Fabletics – a newbies review

Lets just start off that I am not a fan of shopping online. I am
one of those people who like to touch, inspect, see and yes, even smell
a product before I buy it. I am always leary of online purchases because you never know what you are getting. That being said I took the proverbial leap and
joined Fabletics for athletic wear for walking/running. I have read many great things and was in need of athletic wear and wasn’t all too impressed with what I was seeing locally. Fast forward to now. I purchased the Columba 2 piece outfit which consists of the Neema Tank and Winn Mid Rise Capri.


When I got them I immediately tried them on. The fit is on pointe and the materials are of great quality. Mucho impresso. This outfit is definitely my favorite. No rubbing seams, no fabric shifting. And yes it even passed the smell test. I know I am just a wee bit weird LOL. Since then I have purchased the Reese Emery Cold Weather Half-Zip Winn Mid Rise Legging which has a half zip jacket with long sleeves with the thumb hole & niffy back pocket and the same Winn leggings only in full length not capri. I wanted another pair of the leggings and the thumb hole jacket so this was the perfect combo. The leggings are shown in print but come in black or navy as well. I am not a print fan so I was even more thrilled they came in black.

Now I have read many complaints about Fabletics , not about the product but in regards to their VIP membership. To be a VIP you join (thus getting the first outfit for $24.95) and are offered to buy an outfit a month, if an outfit isn’t chosen by you then an outfit will be chosen for you. NOW RELAX! This is the part people seem to ignore and go crazy for no reason. You can opt out of the outfit purchase , as long as you do it online between the 1st and the 5th of the month. Really no biggie. And you can cancel your membership at any time. At no point are you forced to purchase anything or charged. Which I see complaints about the concept of but are wrong about.

So far, I am a big fan. The products are quality and are a fair price. The simple issue of opting out of a outfit once a month between those dates is really a minor issue. Silly nonsense really. In fact this information is repeated on the Fabletics page over and over, very clearly. You get enough emails to remind you of this as well. FYI I am not being paid for this post, just simply sharing my opinion. So if you are thinking of joining Fabletics… DO IT.

35 Beachy paper plate crafts

Entertaining little ones without technology can be difficult these days. I put together 35 fun “Beachy” themed crafts made simple inexpensive supplies of plain white paper plates, markers, scissors, glue and imagination.
These are shore (*wink) to keep your little ones occupied for hours without screens and batteries! Links to original sites available, but most are pretty easy to figure out. Enjoy!

1. crab Skip to my Lou

2. whale In the playroom

3. porthole aquarium Craft Project Ideas

4. pirate I heart crafty things

5. jellyfish Buzzfeed

6. seagull How Wee Learn

7. shells Artsy Crafts Mom

8. shark Artsy Momma

9. pelican Mosswood Connections

10. beach ball Glued to my crafts

11. oyster Crafty-Crafted

12. walrus I heart crafty things

13. sand dollar Craft gawker

14. beach First Palette

15. sailboat (unknown)

16. tropical fish Crafts by Amanda

17. boat on water Spackel

18. Mermaid necklace from Our Big Earth – link no longer available

19. scuba diver Educacioilestic

20. aquarium (unknown)

21. whale Fun crafts Kids

22. starfish Artsy Momma

23. stingray Flickr

24. jellyfish Buggy and Buddy

25. swimming dolphin from ActivityVillage.co.uk ( link no longer available)

26. lobster TaniaManesi-Kourou

27. octopus Easy Peasy and fun

28. whale from Keisbay blogspot, link no longer available

29. gold fish I heart crafty things

30. stingray The Pinterested Parent

31. sea turtle from A day in first grade (link no longer available)

32. hermit crab I heart crafty things

33. mermaid Lakeshore Learning

34. under the sea Indulgy

35. killer whale Primary Reading Party

Mermaid Cocktails Vol. 1 free printable

Every Mermaid entertainer needs a bevy of fun cocktail recipes in her arsenal.
I started putting together recipes and found dozens!! I compiled them all and have been putting them together as a printable you can print out and save. The
first volume in the series has “The Blues”. It contains 8 blue hued cocktails.
They are The Mermaid Martini, Blue Lagoon, Blue Hawaiian, Shark bite, Ocean breeze, Neptune, Seafoam sangria and Mermaid water.

All of these drinks contain
blue curacao liquour. It is what makes the drinks blue or should I say Mermaidesque.

To save, click on picture to enlarge then right click and save. The print
is sized to 8.5 inch by 11 inch paper for printing.

Gather your nearest and dearest Mermaid friends and Enjoy!

My Top 16 Beach House blogs

Here is a list & links to my top 16 favorite beach house blogs! Most you may
already follow as a beach house fan and hopefully some new ones for you to enjoy!

Carons beach house

Completely Coastal

Beach Bliss Living

House of Turquoise

Ciao!Newport beach

Beautifully Seaside (formerly Chic Coastal Living)

Coastal Living

Sand and Sisal

Stylish Beach Home

Starfish Cottage

Sally Lee by the Sea

Coastal Shore Creations

Fox Hollow Cottage


Our Boat House

H20 Bungalow

Go Nautical

A Sense of Place: Houses on Martha’s Vineyard & Cape Cod

With the advent of Pinterest one has access to a plethora of visual goodies on house and home. As much as I adore Pinterest myself I am still a hardcore fan of magazines and books. A recent house and home book I have stumbled across is
A Sense of Place: Houses on Martha’s Vineyard & Cape Cod by Mark A. Hutker.
Available on Amazon here .

Here is the synopsis:

Thirteen exquisite houses create a portrait of life in one of America’s most exclusive coastal destinations, along the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod.

Hutker Architects, led by founding principal Mark A. Hutker, has designed more than three hundred houses along the New England shore. A member of the close community on Martha’s Vineyard since his arrival in 1985, Hutker has become an expert at interpreting the ideal lifestyles of his clients within the respected traditions and restrictive codes of the beautiful but fragile environment.

In their design and construction, these houses honor the vernacular traditions of craft and indigenous materials, are deeply respectful of the cherished landscape, and demonstrate a lively range of solutions to building on the bluffs and dunes that line the shores of the Vineyard and Cape Cod. A working organic farm fulfills a family’s dream of simpler values; a luxurious renovation saves the best of an antique shingle cottage while transforming it for contemporary family life and a raised structure clad in naturally weathered boards combines the legacy of midcentury regional modern architecture with Cape Cod’s maritime tradition.

The firm is committed to the principle “Build once, well,” looking to the historic architecture of the region and the inherited experience of its carpenters and craftspeople as inspiration for contemporary design. The result is an architecture that is at once adaptable and livable, yet enduring, efficient, inevitable, and appropriate.

The houses sit lightly on the land, deferring to their surroundings, often built as a series of modest pavilions linked by passages or grouped to enclose an outdoor space. Creative design solutions—a light-filled gallery running the full length of a house, a continuous wall of sliding glass doors—make houses both open to views, but protective in a storm. Specially commissioned photography captures the craftsmanship and the settings of the houses, from dramatic bluffs overlooking the sea to secluded coves and rolling meadows filled with wildflowers, creating a unique portrait of Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.

The homes are just as gorgeous inside as their stunning views. As a New Englander myself these houses to me are Home. Rambling stone walls, weathered cedar shakes, granite blocks and oceanfront are the theme of these amazing homes.

Here are a few pictures to give you a sneak peek:

The photos in the book are huge and colorful. You just want to dive in and live there. I hope you enjoy this visual treat as much as I have.

Free November desktop calendar

click to enlarge, right click & save.

Sea Urchin Pumpkin tealight holder

Every season here at The Mermaids Tale has to be imbued with coastal elements. For this Autumn I created a tea light holder that is a sea urchin with a pumpkin hue.

I took a standard glass globe candle holder, cleaned it with rubbing alcohol (to remove any finger prints/grease) and painted it with white chalk paint.
Once dry I used scribbles fabric paint in white. This paint is raised and has a superfine pointed tip which works fabulously to create the raised nubs found on sea urchins. (the paint can be found at Michaels arts and crafts)

Once the nubs are dry, I then used orange chalk paint and painted lines on the globe.
Before the paint has a chance to dry I used water only on a paint brush to create the gradient colors of orange. Then let dry.
For a final detailing I added a green burlap leaf and a piece of green wired twine that I wrapped around a pencil to create the pumpkin curls. (both items available at Michaels).

Fall-i-fication @ The Mermaids Tale 2015

Sure my title could read Fall Home tour 2015 however that would be a bit prosaic for me. Anyone who knows me well enough knows my fascination with creating odd words for things.
For example , for fall decorating I refer to it as fall-I-fying. Yes indeed not a real word, but to me it sums up the process, to me it makes perfect sense. So I invite you into my home and a bit into my brain. The following photos are of my home this autumn , enjoy my fallification!

Naturally as a land living mermaid everything has a coastal vibe woven in.

Free October desktop calendar

Free October desktop calendar, just click to enlarge then right click and save.

Free September desktop calender

A little late but here you go, September free desktop calendar. Enjoy =)