Make Your Own Dinosaur Fossil
When I was a kid every single “wish list” I had for my birthday and Christmas had at least one dinosaur themed book on it. Ironically, I hated to read. Today’s “make a dino Monday” post is something I really would have loved as a kid though and mom would be proud because it’s a thrifty crafting idea. I caught this make your own dinosaur fossil idea over on Pinterest.
For Your Make Your Own Dinosaur Fossil You Will Need:
– A margarine, ice cream or butter container
– Modeling clay
– A plastic toy dinosaur
– Plaster of Paris
– Paints (tempera or watercolor)
– An old toothbrush
Make Sure to Cover Your Work Area – Make Your Own Dinosaur Fossil Fun Can Get Messy!
The first thing you’ll want to do is get plaster mix. Plaster mix is available in most crafting stores and comes in quite large bags so one bag will tide you over for quite a while. Next, you’ll want to get yourself set up for pouring out that plaster.
The original make your own dinosaur fossil post that inspired this picture can be found over at the Art Projects for Kids blog and they suggest using thick craft paper and cardboard to set up a pouring mold. I much prefer using old kitchen containers – butter containers, margarine containers, ice cream containers etc. since it allows you to recycle and it makes clean up easier.
With your container on hand, now take a lump of modeling clay (available at any craft store) and a cheap plastic dinosaur toy. Flatten the clay while maintaining an adequate thickness and make your own dinosaur fossil mold by pressing the dinosaur down in to the clay. Be sure not to press too hard, you want an imprint without breaking through the clay.
Place the clay imprint, imprint side up in the bottom of your container making sure to remove the plastic dinosaur. Now you want to mix up your plaster mix and pour it in to the container on top of the make your own dinosaur fossil clay mold you created before. Your plaster should be around an inch thick.
After allowing your plaster to dry (drying time varies depending upon the plaster mix you use,) you will want to cut away your container from the dried plaster. If you used a cardboard container you may find that you can simply rip the container away. Once you have removed your container you can pull away the modeling clay and you will find your dinosaur fossil!
If your make your own dinosaur fossil still has some clay stuck to it, give it a night to dry and then use an old dry toothbrush to brush off the remaining clay. Once your make your own dinosaur fossil project is completely dry you can get to work painting your dinosaur!
