Celebrating Our Favorite Superheros with M&M's

This M&M’s® shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions and experiences are mine alone. #HeroesEatMMs #CollectiveBias

My kids believe in superheros. The masks, the iconic hammers, shields or suits. Marvel's characters feed their imagination for good guys vs. bad guys. he superhero always finds a way to save the day, and in Mom's world they also get the girl.

With all that excitement, you gotta think Superheroes get hungry. Or at least grab a snack before going out to save the world again? Well, I am a firm believer that #HeroesEatMMs, so I treated my super bunch to some great Marvel movies and a yummy skillet cookie decorated to look like our favorite patriotic hero's shield.

Yes, excitement is building around here for the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier on September 9th. He is our family favorite for many reasons. I think he is a good role model for my son's superhero obsession.

For our own little family movie night I had to get a great snack. I always vote for chocolate, and M&M’s® were a clear choice. I opted for my husband's favorite Peanut M&M’s and grabbed a couple large bags on our recent shopping trip to Walmart.

And... did you know you could get $5 off the movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when you purchase M&M’s®? You can snag this deal on coupons.com, Sept. 9, release day.

I also wanted to whip up a little fun for the kids and started by creating these easy DIY washable superhero tattoos. 

I actually live with superheros (Super Owen and Super Audrey!) and they like to show off that secret identity from time to time, so I made them a sheet of washable tattoos with words such as "Awesome" and "Brave". 

The theme for my kids' elementary school carnival this year is also superheroes, so this was a fabulous chance to test out making my own tattoos with the Silhouette. I was thrilled how easy it was!

You Will Need:

• A Silhouette Cameo electronic cutter to create and cut out your designs (or you can design them in another program and cut them out by hand)
• Silhouette Printable Tattoo Paper
• A color inkjet printer 

I purchased three designs in the Silhouette store for my tattoos, the Super Splash titles, Brave title and Awesome title. If you don't own a Silhouette, you could use clip art or design your own in Photoshop.

1. Download and design your tattoos. I used fill color to color in the shapes and letters, then grouped each set and hit mirror image so the tattoo will be the correct orientation when applied. Use the image offset function to draw a cut line around your finished design and don't forget to add registration marks to your project page so you can print and then cut them out accurately.

2. Print the designs on the shiny side of the printable tattoo paper with your home inkjet printer. Place the sheet on your cutting mat and then slowly and evenly apply the clear protective sheet that comes in the pack. Start at the top and with a scraper tool (or credit card) smooth down the sheet so there are no air bubbles.

3. Place the sheet on your cutting mat and feed it into the Silhouette. Select Silhouette Printable Tattoo Paper from the cutting menu and adjust your blade depth. Under cut setting your can deselect all the inside artwork and just select the offset outline to cut.

3. After cutting, check to make sure the blade went all the way through the paper. Then carefully remove from the cutting mat.

4. Apply to skin with a warm, damp washcloth as with any temporary tattoo. These wash off with soap and water so feel free to enjoy often and express all your super traits.

Yes, my daughter is "Awesome" and was thrilled to sport her new tattoo along with a mask and cape. After that she was ready to go outside and do superhero stuff.

I think she made an adorable little Super Girl and wore herself out enough "flying" around the alfalfa field to be able to sit through her favorite Marvel cartoons.

Once the kids were happy and suited up to save the world, it was time to work on something yummy for Super Mom and Super Dad.

Just pass the bag of M&M's.

After all the delicious and fun M&M's treats I have created over the past year, my husband doesn't even ask when I start sorting out bags of candy. In this case he just asked which colors he was okay to eat. For the Captain America Shield Cookie I needed all the red, white and blue M&M's I could find.

I used my trusted Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie recipe, but since I decorated it with candy, I decreased the chocolate chips in the recipe by half and went with chocolate chunks instead of morsels.

With just 5 minutes left of bake time, I removed the skillet cookie from the oven and decorated it with my sorted colors. Patriotic? Don't you think? 

This cookie, once cooled, slices up easily like a pizza making it fun to eat for movie night.

My kids loved watching their animated Avengers episodes, but after putting them to bed I caught up on my favorite superhero, Thor. This was the first chance all Summer I had to fit in a movie night for myself. Thor: The Dark World has a sneak peak of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the bonus features.

Now, I am even more excited to watch Captain America next week!

The M&M's fun doesn't have to end on movie night though, be sure to visit www.heroeseatmms.com and take one of the quizzes on the homepage: “Which MARVEL® Super Here Are You?” or “Which M&M’s® Character Are You?” This fun site is launching soon and will include special coupons, games and a contest with a chance to win one of 10 $100 Walmart gift cards.

So, who is your favorite Marvel Superhero and movie snack?