https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/lets-be-mermaids-papercraft-wall-art • Posted by teaandcraft
Bring a little mermaid style into your house with this easy papercraft project ^___^ This project is fantastic for using up scraps of pretty papers, and I like how it creates a kind of eye-spy effect. I tried to stick to a primarily blue and green colour scheme, but I also added in some pink, silver, yellow, and brown to break up the shades and add interest. You could do any colour combination - mermaids come in all shades, after all!
Bring a little mermaid style into your house with this easy papercraft project ^___^ This project is fantastic for using up scraps of pretty papers, and I like how it creates a kind of eye-spy effect. I tried to stick to a primarily blue and green colour scheme, but I also added in some pink, silver, yellow, and brown to break up the shades and add interest. You could do any colour combination - mermaids come in all shades, after all!
First cut your light cardboard into a pendant shape. Mine is 30cm wide across the top, 31cm long down to the top of the pointy bit, and the edges of the pointy bit are 22cm. I used a quilting ruler to help measure out my pendant shape which was really helpful because it's big and see through. The card I used was recycled from a massive envelope; as you can see, it has folds and a hole in it but this won't matter because it will all be covered up ^___^
For my circle template I used a chipboard scrapbooking embellishment which I don't like and will therefore never use. Except as a template ~___^ The diameter of the circle template is 6.5cm. If you have a large circle punch, this would be the perfect time to use it; otherwise, you can do what I did which is to draw heaps of circles onto the back of your papers and then cut them all out.
I used about 62 circles to cover my pendant, but I cut out more than that so I could play mix and match while I was laying them out.
Use your glue to start sticking down the circles, starting at the bottom and moving your way up. Try to place the circles so that they are about halfway down on the circles of the previous row, and just touching on the sides - I found this is the best way to get a scaly look. On most of the circles I only added glue to the top half, which has allowed the bottom and sides to lift up; I actually really like this effect and think it helps the circles look even more like scales.
Once you've covered your entire pendant with circles, trim off the edges of the overhanging circles; just follow the edges of the base pendant to do this but only do the top and the sides - leave the circles on the angled edges as they are.
I folded a remaining bit of card in half, glued it together, and then glued it onto the back of the pendant to make a tube that holds the hanging string. To thread the string though, tie it onto something like a pen and then drop it through the tube. Then you can tie a knot in the ends of the string and pull it through the tube so that the knot is hidden.
I stuck an extra circle over the hole in the base of the pendant, just to tidy it up a bit. Plus, I like to have dates on things I make!
I used my tiny alphabet stamps and black ink to add "let's be mermaids" to one of the scales. I don't have an apostrophe stamp, so I added that in with a felt-tip pen.
And then it's all done! ^____^