Do-it-yourself ways to create your own movie night

As colder weather approaches, everyone will soon resort to curling up under a pile of blankets as it will be too chilly for outdoor activities. In light of cozy season, here are three DIY's to prepare for at-home movie nights to create the perfect alternative for cold weather activities. 

Box Projector

What you need:

• Rectangular box large enough to fit a smartphone
• Magnifying glass
• Phone
• Hot glue gun
• Pen or pencil 
• X-Acto knife

1. Using a pen or a pencil, create an outline of the glass portion of your magnifier on one of the shorter sides of the rectangular box.
2. Using an X-Acto knife, cut out the circle outline on the box. 
3. Hot glue the magnifying glass securely into the circular cut-out on the rectangular box, making sure the magnifying glass is facing upwards. 
4. Lock your smartphone screen into landscape mode and turn up its brightness.
5. Choose a movie of your liking.
6. At the back of the box, set your phone so its screen is facing the magnifying glass and is showing the video upside down.
7. Turn out the lights, press play and enjoy your movie. 

Oven-Baked Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels:

What you need:

• ¾ cups of oil
• ¾ cups of sugar
• 3 tsp of cinnamon 
• A 15 oz. bag of pretzels
• Mixing bowl
• Baking sheet 
• Oven

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Measure out the cinnamon, sugar and oil.
3. Pour the cinnamon, sugar and oil into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.
4. Add ½ of the bag of pretzels into the mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
5. Mix well until all pretzels are completely covered in cinnamon-sugar coating.
6. Lay pretzels evenly across a baking sheet.
7. Place the baking sheet into the oven for 10 minutes.
8. After 10 minutes, remove the pretzels from the oven and let them cool.
9. Enjoy your sweet and salty snack. 

Snack Caddy 

What you'll need:

• Plastic shower caddy
• Foam board
• Ruler
• X-Acto knife or all purpose cutting tool

1. Measure the depth, width and length of your caddy.
2. Mark these measurements onto your foam board.
3. Cut out the marked shape from the foam board.
4. Fit the foam board into the caddy, dividing it into compartments. If the foam board is too large, cut the board down until it is the correct size. If it is too small, hot glue the foam board to the sides of the shower caddy.
5. Place movie snacks and drinks into the separate sections of your caddy.
6. Take your snack caddy with you to easy transport your snack to your movie night.
7. Note: There are also some shower caddies you can buy that already have compartments. 

Contact Alyssa Cooper with comments at acooper6@bsu.edu.   

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