You need these important items to craft certain recipes.
As part of the swimming and diving update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can now collect a variety of mermaid-themed DIY recipes that require pearls to make.
Pearls are a very rare material that can be collected (generally) in two ways: From diving and from Pascal.
To be specific, the first time you find a scallop while diving each day, Pascal may appear and ask you if he can have it. If you agree to give him the scallop, he’ll give you an item like a mermaid-themed DIY recipe card or a pearl.
In addition to receiving pearls from Pascal, you can sometimes find pearls while diving in the ocean around your island. However, in our experience, this item is incredibly rare. Still, it is possible to find pearls this way.
Once you collect one or more pearls — and one or more mermaid-themed recipes — you can take them to a crafting table and use them like any other crafting ingredient. For instance, the Mermaid Bed recipe requires two pearls, two giant clams, and five sand dollars to create, while the Mermaid Screen recipe requires two pearls, three giant clams, and five sand dollars to craft.
If you want to create any of these mermaid-themed items to decorate your home or island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, make sure to go diving as often as you can to increase your chances of finding those valuable pearls!
To learn more about Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or to view the rest of our guides for the game, check out our previous coverage.
Disclosure: Nintendo gave SuperParent a code for Animal Crossing: New Horizons for coverage purposes.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.