Woo! Excitement for me!

[Usagi]

I'm almost finished making a tail out of old wetsuits. Today I'm gonna go buy a hole punch and start attacking all the plastics! Haha I liked the idea that someone (I forgot who, sorry!) said about making scales from plastic bottles. I'm one of those people that save all their cans and bottles to take to the recycling center for money. lol I started doing it in middle school but now I usually only take them when I really need money because I kinda feel bad. ANYWAY, point being, I have lots of bottles. So yay!

Then I thought- what if someone made scales out of aluminum? They would be a dangerous mermaid with sharp scales. Haha but I think if it was from soda cans and stuff, it would definitely make a statement about pollution. I hope to make one like that someday. It could make for great recycling propaganda, in my opinion (:

Any tips or pointers? Suggestions? Do tell! I welcome all comments and criticism! (:
I love this community. You're all wonderful, beautiful people!

[Mermaid Saphira]

Not much help, but I wish you luck! That sounds interesting :)

[Usagi]

I was cutting circles out of a Pepsi 2-liter and my hole punch broke.. blah ):

[spottedcatfish]

Post a picture when it's done!

[Usagi]

8453 Haha wetsuit tail so far. Just being silly(: and it's inside-out, by the way!

[Mermaid Wesley]

oooooohhhh

[MermaidBrittany]

Wow that sounds great :) Whats the diameter of your hole punch?

[Usagi]

It's 3/4". I felt like the 1" was too big because I'm a shorty Haha I like stuff to be detailed. I'm trying to get the bottom to look the way I want because I'm going to attach shelf liner for the fluke(:

[Mermaid Wesley]

asfghjkl keep us updated pleeaasssseeee

[MermaidBrittany]

It's 3/4". I felt like the 1" was too big because I'm a shorty Haha I like stuff to be detailed. I'm trying to get the bottom to look the way I want because I'm going to attach shelf liner for the fluke(:

Oh me too, Im a perfectionist and Im short :P Your idea sound really cool though, can't wait to see pics! :)

[Usagi]

Yay! I'm not alone in my shortness! Haha Wesley, make a tail!!! We can go swim at the Y and dazzle them :P

[MermaidBrittany]

Yay! I'm not alone in my shortness! Haha Wesley, make a tail!!! We can go swim at the Y and dazzle them :P

Haha yup! :)

[Usagi]

So I always credit Mermaid Jaimie (thelocalmermaid) whenever I talk about making tails and everything, because I wouldn't even be into mermaiding if it weren't for her.

About a week or so ago, I went and picked the paints I wanted to use for my tail, which were a blue and purple because I've been told I look good in them. After that, I realized that Jaimie's tail is pretty much the same colors! Lol so now I'm trying to decide if I should pick some different colors, or just use them, but make it look different. Here's some "designs" I did in Paint. Haha! (Just googled "mermaid tail template")
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I think I like the second one the best. Not sure which ones I put where :P
Here is a link to a picture of Jaimie's tail: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=415988718411839&set=a.415987428411968.27146687.261248177219228&type=3&theater

Obviously I don't want to have a tail too similar to hers. The "designs" were just things that I had seen on other tails.

[Mermaid Saphira]

You could have gotten a lovely design template from our very own mermaid Koral. ;) either way.. I think the last two are my favorites

[Usagi]

Hmm okay..it would probably be easier to put the scales on with the fading design anyway haha I'm thinking I want purple to be the dominant color. It goes better with my complexion than blue lol the scales are going to be complicated, aren't they? And the fluke..ugh colors! T-T Haha

[Mermaid Saphira]

Keep at it! You will find your perfect tail design ;)

[Usagi]

Here's the paints I'm using.
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I just painted a couple of scales to see how it would look, and the blue is a lot brighter than I had thought. The sample they showed at JoAnn was dark, whereas this kind of makes me think of cotton candy. Lol

[Usagi]

Here are 3 scales. Purle, blue, and then the purple and blue mixed.
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Sorry for my gross nails. They looked a lot nicer when the whole tip was purple lol

[halesloveswhales]

Wow, I applaud your hard work! I have been majorly slacking on my upcycled tail. Keep it up! I'm excited to see how it turns out!

[spottedcatfish]

Wow, I applaud your hard work! I have been majorly slacking on my upcycled tail. Keep it up! I'm excited to see how it turns out!

Great work. I too need to pick up the pace on my wetsuit tail, otherwise i'll never get it done!! I may come to you Syd, for advice later...

[Usagi]

Wow, I applaud your hard work! I have been majorly slacking on my upcycled tail. Keep it up! I'm excited to see how it turns out!
Thanks! And I totally get it. Some days, you just don't feel like working on it!


Great work. I too need to pick up the pace on my wetsuit tail, otherwise i'll never get it done!! I may come to you Syd, for advice later...
I don't know if I would give good advice! Haha I didn't really know what I was doing..kind just went with the flow. :P

Make sure you two lovely ladies show everyone when you finish!

As of this moment, I am currently working on the bottom of the tail to make it fit around the foot pockets of my monofin. Once I get all this sorted out, and can cut the shelf liner! Wednesday, I'm going to call JoAnn to see if they have the hole punch I need. Hopefully they do, so I can start punching out more holes! Although maybe I should buy a different punch online since the last one broke...or just buy 12 of them! ;-)

[Usagi]

Cut the shelf liner (mostly) for the fluke. Unfortunately, I don't have enough for all the pieces I need, so I have to find a place that sells it. ):
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[starlite]

want to see more ;-)

[Mermaid Crystal]

looking forward to the tail!

[Usagi]

As with all projects, there's been some bumps in the road. Tomorrow I'm going to Sears to get some more shelf liner (the amount that I had was barely enough for the two pieces I cut! Need two more.) and luckily JoAnn is right by it, so I'll pop in there to see if they have the hole punch I need. Thanks to anyone that's interested. I wanted to document my "journey" for future reference lol

[spottedcatfish]

Thanks! And I totally get it. Some days, you just don't feel like working on it!


I don't know if I would give good advice! Haha I didn't really know what I was doing..kind just went with the flow. :P

Make sure you two lovely ladies show everyone when you finish!


Thanks. I plan to!

[Usagi]

Went to Sears today: shelf liner discontinued.
went to Jo-Ann: still don't have the hole punch.
Went to Target: nothing that I need.

looks like I'm gonna be ordering things online /: I hate having to wait for things!

[Ashe]

Very cool! I love your design, blue and violet are lovely together :)

[Usagi]

Thanks(: it was just two colors that I've been told look good on me that aren't red Haha
I'm driving home from Palm Springs right now and my boyfriend is going to take me to Jo-Ann and Home Depot along the way! (= hopefully this Jo-Ann will have the punch!

[Usagi]

Woo hoo! Home now, with two hole punches (in case one breaks) and two rolls of *new* shelf liner. I put the asterisks because the one I was using before was really old and faded

[Usagi]

I've made a discovery, folks (okay, it might just be a discovery to me)! The top part of a soda bottle is a lot thinner and softer than the bottom and is waaaayyy easier to punch a hole out of with a little cheapy fiskars pop up punch. Also, it seemed like the crush bottle was a lot harder to get through (I only got a few circles from it whereas I would get at least a dozen from the Pepsi bottles). Maybe if I was stronger, it would be easier!

[Usagi]

Also, I made a page, despite not being a professional mer. It's mostly for my friends that are interested in seeing my projects and stuff and so I not filling up the newsfeeds of people that think it's silly or weird and don't care lol. Facebook.com/MermaidKelby

[MerEmma]

Woo! I would like it if I had a FB, haha.

[Usagi]

Ah! I'm so confused! who is that in your picture? what happened to the the poodle head?? (I can't remember if you said it was a bad thing when people called you poodle head, but I like it! I was very much a poodle head when I was little! Haha)

[Usagi]

HEEEELLLPPPP! So I have a little over 800 scales punched out so far (now I need about another 5000 lol) and I've painted two hundred and something. I know I'm getting ahead of myself a bit, but what do I use as a sealant? I'm using acrylic (waterbase) paint on the backs, so the color shows through. But I don't want the paint to come off when I get in the pool! So I need something that will keep the paint on, and that will work with e6000 (unless I get crazy enough to actually try to sew them on, but some are pretty thick so that could be a challenge).

[lynsea]

In my experience, acrylic stays on fine on its own. Unless you're using it on a surface where it might crack off, you won't really have to worry about it.

[Usagi]

Alright, cool! My boyfriend got me worried when he said it's waterbase, so it'll come off in the water..but then again, he doesn't know anything, so I don't know why I listened lol thank you :)

[Usagi]

I wanted to see what it would look like, so I taped down a bunch of scales haha
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[Jadestone]

Wow! I like the effect so far! A lot of work but cheaper than sequens. Let us know how the paint on them works out for you--I want to make a sequin tail with a very specific color pattern, and I don't think I can buy them in the hues I need : / if painting works it would get me much closer to my ideal ^^

(also, you're such a cutie! ^^ )

[Thalassa]

Lookin' cool!

[Usagi]

Thanks, guys! (: I think I'm gonna do a test where I take a scale and leave it in my boyfriend's pool for like a week and see if the paint stays on Haha if not, then there's some waterproofing spray that I found at Michael's today, so I could always go pick some of that up. Also, it's not only a lot of work, but a lot of money as well..I'm going to have to buy a 4th hole punch. T.T

[Usagi]

So I got a new hole punch today that I ordered off amazon...I opened it right away and started punching holes! It works so much better than the kind I was using before..in the past seven (ish) hours, I've punched 1,179 scales (and some unaccounted for that went flying across the room). The last punch I had (I had to buy 3 altogether) only got me a little over 800. Yay!

[Ashe]

Wow. That is a LOT of scales!!! Its awesome that you are so committed to this project :) Good luck!!

[Usagi]

Thank you! :)

[drucilla]

Wow you must have serious patience to even think about putting those on a tail...:clap: I admire that.

[Usagi]

HEEEELLLLLLPPPPP MMMMEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! So I've been gluing on the scales and got about a fourth of the way up the back..I just tried it on, and it was REALLY hard to get into, and I couldn't even get the straps from my monofin on. Then I noticed that the scales were all spread apart and you could see the neoprene..I don't know what to do! I need to get it done by the 24th! ):

[Mermaid Wesley]

stuff it while you put the sequins on so its the size of your legs, otherwise theyll pull apart n stuff.... and maybe use a string to get the straps on

[Usagi]

Ooh, you're smart about those strings! This is why you're at a university, and I'm at El Co :P I actually thought about stuffing it, but then i was like, well what if it's the wrong size? What if the glue somehow seeps through? Maybe I'll just sit in it and glue them on. Haha!

[MerEmma]

Ah! I'm so confused! who is that in your picture? what happened to the the poodle head?? (I can't remember if you said it was a bad thing when people called you poodle head, but I like it! I was very much a poodle head when I was little! Haha)

Ahh, how did I miss this? xD Old post but I was checking up on it and I found it now. That picture is still me, haha. Only picture I have underwater from when my family went to Discovery Cove and bought a disposable one. :P And I don't mind it at all when people call me a poodlehead, haha. It's a nickname I've gotten used to. xD