Make a splash with a giant piece of statement art… for $5.
Yep, this beauty is as loveley as it is budget-friendly. Gotta love a sneaky-cheap DIY.
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Honestly this has to be one of my favorite party DIYs I’ve done in a while! We’re getting ready for the girls’ mermaid & pirate party over here, but I’m seriously tempted to keep my new whale friend up. We’ve gotten so many compliments already!
Plus, it was super cheap to make. Just pull out your trusty roll of kraft paper, some acrylic paint, a brush and some water and you’re basically set.
Step 1: Find an inspo pic
Whale tails seem to be as unique as fingerprints. Find a whale tail you love. Humpback whales in particular have gorgeous patterns.
Step 2: Trace whale tail outline *in pencil*
Sketching in marker is too permanent.
So do yourself a favor and grab a pencil.
And maybe a big eraser. 😉
Once you’re reasonably happy with the shape, pull out the navy paint.
Step 3: Add navy blue paint
Go along the edges and add your navy paint, leaving blank space for the white paint.
Step 4: Add white and blend
This next step is a little time sensitive because you want to get the white paint down and blend the edges before the navy paint dries. Rinse your brush, add the white section, and run it along the edges to blend the paint. If you want more of a blend (or if your paint dries too fast), mix a little white and blue to make a light blue in the cup and run that between the white and navy.
Add a faint white line down the center of the tail for added depth.
And now the hardest part: wait for it to dry.
Step 5: Add dots and splatters
Once your tail is dry, add different sizes of spots with navy paint using a paintbrush or finger. Then it’s splatter time.
Put down some dropcloth or even some cardboard boxes (learn from my mistake!), but this next step is wonderfully MESSY. Spraying paint all over my kitchen was incredibly liberating. 🙂
It works best with a sponge brush that already has some paint in it, but any paint brush will do. Dip the brush into a bit of water, try flicking it onto a test bit to make sure it’s not too watery, then start flicking!
The random splashes mimic an ocean spray.
Once you have enough white splatters, rinse your brush and repeat the process with navy paint flecks for the white sections.
Step 6: Cut and hang
Once your whale friend has completely dried, cut it out and hang. We used a mix of sticky tak/poster putty and tape. I ended up cutting out my sample section (see in pic above) to make the whale tail a little bit taller. Then I added a garland from Hobby Lobby and boom! DIY giant whale tail art done in a few hours.
Stay tuned for the big mermaid & pirate party reveal! I’ll probably use this same technique to make a mermaid tail for one of our special guests. 🙂
If you want to see how we painted & whitewashed our fireplace, learn about it here.
Happy DIYing!
More DIY goodness:
Here’s a sneak peek of one of the many projects I’ve been working on for the party… 😀
