We adore creating fun Toilet Paper Roll Crafts for Kids. Today’s Mermaid Craft Idea isn’t made exactly from a Toilet Paper Roll, but rather from a cardboard tube found inside Kitchen Paper Towels or Wrapping Paper! Well… I know we created a Toilet Paper Roll Desk Tidy last week, yet I somehow still felt that I had been overlooking our fondness for Toilet Paper Rolls. After all, TP Rolls are one of Red Ted Art’s “signature” crafts!!! So, Red Ted and I decided to try our hand at making “something” else.
Can you believe we originally made these in August 2012, and that the little boy featured in this post is now nearly ready to go to University!! Waaaaaah.
Some lovely sequins caught my eye.. and suddenly I thought… Toilet Paper Roll MERMAIDS!
Please forgive the pictures; I had to use my iphone because my usual camera was “having issues” (tut tut). The lighting where we do our crafting is also rather poor. So. Let’s get started.
DIY Paper Roll Mermaid – Materials
- a Kitchen Towel Roll,
- paint,
- sequins (optional; you can simply paint it or use glitter instead),
- googly eyes,
- tissue paper,
- shells,
- glue
How to create your cardboard tube mermaid
1) To create the basic mermaid shape, we made small 1cm cuts around the entire paper roll, approximately 1/4 of the way up from one end. We then flattened the roll.
2) We painted the face and body pink, then added a sparkling blue shade to the body.
3) Once everything was dry, we attached googly eyes, added facial features, and glued on shells for the bikini… you could also paint shells directly on or use buttons or lids.
4) Next, we took a roughly A4-sized sheet of black tissue paper. I asked Red Ted which colour and material he preferred—wool, tissue paper, or regular paper—and he selected the black tissue paper. Scrunch it lengthwise, lay it over your mermaid’s head, and secure it with glue along the sides and back. Tie everything together with a few ribbons. Then bring out the sequins… and ta da:
Or.. have a look at our Clothes Pin Mermaids, or perhaps you’ll enjoy our Mermaid Bookmarks (including Printables!)
More Mermaid Craft Ideas here
I adore seeing how our Toilet Roll Mermaids have encouraged so many creative makers over the years. Here are a few wonderful Pinterest finds—click an image to visit the original pin. I especially love the yarn hair addition. So enjoyable.
And here’s another Pinterest idea—I love the suggestion of using bubble-wrap printing on the mermaid fins!
