Hello February!

I know, I know - where have I been?! With the new year came a heap of obstacles that snowballed and left me unable to keep Mermaidens updated - boo! I've finally sorted everything out and am able to share new posts with you guys - and thank goodness because I have missed you all so much ;___;

After such an long hiatus, a post catching you up whats been going on in my life would be apropos, right?!:

One of my new years resolutions was to start drawing more, and my first instinct was to draw cute fruit patterned backgrounds (and isn't my strawberry iPhone case the cutest?)!

I interviewed Miss Marlena for MissRobin's newest issue and much to my surprise, I spotted an illustrated version of my face with Marlena alongside the article! You will be seeing more of this issue in a future post so stay tuned :3

Finally found my dream Forever 21 shirt that had been sold out for months and organized my makeup in a pretty way - okay I guess this really wasn't newsworthy but the picture is pretty!?

On January 19th, my cat Fi passed away. We found her on our doorstep in 1998 and she has followed me from ages 5 to 20 through several moves, new animals, and helped me cope with some of the hardest moments of my life. It was all very sudden and it's been very difficult to wrap my head around - but thanks to the outpouring of love and support I received from readers via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, etc - I feel like I am coming to accept it. I can't thank you enough if you sent me a note - it helped me more then I could ever articulate.

The highlight of the January was, without a doubt, eating donuts with photographer Hana Haley in Portland on the 23rd! When Hana approached me to model for her, I was a bit afraid it was too good to be true. In the back of my mind I have secretly wished I could model once or twice - but to be honest I never thought anybody would consider me particularly special enough to photograph and I worried my shyness would interfere if I DID get a chance, somehow.

So imagine my absolute bewilderment and glee when I found myself posing for one of my favorite photographers! I had the most wonderful time - Hana not only immediately put me at ease and helped me forget to be nervous posing in front of strangers, but proved to be extremely funny and it was a pleasure to watch her set up a shot. Saying I feel extremely blessed and lucky to work with such a talented lady is an understatement and I will forever be grateful for such a wonderful opportunity! Hana has updated a few pictures from the shoot here and I will be making a post with the full series when it is released! <3

Please please let me know you have been and I hope you have a beautiful week!

Milk Teeths Vintage Giveaway

When I first discovered Milk Teeths Vintage, I was overjoyed! Not only is this vintage etsy shop filled with adorable and affordable vintage pieces, but it is owned by one of my favorite style bloggers, Ashley! I ended up buying this daisy dress there last spring, and I was completely satisfied with my purchase - it even came with the sweetest note! I am very happy to announce Ashley is generously offering one lucky reader $75 to spend at Milk Teeths Vintage!

Enter the giveaway using the widget below, but if you can't wait, Milk Teeths is offering 15% off with the code "mermaidens"! Good luck friends!

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Giveaway is open internationally. Winner will be contacted via email. If winner doesn't respond within 5 days a new winner will be chosen.

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? ♡

Strawberry Milkshakes

DRESS: Sugarhill Boutique via ASOS * SOCKS: Clearance bin at Wal-Mart SHOES: c/o ChicWish HARRIET GRAY TEMPORARY TATTOO: c/o Yurei Boutique

After months and months of wishing, this Sugarhill Boutique dress is finally hanging in my closet! With the beautiful minty color and the fact it's covered in tiny milkshakes, it is definitely one of the sweetest dresses I own! I was lucky enough to get it with an ASOS giftcard I won from Ron at Dresses on a Clothesline and it's just as dreamy in person!

I wore this dress to a local 50s inspired diner - the food there is wonderful with burgers, shakes, and my absolute favorite: breakfast food.

These socks I found in the clearance bin at Wal-Mart for only $2(!) and the beautiful pink jelly wedges are from ChicWish! I don't ever feel very graceful, so stability is something I always struggle with as far as heels/wedges go - but I was super impressed with how stable I felt in these despite how tall they are!

Sorry for how quiet it's been lately! My cat Fi is doing better but the vet decided she needs a higher dosage of antibiotics and I have been giving her liquid medicine via the mouth twice daily for the past few days - it's so difficult and stressful because she hates it so, so much! I wish we could somehow just tell her it's for her own good - but since that isn't the case we have to wrap her up in a towel and pry her mouth open! Here's hoping it works :(

Hope you are all well! <3

Retro Barbie Makeup Tutorial

Last month, I kind of fell in the rabbit hole of Youtube videos - watching the beautifully filmed and edited monthly favorites and lookbooks, it didn't take long for me to want to try it out for myself (even though I really am not a fan of my voice)! After weeks of trying to plot the perfect video, I filmed and edited my very own makeup tutorial. And what better subject then one of my ultimate beauty icons - Retro Barbie? I'm not 100% happy with the end result, but I'm still proud of myself for dipping my toe in such uncharted territory!

I got to show off some of my very favorite makeup products lately too - like Maybelline's new lip elixirs and Tarina Tarantino's hyperliner in kanzasi; which I bought from Emerging Thoughts, a favorite store who are giving Mermaidens readers 15% off all orders with the coupon code "kailey"!

Is making videos something you think I should keep trying to get better at? I'd love to hear your thoughts! ♡

ON MY FACE:
MAC's RiRi Woo (sold out; Ruby Who is nearly identical!)
Tarina Tarantino Hyperliner in Kanzashi
Benefit's POREfessional
Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB Cream
Maybelline's Lip Exilir in Signature Scarlet

Yummy You! by Twinkie Chan Giveaway!

Right before I opened Mermaidens, I decided I wanted to be more creative and headed to the arts and crafts section at the library. There I found Twinkie Chan's Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies - a book dedicated solely to creating food with crochet! Completely enchanted, I checked it out and marveled at Twinkie Chan's sheer talent and planned to make a bunch of adorable cupcakes and ice creams for myself - that is, until I actually tried to crochet... (cough) I vowed to leave the crocheting to Twinkie, and followed her creative peruses on various social networking sites with equal parts awe and admiration!

I was particularly excited by her newest venture, Yummy You!, where she has socks, scarves, magnets, and wallets - all at super affordable prices!

So when nestled in my inbox was an email from Selina at Yummy You! asking if I wanted to do a giveaway with them, I just about died from excitement!

In case you can't tell, I'm pretending to eat the cupcake scarf - as you do.

You can enter to win this ADORABLE cupcake scarf from Yummy You! by using the Rafflecopter widget below! This giveaway will end on November 18th and is open to international readers! GOOD LUCK ♡

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