So my big girl had a Little Mermaid themed party and in the
middle of this huge desert we live in, I wanted to bring the sea to her. So I of course turned to Pinterest for some ideas on décor
and saw these jellyfish to hang. I just had
to do it for her party.
There are lots of different ways to make the jellyfish, if you haven't yet Googled or looked to Pinterest for inspiration - here are a few things I saw...
Now I did not follow a single idea all the way. I had a few tricks up my own sleeve and I made a few changes along the way and I think they turned
out awesome. I will try to give clear steps or at least good pictures along the way, incase you want to create an under the sea world for your own celebration in the future.
Here are the items that I used:
Shower Caps
Tissue Paper
Scissors
Stapler
First – I went to my go to - DollarTree - to buy the shower caps and tissue paper. I got lucky that they actually sell the caps in multiple colors in large packs - pink, purple and clear. And the pastel tissue paper matched perfectly.
I took two sheets of tissue paper, put them on top of each other and created a (not so perfect) spherical structure with them. (Basically a big tissue paper puff ball.) I put the shower cap over the sphere and fluffed the paper to fill the space.. Top of the jellyfish – done!
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Next, I made the
tentacles of the jellyfish.
I simply took a sheet of tissue paper (or a couple of sheets to be more efficient), contrasting in color to the top of the jellyfish. I folded the papers in half multiple times. (This you may need to play with to determine the best length and width of the tentacles you want on your jellyfish.) I took my scissors and rounded the edges to make sure I wasn't ending up with pointed tentacles.
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I unfolded, took my scissors and cut a spiral through the papers, winding from the outside to the center. I made them just over an inch wide to make sure the paper would not rip by being too thin in width. Once I was done, unwound the layers of tentacles. These were really long so I trimmed them. What you will find is that the spirals made closer to the center are so much better than the outer edge of the spiral, so I cut off the straighter portion and kept the curlier portion.
I took each tentacle, and folded the edge a few times to give it a thicker portion to be secured to the jellyfish head. I did not want them ripping off easily since the tissue paper is so thin. I stapled each tentacle to the shower cap, just past the elastic lining. I only put about 8 tentacles on each. I alternated, putting two varying lengths on them, just to give it a fuller effect while hanging. And tada - Jellyfish fit for my princess!
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Last thing - I hung these from the ceiling. At first I was not so sure how to go about it, because I did not want the shower cap to tear if I poked a string through it to hang it. Well - I came up with an awesome idea to use poster tack. If you are not a teacher, then you may not know what it is exactly but you can find it at Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.
I have it in blue but there are different colors and brands, and it is just a simple putty that you use to hang stuff to walls. It beat me tearing, flattening, smushing or damaging those jellyfish I worked so hard on - and no extra holes in my wall from push pins or staples. I rolled up a small amount to form a ball for each jellyfish, placed it on the top of the jellyfish head, and then pushed it up against my ceiling. Let me tell you, these hung for days! Well after all that work decorating, I was in no rush nor did I have the energy to pull it all down right away (so we lived under the sea for a few days). Of course, I should have pulled it down sooner, as it left a small oil stain where it had been, but nothing big that people will actually notice when they visit my house. I probably hung about 8 of the jellyfish from the ceiling, along with using varying shades of twisted green crepe streamers for seaweed from the ground up, and printing and hanging various Little Mermaid characters along the wall. I was thoroughly impressed with what my hard work and efforts produced for my baby girl.
And that is how I brought the sea to my home for my daughter's birthday.
I simply took a sheet of tissue paper (or a couple of sheets to be more efficient), contrasting in color to the top of the jellyfish. I folded the papers in half multiple times. (This you may need to play with to determine the best length and width of the tentacles you want on your jellyfish.) I took my scissors and rounded the edges to make sure I wasn't ending up with pointed tentacles.
5.
6. 
7.
I unfolded, took my scissors and cut a spiral through the papers, winding from the outside to the center. I made them just over an inch wide to make sure the paper would not rip by being too thin in width. Once I was done, unwound the layers of tentacles. These were really long so I trimmed them. What you will find is that the spirals made closer to the center are so much better than the outer edge of the spiral, so I cut off the straighter portion and kept the curlier portion.
I took each tentacle, and folded the edge a few times to give it a thicker portion to be secured to the jellyfish head. I did not want them ripping off easily since the tissue paper is so thin. I stapled each tentacle to the shower cap, just past the elastic lining. I only put about 8 tentacles on each. I alternated, putting two varying lengths on them, just to give it a fuller effect while hanging. And tada - Jellyfish fit for my princess!
8.
9. 
Last thing - I hung these from the ceiling. At first I was not so sure how to go about it, because I did not want the shower cap to tear if I poked a string through it to hang it. Well - I came up with an awesome idea to use poster tack. If you are not a teacher, then you may not know what it is exactly but you can find it at Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.
I have it in blue but there are different colors and brands, and it is just a simple putty that you use to hang stuff to walls. It beat me tearing, flattening, smushing or damaging those jellyfish I worked so hard on - and no extra holes in my wall from push pins or staples. I rolled up a small amount to form a ball for each jellyfish, placed it on the top of the jellyfish head, and then pushed it up against my ceiling. Let me tell you, these hung for days! Well after all that work decorating, I was in no rush nor did I have the energy to pull it all down right away (so we lived under the sea for a few days). Of course, I should have pulled it down sooner, as it left a small oil stain where it had been, but nothing big that people will actually notice when they visit my house. I probably hung about 8 of the jellyfish from the ceiling, along with using varying shades of twisted green crepe streamers for seaweed from the ground up, and printing and hanging various Little Mermaid characters along the wall. I was thoroughly impressed with what my hard work and efforts produced for my baby girl.
And that is how I brought the sea to my home for my daughter's birthday.
What a stunning idea for under the sea themed party! Thanks a ton for this tutorial on how to make Jellyfish. It will be helpful for my daughter’s birthday party arrangements. She wants to have similar party but at some outdoor party places in the Bronx. I’ll look online for the venue.
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