    Host your New Year’s Eve party at home

    Hosting your fete at home is budget-friendly. While renting a venue for the night may seem like a great idea, it can mean starting 2018 with debt. Take advantage of you space you already have at home.

     

    Make it BYOB

    It’s tempting to supply festive beverages for your guests. However, doing so limits your entertaining options while also spiking your New Year’s Eve budget. To keep your party costs low and ensure your guests have their favorite drink for the evening, make it a ‘bring your own beverage’ event. You can supply champagne for the midnight ball drop if it is important to you. Otherwise, stock up on ice, cooler space and cups.

     

    Hook up the speakers

    Head into the New Year with the best tunes of the past 12 months. Hook up your smartphone to loud speakers or sync up with a Bluetooth speaker. Be sure to include a mixture of different genres to ensure every musical preference is represented.

     

    Keep the NYC ball drop in the background

    With the music blaring, the last thing you want is to keep on the television. However, a lot of people look forward to seeing the December 31st festivities happening in New York. Simply press mute and hide the remote. When midnight is right around the corner, trade in the tunes for some television and watch the ball drop with your loved ones.

     

    Give out party favors

    Consider putting together a little gift bag for all your guests to enjoy in 2018. Party favors are an excellent way to thank everyone for coming while also gifting them with something that’ll make their night even more memorable. Something as simple as chocolate kisses for midnight or fortune cookies are delightful options for New Year’s Eve party favors.

    End the old and begin anew with tips to make your loved ones feel celebrated.

  • Give Budget-Friendly Gifts Made with our Christmas Recipes for Desserts

    Christmas Day is just around the corner. It is time to start making a gift list for friends, family, neighbors and coworkers that won’t break the bank. Fortunately, edible gifts carefully packaged in hand decorated wrapping are a Christmas staple and can help you stay on budget. To survive the season with a cheerful spirit and money in the bank, we’ve put together a list of crowd-pleasing Christmas recipes for desserts that are absolutely delicious, easy to make and budget-friendly. From decadent truffles to chocolate bonbon pops, these Christmas recipes for desserts are sure to delight everyone on your list.

    No-bake desserts

    Oreo Cookie Truffles

    These delectable little morsels only have three ingredients and are deceptively easy to make. Factor in a little mid-prep refrigeration time to ensure the cream cheese and Oreo cookie center sets properly. As a treat, dip the truffles in chopped nuts, sprinkles, toffee pieces or crushed candy canes before the white chocolate layer cools. Package the truffles in a decorative tin tied with a fancy ribbon to showcase your gift.

    Snowman Cookie Balls

    Everyone will love these adorable snowman delights. This no-bake recipe takes a little bit of decorating and prep time, but the laughter you get when delivering these silly snowmen makes it all worthwhile. Line the snowmen up in a single layer in small cardboard boxes lined with waxed paper to prevent sticking and tie the box with a curly ribbon.

    Candied Candy Canes

    This easy recipe makes for a delightful, budget-friendly gift that almost everybody can enjoy. It only takes minutes to coat the top of each candy cane in chocolate, decorative sugar or sprinkles. To make this holiday present even more special, wrap several candy canes in a cellophane bag tied with ribbon or twine and pair them with a cute mug and some hot chocolate mix.

  • Top 10 Homemade Gifts from the Heart: Holiday Baking for Friends and Family

    Not quite sure what to give loved ones this year? Why not turn some of your favorite holiday baking recipes into delicious gifts that friends and family will adore? There’s nothing quite like opening a platter or basket filled with homemade treats. If you’re lucky, they’ll share with you.

    Chocolate-covered cookies

    For a quick and easy addition to a gift platter, roll out your favorite pre-packaged sugar cookie dough and bake it. Choose from any cut out shape or simply place dough onto a baking sheet. If you choose this second option, cut the cookies into small squares before baking. Once the cookies have cooled, dip them in melted chocolate and lay them on wax paper to harden. For an elegant look, dip half of the cookie in chocolate and coat it with crushed peppermint candies or sprinkles.

     

    Dark chocolate walnut fudge

    The holidays present the perfect opportunity to indulge in decadent baking recipes like this one for dark chocolate walnut fudge. If you’re gifting this fudge on its own, try presenting it in a cute box topped with a bow. Make sure that recipients do not have a nut allergy.

  • Halloween Party Games

    Halloween-themed games are a fun way to get party guests into the spirit of the holiday and break the ice.

    There are plenty of games to play that are perfect for every age. From bingo and word searches to pumpkin tosses and guessing games, entertainment is easy to find this Halloween.

    Here are some of our favorite Halloween party games:

    Halloween Pumpkin Patch Hunt

    Set up a pumpkin patch indoors or outdoors with real or plastic pumpkins. Hide toys, candy and money inside them. Let guests search for treasures and tally each person’s findings if you want to name a winner.

    Wrap the Mummy

    Use crepe or toilet paper to wrap one guest as a mummy. Teams should decide if they want to play to create the most artistic, scariest or fastest mummy. When it’s time to unwrap them, make a game out of seeing who can pick up the trash the fastest.

    Pin the Face on the Jack-o-Lantern

    Just like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, your party guests will pin the face on a giant jack-o-lantern. Make this game out of construction paper or felt. Create funny and scary features to pin on a bare pumpkin.