A Mermaid DIY—A Sea Shell Top

Coming at ya’ this week with another mermaid DIY! Here is part one of a two-part post about how I made my seashell top! When I first became a professional mermaid, I had two main priorities for moving forward: I needed a tail and I needed a top.

My first tail was a beautiful and simple Mertailor Eco Tail, in a beautiful sunset orange color (which is seems they no longer carry—sad day!). These tails make mer-mazing practice tails, especially for mers who are just starting out!

My second priority was the mermaid top, and though there are great options available online, I wanted to try my hand at a little arts and crafts and create my own mermaid top! I can’t wait to share my process with you because I had so much fun creating my sea shell top! This post will be a slightly untraditional DIY, because it’s not something that’s easily broken down into steps. Instead, I’m going to describe my process, and hopefully it can provide some inspiration if you want to create your own top!

I started out by searching the web for mermaid top inspiration. I went to the great Mernetwork, the social network site designed just for the merfolk of the world. The two most popular top styles, I think, are scale tops and the classic seashell tops. Scale tops usually match the scales of a mermaid’s tail, and—while they can look especially fierce and mystical—I’m not a huge fan of them. It’s definitely not as traditional a look as I wanted, and it seems to me a strangely specific place for a mermaid to grow scales.

After choosing my top style, I browse some tops that I liked, and selected some models that I wanted to base my top off of. I had to order a pair of lions paw shells, which after searching on Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, I finally found what I was looking for on an Etsy shop. I decided to go with real sea shells, because I thought they would provide the most natural and realistic look. There are some viable plastic and even silicone options, but I was worried about the paint possibly chipping or peeling. Using real shells do have drawbacks, however, so when you select your own shells, keep these in mind: Real shells are heavy!! They can also be fragile, so you have to be gentle and protect them from chipping.

Once I had my centerpieces chosen, I needed to select a base. My options were either a bikini top or a bra. I’ve seen some mers create tops by drilling holes directly in the shells and using rope to create a top. While these tops look gorgeous, I thought I would feel a little more comfortable with some more support. I decided to go with a bra, and I chose a lightly padded nude bra I picked up for like $6 at Walmart. When selecting a base, look for support and strong material, but stray away from overly-push up bras because they can soak up too much water and become soggy!

I had my base and shells chosen, and next week I’ll describe the making process, along with the decorations I added!

Best Wishes and Swimmy Fishes,

Mermaid Kira