Category "Kids"

Behind the Scenes Experience With Zoo Animals

Princess Diana - March 28, 2017 - Experiences, Gifts for Me, Kids

Recently, I realized that you haven’t truly experienced the zoo until you’ve experienced it behind the scenes.

My family has a zoo membership so we go multiples times throughout the year. At this point, I felt like I had seen everything the zoo had to offer.

Out of all the animals, my favorite ones to see are the giraffes and my favorite thing to do is feed them. Every time I see them I think, “God sure has a wonderful imagination to have come up with these animals!”

They are so beautiful and majestic, yet supremely awkward at the same time. And the built-in sunscreen on their tongues – genius design!

Behind the Scenes “Wild Encounter” at the Zoo

On my last visit to the Oklahoma City Zoo, I went with my Leadership Oklahoma City class to learn about the zoo and its planned expansion. As a bonus, they treated us to a behind the scenes “Wild Encounter” with elephants.

We entered the building where the elephants live, and we were given the rare and exciting opportunity to see them up close.

Snappums | Stuffed Animal Slap-On Bracelets

Princess Diana - March 21, 2017 - $20 or Less, Kids

As a kid of the 80s, slap-on bracelets will be forever be “da bomb” in my book.

What’s not to love? It’s a toy and an accessory in one!

Slap-on bracelets have made a comeback in popularity recently. Kids today love them too! My son has received them as party favors at school and at birthday parties.

I love that. It’s a nice reminder that simple toys that don’t require batteries still have entertainment value.

Snappums Slap-on Bracelets

Hallmark has designed a new type of slap-on bracelets called Snappums.

They are soft, plush fabric characters constructed around a slap-on bracelet.

Think stuffed animal combined with a slap-on bracelet. Cool stuff!

You can pick from super heroes, such as Batman and Batgirl, dinosaurs, unicorns, cats, dogs, and other popular characters such as Hello Kitty.

Speak Out Mouthpiece Challenge Game

Queen Darlene - March 9, 2017 - Birthday, Experiences, Family, Kids

When was the last time you doubled over, your side hurting and you couldn’t breathe from laughing so much? Do I have the side splitting game for you! Speak Out is the ridiculous mouthpiece challenge game.

The object of the game is to earn cards by successfully guessing phrases. The team with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Simple enough, but not really. Continue Reading

Personalized Story Book Based on Child’s Name

Princess Diana - February 28, 2017 - Baby Shower, Kids

A individual’s name is near and dear to its owner’s heart. For children, especially so since they love learning the letters that spell their name.

The authors of the Lostmy.name books figured that out and created a magical story based on the letters of a child’s name.

When a boy/girl wakes up to find his/her name missing, he/she must go on an adventure to find it. Every story is different since it is based on the letters in a child’s name. For example, my son Aiden’s book has him meeting an Aardvark, an Imp, a Dragon, an Elephant, and a Narwhal.

Unique, Personalized Story Book

When creating a Lostmy.name personalized book to give as a gift, you can choose from the titles “The Little Boy Who Lost His Name” or “The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name.”

Paint Your Own Pottery Experience

Princess Diana - February 21, 2017 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Christmas, Experiences, Kids, Mother's Day

When I visit my sister’s family, I always like to give my three nieces the gift of a new experience.

Now that my oldest niece is 16 and I have a four-year old son, I needed to come up with an experience that teenagers AND young children would enjoy. That’s a little tough, but I came up with the perfect idea! Adults will enjoy it too!

I took everyone to a paint your own pottery studio where each of us picked out an unfinished ceramic pottery to paint.

The studio had a TON of choices and to inspire customers it displayed examples of what the final painted products could look like.

Ceramic Pottery

I picked out a Christmas sweater platter, and my son picked out a dinosaur. My sister picked out a Christmas mug, while her 16-year old niece picked out a jar. My 13-year old niece picked out a turtle shaped container, and my nine-year old niece picked out a Hello Kitty figurine. See! Something for everyone!

The pottery studio provided all of the painting supplies, glazing and firing. All we needed to do was unleash our creativity!

Celebrate Valentine’s Day Family Style

Queen Darlene - February 2, 2017 - Kids, Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is usually reserved for couples, but I have another idea. Start a tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day family style.

Living Room Floor Family Picnic

Have a picnic for all the Valentines in your family on your living room floor. Kids love this!

Keep it simple and move the furniture, lay out a blanket, and use Valentine’s Day paper plates with red plastic utensils. Depending upon the age of the children, I would use cups with lids and straws to prevent any spills.

If you want to be more elaborate, add a red and white picnic table cloth, eating trays, red pillows to sit on, sprinkle rose petals around the room, beautiful flowers, decorative lights, etc.

Make it a family affair and have the kids help with the set-up and decorating. Continue Reading

A Candy Bouquet for Any Occasion

Princess Diana - January 24, 2017 - $20 or Less, Anniversary, Birthday, Business, Christmas, Congratulations, Food & Drinks, Get Well, Gifts for Him, Graduation, Host, Housewarming, Kids, Mother's Day, Party Favors, Retirement, Teacher Gifts, Thank You, Valentine's Day

Flowers bouquets are considered a perfect gift for any occasion. Although, realistically, women tend to appreciate the gift of flowers more than men. Not so with candy bouquets. Men, women and children love them equally!

A candy bouquet is like a flower arrangement except it uses candy instead of flowers.

Think about it. Not everyone has a favorite flower, but everyone has their favorite candy (or candies).

If you’re like me, you have more than one favorite candy. My perfect candy bouquet would contain Twix, Sour Patch Kids, Sweet Tart Gummies, Hershey’s Hugs, and Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses.

Candy bouquets are a beautiful sight! They look expensive, but they can be created simply and inexpensively.

You can purchase pre-made candy bouquets, but by creating your own you can customize it to contain the gift recipient’s favorite flavors.

Pie Face Showdown Game | Whipped Cream Fun For All Ages

Princess Diana - January 10, 2017 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Christmas, Experiences, Kids

If it involves whipped cream, you know it’s going to be a fun time! I have a game that will entertain people age 2 to 102.

Are you ready to create some hysterical memories with your family and friends?

The Pie Face Showdown Game gives everyone the chance to throw whipped cream in someone’s face!

How you play Pie Face Showdown:

Two people compete by pushing the red button on their side as fast as they can to move the throwing arm loaded with whipped cream towards their opponent. When the loaded arm reaches either end, it pops up throwing the whipped cream SPLAT into the loser’s face.

My son and I played Pie Face Showdown with my sister’s family, and did we laugh and laugh! The players and everyone watching are giddy and excited to see who gets creamed. As you can see, we also ended up with hilarious photos of whipped cream splattered faces.

Superhero Bathrobe Gift

Queen Darlene - January 6, 2017 - Anniversary, Birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, Kids, Mother's Day, Teacher Gifts

Need a gift for the superhero in your family, circle of friends, or co-workers?

I present the superhero bathrobe for your Superman, Batman, Spiderman or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in your life!

Let’s not forget there are girl superheroes too, like Supergirl and Wonder Woman!

Personalized Superhero Bathrobes

My office staff purchased a Superman bathrobe for our boss for Christmas. We personalized it by having his name embroidered above the pocket. He loved it!

These superhero bathrobes are made of incredibly soft fleece material that feels great against the skin.

Since it looks good AND feels good… there’s no doubt it will become their favorite bathrobe!
Continue Reading

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