10 Cute Stocking Stuffers Under $10

Whenever I look at stocking stuffer guides and see things $40+ I'm a bit shocked! Growing up with three siblings, I learned at a young age what it meant to stretch a dollar and to me "stocking stuffers" has always meant "under $10". So when Jaime suggested I make a post about finding cute stocking stuffers with tight budgets in mind, I was happy to compile a list for those of us who have a strict budget to stick to this holiday season!

WET N WILD'S MEGALAST LIPSTICKS in 24 Carrot Gold, Cherry Picking, Pinkerbell,
Red Velvet, & Sugarplum Fairy

REVLON'S HEAVENLY NAIL POLISH, ETUDE HOUSE ICE CREAM NAIL POLISH
(a gift from Marlena - thank you doll!)

MAKEUP
Pretty much the holy grail stocking stuffer for me is makeup! There are so many really wonderful drugstore makeup brands out there with super affordable prices. My favorites are Wet n Wild (particularly their $2 lipsticks - I LOVE THEM), E.L.F., Revlon, and NYX.

TOYS
Target has adorable Lego minifigures (in store for only $2.99 I believe! My little brothers love these and have quite a collection) and a $1 section filled with cute knick knacks - World Market also has a bunch of adorable old fashioned toys!

CANDY
Okay, who doesn't love candy?! This Giant Gummy Bear On A Stick on Fred Flare looks pretty darn heavenly, but normal sized sweets and the classic candy canes will do just as well of course! What's everybody's favorite candy? Mine is Hasbrio gummies!

DARLING WHAT HAVE I DONE? & PIZZA WHIPPED PINS BY WISHCANDY

PINS
I love love love pins - especially when you can support your favorite independent artists by purchasing them! I just recently bought this Wishcandy pin and it's perfect! Other cute pins found on etsy: all of these by The Floral Prince & Mr. Meow Pin by Pretty Little Fawn. You can find some cute ones on Hot Topic as well.

CLOTHES
Forever 21 has a great under $10 section with cute cropped tops that would be perfect layering pieces!

STATIONARY
Notebooks, pens, pencils, envelopes, notepads, stickers, novelty erasers - I love that stuff! Sanrio and Darling Dear have a great selection.

CANDY HEART RING BY CREATURE TYPE

ACCESSORIES
Like gloves, socks, headbands (Forever 21 has a bunch), jewelry (there is so many cute pieces on etsy!), and these temporary tattoos by Harriet Gray are particularly adorable.

Another fun option is compact mirrors - this Sweet & Lovely Pocket Mirror is adorably retro and Forever 21's are always my favorite!

MAGAZINES
A single magazine is fun to roll up in a stocking, and magazines like Teen Vogue and Marie Claire are just $10 to subscribe for a whole year (or in Teen Vogue's case, two)!

ITUNES GIFT CARD
Music is one of the greatest gifts, and thanks to iTunes you can gift your loved ones quite an impressive amount of tracks with only $10.

DIY
As great as this all are, nothing is quite as special as a gift you made with your own two hands just for them! Here is my DIY Pinterest board for some ideas.

Hasbro Gummy Cherries, Ruffled Socks, Cat Ears Headband, Purr Lip Gloss, Cat Makeup Brushes, Cat Compact, Mr. Meow Pin, Sweet & Lovely Pocket Mirror, Creature Type Ring, NYX Lipstick, Giant Gummy Bear, Wishcandy Pin, Heart Stud Earrings.

Forever 21, Target, World Market, Wal-Mart, and Dollar Tree have literally hundreds of cheap, cute knick knacks that would be perfect for stocking stuffers and are also my favorite places to shop in general! Another bit of advice: when shopping online, most stores offer the option to sort products by lowest price first - which is super helpful!

The possibilities are truly endless and I hope this post was able to give you some ideas! I would love to hear about your Christmas plans - have you already started buying presents? ♡

Happy Holidays from Mermaidens! ♡

Here's hoping you all have a happy, healthy and bright holiday season filled with beautiful people, things, and sweets! When I see you next, I'll have turned 19 - my birthday is on the 25th eep!

♡,
Kailey

How To: Make Your Own Valentines

Personally, I have always LOVED Valentine's Day! I take this holiday as an opportunity to give my loved ones Valentines and show them how much I appreciate them (I firmly believe that this holiday shouldn't be ~exclusive~ for couples!) and eat wayyy too much discount chocolate on the 15th. I thought it might be fun to share with you how I make these valentines, and hopefully inspire a few of you to make some as well!

You Will Need
1. Multicolored cardstock/construction paper (and lots of it! Use any colors you would like, but be sure to have white on hand!)
2. Glue
3. Scissors
4. Fiskars Paper Edgers (optional)
5. Sequins and rhinestones
6. Magazine clippings of your favorite people/things (optional)

Begin by cutting out heart shapes - don't worry about making them perfect!

Glue this heart onto white paper, and using Fiskars Paper Edgers, cut around the heart. This will give the paper a white patterned edge (if you do not have any of these scissors, you can hand cut scallops out, but this will be more time consuming).

Now, line the colored heart with glue, and place sequins around the entire valentine.

(This might take a while)

Once you are finished, we have these beautiful bases! You can decorate these any way you want - I have a few examples of what I did below!

For the valentines on the left and middle, I cut out magazine clippings of Edward Scissorhands and Saved by the Bell and used sequins to add some ~pizazz. For the valentine on the right, I sketched out Siouxsie Sioux and then cut out the shape of her hair, eyebrows, eyes, and the mouth with paper.

For this pink one, I simply glued rhinestones onto the heart. Instant pretty!

And lastly, I made this card by cutting out the shapes and assembling them into the image of Batman and Superman. As a particularly fitting finishing touch, I added this mushy line: "You're My Kryptonite".

And there you have it! Pretty please let me know if you use this tutorial to make your own (I'd absolutely love to see them), and if you have any questions feel free to leave me an email or a comment!

♥, Kailey
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The Bride of Frankenstein

This Halloween, I turned to one of my favorite horror films for costume inspiration. Elsa Lanchester's BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) is absolutely incredible - from her iconic look to her perfect performance, her take on the monster's bride is one of my favorite film characters.

This year, I attempted to recreate her costume using a thrifted wedding dress and fashioning white fabric into the mummy-like sleeves. Definitely not the best rendition of her look, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, especially considering I only had about a day to put it together! ^^

I must apologize for being so absent as of late, my internet has been wonky for the past week! What did you do for Halloween?

♥, Kailey

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