Mermaids of the Lake Blog

Santa, elves and pixies... oh my!

Today is Pink Saturday again and our lovely hostess, Beverly has suggested that we feature our favorite holiday decorations. And... since pink is a derivative of red... we can use red. I love red! Red is my favorite color.

Welcome Home

By Mermaid Debbie

Several years ago, as I was sluggishly attempting to "take down Christmas," I realized that I had a few too many Christmas decorations. There were those that I loved, cherished, and treasured! And... there were those that I simply put out each year because they were there. So I got busy and cleared out a bunch of Christmas stuff.

My rule: Keep only those things that you absolutely love!

Apparently, judging by the number of boxes in my basement... I absolutely love a lot! Oh, but they are wonderful; so worth carefully storing and lovingly welcoming home each year.

My very favorites, other than those the kids have made through the years, are my vintage Santa, elf and pixie collections. I say, "Welcome Home," as I take them out of storage and place them in their favorite locations. I greet them with a smile and a festive mood; I play their favorite holiday music; (the soundtrack from Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer) I light a luscious holiday-scented candle; I make them their favorite peppermint coffee, and shower them with special, loving attention. 

My little whimiscal darlings bring me the most wonderful hostess gifts of smiles, silly grins, and most importantly, cherished memories and feelings of nostalgia. They also very generously move over a bit to make room for any shy little newcomer that may have been rescued from yet another antique shop or yard sale.

 

 

 

 

 

  

  



 

Please visit How Sweet the Sound for the list of all of the other Pink Saturday participants. I can't wait to visit them and see what their favorite holiday decorations are.

Happy Holidays!!!

Pink Christmas trees for Pink Saturday

By Mermaid Debbie

It's the Holiday Season! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Pink may not be the traditional color of Christmas, but in some homes it may be tradition. My Grandma had the most beautiful white flocked tree, with pink lights and pink ornaments. This was in the 60's. My Grandma was very traditional in most ways, but she had this little flare that I always admired. Grandma is 95 and we just moved her from her home to an assisted living facility. I inherited all of her photo albums, among other things. I will be looking through them and hoping to find a picture of that beautiful tree, but for now, here are some fun pink trees. Grandma was before her time.

 
I found this one here.

Here are some more!

  

  
  

Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and see all of the other Pink Saturday participants.

Happy Holidays from The Mermaids!

We have a wonderful holiday issue of our online magazine. Please visit Mermaids of the lake and get inspired

Happy Fall! Happy Halloween!

By Mermaid Debbie

I really do love this time of year. The Fall colors are so beautiful; my house feels cozier; I am inspired to create and to nest and get ready for winter. I am very busy this time of year and so glad when I take the time to be grateful for my home and the people who live in it and visit it! I recently grabbed my camera and took a little tour of my home, my yard and my neighborhood.

 
 
 Happy Fall! Happy Halloween! 

Pretty Matchboxes tutorial

By Mermaid Debbie

I love to light a candle before I create, and it is nice to have the matches out on my desk-top, looking pretty!

Really simple... cover regular old match boxes with your favorite decorative papers. It's a great way to use up scraps.

This makes a beautiful gift when added to a lovely scented candle. Whip up a bunch for yourself and some for your Christmas gifts!

You will need: matchboxes, scissors, glue stick or photo sticker squares, pretty decorative paper

Step one: trace matchbox, twice (one for each side)

Step two: cut out and apply glue or photo sticker squares and afix to your matchbox

 

Ta da!!!

The large-sized matchboxes look great too!

Happy Creating!

Note: the amazing candle burning on my desk is a Cucumber Wasabi scented soy candle by Dandles Candles. I wish you could smell this. I highly recommend these beautiful candles to fill your home with luscious, creativity-inspiring scents!

Enjoying your outdoor living spaces

By Mermaid Debbie

I love to extend the square footage of my home during the Spring, Summer and early Fall. I decorate my outdoor living spaces too. I recently wrote an article for our Mermaids of the Lake e-zine with some tips for doing just that.

I love to sit in my little side yard, patio in the early morning and sip my coffee. Adding an umbrella table, chairs, pretty flowers, and a magazine or two make it a fun place to relax.

I love my big wrap around porch too. Especially in the evening. I have a dining table, a sitting area with chairs and end tables, a rug, lamps, pillows, candles, and even pictures on the walls.

 

 

 

 

Do you enjoy extending your living space out into your yard, porch or patio? What do you do to bring the "comforts of home" outdoors? We would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment.

Mermaid mantle

By Mermaid Jennifer

During the summer, I rarely feel inspired to decorate - there's too much fun to be had outside! But with all of the heat that we've been having, I wanted to stay indoors one afternoon. I was inspired that day to have a little seaworthy fun with my fireplace mantle.

The elements of this display
The mirror was bought at a local furniture store. I fell in love with its curves and scroll patterns. The two mounted seashells were (I think) on closeout at Target last summer; so I picked them up. The fish plate is from Mexico and the green glass ball is from a coastal town in Oregon. The netting and the Dream sign, are probably from a craft store.   

Now whenever I walk by the family room and see the mantle, I think of the fun times that I've had at the ocean both with my family, and years ago as a single college girl. Fun times!

The best birthday ever!

By Mermaid Debbie

My birthday was June 5. I love my birthday. I wish I didn't have to get older to have one, but I have always loved to celebrate my very own special day!

This year was very memorable. Mermaid Shelley and our good friend, Ellen hosted a fabulous, fun party for me. Of course, Mermaid Jennifer was there and more of my sweet friends. I loved it!

The next day was The Farm Chicks show! That was a fun-filled day and made especially special because we met some of our fellow bloggers who have become friends.

My family treated me to a special dinner after the Farm Chicks, my favorite - Thai food!!! Yum!

And now for the biggest, bestest birthday gift I have ever received!!! My wonderful parents bought me new carpet!

My old carpet had lived a long life. (14 years) It had helped to raise a puppy who is now 11 and two children too. (ages 18 and 13) It had hosted many wonderful parties and gatherings of friends and family. But it was dated, dirty, and had a few too many holes. (thanks to the now 11 year-old digger. I mean puppy) I had to have lots of throw rugs to cover up the stains and holes.

I was so excited a few weeks ago when my parents presented me with the idea of my special gift. My dad sent a carpet guy over to show me samples and measure. I was not to know the price, just to choose what I loved.

My 13 year-old daughter helped me choose, but we decided to keep it a secret from my husband and son. That was fun and challenging! Men! Funny! Neither one questioned why on that particular day, we were clearing out the china cabinets, the wardrobe full of coats, and more. As soon as they left for work and school my mom, dad and one of my dad's employees arrived and we hauled all of the furniture out of the living room. It was a huge task. The surprise was well worth it. To see the looks on their faces when they arrived home was priceless!!!

 Carpet before

 

Before (this is the digger!)

One of the holes

 

My daughter saying goodbye to the only carpet she had ever known

 

We had a cute helper

 

Contents of one of the china cabinets

 

And another one

 

The porch full of living room furniture and more

 

During

 

One of the carpet layers

 

After!!!

 

Notice the book on the coffee table? The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen

 

 

Janie loves it much as I do!

 

Thank you Mom and Dad!

Project Friday!

By Mermaid Debbie

Don't you just love it when you really accomplish a lot? I do! I love to get household projects done that have been looming over me, and I also love to start and finish creative projects, as well. The last two weeks have been very productive for me and I plan to keep on going so that I can spend lots of time floating and splashing in the water this summer!

Here are a few of my best projects from the last two weeks:

Laundry room re-do.

I painted, cleaned and reorganized it. I have a tiny laundry room and it was full, messy and had ugly, dirty white walls. I had to remove everything, but the washer and dryer. I moved them out from the wall and crammed myself into a position I didn't know I could do to paint behind and around them.

I had already moved some things out when I took this picture, so it looks better than it actually did!

Before

 

View from my kitchen. The contents of the laundry room filled my kitchen counters and this hallway. Messy, messy!

 

The washer/dryer before

 

Washer/dryer after

 

Mid-way - it took a coat of primer and the final yellow to cover

 

Ta Da!!!

 

I moved this vintage wardrobe in to hold my all of my table cloths, including my collection of vintage ones. It is a tiny space, but nice and tidy and organized now

I also hung a couple of vintage prints on the wall

 

 

Margarita Glasses

My sons's girlfriend ordered this set of margarita glasses from me to give to her mom for her birthday. Now I will have to make myself a set!

 

 

Our Farm Chicks Blogger Badge

I finally finished one of our three badges to wear to The Farm Chicks show this year. If you plan to go and want to learn more about making your own badge... visit Kim, at Camp Whimsy for more information

 

Old tins add color and cheerfulness to functionality

By Mermaid Debbie

I love old tins. I look for them at garage sales, flea markets, antique stores, friends basements, you get the picture! The colorful graphics are a way to cheer up your pantry, kitchen counters, offices, studios and more. I also use them on my porch in a variety of ways. Some hold plants; some hold siverware for outdoor dining. I have two large, matching, popcorn seasoning tins that I use as plant stands.

My love for tins comes from my Grandma Ellen and time spent at her house as a child. She baked cookies and made candy. Grandma baked a lot of cookies and made a lot of candy! I think it was not only her way of offering some love to all of her kids and grandkids, but also a stress reducer. She stored her cookies in tins, large and small and kept those tins in her big, basement freezer. Grandma would ask us to go down to the basement and bring up a couple of tins. We loved that job! It was a fun surprise to see what kind of cookie was hiding beneath the layers of wax paper. Sugar cookies, spritz, bar cookies, anise cookies, Fatimans and more. Sometimes the tin was full of fudge or divinity. Yummy! I inherited one of my Grandma's smaller tins and I treasure it!

The treasured cookie tin of Grandma's

 

This one sits by my stove. The sweet elderly woman whom we bought our house from over 20 years ago gave me this when she heard that I liked "those old things"

 

I keep this lard bucket tin on top of my antique hoosier cabinet. It holds an artificial tree with white lights. I did it for Christmas one year and it added such nice ambiance that I kept it up

 

This little cutie sits on my kitchen countertop

 

I love the color of this old popcorn seasoning tin. Perfect for my porch!

 

Do any of you lovers of vintage use old tins to color up your lives? I know that The Farm Chicks do!

Can color be a treat? You bet!

My home is decorated in colors from nature; rich deep browns, warm umber, and several shades of verdant green. The scheme is peaceful and calm. Yet, in almost every room I have a little surprise in a shade of blue-green. It might be aqua, it could be turquoise or teal. The color just pops out of the more sedate background. The accent color is a fun treat to myself.

Let me share a few of my special delights...

This is a beautiful silk scarf my sister-in-law gave me. I just loved it so much that I wanted to see it all of the time, so I covered the top of my bookshelf with it. I love how it contrasts with the wall behind it.

I painted this one small wall a peacock shade of blue-green. It's behind my tapestry, so it isn't too overwhelming. I love it when people's eyes open wide and they say, "Oh, what a great color!"

Here is a little surprise of turquoise on my end table. This beautiful embroidered piece was a gift my friend bought on one of her trips to Japan. 

This aqua teapot just thrills me! My mom gave it to me for my birthday. It was fun because I had gushed over it on a shopping trip to Macy's. She ran out the next day to buy it for me. 

I have a couple of these beautiful metal switch plates. An artist from the Seattle area makes a variety of shades. Of course, I picked this color! They are definitely a fun surprise. 

Here is a switch plate I made when my daughter and I had an art date. Its pretty crazy, but I do love the colors. And, I love the memory of creating with her.

I tucked this Asian pitcher in a bookshelf amongst other treasures. I could eat up this shade of aqua.

This incredible mariners lamp sits above my sink. When the sunlight hits it, the color is breathtaking.

I collect Mud Men figurines. This handsome man sits in my entertainment center looking like he's ready to give his wise opinion about something!

Even mouth wash can make me smile! But, it has to be the perfect shade of aquamarine.

Another way I brought my favorite color to a room is to set out one of my antique books. Isn't this cover beautiful?

I have many more small spots of delight around my home. Here's one last fun treat. I see it every time I get into my purse!

Yes, color can be a treat. If you have a color that thrills you, find a way to give yourself a smile by putting it in large and small places.