Celebrating Five Years of Mermaids Dive Into Inspiration Thank you for five wonderful years of Dreaming, Risking & Adventuring. We couldn't have done it without you!

Vintage and Junk Shows Vintage & Junking Looking for a vintage or junk show near you? We have a great line-up of events from all over the country. Come back often, because we'll be adding new dates and locations.

Fresh Strawberry & Jalapeno Barbecue Sauce Food & Entertaining Sun, Summer, and Strawberries- Entertaining by the Bay shares the Perfect Strawberry and Jalapeno Barbecue Sauce and Grilled Chicken.

Reviving the Waterfall Dresser Vintage & Junking Talented Jessica Jochim of Paint in My Hair tells us how she revived this early 1900's waterfall dresser from start to finish.

Make It: Camping Fare Food & Entertaining There's no reason why camping fare should be limited to hot dogs, hamburgers, and s'mores!

May-June 2013
Volume 9, Issue 3

Swing into Spring Fun!

"Is the spring coming?" he said. "What is it like?"
"It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine..."
— Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

Spring is here wearing her pink, green, and yellow glory! Our lake is bursting with flower and tree buds, the geese and ducks are noisily making nests, and the sun dances on it's lively ripples. We're having strange urges to dig in the dirt, clean out cupboards, and don floral blouses. It's the most energetic, beautiful time of the year!

What a perfect time to celebrate our fifth year. Yes! It's our birthday! In May 2008, Mermaids of the Lake began as an online lifestyle magazine for women. In the past five years it has grown from a magazine published six times a year to a community made up of tens of thousands of beautiful members that encourage one another and celebrate life on a daily basis. What amazing connections and relationships we've made.

In this issue we are excited about new things. Take a look around. There are new pages to explore. Spring is celebrated with great ideas for homemaking, creating, cooking, and getting out for fun! Check out our fabulous recipes, homemaking tips, vintage finds, and fresh creative tutorials. Celebrate this new season with relish. We encourage you to delight in the riches you have. Look around. See and celebrate the abundance in your life. From there, tap into confidence and excitement to dive into your dreams, take a risk or two, and make life an adventure.

Happy Birthday to us and a Thank You to our dear friends
~Mermaids Debbie Nania and Shelley Hepler

Also In This Issue

	Forest Ranger Girl Dive Into Inspiration Are you following your childhood dream? It's NEVER too late to become who you might have been!
	Estee Lauder Mad Men Collection Health & Beauty Estee Lauder's Limited Edition Mad Men Collection is back! Prime Beauty blogger Cindy Ingalls shares this luxurious collection.
	Brown Butter Carrot Cookies Food & Entertaining Heather Scholten of Farmgirl Gourmet shares an old recipe for carrot cookies reinvented using spiced brown butter in place of shortening.
	her Love of Aprons Creating Elaine Tolson shares her appreciation of the women who lived, loved, and shared their lives while wearing an apron.
	Homemaking Products We Love Homemaking We like to let our readers know about products that help make homemaking a joy. We hope you love them, too.
	Let's Get Creative: Crayons & Hot Rocks Creating This is a super fun project for all ages, including adults and would be completey "worry free" with older children. Mermaid Debbie shares how she did this project with 30 preschoolers!
	Words of Inspiration Dive Into Inspiration A collection of words of wisdom, inspiring quotes, wise sayings, sage musings, and motivational messages.
	From Neglected to Coveted Vintage & Junking The Funky Junk Sisters of Junk Salvation are at it again; taking something that is boring, sad, or neglected, and with simple flair, turning it into something beautiful and desirable!
	Inspired by Pinterest: Floral Abstract Dive Into Inspiration Fun and easy abstract painting proves to be a great mother-daughter Pinterest project.
	Women's Weekend 2013, Camp Four Echoes Lake Stuff Hurry to get in on the Early Bird Special for Womens Weekend 2013. Imagine an entire weekend at Camp Four Echoes at Lake Coeur d'Alene.
	Fashion Splash: Little Birds Everywhere Health & Beauty This season birds and bird-inspired looks took over the runways. The fashion world is a flutter with the look of feminine flight and joy.
	Debbie Loves Vintage Vintage & Junking Chipped, rusty, faded, worn. These are beautiful words to the Mermaids! Come into my home to see how I celebrate vintage.
	Are You a Basket Case for Baskets? Vintage & Junking Fancy or simple, baskets can be practical and functional or used to add an aesthetic touch to your home.
	Arbor Crest Wine Cellars: A Tradition of Taste Food & Entertaining Lauri Ross, aka Sip, edits the blog Sip of Spokane. Her mission is to promote wine in Eastern Washington with a delicious focus in and around Spokane. She shares one of her favorite wine venues with us here
	Shelley Loves Vintage Vintage & Junking Chipped, rusty, faded, worn. These are beautiful words to the Mermaids! Come into my home to see how I celebrate vintage.
	Grandma Erma: A Picture of Practical Grace Homemaking Shelley's grandma was a no-nonsense gal, who did everything with a matter-of-fact, get-down-to-business attitude.
	Make it Yourself: Super Simple Shower Cleaner Homemaking We love this super simple shower cleaner. We believe you will too. And, by simple we mean: It only takes 2 ingredients and can be whipped up in minutes! It works great!
	Lake Reflections: Feathered Friends Lake Stuff Debbie recalls time with her unusual, beloved pets.
	The Dreaded Drive-By Drop-In Homemaking It's one of those days. Your house is an absolute and total disaster. Of course, that would be the day the in-laws call to say they'll be there in 10 minutes. Eeeek!
	Loving the Body I'm In Health & Beauty What would you do today if you knew you had the perfect figure? If you could be ten years younger? If you had flawless skin? If you had...
	Current Mer-Reads: Frazier, Madigan and more Dive Into Inspiration The Mermaids love to read, read, read! See what they think about their books, as well as what is on each of their nightstands.
	Loving The Lake Lake Stuff Dive right in! Here we share memories and photos of great times at the lake. We'd love to share yours, too!
	Mermaid Picture Galleries Did you know that we love photos from you? Yes, we do! We have several fun galleries where you can share your images.
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