Today we have a very special evening - we will do it for the first time! Hurray, comrades!
Question from the audience: “Where do they buy plaster these days and is it expensive?”
I answer: in our province, gypsum is sold in hardware stores for 27 rubles. per package 2 kg. Two kilograms of material for 27 rubles, super!
DIY New Year's crafts made from plaster
So, a preliminary study revealed that serious people dilute gypsum at the rate of 1 liter of water (at any temperature) per 1.5 kg of substance. It is also better to avoid inhaling gypsum dust.
In human language, two parts of water require three parts of plaster, pour the plaster into the water, and close the child’s nose.
As you can see from the photographs, we solved these problems simply - first we poured water into the bottle, then quickly poured in plaster (through a funnel, we are not snipers), and thoroughly shook the solution in the closed bottle. It was assumed that the child would get less dust if he did not stir it in the container, but shook the bottle and poured it into molds. In fact, the plaster froze already at the “shake, don’t mix” stage, and never poured out of the bottle. The child shook it thoroughly for about 5 minutes.
DIY New Year's crafts made from plaster
DIY New Year's crafts made from plaster
But at a price of 27 rubles. For 2 kg, my child and I shrugged our shoulders and diluted a second portion in a new bottle. Both times we used a glass jar of baby food as a measure, we still had more than half the bag left. The second time we shook the bottle for about 30 seconds, then quickly poured it into our molds. I have prepared several types of molds: silicone ones for cupcakes and plastic sand ones and small ones from Play Doh, and I don’t trust the latter, it seems to me that nothing will come of them tomorrow, despite first lubricating them with baby cream, they are very small. So all hope lies in silicone ducks and Christmas trees, but the little man cracked already at the hardening stage, because... the form is still plastic, but the plaster requires complete immobility. But ducks and Christmas trees are also New Year’s crafts; I think Santa Claus will like them.
DIY New Year's crafts made from plaster
Some craftsmen dissolve plaster by eye, saying that excess water will remain on the surface. Probably, yes, we didn’t have excess water, but the moisture really seemed to collect at the top, where it could be blotted with a napkin.
DIY New Year's crafts made from plaster
And don't forget to look at our New Year's plaster crafts! Tomorrow we will show what we got and what molds we were pleased with. Let's prime and paint!
The New Year is already so close... and here is my New Year's gift: a master class on making a cotton Santa Claus!
For work we will need:
- nude polymer clay
- beads for eyes (or ready-made eyes)
- velvet (or any other beautiful fabric)
- acrylic paints
- contours on fabric
- plastic bottle
- scotch
- glue gun
- foil
- wire
- starch.
Let's start by determining the size of our future grandfather. I needed a grandfather with a height of 50 cm, based on this I calculated the size of the head (you can find the proportions of the human body on the Internet). Let's start with the head!
We roll a dense ball out of foil, slightly smaller in size than our future head, and cover it with flesh-colored polymer clay on top:
If you have ready-made eyes, then great, if not, then take suitable beads, like mine, and press them into place of the eye. If the layer of plastic on the foil ball was thin, then it will take considerable force to press the beads into the foil.
If you, like me, use beads instead of eyes, then perhaps at this stage you can paint them white, which I did not do and which I regretted later.
Let's start sculpting the face! Don’t think that this is so difficult... personally, this was also my first face, the main thing here is that the eyes and nose turn out well, the rest is successfully hidden under the mustache, eyebrows and beard of my grandfather. I'll show you step-by-step photos of how I did it:
This is the kind of face I got. As you can see from the last photo, the shape of the head is not round... more like just a face, but that's not critical! We, in fact, needed the face itself; we’ll later fill in the rest with cotton wool. I'm sending my little face to bake!
After baking, we tint our grandfather’s nose and cheeks to create a blush and draw the eyes:
This is where I realized that the whites of the eyes needed to be painted over in advance... it was quite difficult to paint over them without getting white paint on the eyelids.
We cover the finished face with plastic varnish. I remind you that products made of polymer clay (plastic) can ONLY be coated with a special varnish!!! If there is none, then it is better to leave it uncovered, because... Not all varnishes are suitable for these purposes. An unsuitable varnish may simply not dry on the plastic, or it may begin to stick for a while and the whole work will be ruined!
Now you need to make preparations for the rest of the grandfather, i.e. his body. For this we need a plastic bottle and tape!
My bottle turned out to be quite soft and easily deformed, and it was also a bit small in height, so I strengthened it by wrapping it in several layers of tape, and put crumpled newspaper on top to the desired height, also securing it with tape!
But the head turned out to be quite heavy, and the body structure was very light, so I decided to make the bottom heavier. This could be done by filling the bottle with something, but in my case it was too late to do this, because... I already wrapped everything with tape. So I went the other way... I placed glass pebbles between the layers of tape (I didn’t have anything else, although I could have used something less scarce) and wrapped everything up with tape again:
This is what the blank should look like.
Now we attach the head. We drill a hole in the head (here, by the way! the hole for the fastening stick could also be made in advance, even before baking) and glue the fastening stick, and then glue it all into our workpiece. I have a newspaper on top, so the stick went in quite easily:
The preparation for Santa Claus is ready! Well, now the fun part! We begin to sculpt it from cotton wool.
It is better to take cotton wool in rolls and of good quality, then it unwinds well and is easy to cut and much easier to work with.
Preparing jelly. Dilute a tablespoon of starch in a small amount of cold water and pour a glass of boiling water, stirring vigorously. The paste should be without lumps.
We cut off a layer of cotton wool (cotton wool can be cut like fabric) and spread “jelly” on both sides, and then we wrap our grandfather like a mummy.
Don't try to make a fur coat smooth and beautiful the first time. We will have several layers of cotton, each of which needs to be dried thoroughly. After the starch paste dries, a crust will form on the surface of the cotton wool, as if it were paper or something like that, and the cotton wool inside will remain soft and fluffy! This is the beauty of cotton toys By the way... before you start working with cotton wool and paste, make sure there is water nearby. This could be a sink with a tap, or maybe just a basin with water and a towel, because... You can only work with each new piece of cotton wool with clean hands.
We make a cotton cap for our mummy, and straightening out the shape of the skull, we sculpt the eyebrows (although they can be done later). You can once again coat the workpiece with jelly on top. The cotton wool must be well coated!... and this is what we should get:
Let's try it on...
We set our mummy to dry, hanging our hands separately so that they don’t touch unnecessary objects, otherwise they will dry out.
Once the workpiece has dried, you can cover it with another layer of cotton wool (this also applies to your hands), until you reach the desired volume of the fur coat. Try to make the last layer of cotton wool as even as possible; I did this well by gluing strips of cotton wool vertically, and not wrapping them horizontally, as before. Here is my final result after drying:
If the cotton wool does not stick well, you can secure it with threads; I did this on my hands, for reliability, and thereby edited the shape of my hands.
Well... you can start covering the fur coat with velvet. I do this with a glue gun. We cut out a fur coat and fit our blank:
According to my idea, the fur coat's hems should diverge a little at the bottom, so I made an insert of silver brocade that will peek out from under the fur coat.
We also cover our hands with velvet:
At this stage, I paint the mittens with silver paint. Let's try it on.
Now you need to refine the bottom. Cut out a circle of suitable diameter from cardboard and cover it with fabric.
We glue the bottom, and I also sewed it on for reliability:
Let's move on to finishing the fur coat.
We cut out strips of cotton wool of the required size, coat them with paste as before and glue them to the fur coat:
We make the edge of the sleeves and use a glue gun to secure the arms in place.
We cut out the collar and put it on the fur coat:
Groom your beard in the same way.
To make it more textured, I make separate strands of cotton wool and add to the beard:
All! You can dry your grandfather!
After the grandfather has dried, I correct the flaws and decorate him. In some places the cotton wool could not stick well to the velvet; I glued it with hot glue from a gun. I add a belt and paint the fur coat using acrylic fabric outlines (although I think any outline will do):
I made the staff according to the same principle as my grandfather... I wrapped the stick in cotton wool, dried it and painted it with silver paint, just like the mittens:
I decorated it with a silver outline, crystal paste (like ice) and an openwork metal bead!
And here he is, handsome Morozko, ready to celebrate the New Year with us!
Santa Claus under the Christmas tree - with a luxurious beard, in a long fur coat and even a seemingly warm hat - this really looks like New Year's.
Classic three-dimensional Santa Claus is a do-it-yourself option made from cotton papier-mâché. Such New Year's toys decorated Christmas trees decades ago. Not only Santa Clauses, but also Snow Maidens, various funny little animals, balls, etc.
The cotton papier-mâché technique is very simple. Materials: ordinary cotton wool and paste or PVA glue. Also - wire for the frame. Although you can use something else as a frame. For example, a plastic bottle or a foam cone (this will be even easier).
If you decide to make Christmas tree decorations from cotton papier-mâché using paste, you will first have to prepare it.
Option 1. Flour paste
Dilute 2 tbsp in 1 glass of cold water. spoons of flour. Stir, trying to “break” all the lumps. Pour in a stream into 1 liter of boiling water, stirring all the time. Reduce the heat under the saucepan and cook for a couple of minutes (continue stirring).
Option 2. Paste of their starch
2 tbsp. Pour tablespoons of starch into a saucepan with 1 glass of cold water, stir well. Add boiling water to make a total of 1 liter of liquid. Immediately put on the fire, stirring, wait until it starts to “gurgle”, and immediately turn off.
With PVA glue, of course, it’s easier (if only because you don’t need to cook it).
When making New Year's toys with your own hands, you can use any of these adhesives, but choose flour paste if you are sure that you will be able to apply layers of cotton wool evenly: otherwise, after drying, your DIY crafts will turn into yellow spots. Although this is important if the decorations for the Christmas tree (or under the Christmas tree) are white, otherwise the situation can be corrected with bright colors.
DIY Santa Claus: step by step
If you are making a wire frame, the wire should be twisted approximately like this.
On the frame parts (torso, legs, arms, head) we tightly wrap the cotton wool in layers (while dry).
When the figure is thick enough, secure the cotton wool with thread or tape.
Let's get down to the most important thing: gluing the cotton layers. First, divide the cotton wool into thin layers.
We grease each element of the craft well with paste or PVA glue and apply layers of cotton wool. The layers should be completely wet, so don’t skimp on the paste.
When the figure is formed, using small pieces of cotton wool soaked in paste or glue, we sculpt small details (mostly, you will have to work on the face).
To make the surface of the craft more even, try to ensure that the thickness of each layer is uniform over the entire area (without lumps).
If you have thin (like tissue) paper, cover the workpiece with it - this will make the surface even smoother. That's it, now we send the craft to dry (it will take 2-3-4 days - depending on the size), and then paint it (preferably with acrylic paints, but others are not excluded (gouache, for example).
Although you can do it differently: stick on 3-4 layers of cotton wool, dry for a couple of days and only then continue gluing. It will take longer, but the craft will be neater.
DIY Santa Claus on a plastic bottle or foam cone is done in almost the same way, but you only need to make hands from wire.
By the way, to make the craft more stable, you can use a special doll holder. You can buy it at a craft store, but it’s easy to make yourself.
Look at the options for Santa Clauses made of cotton papier-mâché, maybe some details will seem interesting to you.
Elena Mitenkina
I love it very much handmade toys. When you have free time there is always something I'm mastering, creating, painting. We love to be creative with our children, we constantly draw and sculpt something. Children really like it tinker, they put their whole soul into their work, reflect their inner world in them and, of course, discover something new for themselves. In the process of work, of course, they develop imaginative thinking, fine motor skills, perception of shape and color, and a sense of beauty.
Often using paper, cardboard and other materials we are familiar with, we wanted to try something new in our work. We fixed our gaze on plaster. Ordered ready-made figurines toys and in our free time we gradually paint them into different types murals. Just recently finished painting plaster figures of Father Frost and Snow Maiden. November will fly by unnoticed and the New Year will knock on the door, so these figurines toys They will look great near the New Year tree, please the eye, and decorate our group.
To work you will need: plaster toys(can be made from another material, PVA glue, brush, gouache.
1. Prepare the toy for painting, dry until the surface is smooth and dry.
2. Mix glue and gouache together.
3. Let's get started painting.
Like these ones we got toys. Create, create, give each other JOY!
Publications on the topic:
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The New Year is just around the corner and, therefore, it’s time to prepare New Year’s gifts and decorations. Who is the main character on New Year's Eve?
That's right, even children know this. It's Santa Claus! And so I decided to make a figurine of Santa Claus for a child in the garden, so that it would stand on the street, on the playground. I’ll say right away that I made this sculpture last year and it has already successfully passed the test of winter, frost and children, and this year it will delight us with its presence again :)
I knew right away what I would make the figure of Santa Claus from: polyurethane foam. Firstly, it is quite inexpensive (considering the size of Moroz - 115 cm), secondly, it is fast enough, since the foam dries in 15-20 minutes and the next layer can be applied, thirdly, products made from polyurethane foam are lightweight and are not afraid of any weather conditions, with one caveat - the foam must be well insulated from sunlight and moisture. Under the influence of direct sunlight, the foam turns yellow and collapses, and if water gets inside the figurine, then in cold weather it crystallizes and the figurine can “tear”. I will tell you below in my master class how to avoid all this and make a figurine that will last for many years.
So, be patient and use a vacuum cleaner, as the work is quite dirty and dusty.
First, I found on the Internet a picture of the Frost we will make. We need a general view, we’ll make our own details.
As a base, I took a plastic bottle that I had on hand, poured sand and stones inside for stability (in fact, I didn’t have to do this, it stands great anyway) and inserted a wooden stick from a children’s shovel on top.
The result was the frame of the future figure.
Then we take newspapers and begin to add volume to our workpiece. We fix the newspapers with paper tape. 
When we have collected the required volume with newspaper, we cover the entire workpiece with craft paper on top: this will make it easier to apply foam later.
When everything is dry, we take the foam and continue to add volume to our Grandfather. When working with foam, I advise you to use gloves, since the foam is very difficult to wash off the skin and cannot be washed off clothes at all. The floor also needs to be covered with newspapers or film.
When working with foam, I use a special gun (pictured), which allows you to regulate the supply of foam and reduce its consumption. You should apply thin layers of foam: this way they will dry faster and you can apply the next layer. 
We continue to apply the foam layer by layer. Try to have as few gaps and voids as possible. If you apply a lot of foam at once, then greatly increasing in volume, it becomes empty inside. And when we then cut off the excess foam, we will have to fill these holes with fresh foam.
At the bottom of the sculpture we glue cardboard and also foam it. Unfortunately, I didn’t film this moment, but I think that everything is clear. If it’s unclear, ask, I’ll be happy to answer. 
Having gained the required volume on our Frost, we begin to move on to the details. We outline the face, very approximately, the place of the hat and begin to make the collar of the fur coat. To do this, take thick cardboard or, as in my case, a calendar cover, and fix it in place with masking tape. After this, we begin to apply foam to the cardboard collar. 
When all areas of the figure are completely filled and look a little like Santa Claus, we take a breadboard or construction knife and begin to cut off all the excess. Knife blades must be sharp to make clean cuts. Foam dulls them very quickly and therefore they need to be changed quite often. If suddenly we cut off too much or didn’t like something, we can always increase the volume again and cut off the excess again. This work is not very fast, but very creative. 
We gradually move from the general to the specific. We draw the details, paying special attention to the face of Santa Claus and his beard. Large cavities are filled with foam. 
When you are satisfied with the result, you can sand the Frost sculpture a little: the foam sands beautifully.
Then we apply acrylic putty. You can apply it with a brush, but I applied it directly with my hands: it turns out much faster. We applied one layer, dried it, sanded it a little and applied the second layer. It's hard to close all the holes in the foam the first time. It is very important to isolate the foam well from direct exposure to light and water, as I said above.
We sand the second layer more carefully. We still won’t be able to achieve perfect smoothness, but we don’t need it. After painting, the irregularities on the fur coat and hat look like scribble. The face should be given more attention: fill all the unevenness more thoroughly with putty and sand it well. Using a toothpick, draw hairs and strands on the beard and mustache. 
It's time to paint. First, I painted all of Santa Claus with white acrylic paint. Then I sealed the places that should remain white with masking tape. To color the fur coat and hat, I used auto enamel in a can. I didn’t really like it: it has a fairly strong smell that takes a long time to dissipate and plus it takes a long time to dry. Long lasts than just acrylic spray paint. I usually paint with Bosco paint, which I like better.
One can of auto enamel was enough for me to cover 2 times.
The only plus of this paint: rich red-cherry color. Another important point: it did not adhere well to white acrylic paint and began to craquelure. Of course, it turned out to be original in the end, but unplanned. This has never happened with Bosco. 
This is such a beautiful craquelure. 
This is what Frost looks like after painting. 
Now we need to embellish it a little. We take a white varnish marker, acrylic paint and a thin brush, or outlines, and begin to apply patterns to Frost’s fur coat. 
Then I started painting my face. First, I mixed umber + pink + ivory and applied it to my face. I covered the mustache, beard and edges on the hat and fur coat with pearlescent silver color: it turned out to be real frost. The photo doesn't convey this, unfortunately. Then I applied a little black acrylic, diluted to water, onto the beard and mustache. I wiped off the excess with a dry cloth. 
Then I drew the eyes and applied blush to the cheeks. True, I got carried away again and did not photograph the intermediate stages of the work.
When everything was dry, I covered it in several layers with aerosol acrylic varnish, paying special attention to the lower part. 
Grandfather turned out to be quite weighty and stable and we had to take him to the garden by car :) The children were happy! 
This year I plan to make a figurine of a deer and a sleigh so that grandfather can safely travel and deliver gifts to the children.
