“Follow your joy” is amazing advice. That’s how we find out who we truly are and what we really love… and we get to have a great time in the process. We have been following our joy, which has meant putting effort in new places. That also means that things we used to really love – like blogging about cute indie & vintage products – are not being worked on much right now. And you know what? That’s totally OK.

But yesterday I surprised myself with an idea for Mables.com that was actually a joy to work on. On the left side of the site I swapped out the rotating banner ads and replaced them with positive affirmations. No products or services to promote: just some much needed positive thinking for anyone who stops by. In sales, making the customer feel genuinely good about herself is rare. It’s more profitable to use fear so a person feels (subconsciously or consciously) like a dork who needs to shop herself to perfection.

So take a deep breath… and enjoy these reminders of how awesome and loved you are. All is well.

To see all 5 messages, visit any of the category pages on Mables.com and take a look at the left hand side;

• Unusual & Unique Gifts
• Eco Friendly Gifts
• Retro & Vintage
• Accessories & Wearables
• Home & Decor
• Gadget Gifts
• Child Gifts
• Easy Gifts
• Luxury Gifts
• Pet Gifts

Posted by Lauren in Misc
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The title of this post is very accurate. Whether you’ve been to Mable’s blog before or are a new visitor, you’re about to read something a bit different than the usual company or shopping blog. We’re about to get really honest.

Next month will mark Mables’ 2 year anniversary of blogging. It’s been a fun journey, full of interesting products and sales, as well as a learning experience for us personally. And like everything in life, this blog is not static; every post is an evolution of sorts. We’ve been brainstorming about possibilities for growth on Mables.com and today we’re proud to announce the next step for us. We’re changing the way that we write so that each post is really representative of products and innovations that we feel are important to talk about. Our focus on “Unique Gifts” hasn’t really been specific enough. It’s allowed us to talk about everything from handmade Valentines to replica jewelry and even blogs as gifts. Initially, we wanted to cover those diverse topics so we could offer “something interesting for everybody”. After 2 years of blogging like that we realized it just wasn’t us. That’s not what we genuinely want Mable’s to be. We quit our day jobs so we could be pioneers, not take the path of least resistance.

Starting today, Mable’s Unique Shopping Blog will become more focused on the topics we most enjoy and find important. For better or worse, it will also be written very honestly. In the real world we shoot from the hip, and our blog is really going to reflect that. We’ve always been a bit unconventional, but radical honesty is our goal now. In a world where it seems like every inch of space and every opinion is for sale, we want to be a transparent alternative. If we hear about a really great sale at Giant Company X, will we still let our readers know? Sometimes, but most of the time we will be writing about eco-friendly products and technologies, vintage items, independent companies, and a few geeky gadgets. These are our passions, and we’re choosing to follow them. Several of the blog categories might end up becoming a little bare, but we’ll really fill up the other categories to make up for it.

We hope you’ll join us for this new adventure. Come by and watch our progress, let us know how we’re doing, and share your links to other organizations or people who are trying to blog this way. We’re not sure what the outcome will be, but it’s a risk we’re excited to take. One final question: what do we call this kind of online communication? Blogging with Integrity? Honest Blogging? Blogging From the Hip? What are your thoughts?

* Integrity image courtesy of Right Brain Terrain, creators of amazing Alternative Motivational Posters

Posted by Lauren in Misc
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Sorry we’ve been away for a while, but we got sick and had to wait it out with lots of movies and sleep. It’s the time of year again when a lot of people get sick, so we thought we could help others and remind ourselves on how to prevent a surprise illness as well as treat some common issues with homeopathic remedies.

Native Remedies has some excellent tips on strengthening your immune system. Along with their very popular ImmunityPlus herbal remedy they also note that sufficient exercise, a healthy and balanced diet, quality sleep, good hygiene, are essential to a strong immune system. Native Remedies sets themselves apart from other online stores like theirs by providing lots of very useful info related to the product/illness. It’s almost like reading a Wiki on the ailments that tells you why it’s happening, how you can prevent it next time, and what to do about it now. They are also full of glowing reviews from real customers, and it appears a lot of them are repeat customers. Native remedies also has an ongoing great value on pretty much any product they carry of buy 2 get 1 free.

Already sick? Here are some remedies for some of the most popular ailments.
Throat and Tonsil Dr.: for the natural treatment of throat infections, including Tonsillitis.
ComfiCoff: a complex remedy containing both herbal and homeopathic ingredients combined in therapeutic dosages to provide rapid and effective relief of congestion and phlegm.
KiddieVom Sprinkles: combines 100% safe and natural herbal and homeopathic ingredients that support the digestive process and relieves nausea and vomiting in children.

For proven, effective and safe natural remedies to anything from bed wetting to joint relief remember to visit and bookmark Native Remedies.

So now that you have all this info, you can see that preventing illness is a key component to being a super hero. Have you ever seen Superman sick or Wonder Woman too ill to fly her invisible plane? OK then, step one complete.

Posted by Sean in Misc
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Hey everyone, it’s finally here: our new website design! The blog looks the same, but the rest of the site? Totally redesigned, all new gift ideas. If you haven’t seen it already, check it out! (Here’s a “before” shot for comparison.) After our Halloween season host duties were done at 365 Halloween, we started working behind the scenes here, which is why things have been a little slow since October. We had hoped to get the site launched by December 1st, but we kept programming more features and adding more products and coupon codes until, oops, December 12th! Anyway, please let us know what you think and if you run into any snags. We still have a lot of old content to migrate so some of the pages will still have the old design, but otherwise everything should be working smoothly.

Now that we’re (mostly) finished with that task, we’ll be posting a lot of new holiday gift ideas and green holiday tips, so come be sure to come back daily or subscribe to our RSS feed.

Posted by Lauren in Misc
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At World’s End, the final installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy is less than a week away! Yesterday was the unconventional world premier, which was held at Disneyland, and many of the stars were in attendance. Tickets were sold to the public at a whopping $1,500 a piece, with proceeds benefiting the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

For the rest of us, we still have about 5 days left of waiting (or 4 and some change if you hit up a night-time showing on Thursday). To further add to the anticipation and excitement, and to speed the week along, next week is Pirate Week at Mable’s Blog. From Monday through Friday we’ll be blogging about “salty old pirates” and all the savvy merchandise they have spawned. Who doesn’t need a little more adventure in her life? So join us May 21-25 for a week of pirate booty!

Posted by Lauren in Fun, Misc
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For some people, Overstock is like crack. Like eBay, their inventory is constantly changing and often available only in small quantities. You have to keep checking back to see what new discounts and coupons are available, otherwise you might miss The Deal. Overstock fanatics and newbies alike can rejoice at the O Day Sale going on the next 4 days. Get %10 off your purchase, plus pay just $1 for shipping.

Sale runs 4/27/07 – 4/30/07 @ 11:59 PM MST

Posted by Lauren in Misc, Sale
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We love Rare Bird Finds. They bring us the best in fresh, new, gifty type items and always have a new gift guide or contest. Right now they’re featuring 100 unique gift ideas, all at $10 or less. If you’ve got a birthday, anniversary, or other gift-worthy event coming up, but are low on funds then head over to their 100 Goodies Under $10 guide. Savvy visitors might even recognize a couple products that have previously been featured on Mable’s. Hey, great minds think alike!

Posted by Lauren in Misc
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As the year comes to an end all the clearance sales jump out at us to entice us to buy one last time. So if you are looking for a great deal, clearance sales are the way to go. There are always awesome deals over on our coupon code page but I’d like to take the time to feature some great clearance sales right here.

Brookstone – Save up to 80% – Clearance on Brookstone’s Best
Cooking.com – Clearance Sale – 75% off!
BuyCostumes – Clearance Costumes up to 80% off!
Hammacher Schlemmer – Save up to 70% at the Hammacher Schlemmer Special Values Sale.
Books aMillion – Book Clearance Sale – Save up to 80%!
CircuitCity – Spectacular Sale & Clearance begins Dec 26th
Zappos – Check out their clearance section.
NewEgg – Check out their clearance section.
UnbeatableSale – Free Shipping on Clearance Products $200 up to $500
CollectiblesToday – Shhh… Super Secret Collectibles Clearance Sale!

All of these clearance sales end soon, so act now and save. Some will end with 2006 and some will continue for one more week.
For coupons that aren’t expired check out our online coupons page.

Posted by Sean in Misc
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Starting Monday December 18th BuyCostumes is offering 50% off all their clearance items. That’s 50% off adult costumes, kid costumes, pet costumes, costume accessories, party decor, party supplies and more that are marked as clearance. A clearance item is denoted as any item that has a red banner with white text that says “Clearance” in their product listings.

This is the perfect time to get a Rich Velvet Santa Suit for well below it’s normal price. This particular costume retails for $169 but with the clearance price plus the 50% coupon code you can get it for only $50! It’s also a perfect time to stock up on Halloween decor for next year or display it all year round if you are a fellow 365Halloween fan.

Coupon Code: Use coupon code OUTTAHERE06 to receive 50% off any clearance items while supplies last.

Posted by Sean in Halloween, Misc
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Imagine if you could upload your favorite digital images to one place online and easily share them with your friends and family. Sure there are a lot of services out there that do this, but SmugMug stands out from the rest; as affirmed in glowing reviews from real users. If you are like us a good chunk of your digital photos are considered priceless and your only copies are on your PC. It’s frightening to even think of what would happen to your images if your hard drive was to crash or your computer was to catch fire. That’s why SmugMug allows unlimited storage and saves 4 copies of your high-res photos in 3 different states. Once uploaded to SmugMug you can sleep well knowing your memories are safe.

Pictures of your family are some of the best gifts long distance family members will get this year. SmugMug also makes it easy to purchase prints of any photo you or your family might choose. When purchasing prints there are options to get the printed on photo paper, mugs, shirts, postcards and more.

Visit SmugMug today for your free trial and see for yourself how easy it really is.

Posted by Sean in Misc
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