Mermaid Monday: Ariel visits the aquarium

Welcome, March! And welcome to my first post of the year! I seriously can't believe how fast time flies. It feels like it was yesterday that I made my last blog post, when in reality it's been three months. Ooops! Lots of things have been going on these months, but today I wanted to share our experience at the Barcelona Aquarium, a place I'd been wanting to visit since we arrived to the city, for a really cool Mermaid Monday (though I know it's actually Thursday).

First of all, no good visit to any aquarium could be complete without a proper Disneybound of an ocean-related character. Honestly, I feel it's very hard to find a comfortable and beautiful outfit with these cold temperatures. I wish I could Disneybound every day of my life, which is already quite a daunting task, but it's even more difficult when you have to wear three or four layers of clothes to protect yourself from the cold. I'm so not feeling like Elsa in winter! But with a bit of planning I was able to choose a nice ensemble to portray Ariel during my trip to the aquarium honoring a lovely Mermaid Monday.

My outfit was simple, but highly recognizable. The beautiful green mermaid dress by Retrolicious, which I got from The Oblong Box Shop, served as a wonderful base to channel Ariel. You can read a detailed review of this dress if you go back a few posts in the blog, or simply click here. Its green scaley pattern perfectly resembles the little mermaid's tail, while the dark purple cardigan tied over it evokes her sea shell top. Everything came together nicely with a pair of tropical-themed flats in a similar color scheme. Those weren't my first shoe option, but given that we had a long walk ahead of us, they started to seem like a pretty good choice. We left our coats and scarves inside a locker at the aquarium's entrance, since the building is completely enclosed and has no outdoor tanks or shows. Here's a little side-by-side:

We had a *splash* at the aquarium, where we got to see dozens of large fish tanks with around 450 different species of marine animals. Fish, eels, sharks, starfish, mantas, jellyfish, and even penguins made their appearances throughout the place. There are special daily "feeding show" schedules, where you can see crew members feeding some of the animals. My absolute favorite part was a long underwater tunnel filled with fish and sharks, which reminded me of the similar tunnels at the Boston Aquarium and Sea World Orlando. However, I must say that larger animals like orcas, walruses, dolphins and others were nowhere to be found. We really expected to see some big mammals, but the only sizable beast we saw was a really hunchbacked bull shark. He is the pride of the Barcelona Aquarium, and you can actually opt to swim with the sharks in that tank... for quite a high price!

Tickets are also a bit overpriced in relation to what you get to see, at least according to us, so it's nice to wait for discounts and offers. We actually got a great coupon with 4€ off each ticket. Savings, savings, come to me! Although it was a fun adventure, I think the Barcelona Aquarium definitely doesn't rank in my top three favorite aquariums. Regardless, it was a wonderful experience and this little Ariel is always glad to visit fishy friends. I truly felt like a mermaid in the ocean for a whole day. Aquariums are one of my go-to places all around the world... I think I'll be going back soon to get a new shark plushie from the aquarium store to add to my collection.

By the way, I was able to identify all the fish species from Finding Nemo swimming in different tanks. I'm guessing that after the movie became so popular, hundreds of aquariums around the world began to place these fish together for Disney fans to discover. You can use my guide "A study on Finding Nemo's aquarium fish" to look for them next time you go to any aquarium! Just follow this link. And speaking of Nemo, have you checked out @TheDisneybound 's new March Disneybound challenge? I will be partaking in this, so stick around my Instagram account to check all the Disney-inspired outfits I post this month. Let's get our Disney on!

Come back later for new posts and cool findings! 

How To Make Your Own Spongebob's Pineapple Home

Spongebob's pineapple definitely portrays a unique and funny home choice. Now you can have your own with this make-your-own pineapple mini tutorial! 

These are the materials you will need to make this awesome piece:

-Pottery clay

-Water

-A balloon

-Pottery tools (A toothpick and a knife will do just fine)

-A sponge
-Paintbrushes

-Paint:

   +Green for the leaves

   +Yellow for the pineapple

   +Light blue for the windows, chimney & door

   +Orange for the details

Here's a small step-by-step with supporting images of the process:

1. Inflate the balloon just above the minimum capacity and build the pineapple's body around it. Make sure to make the bottom flat.
2. Carve out the two circles for the windows and a smaller lateral circle to insert the chimney.
3. Make the outer door and window frames molding thin clay rolls (about half a centimeter thick). Attach them to the body by making small markings with the toothpick on the areas to put together, wet them a little and stick the parts to the body. (You can also make the whole door with the helm instead of just the arch).
4. Make another roll for the chimney and attach a bell-like ending. Stick it into the lateral hole.
5. Take out the balloon carefully through the bottom of the body for the pineapple to stand on its own.
6. Trace the body lines with the toothpick or carving tool. Don't make them too deep or you could end up cutting part of the body! Then do the "X" markings in the middle of each "diamond" in the body.

7. For the leaves, make a half-centimeter thick layer and cut out 9 leaves: Starting from a middle leaf, draw the other four to each side, each becoming smaller than the last one. Then order them in a triangular shape (biggest in the middle, smallest on the edges). Attach them together with the same technique as before. Wet your sponge a little and rub it on the leaves smoothly to flatten any irregularities.
8. Attach the whole leaf bunch into the center-top body of the pineapple (same technique as before).

9. Leave it all to dry for a couple of days. (Unless you have one of those fancy pottery ovens).

10. Once dry, paint it all. I started by painting the orange details and the inner piece. Then I moved on to the yellow part. Next, the leaves. Afterwards, the door, windows and chimney. Finally, I passed a brush with orange dust-paint over the whole body in order to give it that fresh-pineapple appearance.
11. You can later coat the piece with white glue or varnish for extra protection. If you are going to use it on a fish tank or over humid dirt, you MUST bake it and coat it at least twice with varnish.

Voilá! A perfect Spongebob's pineapple home. 

You can use this pineapple as an ornament, as a cake topper, as an aquarium decoration or as anything you like. I personally made this one as a home for my escargot snail, Gary. Unfortunately he passed away before I managed to finish it properly. Now I just use it as a decorationin my tiki-themed bedroom.