Free. My favourite F word.

So after finishing my mermaid spa out of the master bath, I was still lacking artwork for the far wall. How does one find specific mermaid inspired art....for no money?

Enter my girl Louise (I am her Thelma), my garage-sailing babe. She was given 4 weird canvas art pieces of shoes at a garage sale by a man who just wanted these 12x12 canvases gone from his life. Yup, shoes. I mean, I like shoes but I do not want art of shoes. Each to their own.

Weird right? Weirder is it was a set of 2. Times 2. Doubles of shoes. Weird.

I had mermaid stencils, cause what Mermaid doesn't? So I set to work covering the canvases in ASCP 'Versailles". Broke out the stencils and used the same chalk paint in Aubusson Blue (leftovers from the dining table and chairs). Finished these babies off with a bit of white pickling stain to soften the colours and VOILA.

mermaid art yo :) fo free.....fo sure!

Turning the light on the Mermaids....

...or leaving a light on for Susi from Arcadian Lighting. A true "wannabe mermaid"! She's dropping in from points down south from my chilly Canadian burg, bringing you a guest post here in blogland that brings Mermaid-Inspired decor (featuring Arcadian Lighting's line) and other ideas to getcher mermaid selves out there.

Experimenting? I'm in....so take it away Susi!

Hi, I'm Susi a blogger for Arcadian Lighting, a great resource for ideas and inspiration for light fixtures and design inspiration. I love the Wannabe Mermaid blog and am excited to be a guest blogger here today. My post is about mermaid inspired interiors. I decided to focus on the mermaid's tail and those gorgeous fish scales. Enjoy!

How gorgeous is this wall of mermaid inspired fish scale tile? The colors are those of the sea. It's so perfect for a mermaid's bathroom.

This gorgeous fish scale wall is made with a stencil called Mermaid. How perfect! The gorgeous fish scale pattern could be custom colored to fit your décor. The blues in the wall color, bedding and glass lamps are beautifully reminiscent of the ocean.

Another version of the Mermaid stencil is done in black with a matte and gloss finish that shimmers like real fish scales. What a gorgeous pattern for a bedroom or powder room.

A fish scale pattern on an area rug makes for a wonderful graphic pattern for the floor. This pattern in blues and greens would look even more like a mermaid's tail.

Gorgeous shimmering fish scale walls in purple feel like a mermaid's tail. I love the purple mermaid wall in a foyer or in a mermaid inspired girl's bedroom.

I love the shimmering surface of the fish scale tiles in this shower. The soft sea inspired colors of blue and aqua have an iridescence that recall the mermaid's tail.

Shimmering gold scales look gorgeous in a frame. Imagine an entire wall covered in this cool DIY idea that uses layers of circles make the fish scales.

Like the gold fish scale art, this wall is a DIY project. For the mermaid look, paint the circles a range of blue, aqua, green and purple. Careful positioning of lighting fixtures accent this creative wall. It's gorgeous!

If you loved these mermaid inspired interiors and are craving more inspiration, check out Arcadian Lighting Blog. You'll find the best tips on bathroom lighting and more for your home. Who knows, you could even find inspiration to create a mermaid inspired room for your home too!

Image Credits: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Arcadian Lighting is the best source for lighting fixtures and accessories at discount prices. Arcadian Lighting has been in the lighting industry for over 15 years selling decorative home lighting fixtures and lamps online, and has become one of the top Internet retailers for home lighting products.

Thanks Susi and Anna (my contact at Arcadian Lighting) for the fantastic post. I'm going to be looking all over my house now to see where this mermaid can hang her scales. I have yet to try and/or review one of their products....but I think I'll do that and let you know all about it. Shall I?

I'm just teasing....

...but someone has a Guest Poster coming up. Here at the Mermaid...about mermaid inspired design.........written by mermaids (OK that one might be a lie). But never the less watch for a post early next week to getcher mermaid on!

A hint? Geez, you guys are so nosy....

"Womb to Tomb" Friends? I think not.

I like to check in on the Pioneer Woman. She makes me laugh and she rocks out some amazing recipes. I even bought her cookbook.....and I rarely buy those. She regularly talks about her friends. Those friends she has been friends with since they were babies. I don't have any of those.

My parents moved us around so much when we were younger that by the time I ended up in highschool, I think I was on school number 10+....I have lost track of pretty much anyone I ever met prior to Grade 12 and those who did stay on the radar are mostly relegated to Facebook because I live 4000 kms from the west coast now.

I know I will only ever have one "womb to tomb" friend - my sister Julie, but for others I do have a specificly awesome class of girlfriend to whom I like to refer as my....

"GREAT ASS to GRASS Girls"

You know, the ones you meet in your late 20s or early 30s (when you were most smokin') that make you laugh so hard you do this:

or this:

some of this:

and pretty much this nonstop.....

I intend to know these ladies till they put me under the dirt. Who are your girls? Have you called one today?

Now I understand why....

I am a wanna-be mermaid. Last night I listened to the droning hum of NHL hockey all night on the TV, heard countless mid to high-intensity squabbles going on in various rooms between Boys 1 & 2 and actually had the dog fart at me when I bent over to rub his exposed belly.

That's it. Fuck this. I ran a very deep bath, stuffed my huge frame in it, almost spilled the contents into Boy2's room below and stuck my head underwater.

If I could live my life for a week like that, I could actually book it as a staycation. I'm serious, when I was a kid my sister and I would sit at the bottom of our pool and look up at the hazy, feaky world and listen to nothing but the shooshing of our eardrums getting ready to pop. I think this is where I found my "I'm so fucking happy, I don't need Jesus, I love sunburns and I wish I had sticky candy" place in my head and heart. So when I can actually picture throwing my family's shit onto the lawn, I run a bath.