An amazing experience!

When I was pregnant for Charlotte, I ordered a belly casting kit from the internet. It was only about $20 and included plaster and strips to make a cast for your big belly. Then you can paint it or whatever.

But it never came, at least, not before Charlotte did!

So this time, I wanted to make sure I got it done. I thought maybe I'd just do it myself and asked my brother, an artist, where to get plaster. He talked to his good friend John and found out that there are some hazards to trying to do this yourself, the plaster heats up, people can pass out, you can get chemical burns. Ugh. Maybe I'll just order the kit.

But I talked with John and he SO graciously offered to do it for me at half cost. this is really great, because it isn't cheap. Without the "family discount" it would run at least $250 for this. The plaster alone is about $60 and it takes hours of work, sanding, finishing, etc. He was kind enough to give us half off. But this is way better than those internet kits and totally worth it!!

So today I went to John's studio in Muskegon and Grandma watched Charlotte. John has been doing plaster casting for about 30 years and he showed me some samples of his work:
He also showed me some from a pregnant model:

But I liked the ones that were more of a profile:

So I decided to try that. The way it works is pretty simple. Get naked (don't worry, I have no modesty) and cover yourself liberally with petroleum jelly. This keeps your skin and hair from sticking in the plaster. Make sure the pubic area is slicked, you don't want this to become a brazillian. Then he fills the tub with plaster. There are cinder blocks around the edge and there are towels on them:

Then plaster is poured in and you lay in it. I'll spare you the picture of what I looked like after lying it (it is, of course, nude) and just show you what the cast looks like:
This is the negative.
Here are some closer up pictures of it.
John waits for it dry, then pours more plaster in it to create a positive. Then he sands and finishes it. You can paint it or cover it in rice paper for a translucent shell. you can hand it on a wall or put a post into it for a free standing thing. I have no idea what we'll do, but I'm so glad I did it! What an experience and now the beauty of pregnancy is captured, for me, at least!