How can I reinforce my belly cast now that it has hardened?

Question

My husband did a great job with my pregnant belly cast overall, but there are a couple spots where there is only one layer of gauze & the cast is quite fragile. What can I use to reinforce it? I was thinking of maybe spraying some sort of lacquer on the inside & painting the outside, but I don't know where to begin.

Answer 1

The best way to do this is add a few layers of the plaster gauze yourself while its either laying down or hanging up on the wall.  I would do at least 5-6 layers.  Trim the edges, then paint it with a watered down layer of plaster of paris.  This comes in powder form and hardens pretty quick so make small batches and work quickly.  It will give it a bit of a smoother/ textured look depending on how you do it but it will thicking it up and make it very strong.

If you don't have any plaster gauze left out of the kit you bought (if you used a kit), craft stores do sell this.  I found that Hobby Lobby sells it the cheapest for $3.99 a roll.  I used a total of three rolls for each of my belly casts.

After you do all that, you can paint it or leave it the way it is or even seal it if you want.  I painted mine with latex wall paint I had left over and that's it.  

Here is a photo of the one from my son two years ago that my husband and me did together and the one from this pregnancy I did just last week all by myself thanks to the huge mirror in our bathroom (it's not finished yet, just the raw plaster gauze look).  http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l176/M...

Answer 2

how do you make a belly cast