If you love cute summer crafts that you wish summer never ends, this Beach Mermaid Windchime is for you. Made from collected shells, sea glass, and driftwood (or purchased from your local craft store), they are so much fun to make!
Be sure to get the free printable template for making a mermaid tail. If you’re in need of supplies, I’ve selected some for you, and the links are below. Unless you are skilled at drilling small holes, I highly recommend grabbing a mixture of sea glass beads and shells with pre-drilled holes. This will ensure that your project looks like mine. I love to collect sea glass and can spend hours at each beach. If you don’t have this passion, you can also grab some sea glass. Need driftwood? I don’t have any of them or a place to get them, so I’ve included my source below.
Instructions:
Supplies required
A driftwood stick, about 12 nches wide
sea glass (I used aqua, teal, mint, white and pale green)
Small and Medium Seashells: Variety is best. Drill them or Buy pre-drilled shale mix
Clean fishing line or thin jewelry wire
Hot glue gun or E6000 glue
A cardboard or thin wooden support for the mermaid tail, a milk carton also works
Scissors
pencil
Drilled sea glass beads or alternatively,
Drill or awl for small holes to use your own sea glass
How to make a windchime
1. Make the base of the mermaid tail
Draw or print a mermaid tail shape on chipboard, thin wood, fabric, or even a plastic or paper milk carton. Cut it out. You can paint the base aqua if the spaces between the glass pieces are less noticeable. Depends on how uniform your sea glass is. get Free printable mermaid tail template here
2. Glue on sea glass
Arrange the sea glass pieces inside the tail shape like a mosaic. Mix blues, greens and frosted white pieces. Once you like the layout, glue each piece down with E6000 or hot glue. Allow it to dry completely (or cool).
3. Add jute rope edge
Glue twine around the outside edge of the mermaid tail to hide the base and give it a handmade coastal look.
4. Attach the tail to the driftwood
Tie two short pieces of twine from the tip of the tail to the driftwood. Then tie a long rope to both ends of the driftwood for hanging. If you grab my driftwood from the link above, you will have the hangers already set up for you.
5. Create dangling strands
Cut several pieces of twine that are slightly longer than the attached tail pieces. Tie to the shells and sea glass beads with jewelry wire or twine with fishing line, spacing them. Knead between the pieces so they are secure.
6. Hang the strands
Tie the prepared strands to the bottom of the driftwood and under the mermaid tail. Change the length so it looks natural and beachy instead of too uniform.
7. Finish and display
Trim the loose string, add a little glue to the knots for strength, and hang it near a window, porch, patio or beach-themed room. This also looks great on a patio or porch.
