Take this test to find out if you’re ready for Christmas and find out if your family friends are ready but giving them this test at your holiday party. Merry Christmas!
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I have 2 sons and a son in law and this year I tried something new for their Fathers Day gifts- I let them pick their own gifts. Well, not totally, I put together 3 boxes and after the boxes were filled with surprises and wrapped, then they got to pick their gift.
Each box was different- I had a technology box, builder box and a snack box. Each box contained a gift card and then a couple of things to go along with it. Value of each box was about $30.00.
I wrapped all three gifts in plain old newspaper- nothing fancy about it and with no clue to what was inside.
We had a little competition to see who got to choose their present first but you could do it oldest to youngest or by roll of the dice etc.
Just as the guys were about to pick their present, my husband put a $20.00 bill on the table and gave them the option to chose the cash instead of a box. There were no takers- everyone went for the boxes.
This is also a fun way to give out prizes at family reunions. Just wrap a variety of prizes and let the winner pick the prize they want from the pile- they get a prize but it’s a little more exciting and extends the fun a little longer.
At midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s customary in Spain to quickly eat 12 grapes, one at each stroke of the clock. Each grape supposedly signifies good luck for one month of the coming year. People around the world celebrate the coming of the new year in many different ways but our families’ New Years tradition is one you’ve probably never heard of.
Every New Years Eve, if we have cleaned our rooms and put away our Christmas gifts, the “New Years Man” will stop at our house and leave one last holiday gift. I have no idea how the New Years Man tradition in my family but it’s a tradition that goes back many generations.
My Mom remembers- “On New Years Eve, at bedtime we would make a “nest” out of our clothes. While we were sleeping the New Years man would come and put goodies in our nest—It was always something to eat, candy, fruit etc. Not toys. Never a lot but we could tell he had been there “checking ” up on us. We thought it was fun!”
The tradition continued when I was a child. My parents used the New Years Man as a bribe to motivate us to clean up and put our Christmas things away.
The New Years Man tradition has evolved to him bringing a small toy, treat or book etc. on New Years Eve for every girl or boy that has put away their Christmas presents and cleaned their room so that it is spotless. On New Years Eve we write our names on a paper plate and if our rooms are clean the New Years Man will leave us a special prize.
I don’t know what the New Years Man looks like and I don’t know where he comes from but I do know that as a child I was extremely motivated to get my room cleaned and my Christmas gifts put away so that the New Years man would leave me one more gift for the season. I’m sure that having the house clean and orderly for the first day of the new year was well the effort for my parents.
When you sprinkle magic reindeer food on your lawn on Christmas Eve, it leaves a glittering path–and a sweet treat–for Rudolph and Blitzon and their friends.
Make a bag of Magic Reindeer food for each family that attends your party or as an inexpensive stocking stuffer for each child.
Package this simple recipe in zipper food storage bags, and add a free printable gift tag containing the Magic Reindeer Food poem to make Magic Reindeer Food easy to make–and to give.
In a large bowl or container, mix:
1/4- 1/2 cup uncooked oats
1/4 cup red or green sugar crystals
Small sealable bag
Magic Reindeer Food poem (You can find a free printable of the poem at Magic Reindeer Food Poem)
Package Magic Reindeer food in small food storage bags or holiday gift bags.
NOTE: You can use craft glitter in your magic reindeer food but colored sugar crystals (as used for cake decorating) are safer for other animals or birds that may ingest it.
Another fun reindeer games party favor is a bag of reindeer noses.
I wanted the perfect gift for you-
But couldn’t decide just what to do.
I almost sent you a dozen roses-
Instead here’s a bag of…
reindeer noses
Reindeer noses are simply seven brown candies such as “Whoppers” and one red candy (to represent Rudolf). I used sour cherry candies for my red nose. You may find a free printable of the reindeer nose poem below. Just copy and paste into your document.
Log reindeer are the perfect project for your centerpieces. Simply reuse scraps of wood and timber from your woodpile, drill a few holes, and glue it all together. You’ll need a few thicker logs for the body and head; long, thin sticks for the legs, and pronged branches for your reindeer’s antlers. Add bow, bells or tinsel to complete your project. After the party you can give away part of your herd as prizes or save them to give as neighbor gifts.
Bake cupcakes according to package directions and frost generously with chocolate frosting. Top with pretzels for the antlers, a Nilla Wafer for the face, white frosting dots for the eyes, back pearl sprinkles or black icing for the eyeballs, and brown and red candies for the nose.
HINT: We made the pancake base of our Santa pancakes before arriving at the party. Because they are a little time consuming we began decorating them in advance. We noticed that the whipped cream started getting soft and didn’t look as cute. Solution- get more help with the decorating so that you can make them on the spot.
We used the “Minute to Win It” format for our “reindeer games”. We divided into four teams- team Rudolf, team Blitzen, team Dasher and team Donner and competed in 8 different challenges. We projected a countdown clock on the wall so that everyone could join in the drama as the seconds counted down. For more information on Minute the Win It games check out the following link.
http://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2011/10/minute-to-win-it-party-2/
Many families gather together during the holiday season for their traditional Christmas parties. To get the party started , I like to have a simple craft or activity that can be done as everyone arrives and these log slice ornaments are just the thing. They’re a fun ice breaker that keeps your guests busy and requires little supervision and they’re pretty inexpensive.
With just a few supplies, you can whip up LOTS of them. Wood slice ornaments are perfect for hanging on your Christmas tree, attaching to gifts, or giving to friends and family. If you don’t have access to tree logs you can purchase pre sliced packages at the craft store. The ones I found cost under $2.00 for a package of 4, but the least expensive option is to cut your own.
After cutting your wood slices, don’t forget to drill a small hole at the top so that you can hang it on your tree or tie to a package.
Purchase chalkboard paint at your favorite craft store. Paint the center of the wood slice.
It doesn’t take long for the paint to dry but if you’re really pressed for time, have a hand held hair dryer to speed up the process. After the paint dries, draw a simple picture or write your favorite Christmas word with chalk. And don’t forget some cute Christmas string for hanging on the tree.
If you don’t want the mess of painting your ornaments and you have a die cutting machine, you can cut a variety of shapes and words and family members can apply those onto their wood slices. You could add a layer of decoupage on top so it will last longer.
My son is an electrician and for his birthday my daughter came up with these cute light bulb favors for everyone that came to his party. It was the perfect idea for an electrician’s birthday but I couldn’t help but think about how to use these bulbs for a family reunion.
We purchased our “light bulbs” from Amazon. Follow this link- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X66WJBI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1They are about a dollar a piece. We filled them with Skittles candies. It was kind of a pain separating the candy into different colors but it looked cute when we were done. I liked how the yellow ones looked best so if I ever did this again I would probably fill them with Lemonhead candies.
Although I haven’t used this idea for a family reunion, though I will, here are some ideas I came up with:
If you have a contest and want to give a prize to the person that gets the most answers correct, you could say, “You’re the BRIGHTEST bulb in the box”.
To say thank you-
Thanks for sharing your BRIGHT ideas.
Thanks for being a LIGHT to our family.
You LIGHT up my life! Thanks for all your help with our family reunion.
Thanks for making our family reunion BRIGHTER
Encouragement-
Be BRIGHT share your LIGHT
You’re future is looking BRIGHT
Let your LIGHT so SHINE
I’m sure there’s a lot of ideas out there- if you have one you’d like to share, please comment and let us know. SHINE on!
I’ve been a Shrinky Dink fan for probably 30 years or better, way before they had the fancy kits they have now. When I first started making Shrinky DInks we called them Shrink Art and we used either plain sheets of plastic or clean or clear #6 plastic we got from the bakery.
In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, Shrink Art is made with thin plastic sheets that shrink down about 45% when you put them in the oven. Not only does the material shrink, but whatever artwork you draw/print on them will also shrink with it. So, you can draw and color a design in it’s large form where it is easy to see and work with and then shrink it down so it is more the size of a charm or an ornament.
I love to use shrink art for family reunions and parties. They make great dog tags, charms, pins and beads. Our Oz inspired family reunion includes a template to be used with Shrink Art. We had so much fun making the dog tags and our family loved wearing them during the reunion.
To make Shrink Art,preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Trace your design on the plastic using a permanent marker such as a Sharpie marker. You can draw your own design or trace a clip art picture you found on the internet or use a coloring page.
Color your picture with permanent markers or colored pencils. If your plastic has a rough side, color on that side.
Cut out your picture and if you will be putting it on a string or chain punch a hole in it. You will not be able to make any holes or cuts once your picture has baked as it will be too thick.
Line a cookie sheet or tray with foil or baking paper. Arrange your pictures,color side up on the tray.
Bake in the oven for 3- 5 minutes. Keep your eye on them as they bake (that’s half the fun). At first your pictures will curl up but don’t panic, they will flatten out again. Once they flatten out bake for a few more seconds then remove from the oven. If they aren’t quite flat you can flatten them by pressing them a little more with a hot pad or wooden spoon.
When cooled remove them from the pan and you’re ready to use and enjoy your Shrink Art.
The Shrinky Dinks brand makes some fun pre-printed designs that you can purchase if you want to try out the process before striking out on your own. You can purchase the pre- printed Shrinky Dink designs or sheets of plain Shrinky Dink plastic by following the link below.
I’ve never gotten too excited about all the “giant” yard games you find on the internet but a couple of weeks ago I actually saw a giant Yahtzee game. I got to touch it, roll the dice and count up my score and I thought, “Hey this would be fun for our next family reunion!” (I think that about a lot of things)
Giant Yardzee is pretty simple to make. You’ll need 5 dice cut from 4″x”4″ fence posts. Cut each cube to 3.5 inches to make a perfect cube.Sand as necessary and paint in bright colors. To make dots use a circle template to paint them on or use stickers or circles cut with a 1 inch hole punch.
This is a very cute bucket to store Yardzee score cards and markers in but a 5 gallon bucket is more practical as it will also hold your dice.
Print off giant sized Yahtzee score cards- there are many free ones on the internet- here’s one resource.http://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/support-files/yahtzee-score-sheet-large.pdf
Playing using normal Yahtzee rules.
Did you know- A single “dice” is called a die and multiples are called dice. The round dots on a die are called pips!
What a clever way to say thank you to a teacher, friend or co-worker. Include a basket or gift bag full of “orange” items.Some orange things you can include are:
orange jello
orange gum
orange breath mints
orange Kool-aid
orange soda such as Shasta orange or Sunkist
Reese’s Pieces
non-food items such as orange colored pencils, markers, lip gloss, post it notes, straws or nail polish.
Put items in a cute gift bag or box (preferably orange).
Copy the orange at the top of this article, cut out and attach with bright orange ribbon to your gift. Don’t forget to right your own personal message.
Use the “orange” theme to say thank you to special people at your reunion or “orange you glad it’s your birthday” for someone who celebrates their birthday during your reunion.
You can also create a “box of sunshine” for someone by replacing orange items with yellow things- yellow Jell-O, lemonheads and lemonade mix etc.
Or put together a green basket filled with green Mike and Ikes, peace tea, wintergreen life savers, green pear, green apples and fruit gum. It’s perfect for St Patrick’s Day or use as a thank you at your family reunion- “We’re LUCKY to have you in our family.”
