Thursday, January 15, 2009

Writing: Ideas Become a Story * Crafty Tails

To be able to write a story about a shy mermaid who marches in the largest art parade in the United States, I had to dive right into the action and eagerly attended performance rehearsals. The Superfine Dinettes also create their own costumes for the parade. We crafted our mermaid tails at the “Tail Factory”, a mermaid happening, featuring colorful shiny fabrics, glitter, sequins, feathers, scissors and hot glue. Big thanks to Laura Sewell, Cara Lee Sparry and Yung Oh LePage for helping me with my tails.

I included an easy tail making activity in my book so you can share in all the creative fun.


* Dinette Laura Sewell aka Gina dela Mer, explains how to craft a tail at the “Tail Factory”.


* Dinette Cat Mantione glues shiny sequins on her tail at the “Tail Factory”. Can you find Cat’s mermaid tail in the book?




* The Dinette’s mermaid tails on exhibiton with original art from MERMAIDS ON PARADE at Superfine, June 2008. L to R TOP Melanie Hope Greenberg, Julie Sommerville, Lisa Flores, Cara Lee Sparry, Tanya Rynd. BOTTOM Cary Curran, Jaimie Walker, Laura Sewell, Tanya Rynd, Samantha Berg, Jaimie Walker.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

form and function. it's hard to believe these beautiful works of art were also our costumes that we danced all over coney island in, went in the ocean in, and even rode the twister in!

melanie hope greenberg said...

Wow! That was Cary Curran, what talent!
Like the tails, like Coney Island,
Cary is form and function.

I love that you came to visit me and all of us together as a collective community in cyberspace.
Inspires my art. Come visit again real soon.
Coney Lives! xxxooomhg

Anonymous said...

This is definitely something I need to do with my niece. She would love it. I marched in the parade with the Dinettes, and I felt the tails brought such a sense of individuality to each mermaid and gave a clue to the personality being presented.

melanie hope greenberg said...

Tail crafting parties are a great way to hang out with friends before the parade and take part in your community.

Michael made a great pirate. Arrrgh! Thanks for the comment. Keep on keeping on and keep on coming back :)

Anonymous said...

Dahlinka. Tail therapy ... it works!

Anonymous said...

I wish my neice would've stayed a little girl so I could do this fantastic activity with her! But she's an open-minded tween-ager so maybe it won't be too hard to encourage her to do this with me...

melanie hope greenberg said...

Chrisitina, The Mermaid Parade is filled with hipsters and lots of tweensters. I bet your neice would enjoy the seeing their funky costumes online.

merry said...

If you're looking to really stand out, try a mermaid tail dress. These dresses are perfect for parties or special occasions, and they'll definitely make you the center of attention. But if you're just looking to have some fun in the sun, an adults mermaid tail is also a great option.