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Simple ways to make garden figures with your own hands. How to make a plaster garden figurine with your own hands Making garden figurines

Most of us have a craving for beauty and comfort. In the courtyard of our own house, in the country house and in the garden, we strive to surround ourselves with charming flower beds, to lay paths inviting to walk, and we cannot do without unusual and funny figures. Gypsum is one of those materials that can be easily transformed with industrious hands into a wonderful decoration for the garden.

Material features

Gypsum or alabaster has a number of properties that predetermined its use in construction and medicine. It is also great for making garden figurines with your own hands. Even large sculptures are made from alabaster. The use of shapes allows you to accurately copy the most complex volumetric shapes. Working with the material is not physically difficult, so many women are fond of creating from plaster. Professionals have already made a considerable number of alabaster crafts for the garden.

Plaster figurines for the garden for every taste

It should not be forgotten that alabaster is a rather fragile material that is afraid of moisture. It is better not to test alabaster products for strength. They must be protected from water with paints and varnishes. In the autumn-winter period, plaster figures are stored in a dry room.

Most importantly, shapes are needed to make figurines from this material.

Most often, garden figurines of animals and people are cast from alabaster. Less often - objects of inanimate nature. We offer you to evaluate the photos of animals that you can make from plaster. Of course, they will have to come up with, purchase or make forms.



A successful composition makes the squirrel alive

Another squirrel was carried away by mushrooms

This forest is home to foxes, hedgehogs and mushrooms.

Plaster bear, but real honey?

The pig is bored alone in the pen

Plaster planters should be well insulated from moisture

Some are just getting to know each other, others already have an heir

In order not to be mistaken with the choice of an alabaster figurine, which you are ready to make with your own hands, it is useful to find a place in the garden for the future figurine and to present the general plot of the composition. We advise you to start with a simpler figurine.

According to this scheme, you can make any figurine from alabaster.

First of all, a mold is required to cast a plaster craft. The budget option is to use plastic bottles, old toys, dishes, and more. Of course, the list of the possible is limited and you will have to puzzle over the search for suitable material. It is much easier to use ready-made children's molds for plaster or sand. The large silicone molds used in manufacturing are too expensive. If you wish, you can make a silicone mold yourself, as the following video tells about.

The material has limited strength and relatively large crafts are reinforced with mesh or wire. To save material and reduce weight, plastic containers are laid inside the figure. Special plaster for sculptures is stronger than alabaster and stucco. To increase strength, PVA glue can be added to ordinary alabaster.

For the convenience of making and coloring, figures are often made in the form of separate parts. Parts of the craft are fastened together with glue or alabaster solution.

To make the finished figure easier to remove from the mold, it can be coated with a water solution of liquid soap and vegetable oil. Soap should be twice as much as oil. The resulting mixture is diluted with five portions of water.

The dry material is diluted to a liquid sour cream and poured into a mold. The solution hardens in a matter of minutes. The chemical reaction is accompanied by the release of heat. The formation of air voids is possible during casting. In production conditions, the issue is solved by using a shaker. While working with your own hands, you need to carefully fill in the solution, and the voids can be corrected with a putty or alabaster solution.



You will have to work with such a figure for a long time.

A small figurine will be ready for further work in half an hour. Coarse casting should dry for several days in a dry place and not under the sun. You can work with the craft further when the hand does not feel moisture. Drawings are easy on the surface of the figure. For these purposes, use a knife, awl, needle.

To protect against moisture and improve adhesion with paint, the craft is primed. You can use building primer or half-diluted PVA glue. Professionals cover gypsum sculptures with several layers of drying oil heated in a water bath. After the surface brightens, you can continue to work.

The surface of the figure is sequentially decorated with paints. Water-based paints do not adhere to a varnish-coated surface. Oil, pentaphthalic, alkyd enamels are suitable. The final processing is carried out with linseed oil, wax or varnish. The figurine can be decorated with all sorts of decorative elements: buttons, glass, acorns, cones and more.

In practice, using the same technology, figures can be cast from cement mortar. They will be durable and will not be afraid of moisture. However, a cement-based solution hardens slowly, it will be difficult to make relief patterns on the surface.



This is how they mold a pots in the form of a swan from plaster

Plaster crafts can not only be cast, but also sculpted. In this case, it is necessary to make a frame on which parts of the craft are gradually applied. Prepare and apply plaster mortar in small portions. It is better to work with gloves. It is convenient to use a plaster medical bandage. The pieces of the bandage are soaked in water and applied to the figure. It is necessary to smooth out uneven areas. The shells are sealed with alabaster solution.

Note that stucco figures are often made from cement mortar, including with the addition of gypsum. This is a separate article.

Master - class for making a charming fungus

The fungus seemed to me the most suitable craft for decorating the site, which can be cast from plaster. Forms for him are easy to provide. The mushroom will be great in the garden. It will take a very short list of tools to make it.



Let's consider step by step a master class for making a figurine:




At the end of the work, I came to the conclusion: it is easy and simple to work with the material. The most important thing is to find the right shape. I also recommend that you try to build your own garden figurine. Let the video help you with your work.

Recently, decorating summer cottages and household plots, especially with your own hands, has become a fashionable and popular occupation and hobby for many people. This is not strange, since in addition to the main goal - harvesting, many people go to the country house to relax and have a good time away from the bustle of the city. Therefore, almost all owners of summer cottages and garden plots are puzzled to create the most cozy, comfortable atmosphere, as well as to give the space an aesthetically unique look.

More recently, it has become fashionable to decorate the site with original, and sometimes funny, figures and small sculptures.

The presence of such an element of decor makes the landscape of the site exclusive, unique and unlike others, because the work on decoration, in fact, is completely an author's project - which means it has its own face.

Garden decoration features

Of course, many will prefer to buy ready-made figurines, for example, made of stone or plastic, in a store where a huge variety of different fairy-tale characters, animals, and so on are presented. However, it is much more interesting to do the work with your own hands. Thus, in each of the statues, you can put a piece of your love and, of course, creativity. The materials at hand are quite suitable for creating any conceived figurine. The process of “inventing” and “sculpting” your character is always very pleasant and fascinating for children. You can introduce them to the creative process.

There are a lot of ideas for creating landscape sculptures. These can be your favorite fairy-tale heroes, for example, multi-colored gnomes, the fierce Serpent Gorynych, the cunning Puss in Boots, the Golden Fish or the various-feathery Firebird. There is no limit to the flow of fantasy!

An important rule is that decorative figures must match the design of the space and the appearance of the house. If there is a small pond in the garden, then the army of funny frogs will perfectly fit into its space, and brave golden-maned lions, sitting on the lawn near the house, will be able to guard and guard the home. Some craftsmen and craftswomen are so keen on the process that a summer cottage or garden turns into a real fabulous city.

What can be made of?

Garden figurines can be made with your own hands from a variety of materials.

From plaster

Plaster is a popular material in garden figurines and is easy to use. One of the main conditions in working with plaster is that the figures must have strength and resistance to moisture. Clarity in manufacturing is not important. Small figures, as a rule, are made by hand without the basis and the use of any equipment.

Scale models, where it is necessary to reproduce massive body parts or work with large parts, require a reinforced frame. It acts as a "skeleton" of the product. The finished work is fixed to the foundation using protruding foot elements.

In winter and autumn, it is best to store the plaster figures in a dry place.

The sculpting technology itself is quite simple. A mixture of diluted gypsum with PVA glue is laid out layer by layer, allowing each previous layer to dry. If desired, the finished plaster product can be painted and varnished.

Wire

To decorate the garden, you can make a variety of shapes from wire yourself. These can be both self-sufficient products and decorative elements, such as stands for flowers, lamps, as well as graceful vases. With the help of wire, you can make a decorative brazier that resembles the image of an animal or character, it can also be small benches, a table, miniature gazebos and more.

Nowadays, such a direction as topiary, or in other words - garden shrub sculpture, is gaining popularity.

For example, a strong wire frame in the future can be overgrown with greenery and given a believable shape with a curly haircut.

From plastic bottles

As you know, plastic is easy to cut, paint and retain its shape for a long time. One of the most spectacular products made from plastic bottles is the palm tree. In addition, a tropical plant in the middle of a garden or summer cottage looks rather exotic and unique. To do this work, you need to stock up on a large amount of plastic containers in green and brown shades.

Very often, various flowers, trees and birds are made from this material. The technology is very simple, but the finished work looks really attractive.

Made of wood

Wood is a unique material from which you can build many options for garden crafts. Having mastered the basic techniques of carving and burning wood, even an ordinary old tree stump can be turned into a work of art. Wooden decorations look natural and are able to transform even the darkest corners of a garden or summer cottage.

Wood is affordable, and the range of its varieties is very wide - it can be twigs, old driftwood, stumps, plywood sheets or chipboard. The tree is very pleasant to work with, easy to handle.

It is important to remember that any wood is susceptible to decay and therefore requires care and protection.

Products made of birch branches look incredibly beautiful. Even without surface treatment, woodwork will look very attractive, and if you varnish it, you can extend its life and make it stronger.

Of cement

Cement cannot be called a "capricious" material, but in order to get a high-quality and durable result of working with it, you must follow a number of rules and a clear sequence, in a word, you will have to try. As a rule, to prepare a standard cement mortar, it is necessary to mix cement, water, construction sand and tile adhesive (it is used to avoid cracks in the finished craft).

Cement requires long-term drying. It may take 7 to 10 days for a cement figurine to completely harden. To smooth out roughness, use sandpaper or a file.

At the end of the hardening of the figure, it must be primed, and only then painted or varnished.

Made of metal

Metal products are primarily characterized by high strength. Often such products in the garden perform not only a decorative, but also a practical function. It can be small forged benches, lanterns, openwork flower stands and more. As a rule, people prefer to buy forged figures in stores or ask to make them to order. Such a pleasure is quite expensive, although it is distinguished by its uniqueness and is often the author's work.

But with an effort and imagination, digging through the rubble of old improvised metal materials that somehow slowly accumulate in every house (and even more so in the country), you can build a real masterpiece.

For example, old nails can turn out to be excellent stems for daisies or dandelions, old coins that have outlived theirs can serve as feathers of a miracle bird or scales of a fabulous fish. You can fasten metal parts to each other using Moment glue, unless, of course, the product is not very large.

A welding machine will help to process a massive product, but this method of fastening requires certain skills, but it is the most reliable option.

You can use a soldering iron or blowtorch to hold the miniature metal parts together. To improve the decorative appearance of the finished product, it is coated with a special paint designed to be applied to a metal surface.

Concrete

Concrete is a material from which any shape and shape can be recreated. Many ideas with the use of concrete can be carried out by a person who has not previously dealt with this material. It is worth remembering that gloves are always worn when working with cement or concrete.

The essence and principle of working with concrete is the same as with cement. To give the figure the required dimensions, concrete is poured into trays or forms, left to dry, and then polished and decorated.

Artificial grass

Perhaps one of the most fashionable garden solutions is the topiary. As mentioned above, topiary is a green sculpture made from artificial grass or moss. The product is capable of enlivening the landscape of the site, as well as in the most natural way to fit into the picture of the environment.

Making topiary takes a lot of time and effort. However, with perseverance and patience, everyone can get the job done. The easiest way to make hollow figures is to use a metal frame, which can be easily purchased at any gardening store. The frame is in the form of a lattice with sufficient clearances to allow access to the inside. A mixture of soil with peat or moss is placed in the "core" of the metal structure.

Filling the inside of the frame with a substrate, it is necessary to create small depressions, where the garden crops of your choice will subsequently be planted.

Of stone

The simplest and cheapest material to decorate your garden or summer cottage are ordinary stones. From stones of different sizes and shapes, you can create the most unusual compositions. Many of us, returning home from a summer vacation, cannot take with us even a small armful of sea stones that lie in the "long" box, only taking up space. Just sea pebbles would be an excellent material for any craft.

From such stones, you can lay a bright path, various mosaics, lay out multi-colored stones with the inscriptions of the names of the owners of the country house, make a homemade small fountain of stones, and much more.

From scrap materials

What self-taught designers do not use in order to improve their favorite summer cottage. It can be almost anything that comes to hand: old cups, forks, spoons and plates, watering cans, obsolete cars and carts, tires, plastic bags, nails and so on. The list can go on and on.

From car tires

It turns out that you can also create real works of art from old car tires. Rubber is a durable material that is resistant to both temperature changes and increased moisture. The most popular landscape decorations using car tires are homemade flower beds, figures of various animals, sandboxes, swings, and so on.

In working with tires, the following set of tools is most often used: jigsaw, knife, electric drill, grinder and metal saw. Rubber is quite pliable and easy to stain.

Styrofoam

Polyfoam is easy to process and weighs almost nothing - these are the key points that a novice decorator of a summer cottage should know. That is why each figurine made of this material must be fixed on the ground with a cement mortar. Polyfoam, as a rule, can deteriorate from interaction with acetone and dichloroethane. However, working with him is easy and pleasant. The details of the foam figurine adhere perfectly to each other, and in shape they can be both flat and voluminous.

Popular forms

The right shape for making figures is the right key to success. Speaking of filling figures, in the first place in terms of practicality and convenience are silicone molds or molds, the main advantage of which is the easy separation of the filled product from the mold itself. This is more relevant when working with gypsum mortar. Also, in some cases, it is necessary to use special drying chambers if we are talking about scale figures.

But in most cases, it is the improvised means that are used as molds for filling the future product. Take, for example, the simplest and most popular gypsum figure, the mushroom. You can take a cut-off plastic bottle as a leg, and an ordinary small bowl or plate to fill the cap.

DIY garden decoration is a real scope for creativity and imagination. After all, there can be a great variety of options for creating garden figurines - animals, people, plants, fairy-tale castles, characters from books, etc. But, as elsewhere, a sense of proportion is important in landscape decoration. You shouldn't make too many figures or make images from completely different styles. Color harmony also plays a role. Decide on the style of your garden - whether it will be a Japanese style, a Russian folk trend or French grace, based on the style, you can choose suitable figures and images. In this article, we will tell you step by step how to make garden figures with your own hands, the master class will be simple and understandable for all novice gardeners.

All available means - bottles, plaster, plastic, polyurethane foam, car tires can serve as a material for the manufacture of garden decorations.

From solidifying materials

Plaster or alabaster is a very convenient and practical material. Even rather large figures can be made of gypsum; the material takes any desired shape.

Do not forget that alabaster does not like moisture, it is better to varnish the product on top, and store it under a roof in winter and autumn.

Now you will learn how to make a garden mushroom from alabaster.

First, we will make caps for future mushrooms. It is better to make them in different sizes, so the figures will look more picturesque. We make them from plasticine, as in the photo.

Let's dilute the gypsum solution and fill the molds with them. No pre-lubrication required. The solution should resemble thick sour cream.

Gypsum hardens quickly, about 20 minutes - and you can take out the workpieces.

A blank for a leg can also be made from plasticine or from a plastic liter bottle. Pour the plaster into the mold.

After 15-20 minutes, the leg is ready.

You can shape a little with a spatula. We put all the blanks to dry (hats and legs). When the plaster becomes lighter in color, it means that it is dry. It can take a couple of days to dry. While the leg is soft, you need to make a hole for future fasteners to the ground. You can pierce the leg with a drill.

Then you need to sand the workpieces with an abrasive sponge.

How to hold a mushroom together? This can be done with a super glue, after going through the bonding site with a primer. It is better to make a small dent in the hat in front of the fasteners.

Acrylic paints can be used to paint mushrooms. Here is your taste preferences.

Be sure to finish the product with varnish for resistance to rain and wind.

And now insert a stick or drill into a previously prepared hole and you can stick the mushroom into the ground. The decor for the garden is ready.

Polymer clay is also a good and inexpensive craft material. You can buy it in specialty stores for handicrafts. Today we are going to make a cute turtle out of clay.

Select a small bowl to create a turtle shell.

You need to roll the clay into a sausage and cut into pieces.

Gently place the pieces of clay into a bowl, pressing down on them with your hand. When the form is filled in, you need to flatten the surface. Can be used stack.

Separately, you need to sculpt the head and legs, outline the places for them on the shell. It is better to blind the pieces soaked in water.

Turn the workpiece over. Work with the stack - draw outlines on the shell and eyes of the turtle.

You can make a hat for your turtle.

The completion of the craft depends on the type of clay, there is self-drying clay, and there is clay that requires drying in the oven. They are usually dried at a temperature of 110-120 degrees.

Old tires

Waste tires or tires live in every garage. They can be used as a great material for garden crafts. Flowerbeds, garden furniture, sandpits, decor items are all possible tire products.

The simplest option is a tire flower garden. First, we will mark the tire as shown in the picture. Then you will need to cut along the line.

Cutting a tire is quite difficult, it is better to entrust this process to a man and use a jigsaw. If you do not have a jigsaw, you can also cut with a knife, lifting the edge of the cut.

The tire can be mounted on a stand. Use the part that was cut off at the very beginning, or turn over and place the pot inside it.

And for this option, the flower beds do not even need to turn out the tire.

Create with papier-mâché

Papier-mâché is a material that was invented in ancient China. The literal translation of the word is chewed paper. For papier-mâché crafts, old newspapers, sheets are suitable, toilet paper is also useful.

Today we are going to make a funny crow. Regular wrinkled newspaper will do. Let's make two lumps - the future head and body of the crow.

Wings and a beak can be cut out of cardboard, and legs can be made from bamboo sticks.

All together are held together with tape.

Then the crow should be covered with tile glue, then glued to the stand and painted at your discretion.

Do not forget that for street figures it is better to use acrylic paints and be sure to cover the product with several layers of varnish.

As you can see, many garden crafts can be easily made with your own hands from scrap materials.

Related videos

For a more visual understanding of the process, we offer several useful videos.

The beauty of a garden depends on how we take care of it: how the flowers and trees will be planted, what furniture will be in the garden, what kind of fence, what figures decorate the flower beds and paths.

In this article, we will tell you how to make a very simple but beautiful plaster with your own hands.

To make a garden figurine from plaster, we need:

  • Sculptural plaster of at least 500 g (it can be replaced with a cement mixture, it will be even more durable with it)
  • PVA construction glue
  • acrylic paints for glass and ceramics
  • tassels
  • compass
  • pencil
  • a set of cutters for wood carving (can be replaced with a large needle, or a stationery knife)
  • cellophane cling film
  • stationery knife
  • empty plastic bottle, of a suitable shape
  • 2 cups: one for pouring the base, the other for the mushroom cap
  • decorative elements for decoration: figurines, beads, artificial decorative flowers or leaves, molds for creating plaster figures
  • waterproof adhesive for secure fixation of decorative elements
  • sunflower oil

Making a leg for a garden figure

From an empty plastic bottle, for example from under milk, cut off the neck, which will serve as a shape for us to create the leg of the mushroom.

To make it easier to remove the hardened sculpted plaster from the mold, the walls of the bottle can be coated with a solution of grated soap, vegetable oil and water in the ratio: 2: 1: 7, respectively.

Rub the soap on a fine grater, pour it into a jar.

Pour vegetable oil and water there. We mix everything well and apply the emulsion to the walls of the bottle with a brush.

Then we dilute the sculptural plaster (not all, but only the part necessary for the manufacture of the leg) in the ratio indicated on the package.

Pour the gypsum solution into the mold and leave to harden. To reduce the cost of plaster, the stem can be hollowed out. To do this, select a plastic bottle of a suitable size and shape and insert it into the solidifying plaster. It is important that the diameter of the neck of the bottle to be inserted is much smaller than the diameter of the neck of the mold.

To prevent the bottle from floating in the liquid plaster, press it down with any convenient press.

The plaster is set quickly. After 4-6 minutes hardening will be noticeable, after 30-40 minutes you can work on the figure further.

We cut the shape with a clerical knife and take out a plaster blank from there. Cut off the excess part of the plastic bottle that we inserted to reduce the consumption of plaster.

Making a hat for a garden figure

To make a hat for a mushroom, we take a cup that fits the shape and cover its surface with plastic wrap. We try to attach the film as tightly as possible to the cup and leave as few folds as possible.

We dilute the next portion of the plaster needed to create the cap and pour it into a cup. We insert the leg into the solidifying plaster of paris and leave it for 30-40 minutes.

We make a platform-base for a garden figure

When the mushroom hardens, we make a base for the figure. To do this, we select a cup that is suitable in shape and size, cover it with cling film or an emulsion for lubrication.

We dilute the gypsum and pour it into a cup. The leg of the mushroom can be immersed in the same place, but we advise you to make it removable, so it will be more convenient to work with the design of the mushroom. To do this, cover the stem of the mushroom with cellophane cling film and immerse it in plaster of Paris in a cup.

After 30-40 minutes we take everything out.

If you want to use flowers, leaves, figurines, also made of plaster, in the decoration, fill them in the same way and leave them to harden.

The finished plaster figure must be dried well before painting. We put it in a warm place for a day or even two.

The moment of registration can be spontaneous and be born right during the process, or it can be thoughtful and drawn on paper. It is not necessary to draw everything in detail, you can sketch the key points.

When the sketch is ready, we proceed to the design of the figurine.

With a simple pencil we draw everything that you want to see on the mushroom.

Then add volume to the sketch using wood cutting tools or a sharp large needle.





In order for the paint to lay down better and to be consumed less, the mushroom must be primed. This can be done with special primer mixtures, or you can simply dilute PVA building glue with water in a ratio of 1 to 2. One part of PVA and two parts of water.

Apply a primer to the figure with a brush and wait a couple of hours until the mixture dries well.

Then we paint the fungus with paints according to the outlined and cut out pattern.

Let the paints dry well and reliably varnish on top. We put the varnish in several layers, leaving no unpainted place. After covering with each layer, let the varnish dry well. We fix the design details in the right places using glue that is resistant to moisture.

The figurine is ready. Now you can fill your garden with mushrooms for every taste and color!





DIY garden crafts can bring you great pleasure. Choose the one that best suits your character and your garden design. let's try to make garden figurines out of cement with our own hands. The process is surprisingly not as complicated as it seems. But the result is really surprising!

See what beautiful flower containers you can make with grout and an old rag. That's really, really, crafts from scrap materials!

Decorative openwork ball made of cement.

For work, we need a cement solution - we knead a thick solution 1 part of sand, 1 part of cement.

We immerse the rope in the solution, it can also be strips from an old T-shirt, etc. We inflate the balloon, prepare a stand for it, where it will dry. It could be a regular bucket. We wrap the ball with a rope in a cement mortar.

After the solution has dried, blow off the ball with a needle. Everything! Our garden art object is ready. Can be painted as desired.

Original crafts for the cement garden.

Agree, it looks like dragon eggs)) We will make this out of cement.

We take the same balloon and cover it with cement mortar. Here you can add a tablespoon of gypsum to the solution, only you need to work quickly.

After the solution has dried, remove the ball and paint the inside of the egg. It can be used as an Easter decor in the country - by making a floral arrangement of primroses in it.

Crafts for the garden. DIY cement garden gnomes.

These cute garden gnomes are made very easy too.


For the gnome, we need cement, a metal bar, a stocking and ropes. Pour the cement solution into the stocking, for strength we insert metal reinforcement into it. Twisting the rope, we form noses, legs. Let's not forget about the beard - this is an additional piece of material under the gnome's nose. We hang the gnome by the top of the hat and leave it to dry.

When the cement is dry, we remove the gnome and polish it on top with a more liquid solution of cement and gypsum. We are waiting for the gnome to dry and we can tint or paint. Nice ones, aren't they?

Garden fountain with leaves.

We will not talk about the principles of creating a fountain in the country. This topic is a separate article, and you can read it in detail here. We will be making the leaves out of cement.
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We need a sheet that is large enough, and with the help of cement, we create a copy of it.

After drying, the sheet can be worked out in more detail and painted.

And you will become, almost free of charge, the owner of such a beautiful fountain.

Original flower beds with your own hands.

Are you not a sculptor at all? But believe me, you can make these original flower containers.

We need a plastic container, foam, reinforcing mesh. We make a cement mortar by adding a spoonful of gypsum directly to the palm with the mortar and this is how we form our "sculpture"

But not all of us are fans of modern abstract art. But you can easily make garden crafts in a classic style.

But since you are not a sculptor yet, you need a template - it could very well be an old doll.

Because it will not be just a decorative garden figurine, but a flower garden in the form of a girl's head, then the upper part must be cut off.

Then the head is painted. In order to give the texture, the template is painted first with a dark gray paint. Allow to dry and apply a layer of lighter paint. After drying, a layer of even lighter paint is applied with light strokes.

This is a very simple process, and all the examples of this style that you see in the article were made by teenagers in a labor lesson.

Beautiful crafts for the garden. DIY garden figurines.

For those who liked the process of making concrete crafts, we will tell you another simply stunning technique for creating garden figurines.

Yes, we need the old doll again!

First, we strengthen the doll with hot glue and a bamboo sushi stick on a heavy stand. By the way, we can also make it from cement. cut the angel's wings out of foam, attach it to the doll with hot glue. Give the doll a new dress and, with the help of hot glue strokes, create a more interesting texture on the wings and hair.

We coat our template with a solution of cement and gypsum. We paint.

Now, with the help of old toys, you can make almost any garden figurine yourself.

Flowerbed cat.

This funny cat flower bed is made of a plastic bottle and cement. We will need: cement, sand, plaster, water, a large plastic bottle, wire, paint, wooden slats, varnish.

The owner of this cat, Natasha Koneva, will tell us how to make such a funny figure with our own hands. We cut off the plastic bottle - it is this container that will be our flower garden. To prevent the cement from slipping off the plastic, we wrap it tightly with wire. We knock down a wooden frame from the rails. We attach our plastic container to it.

We mix the cement mortar with the consistency of thick sour cream at the rate of 1 part of sand, 1 part of cement. We will add gypsum only to the finished portion, which is in our hand, because the gypsum solution hardens instantly. We work in rubber gloves.

We take a handful of solution in our hand and add a tablespoon of gypsum to it. We knead it in our hands, roll it up with sausage and attach it to the frame. So step by step we put portions of the solution on top of each other, creating the necessary bulges and smoothing the surface.

We sculpt the face of our cat from small balls of solution in much the same way as we sculpted from plasticine in childhood. In order for small parts to hold better, before attaching them to the body, we lubricate the surface of the figure with water.

With a damp hand, polish the surface of our garden figurine. To dry, cover the figurine with cellophane for 3-4 days. On the first day, the figure must be periodically additionally moistened with water. After drying, sand the surface with sandpaper.

You can paint such a figure with water-based paint, enamel, car paints. After painting, we cover the surface with varnish. For the winter, the garden figurine must be removed from the street, because it can crack from frost. Perhaps you also want to get yourself such a wonderful cat.
The great thing about cement figurines is that they are cheap to make compared to metal or wood garden figurines. You can start with simple garden crafts, which can be just as fun as some particularly complex ones. You can combine cement with other materials. - for the face of this little garden fairy "Ladybug" took the head of an old doll.