Brownie Hack for Reunion Pot Lucks

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Aunt Mo

The secret to cutting brownies

I’m not sure what this has to do with family reunions, except that a lot of brownies show up at family reunion pot lucks, but here’s my hack for cutting brownies.

I hate when I’m cutting brownies into squares and the knife pulls pieces of the brownie into clumps that stick to the knife. It helps when the brownies are cooled but they still look so messy. The solution is simple- cut your brownies with a PLASTIC knife. Plastic knives are naturally non-stick and won’t tear up your brownies as you cut them into squares. Your brownies will have straight edges and look as good as they are to eat.

Family Reunion is Having a Sale

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Aunt Mo

Family Reunion Helper Is Having an Etsy Sale!

Posted on September 7, 2020

Whether or not you had your family reunion or postponed it until next year, at Family Reunion Helper, we’re celebrating surviving the strangest family reunion season ever by offering 20% off our reunion theme packages.

Typically, Labor Day is the “official” end of family reunion season. We were only able to attend one of our family reunions, a smallish one- just 35 people but cancelled our Labor Day reunion of over 100 family members.

We’ve decided to look forward 2021- no cancelling reunions just postposing. For all of you that are looking forward to next year with us, FAMILY REUNION HELPER IS HAVING A SALE IN THEIR ETSY SHOP! Follow the link below to receive 20% off any reunion theme package.This even includes the wildly popular Family Reunion Brag Badges! But hurry, sale ends September 15th, 2020 . Here’s to next year!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FamilyReunionHelper?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Reunion in a Pandemic

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Aunt Mo

No space for our Space family reunion

Labor Day weekend is traditionally the holiday the Stewart family gathers for their annual family reunion. We’ve been gathering without interruption for 37 years but what do you do during a pandemic? Well, in our case, we cancelled our family reunion. I’m not even going to get into the whys and why nots we hashed over to make our decision, but one huge reason we cancelled is that the campground we usually hold our reunion at put a limit of 50 campers at the site. The Stewart family is over a 100 people strong now so instead of trying to find a new location and dealing with masks and social distancing… we cancelled.

But our Space Reunion was planned and ready to go. So hey, we’re ready for next year and who knows how many great ideas we may come up with and extra 12 months to plan.

Fun Breakfast for Your Family Reunion

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Aunt Mo

Fruit in a waffle cone!

My sister in law made these fun waffle cone fruit bowls for breakfast at our family reunion. They were a light and delicious way to start a hot summer day. They were simple and easy to put together for our reunion crowd. There really isn’t a recipe, just add an even amount to strawberry yogurt to each waffle bowl, fill each bowl with seasonal fruit and serve immediately.

Fruit suggestions are sliced strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, sliced bananas, pineapple, mandarin oranges, kiwi and grapes. We used Kroger brand waffle bowls. Waffle bowls can be very fragile and even though they are packed quite well it is likely you will have a couple that are broken. I recommend buying an extra box of waffle bowls to replace the broken bowls you might have.

Marbles and Your Space Themed Family Reunion

Posted on June 25, 2020 by Aunt Mo

Marbles Make Great Planets

These are not marbles, they are planets. Each marble represents a planet (yes, we included Pluto) and will be given to older children at our space reunion as they complete planet oriented challenges and activities.

At one time, you could purchase marbles that represented each planet but I could only find Earth marbles and Jupiter marbles. For the other planets, I had to search for marbles that in some way highlighted a distinguishing feature of each planet. I choose red Rooster marbles to represent the “red planet” Mars and because Neptune is the coldest planet due to its proximity to the sun, I choose Ice Queen marbles.

I purchased my marbles from a local toy store and paid $3.25 a bag (24 marbles and 1 shooter). When I searched online, I found marbles for $3.50 a bag plus shipping.

Shooter marbles are the large ones used for “shooting’’ when playing marbles. There is one in each bag, so I’m currently looking for a good resource and price for 1 inch shooters. I’ll let you know when I find them.

I loved playing marbles as a kid and so we plan to teach and play marbles with our kids at the end of our planet fun.

Marble planets are going to be great for the older children at your family reunion but for the toddlers you might want to consider these Universe Stress balls. They’re $9.99 at Oriental Trading for all 9 balls.

Universe Stress Balls Audio Thumbnail

Pick Your Present!

Posted on June 22, 2020 by Aunt Mo

My New Favorite Way to Give Gifts

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.

Crafty Holiday Gift Wrap - Craft Critique

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.

The $20.00 Bill

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.

Nature Scavenger Hunts for Your Family Reunion.

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Aunt Mo

How to Plan a Scavenger Hunt | A Healthier Michigan

I love scavenger hunts! I remember the first scavenger hunt we did at a family reunion. The kids in our family were little then so Uncle Brad had a big rope and made all the kids hold on to it as they hunted together. Times change and now those once little kids are all grown up and they enjoy more challenging activities.

I was recently made aware of a website with some great nature hikes and scavenger hunts and I thought I should share it with you. If your family reunion is outside you’ll want to read some of their wonderful ideas for nature scavenger hunts for kids with free printables. The site is called My Open Country and can be found by clicking on the this link-

My Open Country

The folks at My Open Country will take you through the nuts and bolts of an outdoor scavenger hunt for kids, from the initial prep and planning right down to the itty bitties of ‘treasure’ selection. They want to help you find a fun, safe and healthy way for you and your kids to get out and enjoy your time together. The “search” feature on their site is great!

You can find lots of fun scavenger hunt ideas at familyreunionhelper.com by clicking on the following links.

https://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2016/04/the-ultimate-guide-to-treasure-hunts-and-scavenger-hunts/

https://familyreunionhelper.com/blog/2013/08/treasure-hunts-and-scavanger-hunts/

How Sweet It Is- Candy Bar Games

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Aunt Mo

Two pretty sweet printable gams- and they’re free!

If you’ve decide you can’t just eat chocolate while quarantined, maybe you’d like to play a couple of chocolaty games.

Whenever I plan a party or a family reunion I like to have an activity or game that people can play when they first arrive. The goal is to get family members, or friends, laughing and talking with each other. The “How Sweet It Is” free printable fits the bill and coming up with prizes for the winners is a snap- candy bars! I suggest the snack size because you’ll probably have several winners. This ice breaker game is great for large or small group games and for family members of most ages. You can download the free printable by clicking below. Don’t forget to download the answer key.

guess the candy_edited-1.jpg

Do you think you’d recognize your favorite candy bar without the wrapper? Try this game and see if you’re right. I got the Almond Joy bar right off but there were a few bars that proved quite challenging. Now, don’t peek at the answers until you’ve made you’re guesses. You can find your free printable here-

guess the candy_edited-1.jpg

Answer Key

So Now What? Corona Virus and Your Family Reunion

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Aunt Mo

germs | Fozia Saeed

First of all, let me say that this- I’m writing this blog in April 2020. The things I write in this blog today could possibly be a lot different than what I will write in July of this year.

At the very beginning, before we all began staying home so that we can stay safe, I believed that in a couple of weeks life would get back to normal and come Memorial Day family reunion season would be moving full steam ahead but now what….?

Family gatherings are difficult right now. For example, how was your Easter? All of our children and grandkids live within 20 minutes of us and we invited them out for a Easter visit with these rules:

Everyone scheduled a one hour block of time to visit and they had to leave before the next group arrived. We practiced social distancing with Grandpa and Gramie staying to the side. We had Easter cupcakes for all to enjoy. They jumped on our trampoline and played in our horse pasture and worked on a simple 100 piece puzzle… and we sanitized. It was good to see them all but they all left with no hugs or kisses from Gramie.

Our first family reunion is in July. At first I thought we would be safe to go ahead with those plans but I received an email from the reunion planner asking for ideas on how to do an online family reunion. Since that email I’ve learned that the big air show in our area, scheduled for the end of June, has been canceled and then, two of the huge “Pioneer” day celebrations in our state canceled. The possibility of a family reunion in July “is getting more and more remote.

Our last family reunion is scheduled for Labor Day weekend. That’s the one I’m in charge of. It’s a space reunion and I’ve got tons of fun ideas that I can’t wait to do with my family. Will it be safe to bring 100 plus people together for a reunion the end of August?

I don’t know, you don’t know and nobody can say for sure and that’s the problem. How can you hold a family reunion that excludes family members because they don’t feel safe? How do you plan a family reunion that puts so many people that you love at risk- AND- will they be at risk in August? It makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

So now what? The “what” in “now what” is that I’m moving forward with my space reunion planning. I have my doubts about a reunion during the three day Labor Day weekend but if we do, I’ll be prepared. If we don’t then just think how prepared I’ll be for our 2021 reunion- it will be the greatest family reunion ever!

Handprint Quilt

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Aunt Mo

An Idea to be Treasured

Image result for handprint png

I had never heard of a handprint quilt until one of my piano students asked me to add my handprint to her quilt. I love this idea and feel some regret for not creating a quilt for my own children when they were growing up.

My student’s quilt will include handprints from people that have made a difference in her life. I considered being asked to add my handprint an honor and it meant so much to me.

To collect my handprint, Kit and her Mom brought a large ink pad to my house which we used to make my print.

My print was added to my student’s book of handprints and will eventually be part of her quilt of memories.

For many of you, the thought of creating a handprint quilt may seem overwhelming and way out of reach, but I found a resource that can help with that. The quit pictured below is from an Etsy shop called PrettyCraftybyLinda. After collecting all of your handprints, Linda will create your quilt for around $300.00, depending on the size of course.

Custom made handprint quilt image 0

Making a handprint quilt could be a really wonderful part of your family reunion. You could collect the handprints at one reunion and auction the quilt off at the next reunion. A quilt full of grandchildren’s handprints would be a wonderful anniversary gift for grandma and grandpa. There are so many options, but what it really comes down to is a quilt full of memories to be treasured.

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