DIY Mermaid Costume & picking grandma's flowers

So this post is about a year overdue. Last year for Halloween, Ivy was a mermaid.  I don't know how much of a DIY this will actually be, because I made this costume so long ago! Let me try to jog my memory… 

Basically I bought purple clearance fabric and made a tube top with elastic and some pleats. I used a peach-colored elastic headband to make a little halter strap. I used my seaweed ribbon and a real starfish from the year before's costume (see the Starfish costume here). For the skirt/mermaid fin, I measured Ivy's waist and cut out a maxi style skirt out of the scalloped fabric, a little wider than her waist and added elastic to the waist. I made the bottom edge come to a point in the middle. Then I used the blue/green batik fabric to make fins (8 panels to make 4 panels - 2 fins on the front, 2 on the back.) I sewed giant sparkly green rik rak on the front 2 fins, then sewed them all to the pointed edges of the skirt. 

PROBLEM: kids can't walk in mermaid fins

To solve this problem, I made a slit up the back of the skirt/mermaid fin. Then I added snaps on the side of the fin and skirt, so it could be hiked up. Oila! She can walk!

Our ritual each year is to go to the beach in front of my grandma's condo and take pictures of Ivy in her Halloween costume. It's actually not my grandma's condo anymore. She passed away a few years ago when Ivy was about 2. I remember going to show my grandma my Halloween costume every year growing up, and it seemed to bring her so much joy. She loved seeing the grandkids all dressed up. Every time I take Ivy, I remind her about who her "G-Gma" was and that this was where she lived and talk about how special she was. She and my grandpa's ashes are spread in the ocean right where Ivy is looking. 

What was crazy on last year's trip to the condo is that Ivy stopped on the sidewalk exactly in front of my grandma's condo and picked a flower for me. I couldn't believe it! She had no idea that she was exactly in front of G-Gma's condo, (it's been remodeled by the new owners), but also, I picked flowers from that same bush for 20+ years, and gave them to my grandma. 

I don't know what Ivy is going to be this year… we are on a different island now, but will have a chance in mid-October to go visit my grandma's beach. I better get my act together and make a costume! (And hopefully it's beach-themed again, haha). 

This girl makes it too easy to take pictures! She's just up for anything. Don't you love the starfish head band? A friend of mine saw I was making a mermaid costume, and said she had the PERFECT head band for it. Pearls and starfish. I love it!

If you have more questions as to how to make this costume, feel free to comment or email me. 

Sorry the DIY part of this post is pretty lame… haha. 

Aloha, Becca