Yearly Archives: 2015

Just What the Dr. Ordered – Money!

Queen Darlene - November 5, 2015 - Anniversary, Birthday, Christmas, Graduation, Kids, Money

I love to give money in unexpected gift containers and a prescription bottle certainly makes for a surprise dose. This is one of the easiest gifts to make.

just-what-the-dr-ordered-prescription-money-thoughtful-gift-idea

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HOW TO CREATE A MONEY PRESCRIPTION BOTTLE:

Prescription bottle
Large mailing label or paper and clear packing tape
Cash – bills or quarters

Just for the asking, my pharmacy provided me with a new prescription bottle free of charge.

To give you a couple of ideas, I created two different labels. One on a sticky mailing label and one on plain typing paper.

I found a large mailing label fits nicely on the large prescription bottle. For the smaller prescription bottle, I cut plain paper to fit and used clear packing tape to adhere it to the bottle. Continue Reading

Money Talks, Chocolates Sing! Perfect Women’s Gift

Queen Darlene - November 4, 2015 - Birthday, Christmas, Graduation, Kids, Money, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day

Want to give the perfect women’s gift? You can’t go wrong with chocolates and money!

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I love this saying – Money Talks, Chocolate Sings!

Give the special woman in your life what she loves – mouth-watering chocolates and a little extra money.

What you will need for this money gift idea:

Box of chocolates
Ziploc bag
Ribbon or bow
Money

The Giving Plate | A Heartwarming Tradition

Princess Diana - November 3, 2015 - Christmas, Family, Food & Drinks, Host, Housewarming, Mother's Day, Teacher Gifts, Thank You

No one likes to show up to a social gathering empty handed. After all, the more food the merrier!

Make a lasting impression by giving the host or hostess a gift called “The Giving Plate.”

The heartwarming tradition of The Giving Plate is that you bake a treat and present it to someone on the plate. The recipient could be a friend, family member, church member, neighbor, teacher or co-worker. Once the treat is gone, it’s time for the gift recipient to pay it forward by passing The Giving Plate to someone new.

The Giving Plate makes for an especially touching gift during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

You can find a variety of styles of The Giving Plate on Amazon.com or you can find other designs on Etsy.com. If you’re artsy, you can make your own using food-safe porcelain markers or paint pens on a blank plate or platter.

The Giving Plate I like contains this special message that explains the tradition in a beautiful poem.

The Giving Plate

This plate belongs to everyone
wherever it may go… with each new sharing
of its gift, the love and blessings grow,
So fill it up and pass it on to
family and to friends… to start
the circle one more time,
love’s journey never ends.

Beer Money Koozie Gift

Princess Diana - October 30, 2015 - Birthday, Christmas, Congratulations, Father's Day, Gifts for Him, Money

Sometimes, the best way to celebrate is to buy someone a drink… or two or three.

If you can’t be there in person to do it, the second best thing is to give them a Beer Money Koozie Gift.

Pick out a koozie (or coozy) for the lucky gift recipient, and place some cash inside. Then write a note with one of the following messages or one of your choosing.

Thought you could use some beer money!
Let me buy you some drinks for your 21st birthday!
A round of drinks on me!
Beer is happiness. This will buy you a lot of happiness!
Use this money to make happy hour last well into the night!

“A Soldier’s Silent Prayer” | A Book for Veterans Day

Queen Darlene - October 29, 2015 - $20 or Less, Military/Veterans

I read my friend and author Sherry Kast’s first biography “A Soldier’s Silent Prayer” about Muscogee (Creek) Nation national treasure and honored WWII veteran Phillip W. Coon.

I found it to be a quick read and fascinating book. It’s an amazing story of Mr. Coon’s incredible journey – one that took him from a small Indian community in Oklahoma in the 1920s to the world stage as the United States declared war against Germany and Japan in December 1941. Can you imagine?

This veteran’s survival story is a tale of tragedy and triumph as he overcame insurmountable odds to survive the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and 3.5 years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during WWII. Continue Reading

Play it Safe Money & Candy Gift

Queen Darlene - October 28, 2015 - Birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, Gifts for Him, Housewarming, Kids, Money

Princess Diana has written a post about the importance of a fire and waterproof safe. My gift idea includes giving a fire and waterproof safe with money and candy inside! Surprise!

Many people usually stash a little cash somewhere in their homes for emergencies. And no…under the mattress isn’t a good idea.

So why not play it safe and give someone a fire and waterproof safe as a gift? For a thoughtful twist include money and candy to give it that WOW factor!

I’ve used this gift idea many times for my sons and nephews. I even gave one to my father-in-law so he could keep his candy under lock and key. (Seriously! In his house, he needed it.) Continue Reading

Buy Their Single Favorite Flavor of Candy

Princess Diana - October 27, 2015 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Business, Christmas, Congratulations, Family, Food & Drinks, Get Well, Gifts for Him, Kids, Party Favors, Teacher Gifts, Valentine's Day

What’s your favorite color of Starburst candy? Pink? Red? Yellow? Orange?

Pink for me! We all have our favorites.

The color or flavor we don’t like… yellow Starbursts for me… those usually stay uneaten in the bag or we give them away. Thankfully, my husband likes yellow Starbursts.

While my husband likes all of the flavors of Starburst candy, he doesn’t treat the different flavors of Airheads so equally.

The other day he mentioned how he wished the entire bag of Airheads candy he bought only contained the watermelon flavor. That’s his favorite!

My thoughtful gift idea light bulb immediately turned on in my head!

I searched the Internet, and there it was…. (cue heavenly angel sound effect)… a one pound bag of Airheads watermelon candy bars.

I’ve never seen single flavors of Airheads sold in any stores I’ve been inside. It’s always the assorted or variety pack. You gotta love the Internet and bulk candy options!

Did you know you can also buy single flavors of Starburst candy? Yep. I can buy a whole pound of pink strawberry Starbursts. Oh yeah, don’t mind if I do.

Old Family Photos Made New on T-Shirts

Queen Darlene - October 22, 2015 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Christmas, Family

What to do with old family photos? Since my grandparents and parents have passed, I have become the keeper of old photos. I have thousands of photos in albums, boxes and drawers. Some are even dated back to the 1800s.

I wanted to create something new from old family photos for my two brothers and myself as a Christmas present. I found a wonderful photo of our parents in their early years of marriage and chose a cute picture of the three of us as young kids.

Picking the photo was no easy task since my mother took hundreds of pictures of her three children. She wanted to capture every moment of us growing up.

I used a local t-shirt screen printing business that transferred the pictures onto t-shirts. Since I gave at Christmas time, I chose long-sleeve t-shirts.

Want Cash Fries With That?

Queen Darlene - October 21, 2015 - Birthday, Christmas, Kids, Money

Drive through McDonald’s, order a hamburger and drink, and what do you immediately hear through the speaker? Want fries with that?

What if the voice on the speaker said, “Want Cash Fries With That?”

No one would refuse! Unlike French fries, Cash Fries contain zero-calories making them the perfect and clever way to give money!

HOW TO MAKE CASH FRIES

34+ Fun Alternatives to Passing Out Halloween Candy

Princess Diana - October 20, 2015 - $20 or Less, Kids

There may be many reasons people want to pass out something besides candy on Halloween night.

Maybe they want to be different from everyone else in their neighborhood passing out candy and chocolates to trick-or-treaters. Maybe they’re health conscious and don’t want to contribute to kids developing allergic reactions, sugar buzzes or cavities.

The Teal Pumpkin Project encourages households to provide non-food treats to create a safer, happier Halloween for trick-or-treaters with food allergies. Participating households are asked to place a teal pumpkin in front of their home.

Some people like to give kids a choice in their Halloween treats!

Please let me be clear though. Unless you’re a dentist, don’t pass out toothbrushes or floss. That’s just being a party pooper, and you may risk retaliation from the neighborhood kids and end up getting your house egged or toiled papered. Just saying.

Let me give you 34+ fun alternatives to passing out Halloween candy. Some of them are actually cheaper than candy!