Our favorite non-Disney character, a Beagle, and a Giveaway!

Do you ever feel like you can find a little magic everywhere you go? I think if you try hard enough you can find a piece of Disney magic everywhere as well! Take this summer for example, my boyfriend and I had taken a trip up to the Normal Rockwell Museum. What was the first print we found when we walked in? One that Mr. Rockwell had dedicated to Mr. Disney himself!

Another animation icon, Charles M. Shulz's delightful characters have been part of my life forever.  I wasn't very surprised when I found out that after his precursor to the Peanuts strip (Lil Folks) came out, Shulz was invited to a probationary appointment at Walt Disney Studios! He turned it down, but I do like to think that it connects Mr. Good Grief & Mr. M. Mouse just a little!

When our friends over at LeSportSac partnered with Peanuts for a slew of new patterns to couple the adorable beagle's big screen release we just COULD NOT WAIT for a chance to check them out (and give them away to you!!!

As always, LeSportSac does not disappoint.  The creativity of pattern design, functional bag designs, and the high quality manufacture (not to mention the long life) of these bags is not to be paralleled!

The lines in these collections can be found here:

Peanuts Movie

Snoopy Patchwork

Snoopy Daisy

Snoopy Dot

Snoopy Graphics

We are ready to share these cute bags with you... so stay tuned to Picturing Disney for a sweet giveaway (or two)! 

Fall Fun from Disney Publishing!

As soon as the Disney Publishing package arrived on my doorstep the kids of the house were raring to go reading the newest books Disney has in store! Slated for release this month and next there is a wide variety of fun new items for kids of all ages!

The tween in our house was thrilled to see a Liv & Maddie tie-in and my nieces were stoked about the new step into reading books.  The almost-7-year-old was just smitten with the new Frozen tales and these two bad boys have rarely made it to the bookshelf (the bed, the car, the floors, yes-- bookshelf not so much).

The Disney Junior books honestly had me a little smitten, I love this new watercolor art style and with new stories from everyone's favorite Pet Doc and young Princess these are SURE to please! The softcovers even came with great little freebies! The Doc McStuffins Pet Vet story came with stickers and Sofia the First's Let the Good Times Troll came with a DVD! I can honestly say these are just bonus in our house and we tend to do a lot more with just the books but its nice to know there are bonuses abound! (Nice Disney touches!)

By far the cutest (and my favorite) even though they were young for the kids in our house (10, 8, 6) we all looked through the new Frozen reindeer book and Figaro Touch & Feel. 

These are so adorable and clever.  I love the new Disney pets theme and we have a lot of princess pals so its nice to see an old furry friend making their way to Disney books and it looks like this is just the beginning with the "Disney Tails" emblem in the corner of "Figaro's Halloween Surprise". 

The great thing about the adorable "Reindeers" book is how creatively every character dons antlers as the book goes on! It was giggle-able and brought a smile to the kids of all ages here in my house!!

By far, however, my favorite of the pack was this last one which reminded me that Aladdin on blu ray is just around the corner! Although I know the story (and the words to every song) we still played this in the car on a road trip.  Thanks, Disney Publishing for reminding me I am always a child at heart!

Force Friday Giveaway from Wonder Forge

So with all of the Force Friday fun going on, Wonder Forge is super excited to release their NEW Star Wars: The Force Awakens Star Destroyer Strike Game. So much so, they partnered with us to give you the chance to win this awesome new game to enjoy!!

What is this game all about?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Star Destroyer Strike Game
Available at Target
Suggested Retail Price $24.99

"Choose carefully or the enemy will strike! Strategy and suspense collide in this exciting escape game! Advance your Resistance heroes toward safety, but move fast—the Star Destroyer Finalizer is on your tail. The spinning starship of the dreaded First Order can aim in any direction, and you may be in the line of fire! Bounce the beam off the mirrored deflector shield toward your enemies, and evade the surprise laser blasts! It’s fast-moving, family fun in a galaxy far, far away!"

This game is great for ages 6 and up. 

Enter below for your chance to win this fun game. ;) Our giveaway winner will be announced Wednesday, September 9th. Make sure to get your entry in before then. ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck and May the Force Be With You Always!!

Force Friday Happenings

This morning, September 4th, 2015, many Star Wars fans were lined up at midnight at various retailers to take part in what has been announced as Force Friday. Growing anticipation for the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens has led to the release of some awesome products for fans to enjoy. Toys, T-shirts, figures, collectibles, you name it...it's been released. Some will be held to withhold main plot points, but items such as the Kylo Ren Lightsaber and the ever adorable BB-8 app-enabled Droid are available for purchase.

Star Wars BB-8 from Sphero
Suggested Retail Price $149.99

Kylo Ren Lightsaber Available at Disney Store
Suggested Retail Price $29.95

I myself bee-lined to DisneyStore.com to see what cool stuff I could order to add to my own growing Star Wars memorabilia collection (Use offer code FORCE today only to get free shipping on any Star Wars purchase). The Darth Vader ornament will be mine!! There are also some great limited edition t-shirts that will be used for when we finally see the film in theaters December 18th, 2015. :D

Darth Vader Sketchbook Ornament - Available at Disney Store
Suggested Retail Price $12.95

That's not all for today, folks!! So on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight on ABC, fans that tune in will be treated to a fun product reveal with Jimmy and his security guard sidekick Guillermo, showcasing some ever cool voice changing masks that will be exclusive to Disney Store.

ONE MORE THING!!
So some of you may have noticed this morning that there was some buzz on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram when the Today Show announced that Starbucks would be participating in Force Friday by serving some Star Wars themed Frappuchinos. Well, it turns out only the Downtown Disneyland location in Anaheim will be the location to participate. But have no fear. We got the recipes for each of the featured drinks to share with our readers so you could have a little bit of The Force in your Friday. ;) Below are the drinks with their recipes.

One of the lovely Baristas at @starbucks19311 was nice enough to share the #forcefriday recipes with us so you can get your #starwars themed drink today!! #Darkside #frappuccino Expresso frap with moca Whip cream and chocolate sauce on top #Greenmaster #frappuccino Green tea frap Java chips Whip and Carmel on top #Trooper #frappuccino Vanilla cream frap Whip and moca drizzle on top Which one will you choose??

A photo posted by Picturing Disney (@picturingdisney) on Sep 4, 2015 at 8:26am PDT

#Darkside #frappuccino 

Expresso frap with moca

Whip cream and chocolate sauce on top

#Greenmaster #frappuccino

Green tea frap 

Java chips 

Whip and Carmel on top

#Trooper #frappuccino

Vanilla cream frap

Whip and moca drizzle on top

You can take these recipes to your local Starbucks and a barista can help you with your drink order.

There's one more post we'll be sharing later on this afternoon about a really cool treat we have for readers so stay tuned!!

If you haven't seen the latest teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, check it out below.