Mermaid Party Decor - Jellyfish Lanterns & Balloons (Affiliate Links)

For our recent mermaid party, we had jellyfish lanterns and clusters of watery colored balloons as party  decor.  I saw lots of examples of these on Pinterest and figured I could easily replicate the look.  (In other words, I never bothered reading any articles, just looked at a few pictures....😄)

Here's how I did it in case you want to pull it together yourself:

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Disclosure- This post contains affiliate links.  If a purchase is made through an affiliate link then (at no additional cost to you) I will receive a commission.  Affiliate links are noted below.

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Jellyfish Supplies

In order to make these jellyfish you will need lanterns, shower caps, crepe paper and rickrack.

The lanterns and shower caps I purchased at Dollar Tree.  The crepe paper and rickrack I already had on hand.

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You can click this (affiliate) Dollar Tree link to purchase your own jellyfish supplies now!

Step 1 - Prep Your Lantern

Open your lantern and follow the simple assemble instructions.  Make sure to use care when inserting the plastic support piece into the center - if you slip you may accidentally tear through the side of the lantern.  Once assembled, add batteries to enable the lantern function.  While they are cute on their own, lighting them up takes the look to a whole new level - especially for outdoor evening parties 😉

Step 2 - Add Shower Cap

Poke a small hole in the middle of a clear shower cap and place over the top of your lantern to make the jelly-like cap of your jellyfish.  

Tip:  Thread the hook of the lantern through that small hole to make hanging your lantern easier.

Step 3 - Stuff Your Cap

Cut lengths of crepe paper, squash into crinkly balls and stuff into your shower cap to add color and texture to the jellyfish cap.  I used roughly two foot sections of crepe paper and alternated the colors while stuffing.

Note:  I started out trying to keep my shower cap pulled down about halfway around the lantern, but it refused to stay in place.  I ended up letting the cap just sit on top, which you will see in a bit.

Step 4 - Add Streamers

Using a glue stick I added lengths of crepe paper to the bottom of the lantern to serve as the jellyfish tentacles.  I alternated between pink and white crepe paper and layered a bit of pink rickrack over the white streamers to give more detail.

Side Note:  I started with sections of crepe paper that were about three feet in length.  Once all of them were attached, I trimmed here and there so that the 'tentacles' were of varying lengths.

All Done

Here you can see the completed jellyfish with the shower caps resting on top.  I hung them from the dining room light fixture to keep them out of the way while I worked on the 'seaweed'.

Next Up - 'Seaweed'

I found these weird necklaces (that looked like they were made out of seeds) at Goodwill a few months back.  I figured they looked sea-weedy enough and purchased the bag for a couple of dollars.

*Update - My Mom told me that they are apple seed necklaces*

Step 1 - Create a 'Hanger'

I used a loop of tape to create a surface that I could tack to the ceiling.  I know, I know, some people cringe at the thought of putting holes in their walls or ceiling.  I keep a container of nail filler on hand though, and I'm religious about filling in any holes I make as soon as my parties are over.  Since my ceilings are white (and so is the nail filler) this is no big deal.  But if you have a different colored ceiling you may want to use another method.  Command hooks usually have a lot of non-damaging options.

I pick up my nail filler at Dollar Tree as well.

You can click this (affiliate) Dollar Tree link to browse for nail filler or other hardware items.

Step 2 - Hide Your Hanger

While a loop of tape certainly gets the job done, it doesn't make for the prettiest presentation.  In order to camouflage the tape, I layered two shades of green crepe paper in an X formation.  I then inserted a pushpin through the tape and then the layers of crepe paper so that when hanging.....

.....the crepe paper hung downward and hid the tape nicely.

Jellyfish & Seaweed

Here you can see things starting to come together.  In this corner I hung an entire necklace as is, straight down from the ceiling.....

.....and over here I cut one open to create a really long length of 'seaweed' that I looped across the display area.

Add Balloons

Once I had all of the seaweed and jellyfish in place, I added balloons in shades of blue and clear to represent water.  The blue balloons we chose were  light, dark and baby blue and we added in some translucent white balloons that contained silver colored confetti.

Purchased at Wal-Mart for around $2, these confetti balloons gave the feeling of foamy, bubbly waves.  The remaining balloons can also be found at Wal-Mart and are about $1 a package.

I tied the balloons to lengths of curling ribbon so that they hung down in long strands.  I wanted the balloon colors to serve more as a backdrop than a feature, so that the jellyfish could be more prominent.  I also taped a couple more strips of green crepe paper to hang from the ceiling to add a bit more color.

And that's how easy it is to create jellyfish lanterns with water inspired balloons!

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In case you missed any details so far:
Click here to read about the invitations
Click here to see the overall party decor
Click here to read about the layer cake

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I hope you enjoyed this how-to post, thanks for stopping by!
-Jennifer

© Studio 27 - By Jennifer Adams 2018