Mermaid Paper Crown

For my final project as an Art Glitter Design team member, I am going to make a Mermaid Paper Crown, similar to the Spring Queen crown I made for my very first project a year ago. Wow, how time flies!!
Here is what I used:

1. #358 - Jungle Green - Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
2. #232 - Michigan Moss Green - Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
3. #46 - Summertree Blue/Green - Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
4. #113 - Sky Blue - Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
5. #89 - Martini - Ultrafine Transparent Glitter
6. #71 - White Gold - Ultrafine Opaque Glitter
7. Faux Snow Glitter
8. Fantasy Fiber - Mint Sparkle
9. Want 2 Scrap - Nestabling pearl frames #4059
10. Assorted seashells - all sizes - including 2 small sand dollars and two small starfish - Michael's sells little boxes of random colored seashells in various sizes and shapes
11. Fresh water pearls and loose pearls
12. Hot glue gun
13. Assorted thick paper
14. A few acrylic paint colors - you pick!
15. 2 different colors of crepe paper
16. Ribbon - I used May Arts BM66 - 3/8" Blue/Green Reversible Ribbon
17. 2 rivets

And I used 3D Embossit Art Glitter Adhesive to give the areas I glittered a little bit of a lift. The beauty of this "under the sea" themed crown is that it doesn't have to be perfect or symmetrical. It should have imperfections, have an organic feel to it and don't plan it out too much. Have fun, make a mess and let loose! I started with my paper elements first. I traced a crown onto a thick white construction paper and cut that out, and then I quickly free-handed some seaweed "s" shapes and curves and cut those out. All these pieces got a super quick coat of acrylic paint. I used a deep turquoise green and a more avacado green on the seaweed. Use whatever colors you like! Pink, purple... have fun! I then added a crepe paper fringe to the bottom of the crown in green and blue. I then added the Want2Scrap pearl self-adhesive bling frame to the center of the crown and cut up another frame to use on the sides of the crown. These are so easy to use and will really give this crown a finished look. More glitter on the seaweed! I used all the green colors on the seaweed to give it lots of color, shimmer, sparkle and texture. I then glued down the seaweed to the crown and added the fantasy fiber on the base of the crown using a hot glue gun. Next, I took my seashells and glittered about half of them in random blue and green glitter colors. After these dried, I hot glued them to the bottom of the crown in a loosey-goosey sort of way. I also glued down some fresh water pearls I had laying around and wound them around the shells. I had two sand dollars and those each got a covering of the clear Martini glitter and the starfish got the complimentary white gold glitter. I think that's my favorite part! After the shells went down, I added more pearls, some faux snow, the rivets on the ends of the crown and laced through some ribbon. The finished crown was quite heavy, but it looks so fun!



And of course, Meg wanted to be a little mer-dog for the afternoon ;)

To see more projects and art by Carrie, check out her blog Violet Cottage.