Welcome to the first day Summer of 2012!  For some it marks exactly 6 months until the end of the world.  For others, it’s just another perfect excuse to get your crafty on! 😀

I’d love for you to meet ‘lil Geegee…  

Isn’t she just precious?  Doesn’t she hold the essence of summer in every ounce of her little being?  If you lean in close to the computer screen, I bet you can even hear the splash of surf on the sand and smell the faintest bit of seaweed wafting by on ocean breezes.  Go ahead, give it a try!  I won’t tell anyone, I promise. 😉

‘lil Geegee received her name by way of her human counterpart, Guppy Girl (aka: my super awesome and terrific bud, Jenny Stark).

I sent ‘lil Geegee as a gift for Christmas last year and she has been awaiting the first day of Summer to spring forth in flippery beauty into the great wide world of Online.  🙂   She’s super happy to finally get to meet all of you!

She was inspired by a terrific blog which focuses on arts and crafts learning for little kids.  Pink and Green Mama has all kinds of learning tools and lesson plans just for homeschool type fun…or the after school and long days of summer kind of fun!  I first discovered this site by way of Family Fun Magazine, while perusing it’s pages waiting for my turn at a doctor appointment.  The little mermaid was featured and I just knew that this would be the perfect thing to make for my special friend, Guppy Girl. 🙂

 I went to the link when I got home and discovered all the other great things that Pink and Green Mama has in store for its readers.

Here’s the original lesson plan which includes instructions on how to make the clothespin mermaid.  As you can see, the original is much more kid friendly.  I really wanted to rev mine up, though.  I had it in mind to make a glamorous ‘lil Geegee, with her shiny sparkles, glistening jewels and ample bustline, lol! 😉

And check out that fantabulous hair?!  What girl wouldn’t love to sport locks like these at least once in her life?

The neat thing about this hair is that it’s made from yarn that I had as scraps from making some of the projects in the book, Loom Knitting for Little People!  I simply unwound the plies and let their spirally nature do all the work.  I added some bits of tiny green ric-rac and randomly glued in some Swarovski crystals for added dewdrops and glimmer.  These were also added around her throat for a touch of elegance to her attire.

Her bikini top is made from a piece of pretty ribbon that had ruffley bits on each side.  I just stitched the center portion together with a little sewing thread and glued the ribbon in place around her body.  Well…after the first try, I felt she needed a little bit of help from “Mother Nature”, haha!  She needed some ShazAm!  😉  I undid the ribbon and added two spots of hot glue into each side and let them dry.  When the ribbon was put back in place on her torso, voila!  She now has an hourglass form which is pretty much a requirement for mermaids and guppy girls all the world over.

I hope this inspires you to do a little crafting of your own this summer.  It’s a good time to think a little bit outside the yarn box and see what other things your hands have a talent for creating.  You can even find new ways to use some of that yarn that I know you all have stashed in various and sundry places all around your home, lol. 😉  Do you have any ideas for summer crafting to share? …or how about another way to use all that yarn for some light summer fun?  Feel free to leave your ideas and any links illustrating how to do them directly in the comments of this post…let’s get those creative juices flowing! 😀

Bethany~