Free Mermaid Silhouette SVGs

I made these mermaid cards using my set of free Little Mermaid SVG files.

My daughter is definitely going through a mermaid phase these past few months. I have no idea where she is getting it from. I think we have gotten her three mermaid costumes already not to mention the countless swimsuits she has that she considers mermaid tops.

It must be the other kids at school because she has no other exposure to mermaids at home. You would think mermaids are a harmless obsession to have except they’re not. Mermaids have tails instead of feet and when she dresses up like a mermaid, she trips and falls everywhere which is terrible because we have a lot of stairs in our house.

I totally understand the princess phase with Frozen and all the other Disney princess movies coming out but it’s been a couple of decades since they’ve promoted Little Mermaid.

So in efforts to try and create a more “safe” mermaid themed activity, I made a set of mermaid themed designs to use for various projects for her. You can mix and match to make many different themes for cards and other scrapbook projects with these mermaid themed SVG templates.

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Materials for mermaid silhouette SVG projects

Cardstock – I like to use minimum medium weight cardstock for cardmaking. Ideally, the cardstock has a colored core since this is a more intricate design you don’t want it to look frayed. Here are some of my favorite brands:

Assorted Starter Pack – Basic assorted colors, great starter pack, perfect weight for most papercraft projects
Cricut Joy Insert Card Packs – You don’t have to use these with the Cricut Joy, they are nice material kids for cardmaking.
Cardstock Warehouse Brand on Amazon – I love the quality of all the matte-colored cardstock with Cardstock Warehouse. It is my go-to brand for individual matte colors that I might need
Poptone Assorted Variety Pack – This is the perfect peppy assortment of colors of heavy cardstock. It’s a heavy cardstock assortment with colors I actually use frequently for cardmaking.
Seasonal Assorted Variety Pack – This is a slight variation on the Poptone assortment and has a quite few neutrals that complement almost any accent color.
Stardream Metallics Line – For paper crafts, the Stardream line is the go-to for a metallic shimmer finish. It is the perfect sheen to make any project pop. The core is also colored is which hard to find for metallic paper.

Glue – I like either an adhesive roller or a non-polymer based glue that doesn’t warp the paper. Here are a few that use frequently:

Cutting Machine – I use a Cricut. Check out my recommendations for Cricut machines and accessories for beginners for more info.

Templates – This set of free mermaid silhouette SVGs are available in my resource library.

Quick Tutorial on how to assemble the Mermaid Card

Step 1: Cutout the pieces using the mermaid SVG templates

I use a fresh light grip mat with my Cricut to cut the top frame layer. If you don’t have a fresh light grip mat, I would suggest a Standard mat. It is just easier to clean the smaller pieces on a light grip mat.

Step 2: Fold the base card

I don’t bother with scoring lines with my Cricut machine. This is just a simple fold so I just align the corners and then crease with a scraping device or my fingers.

Step 3: Glue the mermaid silhouette layers together

I like to align everything and the glue from the base upwards. I found an adhesive roller was perfect for this card set.

Step 4: Optional liner for the mermaid card

There are many ways to assemble this card. You can actually weld a back layer to the top frame so it is one continuous piece. You could also resize the top frame so it creates a border relative to the back.

I think all options look good and it’s really up to you.

It’s a shame because I used this really neat holographic cardstock for the tail but it’s hard to tell in the photo.

Tips on crafting mermaid scales:

I have a love hate relationship with mermaid scales. First, for costumes, they are often made with glitter which of course gets everywhere.

But in terms of crafting things with mermaid scales, oh my are they a pain in the tail. (har har)

There’s just no easy way to craft mermaid scales. What you see believe is probably the easiest it’s going to get. But even then, cutting just the outline of the scales takes forever, and trying to clean up the leftover scales is no fun either. I highly advise using a fresh light grip mat so that they are easier to pickoff.

Another alternative is to use vinyl. You can just peel off the outlined part in one fell scoop and then use transfer tape to work with the scale pieces.

I’ve included the general mermaid scales SVG in my free templates but you can always slice and contour to create other designs as necessary.