Something smells a little fishy around here … oh wait, it’s just these adorable painted paper plate fish! Paper plates are one of our favorite crafting supplies and we couldn’t resist turning them into these nautically inspired fish. As usual with paper plate crafts, it’s super easy to make a whole bunch and honestly, it takes almost no time at all! Once you get painting and playing around with different shapes, colors, fish varieties, and shells you’ll have lots and lots to work with.

We like to tape our fish onto the wall for party decor, or as a quick way to add some DIY decor to a kid’s room, but you could totally tape a popsicle stick to the back and have an underwater puppet show with these guys! Keep reading to see how easy it is to make this whole school of fish!

• Apple Barrel Multi-Surface Paint Set
• White paper plates
• Scissors
• Paintbrushes
• Pencil

Step 1
Start by drawing an outline of the fish you want. We did a whole bunch of shapes, but the bigger rounder ones like the one shown above are a great starting point. You can really do whatever pattern on them that you like! Once you’re happy with the shape, cut them out.

Step 2
Then the fun part: get painting! We did a whole bunch of stripes on these guys. Play with color and different brushes to get different results. And don’t forget to paint the eyes on too – make sure you have some fish facing left and others facing right. :)

Step 3
These nautical sardines are super easy too. Just draw and cut out a few long narrow fish, paint a red and white shirt on them, and then do the rest in blue. Aren’t they cute?

Step 4
We did more round fish with a simple brushstroke pattern.

Step 5
And finally, we threw in some seashells for good measure. Draw and cut out a basic clamshell shape, and then paint them pink all over. Once dry, add some orange stripe details.

Voila! You’ve got a whole aquarium’s worth of paper plate fish to play with. We like to tape them onto the wall as fun decor for a party, or anytime really!