Posts Tagged: "family"

14 Days of Love Notes for Valentine’s Day

Princess Diana - January 29, 2020 - Valentine's Day

Do you know what makes a holiday better? The anticipation and excitement leading up to it!

Valentine’s Day is coming up soon. Here is a fun way to use the first 14 days in February to show someone how much you love, cherish and appreciate them. Do this for children and adults!

The Many Reasons Why I Love You

People often say “I love you” but they often don’t go into specifics about what exactly it is about the person that they love. Telling someone the many reasons why you love them is much more powerful and meaningful.

So here’s what you do that I call 14 Days of Love Notes.

Instructions:

Cut out 14 paper hearts. Starting February 1, write a love note or affirmation on a heart every day and tape it where your Valentine will be sure to see it. It could be on their bedroom door, on their bathroom mirror, or different places around the home. Continue writing on a paper heart every day for 14 days.

Tip: I used red and pink construction paper and taped it to my son’s bedroom door with painter’s tape so it wouldn’t damage the paint.

Your loved ones will enjoy reading your daily expressions of love!

Escape Room Experience

Princess Diana - August 7, 2019 - Uncategorized

My family and I were trapped in a room… We could only escape by unravelling a series of clues… We had one hour… Or else… Tick. Tick.

For the next 60 minutes, my sisters, nieces, brother, brother-in-law and I bonded by working together to search for clues and decipher them.

What is an Escape Room?

“Escape Room” adventure games offer a unique experiences for families and groups ages 12 to 100.

You pick a themed room with distinct story line, and your team has to complete your mission to “escape” the room in 60 minutes or less.

It’s a one-of-a-kind experience working together under that type of pressure.

For us, it was an adrenaline rush filled with lots of laughter. So much laughter.

When a clue was particularly perplexing, someone would yell, “That’s it! We’re gonna die in here!” That always cracked everyone up.

TableTopics Conversation Starters

Princess Diana - November 28, 2018 - Christmas, Family, Food & Drinks, Gifts for Me, Host

Great conversations bring people closer together.

We might learn what makes someone happy, places they want to visit, funny stories from their past, or what makes them tick. When we get to know someone better, our relationship deepens.

Many great conversations begin with great questions. TableTopics make it easy to start fun and memorable conversations with family and friends.

TableTopics is one of Oprah’s “Favorite Things” and is the #1 best-selling conversations starters.

With the holidays coming up, we suggest bringing TableTopics to your next family gathering or dinner party.

It’s the perfect host or hostess gift and it’s calorie-free!

Extreme Rock-Paper-Scissors

Queen Darlene - September 19, 2018 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Business, Family

Remember playing rock, paper scissors? How about playing the game in a group setting to the extreme?

My office of 90+ employees meet quarterly for awards, updates and training and just for fun, we incorporate “not your usual” team building activities.

In this game, employees battle it out to see who is the Rock-Paper-Scissors champion of the group, as losers of each mini-round cheer the remaining winners on!

How to Play Extreme Rock-Paper-Scissors

Have each member of the group pair up for the first round of rock, paper, scissors. If there is an odd number, add the odd person out to another pair for a quick knock-out match.
Play 3 games and the best 2 out of 3 will be the winner.
The losers of the first match start cheering the name of the winner for their next game.
All winners pair up and face off against each other while the ones they beat are cheering for them. When one winner beats the other, all the people behind the losing player start cheering for the winning player.
Repeat this process in elimination until there are only two players left. Each should have a large group of people cheering them on from their previous wins. The game is over after one player wins the final match.

Win or lose, everyone participates to the very end. Continue Reading

Conversations With My Mother | Keepsake Journal

Queen Darlene - May 4, 2018 - Birthday, Mother's Day

Conversations with My Mother is a keepsake journal for collecting a lifetime of your mother’s stories.

Interview your mother with engaging questions that will encourage her to provide facts about specific aspects of her life and relate rich details about her experiences.

This beautiful journal has places to record dates, write about your mother’s unique life, and attach photos and keepsakes.

You’ll learn so many things you never even knew about your mother.

Not Your Average Journal

Conversations with My Mother prompts all kinds of questions, some I would never have thought to ask.

House Book of Important Documents

Princess Diana - December 30, 2017 - $20 or Less, Gifts for Me

Would your family know what steps to take if something tragic happened to you?

It seems like a gruesome question to ask, but anything can happen so we should all prepare the best we can for such a scenario to happen to us.

Death is hard enough to deal with. Your family will be grieving for you so don’t give them the added stress of worrying about hunting down your financial records.

That’s where a “house book” comes in. It’s a binder containing important documents and information about your assets and estate plans.

It’s also sometimes called a “family emergency binder” or a “grab and go binder.” Because if your house were to burn down, a house book would be just as crucial.

Couple’s Photo Shoot | One-Size-Fits-All Gift

Queen Darlene - December 21, 2017 - Anniversary, Birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day

Most of my friends and I have adult children. The question each year is “What do we give them for Christmas?”

It was so much easier to pick out Christmas gifts when they were small, but as adults it’s difficult to surprise them.

My friend shared her “stroke of genius” idea and came up with a Couple’s Photo Shoot for her grown adult children’s Christmas gift.

We have lots of pictures of our children but not professional grown-up photos of our kids and their spouses other than the wedding photos taken years before.

Even her adult granddaughter and boyfriend will receive a photo session. They will be so surprised!

Moto Photo packages for couples are reasonably priced starting at $55 for a one pose package.

The package consists of an 8×10, two 5×7 and 8 wallets. Gift certificates are also available to give any dollar amount you would like.

JCPenney Portraits and Portrait Innovations are also offering holiday specials.

Recreate the Pose of a Famous Photo

Queen Darlene - November 2, 2017 - Birthday, Business, Christmas, Retirement

My boss, Dennis, loves the Beatles. And yes, he’s a baby boomer! His favorite album is Abbey Road with John, Paul, Ringo and George walking across a striped crosswalk on the cover.

The Beatles had many famous photo albums but this may be their fans’ most favorite.

For one of his retirement gifts, I recreated the famous Beatles photo with Dennis and his three Team Leaders who have worked with him for 20 years.

I scoped out the many streets in our city and found the white stripes in an intersection that would allow us to recreate the photo.

State Parks Gift Certificates for Outdoor Enthusiasts

Princess Diana - July 14, 2017 - Birthday, Experiences, Family, Gifts for Him

I named this website Sunburst Gifts because I believe the perfect gift makes someone light up like the sun and burst with happiness.

Last month, I resigned from my job to pursue several entrepreneurship opportunities. When I opened my farewell gift from my work family of 12 years, I had the exact reaction I described above. They gave me the perfect gift!

They gave me gift certificates I could use at Oklahoma State Parks along with a copy of this year’s Oklahoma State Parks & Outdoor Recreation Guide.

My co-workers know my love of the outdoors, and they listened when I talked about my family’s camping trips. (My one-year old son has already been on two camping trips!)

Good for Camping, Lodging, Food & More

The gift certificates can be used for camping, lodging, food, golf and other recreational activities at any facility operated by the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department.

Finding New Homes for Old Photos, Post Cards, Letters & Mementos

Queen Darlene - July 13, 2017 - $20 or Less, Family

When people pass away, they leave behind their possessions which include old photos, post cards, letters and mementos. When it’s you who has to sort through it all after a parent, grandparent or siblings dies, it can be overwhelming.

My mother-in-law broke her hip and we had to move her to a memory care nursing center. I am going through her keepsake photos and some of them she has kept for 70+ years.

I’ve done this before with my grandmother’s, mother’s and brother’s things after they passed away. It’s definitely hard and emotional.

I felt if they held on to it for so many years, then it must have been a sweet memory or a special place in their heart. I just couldn’t throw them in the trash! Continue Reading