They say that crafts and arts where you get your hands stuck in to work on the project can be very satisfying not to mention a very sensual experience. That is why doctors often suggest that patients take up pottery classes so that they can work with clay and feel a connection with mud and enjoy the process of creating something out of natural materials. In this article, we are not going to be talking about craft ideas using clay but with Plaster of Paris. Granted that plaster of Paris is not as natural as clay as it is a mixture of sand, cement and sometimes lime, but it is definitely easier to use once you work out how to do so. Once you know how to work with plaster of Paris it would not be beyond the realm of possibility that you create your own lovely shell shaped bits to use for beautiful and magical sea shell craft ideas, if you don’t find the shells you want naturally. In fact, the use of plaster of Paris is pretty simple once you get the precautions that you need to take down pat.

EASY PLASTER OF PARIS CRAFT IDEAS FOR FUN

We can tell you that once the concept and process is clear, you will find yourself wanting to play around with the process using plaster of Paris as the raw material. In fact, you can even try to Christmas craft ideas to try this year in order to make special decorations for the festive season. While the use of plaster of Paris by kids when they are unsupervised, is not such a great idea, you can encourage them to take up crafts using this raw material as long as somebody supervises them. You can even suggest some craft ideas that kids can use to make homemade gifts.

Before we proceed to plaster of Paris craft ideas for fun, we will give you some simple precautions and steps to follow to use the plaster in a safe way. While we are sure that plaster of Paris comes with its own instructions on usage, you have to remember that plaster of Paris needs one portion of water for two portions of powder. Before you start, however, we suggest that you cover the work area with old newspapers. This is because plaster of Paris is a very fine powder and tends to fly a lot and get into things. So we also suggest that you cover your nose and protect your face by wearing a face mask before proceeding to use it.

Make sure that you break the lumps in the plaster of Paris powder with a spoon before you mix it with water so that you can mix it easily. The best way to do this is by adding the powder to the water rather than the other way around. Keep stirring with one hand even as you add the powder with the other hand bit by bit. Keep tapping the side of the bowl to ensure that air bubbles do not form before you start mixing the powder. Once the mixture is ready, let it rest for a moment or two before you pour it into the mold that you will be using. If you want to introduce a color element at this stage, you can add a few drops of acrylic color at this stage and mix it before casting in the shapes that you wish the plaster to take.

The kind of crafts that you will want to do will depend on your preference, but to start with we suggest that you use containers that are dispensable to start with. Like for instance, you can dip a blown balloon in plaster of Paris and let it dry before you burst the balloon to retrieve the container that you have created using this method. If you want to create hands, you can use rubber gloves that can be cut and thrown away to do this once the plaster of Paris that you filled in has dried out. Now take a look at the images we have given and get started on the kind of craft work you want to do.