We love visits to the aquarium and one of our favorite displays is always the jellyfish display. We love how they move and take on the color of the light shined into the tank. It is truly mesmerizing. When my boys decided to have an Ocean-Themed Birthday Party, I knew I had to make some hanging jellyfish decorations.
You can use these hanging jellyfish as party decorations or as decorations in a playroom or ocean-themed room. I absolutely love how these turned out.
Hanging Jellyfish
What You Need
- Large, clear/translucent plastic salad bowl (I used a cabbage leaf dish I found at the grocery store in the paper goods aisle)
- Cheap plastic tarp
- White curling ribbon
- Clear tape
- Fishing line
Directions
1. Hand-rip strips of varying lengths from the clear plastic tarp. If needed, cut a small notch to get the rip started. You will want it to be curly on the edges. I ripped several and picked out my favorites.
2. Flip the bowl upside down and tape the wide end of the curly strips to the middle of the bowl (inside the bowl–the concave part.).
3. Wrap fishing line around four sides of the bowl so it will hang straight, then tie them together at the top (which will be the bottom of the bowl) and leave extra string for hanging. Tape or glue down the string where needed. Because the bowl we purchased had notches from the design, it stayed in place on its own. If you have a flat-rimmed plate, you may need to tape or glue the string to four places.
4. Make sure the plastic strips are not stuck up under the fishing line. If they are, pull them down so you cannot see the fishing line.
5. Using clear tape or glue, attach several cut strands of the white curling ribbon to the inside rim of the bowl so they hang down. We placed ours a couple inches apart around the entire bowl. These should not be quite as long as the plastic strips.
6. Hang the jellyfish from the ceiling. Either tape them up (if your ceiling will allow), tack them up tightly, or tie a loop at the end and hang them from a hook off of the ceiling.
These are so beautiful and almost look realistic. Try aiming lights at them to highlight them.
See the rest of the Ocean-Themed Party.
Read also: Fairy Mobile Coloring Page Craft Tutorial and DIY Aquarium Cake and Fish Cupcakes
What is your favorite ocean creature and why? Share with me in the comments! I’d love to hear!
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Those jellyfish turned out great! They do look pretty real! That is great that you are so creative to think of making something like that. I’m sure it was a great party. My son’s favorite sea animal is a turtle because he likes Ninja Turtles.
Thank you, Brenda! I apologize for just seeing this SO long after! We love sea turtles!
My favorite ocean creature is Dolphins because they are beautiful creatures. I like your DIY Jellyfish Decoration. It really turned out great. I would love to make these for my daughter’s birthday.
Thank you, Julie! Sorry I just saw this. Hope you were able to find supplies and make them!
Looks so cute! I love this decoration
Thank you, Elena! I have no clue how I didn’t see this comment earlier.
What a really creative idea this is! It looks pretty cool! What a fun birthday theme.
Thank you, Shelly. It was so fun!
Wow this is so cool, it makes you want to be a kid again so you can squeal and giggle and pretend these jellyfish are real! Great job! Best party theme!! Have to be careful around really small kids though b/c plastic can be dangerous they can suffocate.
Thank you, Rosie. For sure! We had them higher up and just lowered them a bit for the pictures, since my toddler would probably have broken them otherwise. Great point for those who may not have considered that, though!
This really is very creative. My son loves jellyfish and I am sure to try this one out!!
Thank you, Vidya! Sorry I just saw this SO late. Jellyfish are so neat!
Hi, Alyssa,
Thanks for posting this! I showed my wife who created 20 of them for my work party. One tip she found: she made a hole in the top (bottom) of each bowl by heating up an allen wrench on the gas stove and gently pressing it through the bowl, then used fishline to hang it. And now they may be donated to a church kid’s group and a children’s hospital! Good things keep on giving . . .
Thank you so much for sharing this, Bill! It made me smile ear to ear. That is a great tip. I’m so happy they were enjoyed and will continue to be enjoyed!! It makes my heart happy.
Can you tell me where you found these bowls. They really suit because of the cabbage shape instead of a smooth bowl. PLease suggest
I found them at our local grocery store (Harris Teeter). I haven’t seen them at our stores where we live now, but I haven’t been looking, either. I’d start by checking your local grocery stores and maybe even party supply stores. I also did a quick search online just now and found them sold third-party at Walmart online and some other stores. Look up Maryland Plastics Cabbage Bowl. Hope that helps!
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this is so cool to see my mom’s site.
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I absolutely love this DIY Hanging Jellyfish Decoration idea! It’s such a creative way to bring the ocean vibes into a party. The materials seem easy to find, and I can already imagine how beautiful these will look hanging from the ceiling. Can’t wait to try this out for my upcoming beach-themed party! Thanks for sharing!