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My sister and I were talking recently. I wanted to throw a “Mermaid for a Day” book themed mermaid party to celebrate my debut picture book, she wanted to throw a mermaid party for my niece who was turning four. Things clicked together and suddenly I was throwing a “Mermaid For A Day” themed birthday party for my niece… and since I’ve thrown many boyish birthday parties for my 3 boys over the years, but never one for a little girl I was understandably over the moon to get to do this, and even more fun to get to theme it after my mermaid book!

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Inexpensive, Adorable Mermaid Party Tails!

In the “Mermaid for a Day” book a little girl helps a fish and is granted a wish, which she uses to become a mermaid.

Since that’s a key part of the book I really wanted an easy and fun way for the kids at the party to “transform” into mermaids, and the easiest way seemed to be if I had some fun mermaid tails they could put on to play in.

Mermaid For A Day Picture Book Page

I looked around online and didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg on play tails. The best online option I found were some like … plastic sack-race bag things that had mermaid tails painted on them. I kept them in the back of my mind, but they weren’t really want I was envisioning.

After more Pinterest and google searches I saw some people had made their own tails out of beach towels, or sewing projects that looked a lot more like what I had in mind.

I took what I saw and realized having four little kids of my own, I wanted something, cute, inexpensive, and not time consuming to make… so I simplified simplified simplified, and came up with these! I spent $6 and made 12 tails, each tail taking me a minute, maybe two to make.

Supplies Needed:

Fabric (of your choice) I got this 4 yards for $6 bundle at Walmart in the scrap fabric section and it was perfect! There were a lot of other fabric options that would have worked, but the nice thing about lace was that I didn’t have to worry about it fraying they way I might have with some of the other fabrics.
Elastic Bands (I used mini colorful hair elastics) that were $1-$2 for a huge pack
Scissors
Ruler (Optional)

Tutorial:

Step 1)

I grabbed my 4 year old and measured his waist (about 24 inches) and used that as my starting point. I folded my fabric in half (hotdog style) and cut out a straight piece that was 24″ wide at the top, then cut it along the fold so I had two 24″ pieces.

4 Yards for $6 Fabric
Fabric Laid Out

Step 2)

Next I moved to the bottom of the fabric and put my finger in the middle of the bottom edge, and maybe 4″ up from the bottom along the left side and pulled it together, kind of bundling the fabric, before securing it with an elastic band.

Gathering fabric for tail

Elastics used for tail
Gathering fabric for tail

Step 3)

I repeated step 2 for the other side, until I had two tail flipper looking sections.

Making second tail fin

Step 4)

Then I added one more elastic around both sides holding the flippers together and kind of hiding the small gap that having the two separate fins had made.

Finished Tail

Step 5)

Finally I grabbed one more elastic and used it at the top to secure the tail around my child’s waist. Done and done.

Honestly the whole process took only minutes. I was able to make a nice bundle of tails very quickly and inexpensively. I think they turned out really cute, and they were a huge hit at the party…. which I was so busy enjoying that I forgot to activity take pictures of the tails… this is the best I’ve got.

If you’re interested in seeing the book I based these off of, here’s a link to “Mermaid for a Day.”

Party Tail

@slyspoon If you have a mermaid party in your future, this is a great DIY tutorial to make inexpensive mermaid tails that the kids love (without Zoe, we’re spending a ton of time) I use them for a party we had a couple weeks ago, and kids ages 3 to 10 were big fans. #CapC#CapCutm#mermaidtailm#mermaidbirthdaym#MermaidBirthdayPartym#MermaidPartyIdeasm#MermaidPartyDecorm#mermaidtailsm#MermaidPartyDIYe#nosewmermaidtaile#nosewdiym#mermaidpartyfavorsm#mermaidpartythemem#mermaidpartysuppliesm#mermaidtaildiy ♬ The Little Mermaid (Marimba Remix) – Harry Goes Boom!


Mermaid For A Day	Dinosaur For A Day	Dragon For A Day	Penguin For A Day
A kind girl becomes and mermaid for a day and plays underwater games with other mermaids including seaweed hide and seek, swimming with dolphins, and exploring sunken pirate ships.	A kind boy gets his with to become a dinosaur for a day. He plays games with other friendly dinosaurs including coconut soccer, building a fort, and throwing stones into a volcano to make lava splash.	A kind boy gets his wish to become a dragon for a day. He spends the day playing with other friendly dragons. They fly together, squish clouds until it rains, make s’mores with their fire breath, and more.	An honest boy gets his wish to become a penguin for a day. He spends the day playing games with other friendly penguins including hockey, having a snow ball fight, fishing, and so much more.