Herefollows a quick video on how-to make a no-sew mermaid tail and costume.
WHY?
Well, it’s almost Halloween and if there are parents like me out there (I have to hope I am not alone)… there are parents saying to themselves in a panic, “HOW IS HALLOWEEN ALREADY ONLY 3 DAYS AWAY HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN EVERY YEAR MY KID DOESN’T HAVE A COSTUME I AM THE WORST PARENTAL UNIT EVER?!”
You know in inside panic voice uses all caps an no punctuation, right?
I came up with this hack via Pinterest inspiration. And desperation. Lucy had a mermaid-themed birthday party to go to recently and she thought it was a dress-up party (turns out it was not, but look what good came from it!).
I actually based this DIY off a mermaid tail made from a beach towel. A beach towel didn’t quite do it for Lucy and me so we took it up a notch.
In the video you’ll see I used a length of fabric (with a coupon it cost me four bucks) at a local fabric store. We already had scissors, hair ties, and loads of ribbon options (I may or may not be a ribbon hoarder… in dire times of DIY the ribbon hoarding is less like hoarding and more like SAVING THE DAY but I digress…). In short – this was cheap. Which was exactly my price-point.
In the pin I based this hack on, they used a towel. They tied the towel around the waist and knotted the tail… a great idea for a pool party, actually! Â I found our towels were not wide enough so I flipped the towel over on a length of ribbon and tied it onto Lucy. The ribbon hack worked…
However, I figured with a little extra umph, we could do better and still keep it on the cheap.
And easy.
The only thing I love more than coffee and chocolate?
EASY.
Not counting the trip to the fabric store (the least *easy* part of this project), my version took under 10 minutes to make. Some folks might hem edges and whathaveyou.
*I am not that kind-of some folk. If you are, I love that you are and really wish I had that skill-set. And I sometimes must remind me not to be jealous of you and your magic hands. But then I stop and decide to love me for who I am instead of spiraling into depression over who I am not but again, I DIGRESS.
AND YOU GUYSÂ WHAT I DID HAVE GOING FOR ME WAS… I already had scissors, hair ties, ribbon, and little girl who was perfectly happy with a towel tail.
Lucy is such an awesome kid.
Badda boom badda bing…
To make the costume complete, pair a lei and/or beachy jewelry… a bikini top or swim suit will work too! We added leggings, a plain long sleeve t-shirt with the bikini top over the shirt (we live in the PNW so a swim suit-based costume is far too cold come Halloween night, plus she’s a bit modest too, which I don’t mind one bit!). Mermaids don’t wear shoes, so… just make the best choice for your own mermaid *wink*.
That was fun. Sure do love it when an idea works out. The gluten free melty chocolate cookies I made the other day did not. I’d post a picture of the fail but it looks like a pile of poop.
You win some, you lose some.
