Upcycled Fish Brooch

A little bit of this and a little bit of that can come together to create this one of a kind Upcycled Fish Brooch.  This is a great project for using up small scraps around the house, and it's a clever and cute way to dress up a shirt, scarf, hat, or purse.

Materials:

• A piece cut out from the bottom of an aluminum foil mini cake pan
• Cotton cord consisting of lots of twisted cotton strings
• Scrap piece of stiff woven fabric (any color, but no colorful ones)
• Small scrap piece of cotton mesh
• Tiny button (color of your choice)
• Scissors
• Glue
• Sewing needle
• Thread (the same color as the cotton mesh)

Instructions:

1. Cut out a triangular shape from your woven fabric and a much smaller one from your cotton mesh.
    
2. Take the aluminum foil piece and cut out one more triangle, the same size and shape as the one you’ve cut out from the woven fabric. This is the base of your fish art brooch.
    
3. Then, cut off one of your triangle’s corner tips – this is the fish’s head or face.  The other end (the triangle’s base opposite the corner that you cut the tip off) is the fish’s side fins. So, cut in the shape of a dove-tail.
    
4. Stitch your little mesh triangle onto the fish-shaped woven fabric.
   
   
    
5. Now cut a small piece of your cotton cord and untwist the cotton strings it’s made of. Glue them all together on the metal base , so as to form a beautiful wavy tail fin for your fish art brooch. Wait till the glue dries.
   
   
    
6. After the glue has dried, glue the woven fish shape onto the metal fish-shaped base. Wait till the glue dries completely. Add the eye (button), and the front side of your brooch is ready.
    
7. Wait, again, for the glue to dry completely – you’ll probably have to leave it overnight just to be sure you’re project won’t be ruined when you’ll be working on the back side.
    
8. Finally, turn your brooch to the back side and glue the brooch pin. Leave it for a day, till the glue has hardened. Your Fish Art Brooch is ready to wear with your jeans or other casual wear for summer outings. It will also look great if pinned on a tote bag.