My midwife came over today and did a belly cast. Her teenage daughter helped while her boys played outside. I've never done one before. Here's how you do it:
- Put a drop cloth on the floor
- Cut plaster casting material into strips
- Get a large bowl of hot water
- Rub torso, arms, and shoulders generously with Vaseline
- Helpers dip plaster strips into hot water and apply them to your belly, working quickly to get it all done before the cast dries and starts to peel off
- Belly dance a bit to loosen the cast
- Reinforce any weak or thin areas with more wet plaster strips
- Support the cast with crumpled newspapers until it's fully dry, usually 48 hours
- Shower to get the Vaseline and plaster bits off
- Sand & decorate the cast
This looks so great! I didn't do one with my first pregnancy. I really want to do one with my next. If I like it, I will probably do one for each following pregnancy. The only question I have is, where to keep it?
ReplyDeletei thought about doing one with no 3, they just werent around in the consciousness with the first two but i just couldnt work out what to do with it after either??? hang it on a wall, upturn it for a bird bath in the garden? I had a huge 11.5 pounds mound and thought it may be just a little overwhelming
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is rather large and cumbersome. I hope it can make the end product nice enough to hang on a wall as decoration. If I painted it bronze it would look nice with the colors in our dining room--but I'm not sure that's the best place for such a thing, especially if I have company over who don't know me well! Probably will end up in my bedroom.
ReplyDeleteI did a belly cast with my first pregnancy, and 2 years later, I still don't have it finished. I spray painted it a color to look like skin...
ReplyDeleteBut, a warning about using Vaseline- it is a petroleum based product and has been known to bring on contractions (and starting labor)! Using a natural oil based product is much safer.
There is a company, Eternal Maternal that sells belly casting kits that include a natural oil product (in place of using Vaseline). Their website is www.eternalmaternal.com
I love your pose for the cast! I think I will try something like that next time around.
Rixa, that is beautiful! I've never seen one before that I liked so much. Your pose is very motherly and beautiful. Good job! I can't wait to see the finished product.
ReplyDeleteThat is beautiful. I've done one with both pregnancies, but not so creatively with the arms!
ReplyDeletebeautiful!!
ReplyDeletethe first cast i did i bought all the materials at Michael's art store.
the second time, i bought a pre-made kit online. less expensive, and worked just as well.
That's going to be beautiful, Rixa! Congrats on the new baby on the way and on finishing your PhD.
ReplyDelete~Jodie
I really like the pose you chose. We did one with Clara (standard torso one), and I planned on doing one with Oliver around 39 weeks (I wanted to compare first and last baby bellies)...but of course, he had other plans LOL
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I love the pose. I wish I had done one when I was pregnant with my daughter!
ReplyDeleteI thought about doing this but since we moved into our tiny stone cottage, I have absolutely no place I could possibly keep it. Can it go in the garden? Will it withstand rain and snow? Fleas and plagues?
ReplyDeleteI suppose you could try coating it thoroughly on both sides with some sort of waterproof resin...but otherwise it would turn into a soggy mess if you left it outside, since it's made of plaster. Actually I like the idea of making it an outdoor sculpture, and I'm sure there's a product out there that would do the trick!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun photo! You look like the statue on the right of your blog, even better.
ReplyDelete