Brown Mommy Diary

Motherhood & Lifestyle

The Most EPIC Halloween Costume Prop: DIY Space Shuttle

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Let me start off by saying that building a space shuttle with cardboard is not easy! Some days I felt like this space shuttle was not going to happen, but I got so motivated once I started seeing the space shuttle take shape as I continued to work on it.

I’m not into scary costumes, so I chose something that has meaning behind it. My husband is from Huntsville and we met there while attending college. Since the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is located in Huntsville, I chose to do family costumes that made the connection’.

This was definitely a team effort. My co-worker allowed us to borrow their red wagon, my husband built the wooden frame for the wagon, and the exterior (cardboard placement, painting, design) was completed by me.

I love that the space shuttle doesn’t have to just be used for Halloween. It can be used for a parade, talent show, birthday, which is why I wanted to share with you how we built this space shuttle. Here are the items that you will need.

  1. 2 Seater Radio Flyer Deluxe Wagon
  2. Wood
  3. Screws
  4. Electric Drill
  5. Wood Glue
  6. Wood Saw
  7. Cardboard (various sizes)
  8. White Spray Paint (gloss)
  9. Black Duct Tape
  10. Self-Adhesive Sticker Letters
  11. Red, Yellow, and Orange Tissue Paper
  12. Small and Large Black Planters
  13. Hot Glue Gun
  14. Scissors
  15. Ruler
  16. Staple Gun
  17. Astronaut Suit*

*We found EJ’s astronaut suit on Amazon. We purchased the toddler size, which was too long, but we just rolled the pants legs to make it work.


We used this Pinterest Pin as a reference for the frame and exterior, but our shuttle differed slightly because the back of the wagon was made differently. Overall, it was built exactly like this reference. I jazzed up our space shuttle by adding the tissue paper flames in the back, which made it look even more cool. Again, always use Pinterest as a reference and then you can do other things to make it your own–just like we added Massey (our last name) to the left side of the wing.

A Hearty Breakfast With Barlow’s Foods Pancake Mix

We all know the famous saying, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, but it really is! I may be sort of biased since I am an avid breakfast eater and a Dietitian. However, when you come from a household that offered breakfast every day whether it was a grab-and-go breakfast or a hot breakfast then those habits just kind of stick.


Most recently, I was gifted the Barlow’s original pancake mix from Barlow’s Foods. Barlow’s Foods is a black, woman owned business that provides pancake mixes and assorted breakfast staples located right here in the heart of Atlanta. After reading the story of how Barlow’s Foods was created, this bag of pancake mix meant so much more to me. Named after the founders’ grandfather, Barlow’s Foods is an example of how people can make such a great impact on our lives. So much so that it turns a vision into a reality.


What I love about the Barlow’s pancake mix is that it is made with whole ingredients, no preservatives, and no artificial flavors. Included with the mix was a three fold recipe card with dairy-free, vegan, and egg-free recipe options. I prepared the pancakes by following the vegan recipe– we are not vegans, but we do consume almond milk, which made sense when selecting the recipe that I was going to follow. The ingredients needed were almond milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and brown sugar.


Sundays are our designated hot breakfast mornings and let me just say…..not one pancake was left on a plate. Everyone in the house approved the pancakes….yes, even EJ! I’m really looking forward to the next time that we have a hot breakfast, because Barlow’s pancakes will be on the table.
For more information, you can visit barlowsfoods.com

An EASY Way To Plan Family Meals

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

Planning our meals for the week takes out the guesswork. Before bringing meal ideas to EL, I usually pin a few meals that I think would be good to my Pinterest food board. EL and I will usually take a few minutes on Saturday to plan out our meals for the upcoming week. With planning our meals, it also makes it a lot easier to know what to purchase at the grocery store, which ultimately lowers your grocery bill.

Once we have agreed upon meals for the week, I go to our Samsung Family Hub Smart Refrigerator to make note of our meals. With so much going on, it can be difficult to keep up with what we planned to eat. Using this refrigerator keeps me on my toes and it’s also a great reference for my husband if he needs to know the plans for food. Trust me, they are going to ask what’s for dinner for the 50th time!

Pinterest is usually my saving grace when it comes to meal creativity!

Taking at least 10-15 minutes out of your day to plan meals for the week will save you a whole lot of headaches and scrambling during the week. I can not tell you how many times I have wasted so much time trying to figure out what we were going to eat. The combination of planning and using the Samsung Family Hub Smart Refrigerator is a bonus. If you are like me, sometimes that piece of paper with dinner plans gets lost. Along with being able to write dinner plans in the Samsung Hub Smart fridge, there are so many great features that this fridge offers like looking inside your refrigerator remotely or viewing who’s at your front door via the ring app. As a busy full-time professional, wife, and mom, I think it is worth investing in a refrigerator that keeps you connected.

I hope this was helpful in some type of way. Happy meal planning!