Tag Archives: #CollectiveBias

Family, Food, Movie, Technology

#AngryForSavings with Walmart Family Mobile And An Angry Birds Pizza and Movie Night

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #AngryForSavings #CollectiveBias

AngryForSavings

With the release of the Angry Birds Movie the kids were excited to have an Angry Birds themed movie night. Luckily, I was offered the chance to be part of a very special campaign for Walmart Family Mobile. Using our new HTC Desire 530 and the Walmart Family Mobile PLUS plan we could create that fun Angry Birds Movie night, together. The Walmart Family Mobile PLUS plan features Unlimited Talk, Text, & Data which includes up to 10GB of 4G LTE data PLUS a free movie on VUDU (new release rental $7 value) every month per line for $49.88. We were going to need that data for our research. We began watching baking videos, searching Pinterest and reading blog posts to get some ideas to enhance our own creative ideas.

Walmart Family Mobile Angry for Savings Display

If you are looking for a new phone and family plan that is inexpensive and family friendly then you probably want to pop in to your local Walmart for their latest deal. The latest deal is the Walmart Family Mobile PLUS = Unlimited Talk, Text, Data; 10GB 4G LTE plus a free movie (rental, new release = $7 value) on VUDU every month, per line for $49.88. That is a great deal, especially that free movie each month. We love our VUDU service and have a ROKU TV with the VUDU app on it upstairs for those days or nights when we all snuggle up together to watch movies. We also have a Chromecast for watching VUDU movies together when travelling. Our downstairs SmartTV has VUDU on it so those free VUDU movies each month will be a breeze for family movie nights.

My Walmart Family Mobile Purchase

I went in to Walmart and picked up the HTC Desire 530 – for $129.00(*). This is a nice little smartphone that we used to research things for our family movie night. I also picked up the Walmart Family Mobile Starter Kit which for the first time ever the starter kit was on rollback for $19.88 (from $25). This is nice since Walmart Family Mobile bills you later, you only have to pay $19.88 when you sign up.

Special Angry Birds Red Pizza

We had a busy week and so I tasked Allison and Eva with creating the food for our Angry Birds movie night. We had discussed many options and they checked out a bunch of cooking shows themed around Angry Birds for their ideas. Eva wants to be a baker when she grows up, and so she has been consuming so many shows about baking. One of them is centered on all sorts of geeky themed baking projects. So, of course there were some episodes about Angry Birds. Because the Walmart Family Mobile PLUS plan includes 10GB of 4G LTE data, Eva was able to surf while we drove home from the Cape and watch those Angry Birds themed episodes for ideas. Having an extra phone with 4G LTE and a lot of data helps with those long car rides. Continue reading #AngryForSavings with Walmart Family Mobile And An Angry Birds Pizza and Movie Night →

Photography

Gearing up for the Virtual World

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Guides4eBay #CollectiveBias

5 Ways to Make Virtual Reality, Your Reality

Ever since my trip to Dad 2.0 I have been enthralled with Virtual Reality. I took the 360Fly out for a spin and made a video of me going to all of the different booths at the conference. Virtual Reality is just going to get more and more prevalent with tons of new technology being released. I am trying to keep up on everything by following the new products and seeing what is going to work best for my creation process. I’m not simply going to be a consumer of this technology but a producer as well.

Because of this I have created an eBay Guide all about Virtual Reality. In the guide I have curated the latest Virtual Reality Viewers and also the cameras that will record 360 video. As the technology grows and changes, so too will the products used to consume and create. I plan on keeping you up to date on the latest and greatest that there is to find. So please check out my eBay Guide for everything you need to get started with Virtual Reality.

Food

I took the #BetterBreakfast Carnation Breakfast Essentials® 7-Day Challenge

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CarnationSweepstakes #BetterBreakfast #CollectiveBias #Ad

Ingredients for Carnation Breakfast Essentials® #CarnationSweepstakes #BetterBreakfast #CollectiveBias #Ad

I was asked to try Carnation Breakfast Essentials® powder in a recipe of my own devising for seven days. The major challenge to me would be to actually eat breakfast for seven days. Breakfast at our house can be one of the craziest meals of the day. Normally we wake up around 6am to get ready for school. Andrew gets downstairs first, after he tries to wake us so he can go downstairs. Eva will spend some time in her room and come down utterly unprepared for the day. She has to make several trips upstairs to get everything. In between, lunches are being made and many times I do not eat breakfast. I’m either uninterested or there isn’t anything I like. For a while I had been trying to make oatmeal in a mini crock-pot overnight and then eat that. Do you know how many times I’ve completely forgotten to set up the oatmeal? The answer is many. Sadly, there have been mornings where I’ve had a glass of milk and a brownie or cookies for breakfast. I needed to get my act together.
Continue reading I took the #BetterBreakfast Carnation Breakfast Essentials® 7-Day Challenge →

Food

Go for #GameDayGlory with this Snack Stadium Tutorial

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GameDayGlory #CollectiveBias

Go for #GameDayGlory Snack Stadium #CollectiveBias #Ad

I don’t think I’ve been more excited to do a project in a long time as I have been these past few weeks while assembling a Snack Stadium. When I learned that I was selected for this shop I researched all sorts of different Snack Stadiums and how to assemble them. I took ideas from all over and made this Snack Stadium my own. Lucky for me, I get so many things sent to me that I had tons of raw materials with which to create. So, I gathered up some boxes, duct tape and tin foil to get started on the structure that would house many snacks such as SNICKERS®, Skittles®, Pepsi™, Diet Pepsi™, TOSTITOS® Scoops, TOSTITOS® Original and TOSTITOS® Chunky Salsa. Also the debut of this Snack Stadium coincided with a get together that my wife was having so it was a dry run for the Big Game. I’ll be bringing the Snack Stadium to work so we can all have a great time despite not being home to watch the Big Game.

Purchasing the materials at Walmart so I can assemble the materials for the #GameDayGlory Snack Stadium #CollectiveBias #Ad

I made my way over to Walmart because that is where I would be able to find many snacks to fill up my Snack Stadium. I picked up a bunch of things because I had space for eight different snacks like TOSTITOS® Scoops in the stadium. I knew I would need more space so I decided to make a tailgate area. The stadium itself was to be for chips and pretzels and things like that while the tailgating area would be for the candy, cookies and sweet things. The field itself was going to be a multi-layer dip that would be perfect for all of the crunchy, salty delicious chips and more in the stands of the stadium. So, how does one go about assembling a snack stadium? Read on to find out how I did mine. Continue reading Go for #GameDayGlory with this Snack Stadium Tutorial →

Food, Movie

#AwakenYourTastebuds With Star Wars™ Cereal Inspired Popcorn

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AwakenYourTastebuds #CollectiveBias. Also, I am restricted to only using the term Star Wars™ to talk about the movies and this recipe, so I’ll be using some replacement words, this does not in any way mean that I do not have extensive knowledge of the entire Star Wars™ franchise.

#AwakenYourTastebuds #CollectiveBias #Ad

I was excited to be selected for this particular shop because I am a big fan of Star Wars™. We have slowly been introducing each of the movies to the kids. They actually started with one of the cartoons about some defiant characters in the Star Wars™ universe. We then watched the first movie to ever come out for Star Wars™ and it is one that Eva wanted to watch over and over. Since then we moved on to the one about the Retribution of the Stygian Dynasty and then the Second Coming of the Peacekeeping Space Knight. Then we jumped backwards in time to watch the first of the prequel movies The Ghost Spirit that Causes Trouble. And this Halloween Eva and I went as Star Wars™ characters. I was the relentless pursuer of the pilot scoundrel with a heart of gold and Eva was a defiant artist and demolitions expert. To round out our love of all things Star Wars™ we all enjoy the various toys and I even have a huge collection of sealed in the box interlocking brick toys to share with the kids in a few years. I think this made me uniquely qualified to do this fun shop. Continue reading #AwakenYourTastebuds With Star Wars™ Cereal Inspired Popcorn →

Food

M&M’s® Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BakeInTheFun #CollectiveBias

HotChocolateHero2

The holidays are coming and I am excited for all the baking ahead. When I was growing up I was surrounded by all sorts of baking: cookies, cakes and more. I would spend time at my grandmother’s homes and get to try some of the best desserts. The holidays were great times for desserts. Now, I get to make fun and delicious desserts for my family. We love making cookies and cakes and cupcakes. I always loved sugar cookies with frosting on them. My sister still makes them every Christmas. I’ve also done many cookie exchanges with friends and family and the ones I make a usually a pretty big hit.

This time around I was tasked with creating a fun recipe around some M&M’s® Hot Chocolate and Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Cake Mix. So, my idea was to take those ingredients and also add in another Pillsbury™ Baking cake mix to make some M&M’s® Hot Chocolate Cupcakes. The idea was to swirl the Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Cake Mix and some Pillsbury™ Dark Chocolate Cake Mix to make the cupcakes look like a swirled cup of Hot Chocolate. I also added the M&M’s® Hot Chocolate candies to the Dark chocolate cake mix and also on top of the frosted cupcake to look like a cup of hot chocolate. I also picked up a gallon of Great Value Milk to wash everything down and some M&M’s® Holiday Milk Chocolate and M&M’s® Holiday Peanut bags so that I could enjoy those later. I also happen to have a link to a coupon where you can Save $1.00 on ANY TWO (2) M&M’s® Chocolate Candies, 8 oz or larger. They are my favorite candy.

M&Ms Hot Chocolate Cupcakes - #CollectiveBias - #Ad - MARS Holiday #BakeInTheFun, 2015 Shoppertunity Continue reading M&M’s® Hot Chocolate Cupcakes →

Comic Book, Disney, Movie

Having a Smashing time with The Incredible Hulk when #AvengersUnite

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AvengersUnite #CollectiveBias

Hero Image #AvengersUnite #CollectiveBias #Ad

The Incredible Hulk has had many different incarnations. He’s been played by many actors but when Mark Ruffalo took on the role then The Hulk became a part of something much bigger. Which is saying something since the Hulk is huge. Mark’s portrayal of The Hulk is excellent and even better is his Bruce Banner. I loved his performance in MARVEL’s The Avengers and also again in MARVEL’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron which is being released on October 2 on Blu-ray/DVD. I was lucky enough to go out to California to see MARVEL’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron well before many people and I got to interview many of the cast members. The one that eluded me was Mark Ruffalo and also Scarlett Johansson. We ran out of time and missed them. But their story in MARVEL’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron was excellent in my opinion.

Andrew enjoying being the Hulk #AvengersUnite #CollectiveBias #Ad

My son, Andrew is a big fan of big green. When I told him that we were going to Walmart to pick up some costumes of some Avengers he insisted upon a Hulk costume. We have these giant Hulk hands and many other items from other members of MARVEL’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Hulk is Andrew’s main man. I can see that for a 3-year old. They are sweet and nice one minute, a ball of twisting terror the next. So it was fitting that even though we picked up am Iron Man and a Thor costume, that Andrew wanted only The Hulk. Continue reading Having a Smashing time with The Incredible Hulk when #AvengersUnite →

Family, Food

Create Fun Filled BOO Kits as a Treat for Friends and Family

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BOOItForward #CollectiveBias

#BOOItForward #CollectiveBias #Ad Hero Image

Heading into the Holiday Season I am excited for my favorite holiday, Halloween. I know it is a little over a month away but you have to prepare. If you shop now and have the willpower not to eat all your purchases you should be ready for all the tricksters that come your way. But, why should they get all the fun. I’m sure that family, friends and co-workers might enjoy a little treat, too. So, I applied for this shoppertunity so that I could #BOOItForward to my co-workers because we have a very tough shift (Weekend Overnights 12 hours at a time) and a treat is just what we need to improve morale. So I went to Walmart and picked up a few supplies.

Instore #BOOItForward #CollectiveBias #Ad Image

I wanted to make BOO Kits for the people in my group. My intent was to get to work before everyone else and put them on their desks without them know it, but even on my earliest day I still can’t beat some people there, so I was found out. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be sneaky and fun when you do your own BOO kit. How do you make a BOO Kit? You are in luck because I will give you a tutorial on exactly how I made mine.

At Walmart I picked up some supplies. I got the Mars Mixed Minis 52 oz. bag filled with M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, and TWIX®. I also got the Wrigley Monster Stash 315ct bag which is HUGE! That contained a variety of SKITTLES®, STARBURST®, and LIFESAVERS®. I also found some fun Halloween monster themed soda like 7UP®, A&W Root Beer and Sunkist®. I picked up some Halloween themed bags that said BOO on them and some tissue paper. I’m not sure why the tissue paper, but it seems to go hand in hand with gift bags. So, I got Halloween themed tissue paper. I went a little overboard and above the allotted money for the shop but I did end up with a little over and it “might” make it to Halloween, if I put it under lock and key. Continue reading Create Fun Filled BOO Kits as a Treat for Friends and Family →

Comic Book, Food

Super Afternoons with Andrew and New MARVEL Chewy Granola Bars

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MARVELSnackBar #CollectiveBias

MARVEL Snack Bar Hero Image

I am a part-time stay at home dad. I say part-time because I have such a weird work schedule. I work weekend nights and that gives me time to be home with Andrew four days a week. On Mondays, I have my one day to sleep and catch back up, but for the rest of the week Andrew and I are off and running. Andrew and I are embarking on a new journey together as he starts school a couple of days a week. The bulk of my time with Andrew is keeping him occupied with things to do and getting him things to eat. The question I hear most frequently is, “Can I have a snack?” Sometimes it is right after I’ve just given him one. So I’m excited about these new MARVEL Chewy Granola Bars. They are a substantial snack that takes him a little longer to eat and keeps him satisfied longer, too. This is a good thing because when he doesn’t get a snack he might have a Hulk moment.

Hulk Moment

I certainly wouldn’t want that to occur so I make sure that there are plenty of snacks on hand which now includes these New MARVEL Chewy Granola Bars. They are easy enough to toss into the adventure day pack, lunch bag or swimming bag. They even fit into the front pocket of my life jacket for when we go kayaking together. They come in two different flavors, Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chips. I found them at Target in the lunchbox aisle, but these are not limited to just putting in a child’s lunchbox. Continue reading Super Afternoons with Andrew and New MARVEL Chewy Granola Bars →

Disney, Movie

How Would A Disney Villain Raise Their Descendants?

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Disney #VillainDescendants #CollectiveBias

Disney Descendants Hero Image #VillainDescendants #Disney #CollectiveBias #ad

I was very excited to watch The Disney Channel Original Movie, Disney Descendants, with my daughter Eva. She will be eight in October and she has just started to get into many of The Disney Channel shows. So, she was familiar with the actors and actresses who would be in the movie. I saw the toys and Disney Descendants Villain Kids Dolls while at Toy Fair and I knew that she would love to play with them. Eva has an incredible personal sense of style. She loves to draw and create fashions using all sorts of creative apps. And then for herself she puts together all sorts of fun outfits. Continue reading How Would A Disney Villain Raise Their Descendants? →