7 Days of Thrift Shop Flips - Day 2

13 August
Today is day 2 of 7 Days of Thrift Shop Flips in honor of National Thrift Shop Day and I used some vintage dolls and make little mermaids!

Upcycled Vintage Mermaid Dolls



Thrift Shop Flips in Honor of National Thrift Shop Day

It started with these little dolls, a bag of paper mache mix, and some sculpting tools.


I also used some aluminum foil and old newspaper to make the base for the tails.


I folded over the top of my piece of aluminum foil several times to make it a little sturdier then started rolling up my doll in it to begin the base of her tail.


Then I added some crumpled paper to fill it out a little as I rolled.


Rolling, rolling, rolling... get that dolly rolling... 😁


And scrunching and shaping as I went.


Then I taped the tail in place.



Then I mixed up the paper mache following the directions on the bag and started covering the aluminum foil armature.

I'm sorry, I didn't take any pictures as I was doing this because my hands were covered in wet paper mache!!

This is after they dried for about a week. I thought it took an awfully long time for it to dry. I've never used this stuff before but if I try this again I would try mixing it a little drier I think.


I then painted their tails and started playing around with different trims to dress them up.


They got tiny little shell bras. My mermaids are modest 😉


And they got belly button rhinestones.


I made their crowns from an empty toilet paper tube. The collage below shows the steps. Once they were formed and glued I painted them and then added glitter.


I also added little pearl earrings.







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Tomorrow's project involves these cool baking pans!

 

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  1. whattarushAugust 13, 2017

    The dolls are a little creepy, so I can't wait until tomorrow's project.

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  2. Ha ha! I agree... I think it's their eyes, they are strange. Oh well... not all projects can be a complete success right?! :o)

    Tania

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  3. Amanda WallaceAugust 13, 2017

    Ok so I will not lie, when I saw the dolls on your last post I was a bit skeptical-----and scared. Yet again your talents and creative mind blow me away woman! Brilliant! I so want to have a craft day with you. You should start to have seminars.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nancy CarrollAugust 13, 2017

    They're adorable! Do you have a ribbon hanger on them? I thought it looked like it in one photo. You should find shadow box frames to fit them and create underwater or beach scenes for them to inhabit. (Just a thought!)

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  5. They do have ribbon hangers. A shadow box with an underwater scene would be cute! hmmm! On the hunt for a shadow box now!

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  6. Thanks Amanda! I think a little but cuter doll to start with would be better... I'll consider these my practice dolls! ha ha! I would love to have a craft day, that would be so much fun. I'm not so sure about seminars though... I am a bit of an introvert even it may not appear that way here! And I freeze up in front of people.

    ReplyDelete
  7. These are pretty clever! I would never think of making mermaids, but I love your creativity in dressing & embellishing them Tania.

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  8. These are so darn cute! I never would have thought of that. Can't wait to see tomorrow's.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you, it's like "playing dolls" all over again! :o)

    Tania

    ReplyDelete

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