Paper Mâché Jellyfish

I got it in my head that I had to do these jellyfish for Lucy's birthday party. I wish I could be the kind of person to just go to Party City and be done with it. That would save a lot of colorful language and a lot of glitter cleanup. But no, I chose to go down the path of paper mâché glitter jellyfish. Before I start with the tutorial, keep in mind that I decided to do this with an almost 3 year old and a 9 month old in the house. The 9 month old was so sparkly you could  see her from select satellite views.

 

Here is what you will need

Newspaper

Balloons

Glue

Water

Hot glue gun

Modpodge

Paint

Sponge brush

Paintbrushes

Glitter -Ocean Blue and Powder Blue

Scissors

Mini Tinsel -3 boxes

Glitter Sealer

Fishing Line

1. First, I started by ripping the newspaper into long strips. I also set aside some paper to be laid down for the glittering and for sealing the glitter outside.

2. In a large bowl, mix the glue and the water in a bowl. I didn't measure. It was probably a half a cup of glue and 3 cups of water. You want the mixture to be white white, but watery! I know that sounds vague, but I eyeball everything.

3. Next, blow up the balloons to your desired size and tie them off. 

4. For applying the glue water mixture, I would suggest either work on a plastic table or do it outside. It's really messy! I used my daughter's table.

5. Once you're set up, dip one strip at a time in the mixture and then lay it on the balloon. You're gonna repeat this and cover the entire balloon in the newspaper strips. I did about 2 and a half layers, but it really could have used 4.

6. After the balloons are completely covered in the newspaper strips, go over them with your doing brush with another generous coat of the glue mixture.

7. Set the balloons outside on another sheet of newspaper to dry. They will more than likely need to dry over night.

8. Once they are dry and hard, pop the balloons. 

9. Now it's time to clean up minor imperfections. I went around with my hot glue gun and glued down any gaps that were particularly large.

10. Since I didn't need the exact shape of the balloon for my jellyfish, I cut five slits up the bottom. Then I folded each section up to make a lip all the way around.

11. When that was done, I moved onto painting. Lay down your newspaper before you start to minimize the mess. I like to paint my base so that it camouflages the newspaper under the glitter. I use Acrylic paint and that dries super fast. 

12. Next, I applied the Modpodge with the sponger brush in small sections and started glittering. Make sure not to mix the glitter on the newspaper. *When you're done with one color, put it back in the container! Use the newspaper as a funnel. 

13. After you are done glittering, take the shells back outside and apply the glitter sealer. Sometimes the smell is a little strong so I may wait until later to seal in the glitter, but these babies require a lot of glitter and you don't want a glitter catastrophe on your hands!

14. Next, take your tinsel and cut a few strips to make tentacles. I also cut two long strips to go around the lip. Measure the lip before you cut. I think each jellyfish has 8 tentacles. Hot glue them down.

15. When that was finished, I poked two holes on the top of the jellyfish and looped the fishing line through it. I knotted it a few times and cut off the excess line and then attach the other end to wherever you want your jellyfish. I stuck mine on the ceiling with a command strip.