Belly Casting

[BlessedEarthMother]

I want to do a belly cast this week and I am going out to buy supplies tomorrow. I know I need plaster strips and petroleum jelly to make the cast but I was wondering how much of the plaster strips I will need. I also was wondering if any of you know what is the best/cheapest thing to use to seal the cast off to protect it from breaking down over time. I am also planning on painting on something pretty to decorate it. I am having a homebirth and I have an old fireplace mantle in my birthing room that has a great space above it that I want to make a focal point during my labor. I was thinking I would make the belly cast the center of this focal point and decorate it with some sort of goddess art.

I would love to hear how you have done your belly casts and see any pics that you might have

[Reha]

I always buy Rigid Wrap from Michael's. Its 4.99 a roll, and I always buy 3 rolls. I use 2 rolls during the actual casting process, and then the last roll to reinforce it later on once its dry, let it dry one more time, and then decorate.

Once you are done decorating it, you can coat the whole thing with mod-podge (sp?). It makes it nice and finished and helps protect it.

Also, fwiw, I didn't use petroleum jelly. I use olive oil or coconut oil, and it works just fine.

[koalove]

spare yourself the vasoline! we used calendula oil, then wraped my body in swran wrap. it was fun! we used one wide (8 in.) roll of plaster, and one small, 4 inch roll. i think another roll of either would have been a good idea. i sealed it with some spray stuff after i painted it. its just an acrylic sealer you can find at any craft store or even wal-mart. i didnt ue mod podge because that will get soft if it gets wet. i think it can handle a splash but if you dont wipe it off, it will soften.

[gossamerwindweb]

We are doing mine tomorrow. We'll use olive oil and then just do it right on there. Being wrapped in saran wrap sounds awful and hot to me right now. LOL! Anyhow, I plan to let it dry and reinforce it with extra strips, then paint it and use an acrylic sealer on it.

[askew]

I still need to reinforce mine, but I used the strips from Michaels too. 3 packs. I am going to let DS (2.5) paint it, and maybe put his hand prints on the belly to show him at this time as well. Then I was planning on sealing it with polyurethane.

[durafemina]

I used 2.5 packets of plaster gauze - but got mine from the hospital supply store.
I used a beeswax/olive oil balm instead of vaseline too.
I didn't seal the last one. . . not sure what I'll do about this one. Probably just keep it out of the rain

Thanks for reminding me to take pics!

[GoldmanBaby09]

Originally Posted by durafemina

Thanks for reminding me to take pics!

I haven't made a cast yet, but plan to this week once my mom comes up to stay until the baby gets here. One pic I really want to take of the cast, I saw someone else post somewhere. You prop the cast up from behind, line it with a thin receiving blanket, and you take a pic of your newborn curled up in the cast of the belly they used to inhabit. Is that not the cutest thing?!