DIY Mermaid Costume
It's Halloween and Oklahoma is almost 80 degrees making it hard for me to get into any kind of All Hallow's Eve spirit. Costume pressure is also so stressful these days. You either have to spend hundreds and go all out or you just end up being a sexy bunny or a sexy nurse or a sexy something. Oh and then there's the sexy zombie something. Hope I am not raining on anyone's parade but seriously I counted 40 bunnies in my face-book feed over the weekend. So usually I just forget it and have a horror movie marathon in my living room with some chocolate and wine.
But my friend Krista lives for Halloween and invited us to her 4th annual costume party this year. Lin was feeling anti social and has been having some back pain so I asked my friend Jenifer to accompany me to the bash. She was a bit reluctant as she had never celebrated Halloween before and that whole costume pressure was adding some anxiety. We were watching Hocus Pocus because it's only the greatest Halloween movie ever created and it's an annual tradition. And I knew Jen would be the perfect mermaid because of her striking red long locks and fair complexion. I remembered seeing all of Laura Conrad's costume tutorials and she created a perfect mermaid. Jenifer loved the costume and was on board. I love me some LC and STILL watch old episodes of The Hills. Her blog is one of my favorites especially for DIY projects. She is the DIY queen and I am so not.
Jen's costume was so easy to create and we only spent about 54.00 dollars for the supplies at Hobby Lobby. And then about 10.00 on lashes and glitter and some cosmetic items at Target. And we found a great bodysuit corset for 30.00 at Stein-mart. (PS I must give a shout out to Nadine at The Tulsa Harvard Hobby Lobby location. She was so amazing when assisting us with how much fabric we needed and some key tips with putting the costume together. She did not have to do any of that and we are so appreciative. Hang on to that one Hobby Lobby) We also did not even do any of the sewing LC did, we just utilized safety pins so even easier if you are in a time crunch and I know nothing about sewing.
DIY Mermaid Costume
Here’s what you will need:
two large scallop seashells
your choice of mixed seashells
corset or strapless bra
shimmery green fabric with some stretch
dark green or turquoise sequined fabric
tulle in different shades of turquoise and blue
medium sized safety pins
hot glue gun
several hot glue gun glue sticks
Instructions:
For the seashell bra:
Lay the bra on a flat surface and arrange the seashells to your liking.
We found these amazing pink shells that we loved.
Use your hot glue gun to secure all of the seashells onto the bra. I went through them individually to make sure each shell was intact. (This worked really great with two people. One working the glue gun and the other securing the shells to the bra. Also cover your hard surface in newspaper. )
Put any leftover shells into a towel and use a meat beater to break them so you can fill in the empty areas with shells so every surface is covered. (we did not do the back of the corset as it was already getting pretty heavy)
Now you can make the mermaid tail with your tulle. Lay out your two pieces of tulle on-top of each-other. We loved the dark blue piece that had a net texture on the top. Pinch them together in the middle and pull it up and pin the top with a safety pin.
Take your green fabric and wrap it around the person wearing the costume pinning it nice and tight around the waist and then work your way all the way down but stopping above the knee. We also liked it high waisted so the costume looks like it's one piece. You also will not have to use that many seashells on your corset. You will want this layer wrapped first because the green sequin fabric is completely see trough. Then take your sequin fabric and do the same thing but start in the opposite side you wrapped your first fabric. Lastly pin the tail on the back of the skirt.
So easy, right?! Thanks for the inspiration LC. What do you guys think? Did you dress up this year? Tag me in your pictures. I want to see!
Happy Halloween loves.
Xo
Sam