Yearly Archives: 2016

Recreate, Repurpose, Regift Vintage Jewelry

Queen Darlene - December 31, 2016 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Christmas, Family, Mother's Day, Wedding

Ever wonder what to do with broken but beautiful, vintage jewelry? Recreate! Repurpose! Regift!

I received a picture frame containing vintage jewelry made into a dazzling crown. When I opened the gift, my mouth dropped.

My sister-in-law said, “It’s perfect for Queen Darlene!”

She was right of course! I loved all that beautiful bling! And because Karee designed and created it just for me made it even more thoughtful.

When she told me it was her new hobby, I began quizzing her about where she found the jewelry pieces, her ideas for designs, and how she made my crown.

A supplier provides her with vintage jewelry but she also finds them at garage and estate sales for reasonably prices. Karee explained she uses a special glue made for jewelry for all of her creations.
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Custom Engraved Wooden Spoon

Princess Diana - December 27, 2016 - Anniversary, Birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, Gifts for Me, Host, Housewarming, Mother's Day, Retirement, Teacher Gifts, Valentine's Day, Wedding

A wooden spoon is really a must-have in anyone’s kitchen. So make a wooden spoon special by getting it custom engraved and turning it into the perfect present!

A custom engraved wooden spooncan be displayed on someone’s kitchen counter, adding a personalized and decorative touch to their home.

They’re a classic gift that can be given for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries or Christmas. They’re also great as hostess or housewarming gifts.

They can even be used as party favors. Think bridal showers or chili cook-offs.

Not all wooden spoons are created equally. I suggest purchasing a high-quality spoon made of dense wood so it lasts for years and years.

Ideas for what to engrave:

Oklahoma Gourmet Popcorn | 45 Flavors!

Queen Darlene - December 23, 2016 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Business, Christmas, Family, Food & Drinks, Housewarming, Kids, Teacher Gifts, Thank You

Pop! Pop! Popcorn! Imagine 45 flavors to choose from!

There’s a new POPular store in town – Oklahoma Gourmet Popcorn. I love to shop and support local stores especially when you can meet the owner.

The store carried my husband’s favorite popcorn flavor, Oreo, and my new favorite flavor, Puppy Chow.

Gourmet popcorn is a delicious and fun gift during any time of the year.

Flavored Popcorn

Since gourmet popcorn comes in all sorts of flavors and colors, you can choose someone’s favorite flavor or personalize their gift by selecting a color to match their favorite sports team.

You can order online or visit their store. I enjoyed visiting their colorful store and did a taste-testing of several flavors before making my decision.

Each gourmet popcorn tasted amazing so it was difficult to decide. I finally selected White Chocolate Pretzel, Jalapeno Cheddar, Sea Salt Caramel, Peanut Butter Chocolate, and Ranch as Christmas gifts for friends and family.

There are several sizes available such as Mini, Junior, Small, Medium and Large. They also have a variety of Tins for all occasions. Continue Reading

Honor Someone With a Charitable Gift of Purpose

Princess Diana - December 20, 2016 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Christmas, Money

A local charity I support, Sunbeam Family Services, offers meaningful holiday gifts with purpose. They’re perfect if someone you know has everything and doesn’t need any material things.

By purchasing one of their gifts, a person honors the gift recipient while donating to a worthy cause. It’s a gift you can both feel good about!

The charity offers a wide variety of gifts at a range of prices that support different programs for the needy. Other charities sell similar “gifts” that fund their own cause.

For $15 you can buy school lunches. For $75 you can purchase a backpack filled with school supplies. For $30 you can purchase meals for homeless seniors. For $50 you can provide shelter for one homeless senior. For $500 you can provide shelter for 10 seniors.

By giving friends and family gifts that have a positive social impact, you’ll be making a difference in people’s lives. Continue Reading

Hands-Free Headlamp Beanie Cap

Queen Darlene - December 15, 2016 - $20 or Less, Christmas, Father's Day, Gifts for Him

Guys love cool technology. At least the guys in my family do!

My dog, Cricket, gives out Christmas presents too. This year, she’s giving my husband a black Hands-Free Headlamp Beanie Cap with LED lights. Cricket thinks he can use it to light the way when he takes her on walks at night.

This kind features two bright piercing spotlights for distance viewing and two soft floodlights for close range tasks. Although it’s a flashlight and a hat combined, it’s washable and made of comfortable lightweight fleece.

My husband is always working on some project in the garage year round so a Hands-Free Headlamp Beanie Cap will definitely come in handy during the cold winter months. They are also a useful accessory for camping, fishing, hunting, emergencies, reading, auto repair, or home improvement.

Homemade Peppermint Sugar Scrub

Princess Diana - December 13, 2016 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Christmas, Family, Gifts for Me, Mother's Day, Party Favors, Teacher Gifts

Do you know what I love about homemade things? You know exactly what goes into it.

The ingredients don’t have weird scientific names like maltodextrin and sodium nitrate because you’re making it in your kitchen and not in some laboratory.

My Homemade Peppermint Sugar Scrub recipe contains only four natural ingredients:

white granulated sugar
almond oil
peppermint essential oil
raspberry juice (for red food coloring)

It’s a homemade natural beauty product that makes a great holiday gift because it smells amazing and it looks so pretty when layered in red and white candy cane stripes inside a clear jar.

Framed Sentimental Keepsakes

Queen Darlene - December 8, 2016 - Birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, Mother's Day

Ever wonder what to do with keepsakes?

My mother was extremely creative. She was also very sentimental and rarely threw anything away. One of my favorite keepsakes she framed were my grandfather’s personal items like his old straight blade razor, shaving brush, hair clippers and coin purse.

Yes, coin purse. He didn’t like having loose change in the pockets of his overalls.

I have fond memories hearing the “ding ding” of the ice cream truck coming down the street. When I asked him for money, he would pull out his coin purse while my brothers chased the ice cream man to stop. We were a great team to pull that feat off no matter where we were in the neighborhood.

My grandfather always had the biggest smile after seeing the three of us walk up to his front porch with our favorite ice cream in hand.

When loved ones pass away, it’s nice to have something of theirs to help keep the memories alive.

T-Shirt of the Month Subscription

Princess Diana - December 6, 2016 - Birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, Gifts for Him, Gifts for Me, Kids

If your son, dad, brother, boyfriend or husband practically lives in t-shirts, this gift is perfect!

He’ll receive a new t-shirt with a cool design directly in the mail each month. It just appears. No shopping necessary by him or you, and he’ll love getting to open a new gift each month!

I bought my husband a t-shirt of the month subscription from www.OklahomaShirtCompany.com because they focus specifically on Oklahoma themed designs and they use soft, quality t-shirts. You can see the past designs from each month on their website, and they all look so fun and fresh!

Lots of Choices

Many sports teams have started t-shirt subscription clubs. You can even find dive bar t-shirt of the month clubs. Not your thing? What about geek and gamer t-shirts?

Projection Clocks Make Telling Time Fun

Queen Darlene - December 1, 2016 - Birthday, Christmas, Kids

Projection clocks make telling time fun! There’s no need to turn over to look at the clock when a projection clock displays the time on the ceiling or wall.

Kids can be given projection clocks that display all sorts of images such as dinosaurs and rocket ships. As a bonus, they also serve as night lights!

I gave an Oregon Scientific projection clock to my son when he was a teenager years ago. It was unlike any clock I had ever seen. Even the design was a unique shape.

Braden thought it was cool to take a quick glance at the ceiling to see the time during the night.

A couple of years ago, I purchased the same brand for my brother who had a serious illness and did not sleep well. He tossed and turned and watched the clock all night long.

When Harvey began using the projection clock, he couldn’t believe how quickly he returned to sleep after looking at the ceiling to see the time. The light projects the time clearly on the ceiling but is not so bright it keeps someone awake.

Atomic Clock

He absolutely loved his projection clock not only for the easy-to-see time but also because it automatically updates for time-day-date with the U.S. Atomic Clock. You don’t even have to change it for Daylight Savings time. Continue Reading

Share Memories Year Round With Custom Photo Calendar

Princess Diana - November 29, 2016 - Birthday, Christmas, Family, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Retirement

We all know that time flies, especially the older you get. So it’s important to preserve happy memories with photographs. Even better, share them with loved ones so they can enjoy them year round!

As a birthday gift for our mother, my siblings and I collaborated to give her a custom photo calendar.

We all provided pictures so the calendar would contain photos of ALL of her children and grandchildren. We also included group family photos from when we were together during the holidays.

Many websites make it easy peasy to design a personalized photo calendar with your own photos and text. Just pick a template, drag and drop photos, and you’re done! I created mine using Shutterfly.com.

Since you can choose the starting month of your photo calendar, you can give this gift at any time of the year. They make excellent gifts for birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and family exchanges.