DIY Mermaid Tail Craft Kit!

As I scrolled through the million zillion photos on my phone I stumbled across a few that I took at Christmas that I want to share with you.  Let me make one quick disclaimer though- these were taken very late into the evening and it's not my best photography work.  My "model" (my son) was asleep and I really just wanted to get everything wrapped and ready for Christmas.  Looking back I still can't believe I laid everything on yellow tissue paper when taking a photo in our very yellow lighted room.

Oh well- I'm sharing the idea with you, not the pictures.  Check out my older posts for better photos!

Here's the backstory: I have twin 5 year old nieces who are into mermaids, fairies and crafty stuff.  I had planned on buying them some of those mermaid tail blankets but being the crazy crafting lady that I am- I decided to let them get crafty too!  So I took a trip to the fabric store, bought some fabric and craft accessories and got to work:


You will need:
-solid fleece large enough to cover both legs and up the waist a little.  (Remember it needs to wrap around you)
-printed fleece for the fins.  Again, remember that it is double sided.
-batting for inside the fins.  Batting can get super expensive so just go with the cheapest kind you can find in the thickness you want.
-crafting accessories like pom pom balls, sequin, buttons, fabric paint or other remnants of fabric.
-thread to match your fabric.

[Part 1- Making the blanket]

Sorry I don't have a pattern for you but it's so easy you don't need one.  Take a solid piece of fleece and fold it in half.  Slide your legs inside of it and using pins or tape make an "outline" around your legs.  This will not only get it the size you need but it also helps create that fitted mermaid tail shape.  Next, cut it out.

For the fins, simply mark off the shape you want with tape or pins and cut.

Note:  Don't forget to add a few inches outside of your lines when cutting it out to account for seams and so the blanket isn't too fitted. 
*For a tutorial on how to do the whole project, check out Cut Now, Measure Later.  This is the basic idea I followed when making mine.



[Part 2- Making the craft kit]

Here's the part I really wanted to share with you.  Instead of just gifting the blankets (which are adorable by themselves) let them use their imagination to create their own custom mermaid tail!  When you wrap up the blankets, include things like pom pom balls, fabric paint and spare fabric for them to cut out their own shapes.

I went ahead and cut out some common shapes from fleece as well...

If you want to include glue in the kit, that's good too.  I figured the family already had some so I did not.  E6000 is an amazing super glue but hot glue would work well also.  I have not had great luck in the past with fabric glue on fleece.


[That's it!]
I love that this isn't just a great gift but also an activity for your kids to work on!  Plus- if they have extra materials they can craft again with it later.  Who else has a little mermaid-lover in their life?